In the name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
It
is quite fitting that we have a Baptism today, as it partners perfectly with
this morning’s reading from Colossians. Scholars tell us that verses 15-20,
which are contained in the first paragraph of the reading in the bulletin, are
an ancient hymn of the early Church. These verses would have been familiar to
first generation Christians and is older than the book of Colossians itself.
This song of the earliest Church was likely used at Baptisms that took place
nearly 2,000 years ago in what is modern-day Turkey. So today, as we prepare to
baptize Jacob Grey Storey into the Body of Christ, we are united to Christians
throughout time and space as we consider this hymn about Christ’s Lordship.
Today,
you’ll hear a lot of people talk about things like salvation and membership
when we talk about Baptism, but for some reason, the language of the Bible
isn’t often used. Throughout the New Testament, a key phrase that describes
both Baptism and the Christian life is “in Christ.” St. Paul often uses that
phrase in his writings. So what does it mean to be “in Christ”? Well, it’s not
like tools that are in a toolbox or clothes that are in a closet. Being “in
Christ” isn’t about remaining a distinct object contained within some larger
object. Instead, think of being “in Christ” as being an arm on the body – an
arm, if it isn’t connected to the body isn’t good for much. Or think of it as
the branch of a tree, it is only alive if it is connected to the trunk and root
system which gives it nourishment and standing. Being “in Christ” means
becoming a part of Jesus, and therefore God.
This
Christ hymn that is included in the letter to the Colossians is a hymn about
what it means to be “in Christ.” We often say that Baptism is about our
becoming “in Christ,” so let’s consider the words of this ancient and holy text
as we reflect on our own Baptism, and get ready to bring Jacob into Christ.
The
first part of the hymn seeks to adjust our focus and understanding of the
world. For one, the hymn notes that there is a false dichotomy between the
sacred and the secular. God is invisible, the hymn says, but there are plenty
of other things that are often painfully visible: thrones, dominions, rulers,
and powers. These things though are all created through and for Jesus, who is
the image of this invisible God.
It’s
important to know a bit about the context of Colossians in order grasp what
these verses are saying. Colossae was very much a city of the Roman Empire –
under the rule and dominion of Caesar. And remember, Caesar was called “Son of
God,” “Prince of Peace,” and was seen as the one who brings salvation to the
world. This hymn is a song of protest against the powers that be, and as such,
is a subversive and seditious song. In those days, if you got caught singing a
hymn like this, it meant that you were guilty of sedition, and would likely have
been imprisoned or executed for singing these subversive verses.
What
this hymn proclaimed then needs to be proclaimed today – that Christ is the
head of all things. This means that things like race, nationality,
denomination, or political affiliation all fall away when we are “in Christ.”
In a well-known passage from Galatians, St. Paul’s puts it this way: “There is
no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer
male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” So, if it is true
that in Christ we find our truest and deepest identity and connection, why then
are we so divided? Why does saying something like “Black Lives Matter” make
some people so angry? Why do people who are supposedly all “in Christ” fight so
bitterly over things like healthcare? Why, if Jesus is Lord, why do we seek and
worship other lords like prestige, security, or the free market. If Jesus is
the head of all, why are we afraid of so many things?
When
we say that “Jesus is Lord” or say that we are “in Christ,” it is not only an
affirmation of what we believe, but it is also rejection of all other things
that pull us away from God. It’s why in the beginning of the Baptismal Covenant
that the candidates both renounce things that turn us away from God and affirm their
faith and trust in Jesus. And because being “in Christ” means that we relegate certain
things as secondary, it mean that our faith should be seditious, getting us in
trouble with the powers that be. If God is about abundant love, then the fearful
hoarding of capitalism doesn’t make sense. If we think God is in charge, then
why are our politics such a divisive abomination? If Jesus is the Word made
flesh, then the words of the Constitution lose their importance as our guiding principles.
Now, if that doesn’t sit well with you, don’t blame me, take it up with God.
And I seriously mean that – pray to God, asking God to show you God’s dominion
of love in this world. If you struggle with knowing and living as if Christ
Jesus is the head of all, and we all struggle with that from time to time if
we’re honest with ourselves, then tell God about it and see what comes out of
that prayer.
The
hymn then says that “in Christ, all things hold together.” Given the fractured
state of our society right now across lines of race, politics, income, and
seemingly everything else, we desperately need to be held together right now.
Perhaps it’s too much to ask for Klansmen and members of the NAACP to be
reconciled to each other, but what if each group saw themselves fully “in
Christ”? And then also saw other groups as being “in Christ”? It doesn’t mean
we condone things that should never be condoned or stop standing up against
evil, but perhaps we can see each other as members of the same body. If we can’t
be reconciled to each other, at least we can be reconciled to Christ, and let
Christ do the further work of transforming our hearts and minds once we are “in
Christ.”
Jesus’
primary mission was to announce that the Kingdom of God has come near to us,
that it is within grasp, that it can be experienced here and now. But that
Kingdom looks very different than the kingdoms of this world. The hymn praises the
reconciliation of all things through the Cross of Christ. And notice that there
is no asterisk after the word “all.” All really means all – it means black and
white, young and old, Jew and Gentile, Muslim and Buddhist, liberal and
conservative, Baptist and Episcopal, those with doctorates and those who didn’t
finish high school, rich and poor, gay, trans, and straight, really nice people
and really mean people, plants and animals, humans and rainstorms, flesh and
Spirit, the living and the dead, galaxies and molecules – all is reconciled in
Christ. In Christ, all means all.
But
how this reconciliation happens is important – through the Cross. Remember,
during Jesus’ time, and the time when this hymn was composed, the world was
under the order of the pax Romana –
the peace of Rome. The way that Rome achieved and promoted peace was simple –
submit to us and be peaceful, or we’ll eliminate you and get peace that way. It
was peace through either submission or domination. But the Cross offers a
radically different path to peace.
On
the Cross, Jesus didn’t seek to call down the angels of heaven and wage a war,
but rather he endured pain and offered words of forgiveness to those who were
actively killing him. And as the hymn notes, in Christ, we saw the full image of
God who was pleased to dwell in Jesus. I don’t know that we stop often enough
to consider the audacity of this pillar of our faith. God, the Creator of all
that is, the source of all being, the fountain of eternal love, was pleased to
come as a poor peasant from Galilee who lived under Roman occupation and to be
violently and publically murdered for simply speaking the truth. And when God
suffered, God took it – Jesus didn’t curse anyone, he didn’t fight back, he
didn’t promise retribution. And then when Jesus is raised from the dead, he
doesn’t seek revenge, he doesn’t go after Caesar or Pontus Pilate or Caiaphas, instead
he offers forgiveness to Peter who deserted him during his arrest, he appears
to people as they break bread together, he tells his disciples to go out and
baptize others, bringing them into this way of living. Can you just imagine
what the world would look like if when we thought about being “in Christ” it meant
that we were a part Christ’s reconciling of all Creation on the Cross?
The
reason why this Christ hymn is offered in the text is that it points to the
final verse of the reading from Colossians – “that we may present everyone mature
in Christ.” You could also translate “mature” as “perfected” or “fulfilled” or “achieving
their purpose.” Being “in Christ” is about having a mature faith, one that
helps to bring to fruition the Kingdom of God. When we are mature “in Christ”
we can know that the scope of redemption is as wide as Creation; we can know
that we are parts of Christ’s Body, not slaves Empire; we can know that if
Jesus is Lord, then the Caesars of the world are not; we can know that the most
important identification and calling that we have is that of our Baptism.
I
hope that I’ve shown you the power of this Christ hymn and the importance of
taking seriously our Baptisms that put us “in Christ.” This week, you might
want to pray with this hymn, asking God to free you from all the powers of
empire that still tug at you today, asking God to make you aware of the great love
in which you are held by being “in Christ,” asking God to make you an
instrument of the reconciliation of the Cross of Christ. As we Baptize Jacob,
pay close attention to the words and actions that give a glimpse into what it
means to be “in Christ.” In the words from this passage from Colossians, may
God grant us all to know the “riches of the glory of this mystery, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Amen.
