Mystery, magic, and imagination. The text
we are going to dwell on today involves all three. Today, like all days, I hope
we can engage our imagination while drawing from the text. It is a text that is
often described as having hymn like qualities. It is also one of the most
Christological passages in the New Testament, and by that I mean that from this
text serious theologians have drawn out deep implications of who Jesus was,
what his mission on earth was, and the scope and the ramifications of the event
of his coming. The section of text we are looking at goes beyond the
imaginative hymn, it moves to application, as well as moving from Christ to us.
So like a "proper" sermon, today I'll be focusing on three parts,
three segments of the text, which follow the flow of "Imagine, Embody,
Subvert."
As we hear this passage read, let it sink
in, and imagine.
3 Readers:
Colossians 1:15-29
15 He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in
heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and
for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him
all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come
to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God
was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.
21 And you who were once estranged and
hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in
his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and
irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue
securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope
promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every
creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s
afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I
became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you,
to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has
been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to
his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among
the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning
everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone
mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the
energy that he powerfully inspires within me.
IMAGINE:
This text comes to us from the book of
Colossians, a book attributed to Paul, but many people disagree as to whether
Paul wrote it, partly due to the passage we just heard. This passage, if
written by Paul marks a shifting in his theology. Here we have language of the
cosmos, invisible, powers, authorities, and rulers. It is a different vision, a
grander scope, an encompassing vision of Christ's work that is not as
specifically explicated in other letters of Paul. Whatever the case, whether
written by Paul or one of his followers, it is this grand vision the text
welcomes us into.
This Colossians text and the Ephesians
text have significant overlap. And both of these text seem to deal with magic,
a magic that was part of the culture of Colossae and Ephesus. BUT what do I
mean by magic? Magic, as conceived of at the time was not some Harry Potter, or
Lord of the Rings, or Narnia magic. Rather, magic was associated with religion.
It was a belief that if you said things the right way, or with the right
belief, that your invocation would be answered. So people would chant spells,
petition the gods, or go about ritualistic ceremonies in order to get what they
wanted. It was often referred to as mystery, as only the inductees were granted
access to the correct words. The reference to mystery in the passage we read
and a later mention of worship of angels in the Colossians text give us clues
that this magic culture is being addressed. With this understanding of magic,
as a way of guaranteeing desires, we can see that magic was kind of like a sect
of religion, it was a religious deviant; it was about managing the supernatural
powers in order to get the guaranteed results.
In some ways, I think we have not moved
all that far from the magic religions. I perceive that most people want
religion, including Christianity, to function like magic. We mumble our prayers
to a certain rhythm, we have our favorite phrases that we repeat, whether it be
reducing our requests "Just" statements to make it seem that our
request are not really that big of a deal. "God JUST do this, God JUST do
that." OR we heap on the extra
words as if saying them in the right way will get us what we want, to guarantee
results, for example, "Dear Lord Jesus Christ, and the heavenly father,
the Almighty and all powerful, and done in the name of the Holy
Spirit...etc," OR we repeat
things "Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you Lord Jesus, and Praise you Lord
Jesus, and worship you Lord Jesus." In all these ways, I think ideas of
religious magic are alive and functioning in our Christian faiths.
But it is not only the "How" of
relating to God that magic relates to, magic also involves the
"What." The "What" of magic often changes, it might be
something you hold very closely. Maybe it is the reason you have faith, is it
having faith in order to secure your salvation, it is to guarantee your certainty,
or is it so that do not need to admit you are lonely, or is it just a cover up
to make up to make you feel better about not being a very nice person? These
are not bad things to wish for or desire, but if your Christian faith is the
way a guaranteeing these things, then you might be treating your Christian
faith like magic.
In what ways do you see magical beliefs incorporated into Christianity?
So how does Paul respond to this culture
of magic?
Into this context, of a magic way of
relating to the gods, the text of Colossians is written. The Colossians text
contrasts this view of magic and mystery, it is not about saying things in the
right way, nor is it keeping the mystery secret so only the inducted ones can
have access to it. Paul completely subverts this prevailing view of how to
interact with the gods. Instead, the text shows the overwhelming scope and
power of Christ, thus undermining a notion that you can ask for specific things
in certain ways to alter the gods or guarantee that you get what you want.
Further, Paul says that the mystery is revealed. Thus, the mystery or secret
has become plain. For Paul, there is no way to treat the Christian good news as
magic, because the mystery has been revealed to all. By being revealed to all,
the mystery loses its coercive power. This implicitly means that all requests
or petitions that would have a result in favour of one person, and would have had
a negative effect for someone else can no longer work. This revealed mystery
breaks down conceptions of competitive religion, in favour of a universalizing
vision. In addition to negating religious competition, Paul moves to a metaphor
of reconciliation. Reconciling ALL Things.
The metaphor of reconciliation is a
bringing together. In order to communicate this, Paul paints a cosmological
picture; that is, a picture of the entire universe. Christ is depicted as the
agent of creation, the bond that holds the cosmos together, he is the present
head of the Church, which is already redeemed, and he is the destiny of
creation, the consummation. The passage has two sections a creation and a
re-creation. As such, this passage shows a way of viewing the cosmos that
undermines the us/them dichotomy, and it undermines the me/other dichotomy. It
totally reframes the way we think about, and how we relate to, the world. It
puts us amongst creation, placing Christ above and within, thus changing all
the power structures. Through the use of the words In/through/by/with a
relational picture is painted. A picture in which the human is one of many
participants.
Re-read:
•
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
16 for in[h]
him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things
have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is
before all things, and in[i]
him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the
body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he
might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in
him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and
through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether
on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Pictures:
Video: Each circle you see throughout this
video is a factor of 10, which means the previous circle was either 10X
smaller, or 10X larger. It is an exponential video.
How are you reacting to hearing these verses set in a magical context
and viewing them as a cosmological vision?
EMBODY:
The text then moves in a bit of a new
direction. From the grand cosmological vision of Christ’s supremacy, Paul
begins to imagine the ramifications of such a belief. It is an inclusion of the
person.
The grand vision has already challenged
all conceptions of the Roman Empire, the thrones and dominions. It has brought
in all of created world. It has brought encompassed all religious notions in
the visible and invisible, including the Jewish religion and the dwelling of
God has seemingly been changed from the tabernacle and the temple to Christ.
And now the text challenges the reader and hearer to understand the
ramifications of a vision with such a grand scope.
It is a journey to embody this vision. The
distant are brought in. The individual is included in the church.
Re-read:
•
21 And
you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he
has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present
you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided
that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without
shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed
to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
Now as we
are imagining, we will read three poems that will help to bring our imagination
from the estranged to the reconciled.
The Wolf Howled – Arthur Rimbaud
“The wolf howled under the leaves
And spit out the prettiest feathers
Of his meal of fowl:
Like him I consume myself.”
Fire and Ice– Robert Frost
“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold
with those who favour fire.
But if it has to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”
The Rose Family – Robert Frost
“The rose
is a rose,
And was
always a rose.
But the
theory now goes
That the
apple’s a rose,
And the
pear is, and so’s
The Plumb,
I suppose.
The dear
only knows
What will
next prove a rose.
You of
course, are a rose –
But were
always a rose.
What are your feelings about being
included into the vast, redefining vision of Christ?
SUBVERT:
Having articulated the grand scope,
challenging the conceptions of religious magic, and then bringing in the
embodiment of the vision to the individual, this section of text goes on to
point a direction in which to follow.
Re-read:
•
24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my
flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of
his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for
you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery
that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now
been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make
known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he
whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that
we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I
toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.
This text show us a way. A way to join
into the grand vision of being In Christ. It is not a way of having power over, it is not about an us verses them conception of humanity. It is a way of
welcoming, of bring people into the church, of inclusion. It is enabled by
Christ in us. The creator, holder, and restorer of the entire cosmos.
Specifically, it is the way of suffering,
of being a servant, which makes God fully known. As we participate in this way
of weakness, of suffering, of giving, that we continue to make up “what is
lacking in Christ’s afflictions” and we participate in bringing the entire
cosmos into reconciliation. It is in this hope, in this way that we find Glory,
a way of being as we are meant to be. Glory is to function properly, like the
athlete who wins; he or she has functioned perfectly and is glorified. The text
shows that participating with Christ, having Christ in us, is the hope of
functioning properly. This way we embody the cosmological vision of
reconciliation, down the path of suffering and servant hood. Therefore, we do
not need to treat our Christian faith like magic because the scope of treating
Christianity like magic is far too small. God’s vision for the reconciliation
of all things is far more grand and beautiful than magical certainty.
Reflections?
Transition
to Communion:
As we come to the table, we participate in the vision
we have just explored. We consume the bread and the juice and as it
participates in us, nourishing us and enabling us to go on, so too Christ is
participating and working in us and through us in the task of reconciling ALL
THINGS to himself. And as we reflect on our God of the Cosmos, the one revealed
in Jesus, we remember the path he chose, the path of suffering, the way of the
servant, the way that led him to the cross. As we remember this we are
emboldened to choose the same path of suffer for reconciliation.
As God invites us into his vision for the cosmos, we
invite you to our table. Here at Mosaic, we practice an open table, all are
welcome to come, and all are welcome to eat. So come to the table, eat of
Jesus’ body given for you, and drink of his blood poured out for the many.
