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.
Colossians 3:15-17 (NRSV)
This is today’s scripture reading in The
Upper Room daily devotion. It’s a passage
that has special meaning for me. When Steve and I were planning our marriage
ceremony, our pastor suggested a number of very familiar Scripture passages,
but he added that there were many lists of others appropriate for
weddings. So I started looking at some
of those lists, and we chose Colossians 3:12-17. For a wedding present, the
pastor and his wife gave us a small clay pitcher inscribed with words from this
passage. I think I chose this
passage, hoping and praying that Steve and I could live out the same type of
love and grace in our marriage that Paul describes.
Earlier in Colossians, Paul reminded the New Christians that in their
baptism, they “had died” and “been raised with Christ.” Their new self, celebrating its
interdependence within the “one body” of Christ, should generously brim with
love, humility, and patience, and literally sing with gratitude! As members of a true Christian community they were urged to reorient
their lives around Christ, living their lives in harmony with each other. Just as they were urged, and because we too
have been raised with Christ, we are to seek heavenly ways of being with one
another. See why I hoped and prayed
that Steve and I could live out this type of life together?
As the hands and feet of Christ present in
the here and now, we are to clothe ourselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” What an awesome
responsibility: to be compassionate,
humble, gentle and kind everywhere and all the time. Paul several times tells
the early Christians to "clothe themselves" with behaviors and
practices indicative of their status as "God's chosen ones." All these things take time and considerable
practice to “put on.” They must be
learned and practiced intentionally.
Sometimes it is very hard to wear these garments – to put them on, keep
them from becoming too small, not allow the waistband to bind or the static to
cling to our bodies. Think about it:
- Kindness gets a little bothersome like the tag in a shirt when people share their displeasure with your actions.
- Gentleness gets itchy like wool when personalities or opinions differ.
- And forget humble when your name is plastered all over e-mail and brochures and contact information!
Passages like Colossians 3:15-17 are the
core of being people on a faith journey: a journey that is sometimes easy to
“wear” – we can just slide right into it -- and sometimes very difficult to put
on – and keep on. The clothing of “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” sometimes fits well and at other times causes us to be really
uncomfortable. Our prayer should always be that we find the ways to live out
this type of life which is woven together into community - into the kingdom of
God in the here and now - as we follow the risen Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment