Imagine – Embody – Subvert!

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.