Thorburn-Sutherland's River Pastoral Charge

Heavenly Father, source of all wisdom and understanding, by your Word you give wisdom to guide us on the path you set before us. Send your Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to receive your Word and strengthen us to follow Jesus into the year that waits before us. Amen

When I read through this Sunday’s Scripture lessons, I was struck by the fact that our Epistle reading, from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, so closely summarized the meanings behind our four Advent Candles, being Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. So, as we get ready to close out the old year and look forward in anticipation and hope to the new, it seems like a good time to have a final review of our Advent Season.

And since we’re going to use our reading from Colossians as a guide, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at both the author of that letter and the purpose behind him writing it.

Let’s begin with the author. Paul was from a devout Jewish family who grew up in the city of Tarsus, on the Mediterranean coast. When he grew up, he also became strong in the faith and was a member of the Pharisees, a sect of the Jewish religion which strictly observed the traditional laws of the Old Testament.

And Paul was a persecutor of Christians as he was opposed to their belief that Jesus was the Son of God. He took it on himself to do everything possible to crush that upstart religion. Here’s how he describes himself, this is from the Book of Acts, “‘I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.’” But Paul’s persecution of the Christians ended on that road to Damascus when our Saviour appeared to him, and he came to accept Jesus as the true Messiah.

And, in becoming a follower of Jesus, Paul changed from being a persecutor to being persecuted. And because he was so vocal in his efforts to spread the Good News of the salvation of Jesus Christ he was constantly harassed by the religious authorities. Here’s how Paul describes his treatment at their hands, “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning.”

And, in addition to these beatings, Paul also spent about five years of his ministry in prison or under house arrest. It was during one of these times which Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, along his letters to the Ephesians and to the Philippians, and a letter to a fellow member of the church, Philemon. These four letters of Paul are known as his Prison Epistles.

Our Epistle reading this morning came from Colossians which Paul wrote to the members of the church in Colossae, a city which was located in the modern country of Turkey. While Paul had never personally visited the people there, word had come to him that heretics had started taking control of the church, so he wrote to them warning about the dangers of such false teachers. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians has two themes, one proclaiming Christ as being the Son of God, and the other, encouraging the members of the church to lead godly lives.

The section we heard today is part of his encouragement to the members of the church and has these instructions, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

And within that short paragraph can be found the themes of our four Advent candles. First of all, we have Hope, Paul writes, “. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” As Christians, our hope lies in Jesus Christ, the hope that just as the first time he came to earth as a man, one day soon he will return again. The hope that when that happens all the trials and troubles in the world will end.

This is the hope which should keep us going everyday, the hope which should direct our lives, as Paul says, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus”. As Paul wrote in another one of his letters, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Since we have such hope, we should lead our lives as ones who place their hope in Christ. First, live hopefully. When you do everything in the name of Jesus, do it as thanksgiving to God. Cultivating a spirit of hopefulness continually reminds us of all that God has achieved. It also gives us hope that better things are ahead when Jesus does return and brings peace on earth.

And that peace, as represented by the Candle of Peace, is expressed in these words from Paul, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.”

Such a brief sentence, yet it says so much. When Paul says “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” he’s talking about inner peace, that inner rest and that inner calm. If we cannot find peace with ourselves, how can we have peace with others? Paul wishes for the peace of Christ to rule over our hearts. If we’re going to strive for peace on earth it has to start with me.

But peace also extends beyond ourselves, it has to be peace between each other, Paul says that we’re “called in the one body.” We’re to live our lives as part of the body of Christ and to do so we have to be at peace with one another.  As followers of Christ, we are to choose to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts. Everything, therefore, such as our relationships with others, are to be considered in view of honouring the peace of Christ. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” We were called to this. Churches are to live at peace.

And in finding peace we can have Joy, that third Candle of Advent. Joy which can be expressed through these words of Paul, “and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” Our joy can be expressed through the ministry of music. We are to “sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs.”

And as we sing, we are helping one another, encouraging one another. We can rejoice in singing because the music and the words remind us of the greatness of God. So, we are to sing with gratitude in our hearts for all that God has done.

And, finally, we have Love. Love for each other, which is the distinctive mark of the Christian. “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

Love is more than just feeling, it is also action. Love is not about self. Love is not only a feeling; love is the actions of kindness, forgiveness, sacrifice, and putting other people’s needs first. When we truly love others, we invite others to love us. Is love easy? No. Is love always comfortable? Sometimes love means serving others, which may cause you to suffer. Sometimes this means sacrifice that may cause you pain. Love is forgiving when doing otherwise would be easier. Love takes energy when energy is sparse.

But remember, there are three things that will endure above all – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love. God is love, and love is God. As Christians, we need to try to be Christ-like, which means we should love our neighbours as ourselves. God’s love for us is never ending; He showed us that through his son, Jesus Christ. And even when we fail to love as Christ commanded, we should never give up as God has never given up on us.

So, as we stand on the cusp of another new year, let us remember our Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. And let us pray that they become a bigger part of our lives.

Let us Pray:

God of our Hope, we come to you looking for hope. When everything else we rely on fails us, our only hope is in you. We can hope for better days because we trust you. Loving God, remind us that our hope is in you.

Prince of Peace, reveal yourself to us today. We need peace in our lives, our homes, our families, our church, and our whole world. Help us to slow down and seek out the peace you provide, so we may become peacemakers for ourselves and others.

Joyous God, help us to not overlook the simple joys that are part of our daily lives.  Let us remember to feel joy in a hug, or the squeeze of hand, in a smile or hear it in laughter. Open our eyes to the joy that surrounds us.

Loving God, we have learned to love from being loved by you. And so today, let us act out that love. Let us live that love. We know that what the world needs now is more love. We need to remember how much you love each one of us and we must share that love with others.

Amen