Have you ever been so concerned about making a
good impression on a first date or a job interview, or with honoring your hosts
on a special occasion that you changed clothes several times to
find just the right outfit? Colossians 3 uses this idea of dressing as a
metaphor for our life of faithful obedience to Christ.
At the end of Colossians 2, Paul asks an
important question that I would sum up as,
“If then you died with Christ (v. 20-23) why
are you doing the same old things?
The false teachers encouraged many human
efforts that needed to be “added” to Christ to restrain the flesh. We still do
the same thing today and it still doesn’t work. The things we add to simple
faith are what I call the “ugly sweaters of our own ideas” which “are of
no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
I) The Ugly Sweaters of Our Own Ideas or the
Errorists’ New Clothes (2:18-23)
Hans Christian Andersen once wrote a story with
all the bite of an Aesop fable, if not one of Jesus’ parables. Perhaps
you remember the story of the vain Emperor who liked nothing better than
strutting in the finest clothes that covered up his inner insecurity. He
becomes easy prey to be duped by swindling weavers who offer to make him the
most exclusive designer apparel from a fabric invisible to anyone unfit for his
position or "hopelessly stupid". Similarly, the errorists in Colossae
might say that “Only those who are truly spiritual, enlightened,
initiated, can see these things.”
The Emperor's advisers, when sent to check on the weavers' progress, cannot see the cloth themselves but pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions and the Emperor does the same.
“Then the Emperor himself came with his noblest noblemen,
and the swindlers each raised an arm as if they were holding something. They
said, "These are the trousers, here's the coat, and this is the
mantle," naming each garment. "All of them are as light as a spider
web. One would almost think he had nothing on, but that's what makes them so
fine."
After the weavers mimed
dressing him, the Emperor marched in a parade through the city so all his
people could see his finery. None of the townspeople want to admit they can’t
see his clothes and to appear “unfit for their positions or stupid”. Finally a
child in the crowd, one too young to lie for pretense sake blurts out...
"But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.
"Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?" said its father.
And one person whispered to another what the child had said, "He hasn't
anything on. A child says he hasn't anything on."
"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at
last.
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought,
"This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than
ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all.”
The Errorists, like the Emperor, clothed
themselves in emptiness…their vain efforts to control, or cover up their
“flesh.” It doesn’t work for us either, such ideas are of no value
for our fallen nature shows right through (v.23) and has ever since Adam and
Eve made clothes of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). We, like the Colossians, need to be
reminded that Christ Jesus is our only hope to be cleansed from our shameful
past!
II) The Solution to Our Shame: A New You
(3:1-4)
Paul begins the next chapter with a second
question that I summarize as, “If
then you have been raised with Christ (3:1)… why aren’t you looking up?”
If
then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the
things that are above,
where
Christ is,
seated
at the right hand of God.
Set
your minds on things that are above,
not
on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is
your life appears,
then
you also will appear with him in glory.
- Seek the things above: this
seeking is really the setting of our heart, our affections, on the kingdom of
heaven. We will seek and serve what we love. Let us desire and strive for
what is above.
- Set your mind on things above: this means
to think about how we will fulfill what our heart demands. Are we thinking
kingdom thoughts? Is our mind tuned to the bandwidth of the Spirit so that
we cannot be frightened away or distracted from following Jesus? In some
ways, it is like the challenge by the Red Team Leader in the original Star Wars
movie, “Stay on target!”
It will not be easy, so why should we do this?
Because we are…
- Hidden in Christ: I like what
the Expositor’s Bible Commentary says here, “This
suggests not only that the believer's life is secure, but also that it
belongs in a very real and profound sense to the invisible spiritual
realm.” He has both
chosen and qualified us for the life to come. It is time to start living
like we believe it.
And because He will return and we will…
- Appear with him: we
won’t be like so many uninvited paparazzi trying to get a glimpse of Jesus
when he comes as king, instead, we will be vindicated before all the world
by appearing with him. Mind-blowing!. Lightfoot, as quoted in
Expositors’ Commentary describes the turn of events this way, “The veil which now shrouds your higher life from
others, and even partly from yourselves, will be withdrawn. The world
which persecutes, despises, ignores now, will then be blinded with the
dazzling glory of the revelation." So
how do we begin to prepare for that final Christmas Day when we sit down
at that great family dinner with our Lord? What will we wear?
III) Dressing for Christmas (3:5-17)
The Apostle Paul uses the extended metaphor of
getting dressed in this section, not as an illustration of earning favor, but of a
desire to show love and respect for our Great King, our host. There are several
lists in this section that I will not take time to cover exhaustively but will only
list the major sections, with special emphasis on the heart of the last list.
1) Put to death the old you (v.5-7)
…characterized by impurity and idolatry. Some behaviors like germs need to be
killed before they kill us.
2) Put off the stinky old clothes
(v.8-9)…our ugly [& sinful] patterns of attitude and speech; our
selfish thoughts and words.
3) Put on the “new you” in the Image
of Christ (v.10-11, 17). Note
the emphasis on unity! The kingdom of heaven has no division between
nations/peoples, races, classes, or sexes. We need to make sure that we have put
on this attitude and behavior in our homes and churches!
4) Put on the “Christmas clothes”
of the new man (v.12-14). These
“clothes” are nothing less than our faithfully reflecting back to God and
others the love that God has poured out into our hearts in Christ.
Put on then,
as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate
hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience, bearing
with one another, and,
if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each
other;
as
the Lord has forgiven you,
so
you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love,
which binds
everything together in perfect harmony.
The key to showing others the acts and attitudes
of love listed here is recognizing who we are in Christ. We are God’s…
- chosen
ones—he picked us!
- holy—he has cleansed and set us apart for a special
purpose!
- beloved—we are loved by God! Because of his love in us, we can
“put on”…
o
compassionate
hearts—a deep sensitivity to the needs of
others, feeling with them.
o
kindness—a Christlike attitude towards others…doing good, putting
others first.
o
humility— a Christlike attitude towards self. . . not here to
be served but to serve.
o
meekness/gentleness— your approach to other people should be openhanded, not
defensive, combative, or antagonistic.
o
longsuffering—willing
to suffer long… you're relating to other people in humble
kindness.
o
bearing with one
another—letting them be themselves even when
they are different than you, restraining your natural reaction towards
"different or obnoxious people"
o
forgiving one
another, if anyone has a complaint against
another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
o
But above
all these things put on love, which is the
bond of perfect harmony.
This is what getting dressed for Christmas is
all about. For without love, we will accomplish nothing, others will see that we
wear nothing, and we will discover that we are nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Jesus
has sent robes of righteousness—clothes produced by his labor of love. The
least we can do is put them on...
[For more verses about “Put on” see Romans
13:12,14; 2 Cor. 5:1-3; Ephesians 4:23-25; Galatians 3:25-28; 1
Thes. 5:8]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment will become visible after it is seen and approved by the blog administrator. Thanks for your patience and thanks for engaging this topic.