Colossians 1:19-23 – Give Peace a Chance
Today’s message is one of those I didn’t really want to preach. It’s not that it’s not true; the issue is that people often don’t want hear what is being said. It’s funny how people tell preachers to give them the Word, but when it comes, they don’t appreciate it being directed toward them.
A friend of mine, Roger, back on the Miramichi, would talk about people coming up to him after he preached from time to time, and would say, “Ow, wow, you really stepped on my toes today.” And Roger would say, “That’s too bad – I was aiming for your heart.” Today’s message is aiming for your heart. Let’s read Colossians 1:19-23.
This is a wonderful passage about what God has done for us through Jesus. It starts off by reminding us that Jesus is fully God, and it pleased God for Jesus to do mighty, powerful, God-thing for us, a thing only God could do. Jesus reconciled us with God. I’ll come back to that – reconciliation is our central thought today. But for now, what you need to know is that reconciliation is about restoring what was broken.
So Jesus fixed the relationship that God had with His creation. Sin – the deliberate act of doing what you want instead of what God wants – broke the original relationship that the Creator God had with His creation, you, me, and everything else in the universe. Sin broke the relationship, which is why we have things like pain, sorrow, loneliness, loss, earthquakes, natural disasters, volcanoes, traffic accidents, drownings, heart attacks, diseases, mosquitoes, and AIDS. It’s not that any one of us is to blame – it’s because we live in a sinful world.
And what Jesus did was like a promise, a guarantee, that things would someday be different. Someday all that would be gone, and we need to keep persevering in the faith, as v23 tells us, in order to believe that God really does love us, despite the hurt we see around us.
And it’s not just the sin around us that’s the problem – it’s the sin inside that is equally devastating. Sure, our personal sin has nothing to do with earthquakes or tsunamis, but it’s our own sin that separates families and manipulates co-workers and seeks love somewhere besides our spouses.
You and I each have enough potential to ruin the world around us, and that’s is what Jesus came to deal with. We too were enemies with God, alienated from Him, separated from Him, willing victims to our evil behaviours.
But we see that Jesus did something about it. He reconciled us – He cleared the slate, that list of sins that separated us from God – He forgave us – with the intention that He would continue to make us holy and free from accusation. Jesus did what all the good works in the world couldn’t do – He gave us a clean conscience. He forgave us. He set us free from having to do enough good works to balance out our bad deeds, to tip the scales, to earn the 51%, just enough to let us into heaven. No! He forgave us, period. And now, armed with clean hearts, we do what is right, not because we have to, but because we choose to, because we want to, because we are thankful to God for doing what He did.
And it’s in this spirit that we need to follow in His footprints. 1 Peter 2 says that “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us to “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” When it comes to love, when it comes to how we treat others, we are to follow Jesus’ example. That includes reconciliation.
After all, 2 Corinthians tells us this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” That’s wonderful news: as believers, we are new, different, changed, and cleansed. That goes on to say: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
As believers, we have a divine purpose here on earth – to help others reach out to God. We have a ministry of reconciliation. This is true of us. This is what the Bible says of us. This is what God says we are to do, how to live. Reconciliation.
So, what is reconciliation? The English word reconcile means to come together again. It’s the same root words as what council has – to call a meeting, to gather people together. It means to fix the problems that separate people. It means to put behind what’s in the past. It means forgiveness, restoration, and repairing broken relationships. Generally, in the Bible, it means that the relationship between God and man is fixed.
But then there are verses like this: the words of Jesus from Matthew 5 – “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Jesus couldn’t be clearer. Your worship of God and your relationships with others are intertwined and connected.
I want to use this passage that speaks about God’s reconciliation to us about how we should reconcile with other people.
The first element of reconciliation from Colossians 1 is this: To reconcile means to take the first step. The Greek word for reconcile comes from a couple of Greek words that together mean, “to change mutually”. That is, each gives a little, each makes an effort to make up the difference. That’s what the Greek means. In other words, reconciliation is not about sitting around, waiting for the other person to fix everything.
Think about it. In our relationship with God, who did the wronging? Us. So, who was wronged? God. And who made the first step to reach out to the other? God. God, who was the offended party, also took the initiative to reach out to the offenders. God took the first step to reach out to the people who did the wronging, which is us.
The reality is, people hurt each other. It happens. Even as Christians, or especially as Christians, we hurt each other. We say things that pierce, and do things that scar. It is a reality of the sinful world we live in. And our natural response to getting hurt is the flight-or-fight mechanism. We run away or we fight back.
But what I see in Jesus is neither flight or fight. When He was mistreated and ill-used and lied about, He didn’t hide or lash out. In fact, the Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He took the first step to reconcile us, to make us friends again.
Please understand: I’m not saying that bad things didn’t happen. I really don’t think that things would be just swell if everybody went back to the first church they ever attended. What I’m saying is that God reached out to us, when we were in the wrong, and He was in the right.
Taking the first step could be inviting someone out for coffee or a game of crib, like you used to, before all that foolishness happened. I’m saying sending a thinking-of-you card or a quick e-mail may be the thing that starts a friendship again. I’m saying that even though you may think you were in the right, and they wronged you… God took the first step with us, and maybe you need to take the first step with that person.
The second element of reconciliation from Colossians 1 is this: To reconcile means to make peace. Jesus reconciled the whole universe, declaring that a new day had come. But there was still sin in the world, even now. People still live as enemies to God. Does this mean that Jesus’ reconciliation didn’t work? No. It means that God has done everything He can in order to make peace with us.
And that is part of when we try to reconcile with others, too. It means doing all we can do to make peace, but still… the results are not totally up to us. Hebrews 12 tells us to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone.” Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” We certainly have a part to play in reconciliation, but we aren’t everything.
Remember how I said the Greek word meant a mutual change, or to make up the difference? True reconciliation doesn’t happen unless both parties make every effort. That’s why Romans 12 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Do your part, and leave the results to God. So make that phone call, or send that invitation, or fire off that e-mail, all in an effort to reconnect with that former friend or former church member. Do your part, but leave the results up to God.
And finally, the third element of reconciliation from Colossians 1 is this: To reconcile means to sacrifice. I mean, how did God reconcile with us? It took the death of Jesus to make it happen. And if I said that reconciliation with others came easy, I’d be lying. Reconciliation takes sacrifice. It’s costly.
It’s humbling. It’s painful. It involves remembering the hurts again. In a way, it takes us back to a dark time in our lives, when friendships were torn apart, maybe even churches. And at the time, all you wanted was for the hurt and confusion to be over. But you can’t continue as enemies, at least, not if you want to grow in your faith. Unforgiveness will fester in your heart like an infected splinter.
You can’t change the past. You can’t erase the memories. As they say, you can’t unscramble eggs. But reconciliation is real, and it’s desired by God – I mean, reconciliation was important enough for Jesus to die to make it happen – and it’s possible.
I said reconciliation was about restoring what was broken. So, what is broken in your life? What relationships need mending? I invite you, to take the first step. Reach out in faith, not because you want to, but because you believe God’s word that says it’s what He wants. Make every effort to find peace, no matter the past battles fought. Know that it won’t be easy, but it’s worth it.
Now, you may be saying, “But pastor, you don’t know what it’s like. You’re not from here. You don’t understand.” Well, I may not understand exactly your situation, but I understand some things. James 4:1 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” It’s sin that caused our separation from God, and it’s sin that separates us from each other.
Don’t be like the 93-year-old lady who admitted that she didn’t have any enemies in the world. But, when she was asked what her secret was, she simply said, “I outlived them all.”
