Pastor Lynn's
Weekly Sermon
The Reconciler
Nashville UCC, April 15, 2018
“If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” That’s a cynical statement, isn’t it? I hate to agree with it, but… maybe it’s right. Lots of things aren’t nearly as good as they claim to be. Think for just a minute about the products that are advertised on TV. We hear about a new drug that’s supposed to be a “miracle cure”; but right underneath the pictures of healthy, happy, smiling people we see a lot of fine print. That fine print is never on the TV screen long enough for us to read it, but if we stop the action and get out a magnifying glass, we can see that it says something like, “Results not guaranteed. This drug can have serious side effects. Don’t take it if you have these conditions…” In other words, the drug works for some people, but not for others; and even if it does work, the cure may be worse than the disease! That isn’t true just for ads on TV, either. It’s true for all kinds of promotions that try to draw us in so someone can take advantage of us. We’ve all received a phone call from someone who promises us a free vacation in the Bahamas. What they don’t say is that the “free” vacation comes with all kinds of strings attached! That “free” vacation might be in a luxury resort; but it might also be in a run-down dump of a motel where a high-pressure salesman tries to sell you a time-share! Yeah, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
But there is an exception to that rule. Jesus promises us that through his death and resurrection, we are reconciled to God. Even though we may not be worthy of even being in the same universe with God, we’re now not only on speaking terms with God, we’re good friends; and we will be forever! There’s no way that we can ever be separated from God, no matter what we do or what we don’t do, because Jesus has taken care of our relationship with God once and for all.
Now, that sounds too good to be true! That’s the reason that Christians have always had trouble believing it! We keep looking for the fine print at the bottom of the page, thinking that there must be a catch to this wonderful offer! The folks at the church at Colossae felt that way. They had all grown up believing that if they didn’t make God happy, they were toast. No matter whether they had been Jewish or pagan before they became Christians, every single one of them had been taught from the time they sat on their mamas’ laps that they had to sacrifice to a god to make him happy. When they learned that Jesus died for them, and that God was happy with them just as they were without any more sacrifices at all, it just seemed too good to be true. So they started looking for things to do to make God happy. Some of them started to believe that they had to eat or drink certain things. After all, the Jews believed (and some still believe) that God would be unhappy with them if they ate pork or shellfish or other kinds of forbidden foods or drinks. Others believed that they had to observe certain religious festivals; and some thought that they had to worship angels! Some were even taught that the real test of whether they were friends with God was whether or not they had visions (Colossians 2:16-19).
Then, to make things even worse, somebody decided that even though Jesus a really good guy and did a lot of things that made God happy, he didn’t really have the authority to do what he said he did. They said that Jesus couldn’t really reconcile us with God because he was just another one of God’s creations; so how could he speak on God’s behalf? They thought of Jesus as something like a used-car salesman who has to go get the approval of his supervisor before he can negotiate the final price of the auto! (I suppose that in the time of the early Church, it would have been a used-camel salesman; but you get the idea.) The point was that Jesus was something less than God – just a really good guy with really good intentions. And that won’t cut it when we need to be reconciled with God.
That’s why the writer of the letter to the Colossians took such pains to convince his readers that Jesus wasn’t just such a great guy; he was God incarnate (Colossians 1:15-22). The letter says that in a whole bunch of different ways. It says that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” In other words, he behaves just like his Father! It also says that Jesus is “the firstborn over all creation.” That says the same thing that the gospel of John says: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God!” Finally, not only is Jesus the spitting image of his Father, and not only was Jesus in the beginning with his Father; all of his Father’s fullness lived in Jesus! Jesus was God himself who came to us as one of us; so when Jesus said that he has reconciled us with God, we can trust him, because Jesus has the authority to do that!
So, what does that mean for us? It means the same thing to us that it did to the church at Colossae so long ago; and we need to be reminded of what it means just like they did. It means that Jesus has reconciled us with God once and for all. There is absolutely nothing that we need to do to make ourselves acceptable to God. We don’t have to eat a certain way, or worship a certain way, or even believe a certain way; because Jesus has already made us acceptable to God through his death and resurrection. We can go to God at any time, in any place, and for any reason. There’s no fine print; there are no strings attached; and Jesus doesn’t have to call his manager to make sure that the deal is OK. Nothing in this world or in any other can ever separate us from God’s loving presence. Too good to be true? Not this time! Thanks be to God!
Nashville UCC, April 15, 2018
“If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” That’s a cynical statement, isn’t it? I hate to agree with it, but… maybe it’s right. Lots of things aren’t nearly as good as they claim to be. Think for just a minute about the products that are advertised on TV. We hear about a new drug that’s supposed to be a “miracle cure”; but right underneath the pictures of healthy, happy, smiling people we see a lot of fine print. That fine print is never on the TV screen long enough for us to read it, but if we stop the action and get out a magnifying glass, we can see that it says something like, “Results not guaranteed. This drug can have serious side effects. Don’t take it if you have these conditions…” In other words, the drug works for some people, but not for others; and even if it does work, the cure may be worse than the disease! That isn’t true just for ads on TV, either. It’s true for all kinds of promotions that try to draw us in so someone can take advantage of us. We’ve all received a phone call from someone who promises us a free vacation in the Bahamas. What they don’t say is that the “free” vacation comes with all kinds of strings attached! That “free” vacation might be in a luxury resort; but it might also be in a run-down dump of a motel where a high-pressure salesman tries to sell you a time-share! Yeah, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
But there is an exception to that rule. Jesus promises us that through his death and resurrection, we are reconciled to God. Even though we may not be worthy of even being in the same universe with God, we’re now not only on speaking terms with God, we’re good friends; and we will be forever! There’s no way that we can ever be separated from God, no matter what we do or what we don’t do, because Jesus has taken care of our relationship with God once and for all.
Now, that sounds too good to be true! That’s the reason that Christians have always had trouble believing it! We keep looking for the fine print at the bottom of the page, thinking that there must be a catch to this wonderful offer! The folks at the church at Colossae felt that way. They had all grown up believing that if they didn’t make God happy, they were toast. No matter whether they had been Jewish or pagan before they became Christians, every single one of them had been taught from the time they sat on their mamas’ laps that they had to sacrifice to a god to make him happy. When they learned that Jesus died for them, and that God was happy with them just as they were without any more sacrifices at all, it just seemed too good to be true. So they started looking for things to do to make God happy. Some of them started to believe that they had to eat or drink certain things. After all, the Jews believed (and some still believe) that God would be unhappy with them if they ate pork or shellfish or other kinds of forbidden foods or drinks. Others believed that they had to observe certain religious festivals; and some thought that they had to worship angels! Some were even taught that the real test of whether they were friends with God was whether or not they had visions (Colossians 2:16-19).
Then, to make things even worse, somebody decided that even though Jesus a really good guy and did a lot of things that made God happy, he didn’t really have the authority to do what he said he did. They said that Jesus couldn’t really reconcile us with God because he was just another one of God’s creations; so how could he speak on God’s behalf? They thought of Jesus as something like a used-car salesman who has to go get the approval of his supervisor before he can negotiate the final price of the auto! (I suppose that in the time of the early Church, it would have been a used-camel salesman; but you get the idea.) The point was that Jesus was something less than God – just a really good guy with really good intentions. And that won’t cut it when we need to be reconciled with God.
That’s why the writer of the letter to the Colossians took such pains to convince his readers that Jesus wasn’t just such a great guy; he was God incarnate (Colossians 1:15-22). The letter says that in a whole bunch of different ways. It says that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” In other words, he behaves just like his Father! It also says that Jesus is “the firstborn over all creation.” That says the same thing that the gospel of John says: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God!” Finally, not only is Jesus the spitting image of his Father, and not only was Jesus in the beginning with his Father; all of his Father’s fullness lived in Jesus! Jesus was God himself who came to us as one of us; so when Jesus said that he has reconciled us with God, we can trust him, because Jesus has the authority to do that!
So, what does that mean for us? It means the same thing to us that it did to the church at Colossae so long ago; and we need to be reminded of what it means just like they did. It means that Jesus has reconciled us with God once and for all. There is absolutely nothing that we need to do to make ourselves acceptable to God. We don’t have to eat a certain way, or worship a certain way, or even believe a certain way; because Jesus has already made us acceptable to God through his death and resurrection. We can go to God at any time, in any place, and for any reason. There’s no fine print; there are no strings attached; and Jesus doesn’t have to call his manager to make sure that the deal is OK. Nothing in this world or in any other can ever separate us from God’s loving presence. Too good to be true? Not this time! Thanks be to God!
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