Good Morning! Can I add my words of welcome to you this morning, welcoming you to National ‘Back to Church Sunday’? Whether you are here for the very first time, or whether you are returning to Church today, I would like to say two things: One, it is really good to see you. Two, I would like to apologise for the times when churches and church leaders have done really stupid things. We’re human, we can be frail at times, and I’m sorry if you’ve been hurt by the Church.
Of course having just offered that apology I now run the very real risk of upsetting and offending you because that is a risk a Christian always runs when he or she explains their faith in Jesus; but first I’d like to share with you some very solemn announcements that have been made in Churches up and down the land in recent years. Some are taken from Church Notice Sheets, Notice boards and magazines:
1.A report from the Church meeting: the Vicar spoke briefly and delighted the audience.
2.Next Sunday is the Vicar’s last Sunday before he moves. Our special anthem will be the Hymn ‘Come ye thankful people come’!
3.Ladies are requested not to have children in the church kitchen.
4.A notice stuck to the hot-air hand-dryer in the men’s toilet at church had these words on it: ‘Press this button for a repeat of last Sunday’s sermon’!
5.Tuesday at 4.00 pm there will be an ice-cream social. All are welcome. Ladies giving milk should come early!
6.From a Diocesan Newsletter: ‘You will all be pleased to hear that the Bishop is making very slow progress after his operation’.
7.The sermon next Sunday will be on ‘Hell’. A warm welcome will be extended to all.
(With thanks to Bishop David Pytches’ book entitled ‘Burying the Bishop’.)
I wonder what your experiences of Church have been like. Many people have had mixed experiences of Church, and even though today is National ‘Back to Church Sunday’ I am not going to focus primarily on Church – even though so far I have done!
If I could add to the title ‘Back to Church Sunday’, it would be this: In brackets ‘Calling the people of this nation Back to faith in Jesus Christ’. I wonder what your reaction is to Jesus Christ.
Our Bible reading was from a section known as St Paul’s letter to the Colossians. It was a letter addressed to a new Church in Collossae, in modern day Turkey; and it was addressed to men and women who had recently come to believe and trust in Jesus.
My summary of the Bible reading we’ve just heard is this: Jesus is Lord of all creation. Jesus is Lord of the Church, and Jesus wants you to know and love him.
Jesus is Lord of all creation:
Concerning Jesus, Paul wrote that “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (1:17). It speaks of Jesus existing before the world began. In John’s gospel – one of the four records of the life of Jesus – the writer starts by calling Jesus ‘the Word’, and says this: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God …through him all things were made” (John 1: 1-2).
Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together. I love the words of the hymn that declares ‘Jesus is Lord, creation’s voice proclaims it, for by his power each tree and flower was planned and made. Jesus is Lord, the universe declares it, sun moon and stars in heaven cry Jesus is Lord!’ And I also love the Graham Kendrick song ‘The Servant King’ in which he says of Jesus, ‘hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered’. Jesus, co-existing with God before history began - the author and Lord of creation.
‘In him all things hold together’ (1:17). As you look at the world do you ever feel as if things are cracking up, falling apart even? A year ago our banks collapsed, trust in politicians has sunk lower with the expenses scandal, countries continue to be at war, global warming is high on the world agenda, and Iran moves closer to going nuclear; but in Jesus ‘all things hold together’. Everything that we are and everything we have is sustained and preserved by him. Life itself, the air we breath, the food we eat, and the motion of the earth around the sun is all held together in him, with the promise that when he returns all things will be renewed, and there will be no more death, no more tears, for the old order of things will have passed away (Revelation 21: 4-5). Jesus is Lord of creation.
Jesus is Lord of the Church:
Verse 18 of our Bible reading: ‘he is the head of the body, the church’. The Church is the body. Jesus is our head. We are only a church with Jesus as head.
Just as our bodies receive direction, understanding and meaning from our heads, so it is with the church. Jesus cannot be separated from the church.
As some of you know I still enjoy watching Casualty on BBC1. Last week one of the new F2’s in the Accident & Emergency Department was sent on a trip with the paramedics. Their first call was to a car accident where sadly a man had been decapitated during the collision, and unfortunately the Police had not been able to locate the head which must have been thrown clear – you can see where this is going can’t you! The young Doctor surveyed the carnage around him and after stepping in a pool of blood he walked a few steps to the edge of a field to catch his breath and compose himself. Unfortunately, just a few yards into the field lay the head. The Good News is that Jesus is the head of the church and cannot be separated from it, but it also means that a church without Jesus is not a church and cannot function.
The Church needs to keep its head! It is Jesus who sustains, orders and guides the church in all its different forms, and it is Jesus – our head – on whom we depend. We are only a Church with Jesus as our head. Jesus is Lord of creation, and He is Lord of the worldwide church.
Is Jesus Lord of you?
‘God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus]’ (1:19). So, when we look at Jesus and listen to what he said and what he did we get to know what God is really like. Jesus reveals to us the invisible God. Also, through Jesus, God was ’[reconciling] to himself all things ...by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross’ (1:20).
Something immensely powerful happened on the cross. Humanity had alienated itself, and still alienates itself from God because of our evil behaviour (1:21). The Bible often refers to it as sin.
Just in case you’re wondering, I confess that every day I think things, say things and do things that I should not. I sin, but I don’t want to. I do things that run contrary to the way of life God wants for me. However, I rejoice that Jesus Christ has reconciled me to God, and that he has plans to change and transform me day by day.
Jesus is Lord of creation, and Lord of the Church, and he wants to be Lord of you, so that he can ‘present you [to God] holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation’ (1:22). Now I don’t fully understand what happened on the cross; but by faith I believe that Jesus was paying the price for our sins, reconciling us to God, and making the way open for every one of us to enter into a living and loving relationship with God. So when we believe the Good News about Jesus a miracle happens. We are transferred into the kingdom of light (1:12) and Jesus presents us to God holy, blemish-free and without accusation.
It’s like the work done on various Television programmes. Take one run down house or barn crying out for restoration, or a few rooms of a house in desperate need of decoration, or the Vicarage kitchen in need of a refit! Jesus takes us as we are, however run-down, how ever messy our lives might be, and he lovingly restores us, so that in God’s eyes we are holy, blemish-free and without accusation. After cleaning us up – however long that takes – and after working on us for the rest of our days, there will come a day in the presence of God when Jesus will proudly present us before the throne of God. Now, this is not meant to sound anything like ‘Blue Peter’, but Jesus will say, “Father, here’s what I have prepared earlier. Look what I have prepared for you.” And when God looks at us he will not see our imperfections, our sins, our poor decisions, or our wasted opportunities. God will look at us and see us made perfect in Jesus, and made perfect by Jesus, ‘holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation’.
One of the greatest scientists of our time was Albert Einstein. He was a man who was so focused on his scientific theories that he often neglected the simplest things of life, such as personal appearance (as evidenced by his hair). One time, Einstein was on a train heading for a speaking engagement. As he sat in his seat engrossed in his work, the conductor stopped by for his ticket. Looking up in shock, Einstein realized he didn’t know what he had done with his ticket. Frantically, he began to search his coat pockets, and then his briefcase. Gently, the conductor said, "We all know who you are, Dr. Einstein. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it." But, as the conductor moved along he looked back to see Einstein on his hands and knees searching under seats for his ticket. The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, please, don’t worry about it. I know who you are." Exasperated, Einstein looked up and said, "I, too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going." Do you know where you are going?
Jesus is Lord of creation. Jesus is Lord of his Church; and if you believe the Good News about Jesus, and continue to believe it (1:23) – if Jesus is your Lord, then you can be sure of where you are going. Jesus offers you the gift of a ticket to heaven with your name and the destination on it, and he will present you blemish free before his Father in heaven.
Shall we pray together?
