Colossians 3:12-17.          Christmas goes on!!                                        27/12/15

12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Again a happy and blessed Christmas to you all! Christmas day has come and gone, but the realities of it continue on. Yes at the moment we probably are still feeling the effects of our over-indulgence of food and drink: the batteries of the gifts given and received have not yet gone flat; maybe family are still around. So Christmas is still very much in our lives at this time.

Today as we gather in God’s house we are reminded again that Christmas is much, much more than the outward trappings that we so readily focus on in our world. In many ways the feast, families and gifts that we fill Christmas with can very easily distract us from the reality and greatness of what Christmas really is all about.  When too much emphasis is placed on these trappings of Christmas, then when they are gone, Christmas is gone: done and dusted for another year.

 Along with that, we, if the dinner was good, no family arguments, and the gifts were good, then we have had a good Christmas. Conversely when things have not gone so well, or even disastrously, then it was not such a good Christmas. Our judgement and satisfaction with Christmas is all too dependent on how it has all gone.

Yet surely again Christmas and its greatness and importance are much more than that. Christmas is a reminder that Christ is with us. God is here with us; not just at the dinner table, or as we were unwrapping our gifts. He is with is in the good and the bad. Even more important than that is that he came to be with us to take care of our greatest need of all. He came to die on the cross so that we might have forgiveness of all of our sin and thereby granted salvation and eternal life.  That surely is the greatest aspect of Christmas of all.

That part of Christmas goes on and on for us. Christ’s coming, life, death and resurrection ensures that Christmas is still Christmas irrespective of circumstances or how many days or weeks we are past Christmas. Here in this reading we are reminded that Christmas actually impacts our lives in a big way. How we live and act now will be different. This gift of Christmas brings about a radical change in our lives. Life for us now takes on a whole different focus and meaning; and therefore also a change in how we live, think and act.

Now right at the outset I will say that although this new life is now ours, so often because of our sinful nature we very quickly and easily revert back to our selfish nature and it then all goes wrong for us. However again because of Christmas we look again to the one who came to be with us for the very purpose of dying so that we might be forgiven. So we turn back to him for forgiveness and also the help to live this new life that he has for us.

So let us now look at what this new life looks like according to the text we have in front of us. Firstly it reminds us that we are God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. So this new and better life is based on the fact that we are now people who are chosen by God as his special people. We belong and are part of a very special and important family. We are royalty; sons and daughters of God.

And we are dearly loved. Despite who we were, now because of Jesus Christ we are dearly loved, special people. Also we are holy people: people whom God has made and declared holy and righteous. So we have every good reason to now set about living in a way that is fitting for someone with whom such a privilege has been bestowed. 

Our impetus for living is now found not in ourselves, but the one who has chosen, loved and saved us. He and what he says is now what is all important for us and not our own flawed and self-destructive nature. Surely we are wise enough to see the folly of our human ways and now want what God has to say about what is good for us to think say and do. We will want him to be our Lord and our helper.

We will now regularly want to gather in his presence so that more and more he can enable us to be the kind of people that he knows is good for us to be: Firstly in our relationship with him, but then also in our relationships with the people around about us.

Because of Christmas we will now want to wear the clothes that he has given to us as Christmas gifts. So according to this reading we will then put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. With these God given gifts we will then be able to live in our relationships with each other, in ways that are good and helpful; which draws together rather than tear apart.

However because of our selfish nature we will struggle in this regard. But even here God has something good and helpful for us. He says: Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. In this regard the Pope in his Christmas message in the Advertiser made the observation: that today we all too often are merciless to the sinner and lenient to the sin. Whereas here God is seeking to help us to forgive as he has forgiven us.

Then our reading goes on by saying: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Again he now has that which is always seeking to do what is best for the other person rather than oneself. This love is not some soppy, sentimental feeling, rather a commitment to seek the welfare of the other person, first and foremost. With this gift of Christmas there will be a tremendous improvement in our societal relationships.

But again there is more! We can do all of this, knowing that we will not be short-changed ourselves. He says: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Because of Jesus’ coming, life, death and resurrection we now have eternal life in heaven guaranteed. No one and nothing can take that away from us. So we have a sure peace in our lives that comes from knowing we will not go short ourselves. So we can do what is best for those around us, just as Jesus did for us.

And we can now do all of this with thankful hearts. We are told that we can be thankful. Because of this great gift that God has given to us this Christmas we can be truly thankful. We have been given so much, despite the fact that we do not deserve it in any way, so we surely cannot help but be thankful.

So again as I said the other day, now we cannot help but speak of this wonderful gift that has been extended to us in Jesus Christ and his coming into our world. Now surely we will Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. 

Gathering together in his house in Divine Service we receive from him all that he wants to keep reminding us of and giving us so that we can stay strong and focussed. We are there given what we need so that we can be ever mindful of all that he has done for us. He will ever give us the help that we need to live and be his people.

Then we will be enabled to be thankful and to sing his praises. Out of gratitude for  who he is what he has done for us we will sing his praise. As we are encouraged and helped in the Service he will than help us to also speak to others of how great he and what he has done for us. When we fully appreciate him and what he has done for us we will speak about that which is important to us. It will come naturally. If not we keep going back to him and seeking to understand the greatness of what he has done for us.

Then also what that last verse speaks of, will ever be a part of our lives.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. When he is all important in our lives then everything we say and do will be in response to him and to his glory. When that happens, also be assured that others will notice – our life will be lived in such a way that others will see Jesus. They will see by our attitude as to why we are doing what we are doing.

So we are reminded here this morning of the ongoing aspect of that great Christmas gift that has been extended to us again this year. This gift is a part of our lives each and every day of the rest of our lives.

I pray however that we do not leave this gift under the Christmas tree and think of it and respond to it only every now and again. This gift is too great and important that we will surely want his help to keep it ever in the forefront of our thinking, being and doing. Then again all glory and honour will go to him forever and forever. May these blessings of Christmas be with you and go with you always. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish