A Foundation on which to Stand

Colossians 2:6-15                                                                                       August 8, 2004

          So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

          See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

          For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

          When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

CCI: Come in Faith, live in Faith, grow in Faith.

Intro: This passage is full of truth, as each passage we have studied in Colossians has been. I want us to look only at verses 6 and 7 and I want to offer the following translation of these verses.

          “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, walk in him. Having been rooted in him, continue being built in him. Continue to grow strong in what you believe, just as you were taught. Be surrounded by thankfulness.”

          In the city of Colosse, there were teachers who were telling the Colossian Christians that while they need to begin their Christian life by trusting Jesus as their savior, that was not enough. They said Faith is fine to begin, but you need extra knowledge if you are going to go forward in your life with Christ. Faith is not enough.

          And each of us would quickly declare that we do not believe that. We wholeheartedly agree with Martin Luther when he declared Salvation is “sole fide,” through faith alone. But while we testify to this, very often we act differently. We expect others to meet out standards before we will accept them into our fellowship. We want people to talk like us and act like us and look like us, then we will say, “You can come to Christ by faith alone.” For others we suggest they must straighten up their lives, or defeat sin, or find another congregation, then they will be accepted. I remember the day I was working with a young man on the roof of a building overlooking the church I served out in the country in West Virginia. He did not know who I was and as we worked talked about not being able to find a good church. I asked about the church on the adjacent property, and he said, “Oh, that’s an American Baptist Church, I can’t go there!”

          I asked, “Well, isn’t that a Christian church?”

          He said, “If they believe the Bible is verbally inspired in every part, and they keep themselves separate from the world and other apostate churches, and they proclaim the Virgin birth of Christ,” and then he went on for several minutes and concluded, then I guess I could go there.

          I said, “I thought it was a lot more simple than that, I thought being a Christian was about a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

          And the boy did not know what to say.

          I would suggest that many of us take just that approach with others. And we take a similar approach with ourselves. We claim to believe that salvation is by grace through faith, and then we refuse to accept God’s forgiveness. We say we do, but we will not let ourselves off the hook for many things of which we are guilty, and even for things of which we are innocent. I have known people who have refused to accept God’s forgiveness for their divorces. Others have carried guilt for having been abused by their parents. After coming through faith, we decide we need to go forward through personal penance. Or we need to continue by learning more. Faith is ok to begin, but it is not enough.

          And that is what Paul is responding to here. Faith alone is what God demands. So Paul begins, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord. . .” In other words, whatever steps follow salvation, they parallel the beginning. So how did you come to Christ? Did you learn enough to discover some secret to salvation? No. Did you clean your life up so that God would accept you? No. Did you do something like get baptized or go forward, or take communion or a pastor’s class so you could be saved? No. When you came to Christ, you came by faith. You chose to take a risk that God would be faithful to His word and accept you as you were. The only thing you knew for sure was that God had promised that those who call upon the name of the Lord would be saved. You did not know where he would lead, you did not know what might await you. But still, you chose to believe that God, in his Grace was offering you salvation through faith alone. You came through faith.

          Now Paul says, walk in him in the same way. Having come in faith, live in faith. In our house there have been times when we have gotten in the car and I have been asked if I knew where we were going. I always say “Yes.” Then I am asked if I know how to get to where we are going, and I will say, “I know there are signs.” For some reason, those in my car, who will remain nameless are not very comfortable with that answer. And with good reason. When you get in a car, you should know the route you will be traveling. However, when walking the Christian life, that is what every day is like. “Where are you going?” “We are going to the Kingdom of God.” “How will you get there?” “Oh, there are signs.” You see, as believers, we know the destination, we are traveling to the kingdom of God. However, we do not know what we will face. God has given us his Word to guide us. He has given us other believers to provide counsel. He has given us His Spirit to lead us. And with these signs, we are called to go forward. We are called to walk in Him.

          But we are not left alone in that walk. Paul tells us that our roots are in Christ. In other words, our life force, our nourishment and our sustenance are found in Jesus. P. T. Forsyth once said, “Unless there is within us that which is above us, we shall soon yield to that which is about us.” We need the life of Christ to flow through us. We need roots that are deep in Him. The Greek word tells us that our roots have been established in Christ and because of that, because our roots are established, there are continuing results that will affect every aspect of our lives. It is like beautiful rose bushes. Almost all rose bushes that you purchase are grafted plants. Rose stems are given established roots because their own roots are weak. Their life force is dependant on the grafted roots.

          As we walk in faith, as frightening as that may become, we can rest assured that our roots are established. We are rooted in Christ. The next step is to be built upon the firm foundation of Christ. The rose that is given established roots, must have fertilizer if it is to thrive. To be built up in Christ is to grow. Roses like MiracleGrow, and for the Christian, MiracleGrow in our lives is the Christian Disciplines that we practice. We are built up as we practice generosity and simplicity. We are built up as we study, pray and meditate. We are built up as we serve and witness and worship and fellowship. Having been rooted, Paul says, “continue to be built up.” Let the Spirit of God take the disciplines in your life and use them to feed you and to build you into a strong, vital, witnessing example of a person of faith. “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, walk in him. Having been rooted in him, continue being built in him.”

          And hang on to the things you were first taught. In Colosse the church was being told their introduction to Jesus was not very important. What they learned at the beginning only got them started. Now that they were Christians they needed to move beyond the introduction to the really important stuff. These men told the new believers that until they were like them, they were second class Christians.

          My friends, what you learned in the beginning, what you learned in a pastor’s class, these truths are the foundation of your Christian life. Do not let anyone, not a neighbor, not a TV preacher, not a Sunday School teacher and not even me tell you to forget these foundational truths. Instead, we need to continue to grow in grace and service and faith and stewardship and peace and witness and the Word. And when we do, we will be overflowing with, or surrounded by gratitude.

          It is the gift of God that is the source of our gratitude and as we continue to grow and understand those first things, the natural result will be increased gratitude to God for His amazing gift to us. Franchesca Renderos a 22 yr-old waitress on an ordinary Wednesday night in Houston discovered gratitude when she was stunned by grace.

          At one of her tables sat Doug Brown, a mortgage broker trying to attract the business of six female real estate agents. When Franchesca came up to the table, Doug asked, "What would be the most special tip you could have? A pair of shoes, a purse?" She responded, "No, I need a car."

          Doug looked around his table at the six real estate agents and said, "If you will give me your business, I will give this girl a car." The six women agreed, so he turned to Franchesca and said, "Okay, you get a car." Her response: "Sure. What do you want to drink?"

          She didn't believe it until an hour later when a brand new silver Mitsubishi Lancer pulled up, and Doug Brown gave her the keys. Franchesca could hardly contain herself. "Is this happening? What do I say? What do I do?" Doug Brown gave her the words: "You say, 'These keys are mine.'" [“Houston Waitress Gets Tip of Lifetime: New Car," TheNewOrleansChannel .com (1-20-04)].

          Today Jesus offers a gift that is even greater than the car Franchesca received. He offers you forgiveness the opportunity to be free of guilt. He offers you roots that will that will go deep into him and feed you in His grace and love. He offers to build you into the woman or man He wants you to be. And he offers to fill you with gratitude. Just come to him and say, “These keys are mine.”