A sermon by Matt Fitzpatrick
July 21 2019
Alright. It’s great to see you. All our vacations are slowly ending and so I’m starting to see people coming back. This is nice. I want to start today’s service off with confession and absolution, because I want us to begin the service knowing that we are forgiven. So if you can turn in your songbooks, to the prayer of confession, we will pray this prayer together, and then I will pray the prayer of absolution over us. We pray together, “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against thee in thought word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” As an ordained minister of the word, I announce the word of God over you. “Almighty God in His mercy has given his son to die for us and for his sake forgives us all our sins. Amen.” Heavenly Father I ask that we would be rooted today in your forgiveness, in the forgiveness offered to us through your son. Anchor that to our hearts as we enter into your presence today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our first reading for today is in Genesis 18 verses 1 through 10.
“And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, ‘O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, ‘Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.’ And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘She is in the tent.’ 10 The Lord said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.”
This ends our first reading for today.
Our second reading for today is found in Colossians chapter 1 and verses 21 through 29
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
This ends the reading of God’s word. Let’s pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for coming to us, for reaching out to us, because we are incapable of coming to you. Lord, I ask that you fill us with your Holy Spirit. That as your word comes to us today, we can receive it and hear from it. I ask that we can hear the promises and the good news that you speak to your people. I aks this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
In our Colossians reading, in the beginning of verse 21, we have “And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” Pretty fun opener, alienated and hostile. those words in the Greek are close to the word and the meaning of divorce, and it emphasizes the reality that we are divorced to God. We are alienated and hostile to him. Our hearts are turned against the heart of God. We are born into rebellion. We enter this life in a rebellion, and we are on the wrong side. We’re on the wrong side, because our side of the rebellion is against God. Why? Why are we born into this? Because we’re born under the wrong king. We’re born under Adam.
When God created the world, he gave Adam dominion over all creation. He created Adam and said, “This whole creation, this whole world, is for you, for humanity to tend and steward with me. This is the order I’m setting up.” And Adam gave that God-given dominion and submitted it to the word of the serpent and rejected the word of God. When Adam sinned, when Adam rebelled against God, he represented all of us as the first human. He was the king of the human race. He represented all of us, and now we are born into that rebellion. We were born under that king. This is the reality of the world that we have to deal with, that we are born into.
We don’t pick the nation that we’re born to or the leader that we’re under. If you’re born under Trump, you’re born under Trump. You deal with the decisions that he makes, because he represents you whether you like it or not. This is a reality we understand on a certain level, and it applies all the way back to Adam. We’re born under Adam, and we have to live with the consequences of his decision whether we like it or not.
And so, we are born alienated and hostile, to the God and creator of all life. This is the reality we’re in. But then Paul hits us with some good news. He begins with law, and then he always has to go to the Gospel. And he says, in Verse 22, “He, Jesus, has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach before him, before God.” This is the work of Christ. It’s a very loaded statement. This is the work of Christ. He’s reconciling us to God. He’s ending the rebellion. Humanity is in need of a savior, is in need of someone who can legally represent us. Someone who can speak for us and represent us before God like Adam did.
We need that, or else we’re doomed to die with our King Satan. We need someone who could legally represent us, who could love God and man as a human perfectly. We need someone who can do the thing that we can’t do. Someone who can restore the image of God that we lost when Adam rebelled. Someone who can pay for the punishment of our rebellion, and then apply forgiveness to us. This is the work of Christ. This is what he did. This is what is so important about him coming to us as a man. God coming to us as a person is so important, because he can now represent us. Since he was also God, he’s the creator of us, so that gives him the legal authority over us. He can show up and say, “I represent all of humanit,y and I’m going to do the thing that humanity can’t do. I’m willing to obey God. I’m going to retake the dominion God gave man back from Satan. I’m going to take it back, and then I’m going to restore the image of God to humanity.”
When Jesus was baptized, we see the Holy Spirit descend on him like a dove. The Holy Spirit isn’t descending on Jesus as God. As the Christ, he is the Holy Spirit. He has the Holy Spirit. He’s one with the Holy Spirit, and he’s one with the father. It descends on humanity on Christ as a human. It descends on a human who will never reject God. And so at his baptism, Jesus restores the spirit and image of God to humanity. So, that all who are baptized in his name receive that restoration of the spirit of God. We become more like what we were supposed to be.
Then he dies the death of a rebel. When he’s on the cross, he’s hung between two thieves. The idea of thief is not our modern idea of a thief. We usually think of someone who’s going to steal from a store or rob a bank. That’s the idea of thief that we have. But the idea of thief in the Greek is someone who’s trying to steal the kingdom. It’s a rebel, an insurrectionist. And when you died on a cross, it was Rome’s way of saying, “This is what happens to anyone who tries to take the kingdom from us.” So Christ’s death is the death of a rebel. The death that we all deserve for being born under Adam’s reign and rule which he gave to Satan.
Jesus takes this death for us. He dies for us. He dies. God dies. He tears himself apart on the cross. In his death, the divine meets death for the first time. The divine and death meet. What is death? It’s separation from God. When Jesus dies, the divine meets that separation and destroys it, consumes it. It pays the debt that we have as rebels, and then he receives God’s forgiveness.
Now that the punishment has been met, he received that forgiveness, and that forgiveness is resurrection. It’s a new body. It’s perfect presence with God. That’s what forgiveness is. It is the hope that everything will be made right. We will be made right. We have this hope that everything will be made right though we die. We pass through that death and receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, which is actual resurrection, physical, bodily resurrection, where everything is perfect. There’s no sin, there’s no death, there is no more rebellion in his death.
He ends the separation between God and man and meets us where we’re at. He comes to us. Paul is saying, “You are rebels, but because of the work of Christ we have been reconciled to God. We no longer have to live under the reign and rule of Satan. We can now enter back into the reign and rule of our God.
But then he has to say this crushing statement, “If indeed you continue in the faith.” If you’re at least a little thoughtful about this statement, you might think, what does that mean? If we continue in the faith? It seems to imply that we could not continue in the faith, that there is a point where we could reject what God has given us and say, “No, we don’t want that.”
For myself, that passage has always caused intense anxiety, because I start to wonder, can I not continue in the faith. Do I need more faith? How do I get more faith? Is it a question of how much faith I have or how much faith I don’t have? What’s going on here? What does that mean? Paul is not saying that you need more faith or less faith or whatever. He’s not addressing the amount of faith needed. He’s asking, “Do you want to be with God or not? Do you see the work of Christ as a work for you? Do you recognize what Christ did for you?”
The only way that we can be reconciled to our right king is through what the work that Christ did. Not continuing the faith means we start to look somewhere else. We start to say what Christ did wasn’t really enough. I think my work is enough. I don’t think I need the work of Christ, or I believe there are other ways to be reconciled to God. That’s not continuing the faith. Paul is very firm about this, because there are other people saying there are other ways, and Jesus wasn’t really who you think he was. He was really more of an example, not the solution. And Paul is saying, “No, Jesus is the solution and are you under him or not? Is it his work that you’re trusting in or not?” It’s a yes or no question. By continuing in this faith, do you look to Christ and his work for your reconciliation to the king? And if it is a yes, awesome!
But then we ask the question, “Could I say no tomorrow? What does that look like? How do I continue in this faith? Paul continues to give us good news. It continues in verse 26 he says, “The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints, to them, God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is in Christ you the hope of glory.” Salvation is not a measure of how much faith we have or don’t have. It’s not even a measure of our faith. It’s Christ’s faith. The faith we have is Christ’s. It’s not ours. It’s a gift.
Christ’s faith is complete. There’s no measure to it. There is no way to measure it. It’s complete. He completely trusts in God, and that is the faith that is given to us. Then we as kids receive it, and then ask Christ, “How do we open it? I don’t even know how to open it. Can you help me help me?” God doesn’t just apply the work of Christ to us. He doesn’t stop there. He says that work of Christ is now in you through the restoration of the Holy Spirit. That work of Christ is now in you. The Holy Spirit works this mystery in you, which is Christ. That work of Christ isn’t just announced over you. It’s now in you and working in you and giving you the energy and the power to live in the Kingdom of God. And the practice, the daily living in this kingdom, is very simple. How do we live as Christians? It’s very simple. It is repentance and forgiveness, daily repentance and forgiveness. That is what the Holy Spirit is working in us. He says, “Repent and then receive forgiveness. You’re rebels, but for the sake of Christ your not.
We now have a king who will never make the same mistake as Adam. He will never reject the word of God for the word of another, because he is the word of God. He will never reject God, and he is our representative. So when we reject the word of God, we are not cast out of the garden of hope, but we are called back to the table to receive the forgiveness that Christ offers us. This unending forgiveness. This is the work of God. This is the work of Christ that is in us. It is unlimited access to forgiveness. He says, “I’m your king, I represent you. I’ve done everything right.” So our work now, our life is asking, “Lord, forgive me. I look to the work that you’ve done. I look to the punishment that you’ve received on my behalf, and I enter into the forgiveness that God granted you and that you know give to me. Thank you Lord.” That is the life we get to live in and walk in daily. We do not have to look to our works to justify ourselves before God. We can look to Christ’s, and say, “I am never going to be enough. But Christ you are. Thank you God. I’m saved by that and through that I am now under the right king. I look to you, and when I fail, I can look to you. I can continually look to you and cry out and say, Lord, help me Lord, save me. Apply the work that you’ve done to me and in me and continue to work that out every day.”
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the work that you’ve done on our behalf, for the forgiveness you won on our behalf, because we don’t deserve it. The reason you even did this, is because you love us. You love us, you care about us, you’re crazy about us. You come to us wherever we’re at. You come to us and you announce your word, your promises over us, which is I just want to be with you. I’m willing to tear myself apart to be with you. Do you want to be with me? We say yes, but help us. We want to believe, help our unbelief. Anchor us to your love. Fill us with your spirit. Work the mystery of the Gospel in us, which is the power of Christ in us. The power of forgiveness. Work that in us today. Lord, I ask in Jesus name. Amen.
As a way to continue in our faith, to continue to place ourselves under the reign and rule of Christ, let’s announce our faith together. We will confess the apostle’s creed together, because it’s good for us to say out loud what we believe. And then to hear other people that we care about say the same thing. We are not alone.
Christians, what is it that you believe? I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From there, he will come to judge living in the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
A way that we get to engage this life of repentance and forgiveness is to offer up, give back, To God what he has given to us. This is a good practice for us to engage our offering time. And while we’re doing this, if you have prayer requests that you want to share, to give up to God, you can write them down and you can put them on our little magnetic prayer board. Adam and I will pray for those prayers during the week.
Let me pray and then we’ll will start our time of offering. Heavenly Father, we recognize that you have given us everything, that every good gift comes from you. And so Lord, we give back to you. We acknowledge that we do not look too money or our work or our jobs to provide for us, but we look to you to provide for us. We trust that you have your eyes on the sparrow. And we know that you are watching over us. Lord, receive our gifts today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lord, thank you for your gifts. I ask that you bless the gifts of your people. Lord, continue to provide for us. Reminds us that we cannot outgive you, that you continue to bless us wherever we go. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Now receive the benediction of the Lord. There is an ancient Hebrew scholar who rewrote the Aaronic blessing and gave it a different maybe even fuller perspective of the original. Receive the blessing of the Lord. ” Yahweh will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection. Yahweh will illuminate the wholeness of his being toward you, bringing order and he will beautify you. Yahweh, will lift up his wholeness of being and look upon you, and he will set in place all you need to be whole and complete. Amen.”
Pastor Adam was born and raised in Seattle Washington always sensing God’s call to pastoral ministry. While attending Christian College he met Val, a nice girl from Orlando.