Keep The Perspective of Thankfulness - Col. 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12-17

12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, h put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, i humility, j gentleness, and patience, l 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. m 14 Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called n in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. 16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name o of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Introduction

This week much has been said about the 50th anniversary of the death of JFK. It marked 50 years since the death of the Christian author C.S. Lewis as well. I have been reading some from Mere Christianity this week paying particular attention to Chapter 10, "Hope." In this chapter Lewis makes the profound seem so simple, as is his gift to do so. He notes that this world does not satisfy. He writes, "I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world...Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage." It is with this desire to "never despise or be unthankful for these earthly blessings" that we turn to Scripture with the hopes of Keeping the Perspective of Thankfulness. 

The Mark(or the Mandate)

Text Reference: vs. 12(see above)

Main Idea: We have been asked to aim for the mark of Christ-like behavior: Put on(strive for) heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

The mark, out target, the characteristics that we should strive to own and display in our lives is that of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When we look to the life of Jesus Christ we see this lived out and recorded in Scriptures. Jesus didn't just see people in need, he worked compassionately to meet their needs. We have a picture of humility as the Son of God goes before Pilate and to the cross. Jesus' testimony was for his disciples to love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love their neighbors as themselves(Luke 10:27). 

So, we have the example. We have a mark which we can take aim at, but it seems that something prevents us from hitting the mark. We may live in moments of compassion; we may even display acts of kindness, however, I am sure that I have not succeeded in making these attributes permanent characteristics of my behavior.

The MISS-Stake

Text Reference: vs. 13

Main idea: It's obvious that we cannot always live in vs. 12, therefore Paul records verse 13; and with it we understand that we miss the mark and must forgive each other. 

My own human nature alarms me. If I can be transparent, of course you might think less of me if you were to really see and know my heart, I can harbor ill will to often. I dwell on the disapproved, sometimes dogmatically. I see the flaw instead of whole, the fracture instead of the healing. However, that's not my calling. I'm not called to see the person, but instead I should see their position. Paul asks that we "bear with one another." Which carries the meaning of supporting each other's load through the journey. Many times I do not want to pull my own weight much less the baggage of someone else. Yet the Apostle is asking me to forgive my brothers and sisters without hesitation, without grudges, without malice. That means all the petty human nature stuff that clouds our opinions of each other and stifles our worship, should be dropped. I have an example: Jesus Christ the righteous. He has forgiven me even though I MISSED the mark and keep missing it daily. Yet He loves...

The Message of Messiah

Text Reference: vs. 15-17

Main Idea: We miss the mark - but the message of Messiah is forgiveness. The life we have and the blessings we encounter are simply small window panes that give us a view into the eternal.

"Let the message about Messiah dwell richly among you..."(HCSB). The Holy Spirit seemed to be calling urgently during the sermon for us to see any small or great act of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, or patience as a reflection of the presence of God in our lives. If we have ever been gifted enough to have one of these acts poured out on us, we should express thanks and gratitude to God(This is keeping the perspective of thankfulness). That God would allow us to ever encounter a beautiful display of one of these acts in our lives is a tremendous blessing. I am amazed when I think of how good God's people have been to Carrie and I during her battle with breast cancer. Everyone, but especially the Fyffe First Family has demonstrated great compassion toward us. In these acts of kindness, our hearts should be filled to rejoicing that we have been counted worthy to receive such generous displays of Gods love, lived out, delivered by the Church. 

The directive is to let the message of the Messiah dwell richly in you. What is His Message: Forgive... He forgave the criminal nailed to a cross just a few feet from His own cross. What is His Message: feed the hungry, care for the widow and the orphan, love God with all your might and love your neighbor as yourself. If at any point in our lives we find enough of the Holy Spirit in us urging us to serve those around us(whether in our church or not, whether they look as if they deserve it our not, whether they act like, talk like, smell like we do or not) we should see this as the message of the Messiah dwelling so richly in us that it moves us to act - act on the behalf of Christ our King.

Summary

There is a Mark to which we strive(compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience...) but, it is very clear that in our lives we MISS the mark. Therefore, let the Message of the Messiah dwell so richly in us all that we forgive friend and foe alike, neighbor and stranger, churched and unchurched all in the name of Jesus Christ our loving redeemer. In so doing we will keep the perspective of thankfulness. I pray that those I have offended or wronged in the past can find the grace to forgive me. If you do not have a place where you regularly join with other believers to seek our great God, please come seek Him with us at Fyffe First. 9:30 Sunday School; 10:30 Worship.