1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,480 We're going to transition into opening the word this morning 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,440 together and we're going to be digging back into our Colossians 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,000 series here. And if you've been around for a 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,360 while, you'll know that we've been working our way through the 5 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,080 book of Colossians and we've had various portions unpacked so 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:18,640 far. And, and actually the week 7 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:24,800 before Easter, Eduardo brought a phenomenal word around how Jesus 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:30,160 is the center, that he is the supreme one that isn't Jesus 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,480 plus something else. It is that it's just Jesus. 10 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,960 He's sufficient. He holds all things together. 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,200 He brings order when he's put in the center of our lives. 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,040 He brings order to our disordered worlds. 13 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,560 And there's no secret mystery. Jesus is it. 14 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:52,320 And this was super vital for that Colossian church because 15 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,440 they were in a world where there was all kinds of things 16 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,880 swirling, all kinds of narratives around them, from 17 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,920 Greek philosophy to Eastern mysticism and Roman imperial 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,600 culture and Jewish tradition, all mixing up in one big pot. 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,120 And the danger for them was that it wasn't that they were going 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,160 to reject Jesus, it was that they could easily fall for this 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,120 idea that Jesus was a good start, but they really wanted, 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:22,480 they really wanted to be spiritual. 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,920 There was something else that was needed. 24 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,120 And so Paul is writing this letter to the Colossian church 25 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,520 while he is imprisoned. And essentially it's to speak 26 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:39,080 clarity through that fog. He wants them to understand that 27 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,560 spiritual maturity is found in the understanding of what it 28 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,480 means that Christ is in US. And so Paul is pulling back the 29 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,880 curtain for us in this room this morning to show us what it's 30 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,880 really like to live in the Kingdom of God and grow as 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,000 followers of Jesus. So I want us to open up the word 32 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:00,520 together. We're going to read from 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,680 Colossians. It should come up on the screen. 34 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,280 Or you can open up your Bible and follow along. 35 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,800 And it says this Colossians 124 is where we're starting. 36 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,240 Now. I rejoice in what I am suffering 37 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,440 for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in 38 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,800 regards to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which 39 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,200 is the Church. I have become its servant by the 40 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,920 Commission that God gave me to present to you the Word of God 41 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:38,160 in its fullness the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages 42 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,200 and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. 43 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,280 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,920 glorious riches of His mystery, which is Christ in you the hope 45 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,600 of glory. He is the one that we proclaim, 46 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,840 admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so 47 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,880 that we may present everyone fully mature to Christ. 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,080 And to this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy that 49 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,720 Christ so powerfully works in me. 50 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,360 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,160 at Laosidea. I can never say that word. 52 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,640 And for all those who have not met me personally, my goal is 53 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:23,680 that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so 54 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,720 that they may have the full riches of complete understanding 55 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,800 in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ in 56 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,720 whom is hidden, or the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 57 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,480 And I tell you this so that not one may be deceived by fine 58 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,640 sounding arguments. Amen. 59 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,360 Well, as I sat with these verses this week, what struck me was 60 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:56,480 how poor brings to life 3 of many dynamics that we experience 61 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,640 living in the Kingdom straight shaped lives and the invitation 62 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,280 that those give us to grow, to become more and more mature 63 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,640 followers of Jesus. And so we're going to do our 64 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,840 best to get through these in there, the short time that we 65 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,360 have left. But the first one is this. 66 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,959 And it's the dynamic of participation, moving from 67 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,079 confused wise to Commission house. 68 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,120 One of the things that blows my mind on a regular basis about 69 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,520 God is that He chooses to partner with people like you and 70 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,120 me. Not only did out of His great 71 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,240 love did He give His Son Jesus to open the door so that we 72 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,280 could be restored in relationship with Him, He 73 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:47,360 audaciously decided that it was a good idea to use ordinary, 74 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,800 messy humans like you and me to carry His presence to the 75 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,320 corners of the world. And here in Colossians, we 76 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,320 quickly see that this participation in the mission of 77 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,400 God can get costly and it can be uncomfortable. 78 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,480 And Paul describes it in a way that at first sounds completely 79 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:13,240 upside down and bizarre. If we look at Colossians 124, we 80 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,800 only have to get about 6 words in and we've already hit a 81 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,400 sentence that quite frankly doesn't sound normal. 82 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,960 Paul says I rejoice in what I am suffering, not I'm tolerating 83 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,680 it, not I'm hanging in there and surviving it. 84 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,760 He says he's rejoicing in it. And if I'm honest, that is 85 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,680 definitely not my first instinct when things get hard and I'm 86 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:37,440 guessing it's probably not yours. 87 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,440 And then comes that second line. I fill up in my flesh what is 88 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,880 still lacking in regards to Christ afflictions. 89 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:52,040 Now hold on a second, that actually sounds slightly 90 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,920 heretical. Read it again. 91 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,280 I was reading it a few times in a row as I was preparing, 92 00:05:58,280 --> 00:05:59,920 thinking, Lord, what is that about? 93 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,120 It almost sounds as though Paul is saying that Jesus didn't 94 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,440 quite finish the job, like the cross was a good start and he 95 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,120 needs to fill up some gaps that were missing. 96 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:14,000 Now obviously we know that that is not true because when we hit 97 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,640 a verse like that, we have to recognise that we need to read 98 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,640 any verse in Scripture in the context of the rest of the 99 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:23,920 Bible. And we know we've we've 100 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:25,480 celebrated the table this morning. 101 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,240 We know that the work of Christ on the cross was full, complete. 102 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,480 There was absolutely nothing to add to what he did. 103 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,200 The gift of life is the result of sin fully paid for through 104 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,200 Jesus. So we absolutely know that Paul 105 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,880 is not saying that he's adding something to what was missing in 106 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,200 Jesus. And so we get this invitation in 107 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,160 a moment like this to dig a bit deeper. 108 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,840 Now, you will all know that I am not a Greek scholar or a Hebrew 109 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,400 scholar or any other kind of scholar, but we do have amazing 110 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,080 tools at our hands to study the Bible. 111 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,120 And so when I hit a verse like this, this is how I approach it. 112 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,600 I go, OK, God, like I'm going to look at some of these words and 113 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,680 try to understand what you might be saying through this word. 114 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,560 And when I looked here, Paul uses when when the word 115 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,040 afflictions come up. Actually in the original, Paul 116 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,760 used a word called philippus, which literally means pressure 117 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,120 or tension or crushing. It's the pressure that in the 118 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,480 ancient world represented when two things collide. 119 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:32,320 It was used, for example, when crushing grapes to produce wine. 120 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,800 The Philippus wasn't something to destroy you, it was something 121 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,160 that would produce something in you. 122 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,920 And crucially, it's not the word that was used for the sufferings 123 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,520 and the afflictions of Jesus. Sacrifice, sacrificial death on 124 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,880 the cross. So again, we know Paul isn't 125 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,120 talking about anything to do with payment for sin here. 126 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,400 And notice too, that he puts the the suffering in the context of 127 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,720 for the sake of others and for the Commission that God had 128 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,720 given him to bring the word to them. 129 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:08,600 And I was like, OK, I resonate with that. 130 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,160 Like I, we are given when we say yes to Jesus. 131 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,600 When we've given our lives to Jesus, we have been given a 132 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,520 Commission. You've heard me say it from this 133 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,640 stage many times. We have this Commission of God 134 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,920 to go into all the world to make disciples, teaching them his 135 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,720 ways. And he promises to go with us. 136 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,240 And so when we put all of this together, we recognise that Paul 137 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:35,320 is talking about moments or seasons like his being in prison 138 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,559 in the current moment that he's in where we where when we are 139 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,320 participating in the work of seeing the Kingdom of heaven 140 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:50,240 breaking into the Kingdom of earth here, there is a tension 141 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,760 moment. You could think of it this way, 142 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:55,840 right? Jesus won the victory on the 143 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:56,880 cross. We know that. 144 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,720 But this Philippus, this squeeze, this tension is as that 145 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,000 victory is lived out in the world that still resist it. 146 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:10,920 Jesus was clear, right? He told us that if we wanted to 147 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:12,880 follow him, we'd have to pick up our cross. 148 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,640 He never promised that our lives here on earth would be all 149 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,960 comfortable and happy and going great in every way, shape and 150 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,400 form. But then it we get to the really 151 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,000 crunchy bit because we haven't actually talked about the 152 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,560 rejoicing part in this, right? I can wrap my head around that. 153 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,520 It might be a bit uncomfortable to participate in God's mission, 154 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:39,520 but rejoice in it. Well, I was deeply relieved 155 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:44,760 because the word for rejoicing is the same root word as the 156 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:50,360 word for grace. And so with all of that 157 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:55,960 together, I think what Paul was actually saying to us is that 158 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,720 when we participate in the Kingdom of God, he's saying that 159 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:06,040 when Christ is in us, the hope of glory, when he is central in 160 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,600 our lives, we get to encounter the grace of God. 161 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,960 Even when we walk through sufferings and afflictions, 162 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,160 tension, pressure points, the crushing that comes as we step 163 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:23,160 into fulfilling the purpose of God has placed on our lives. 164 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,560 Paul isn't some crazy person. He's telling you to celebrate 165 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,200 and somehow just love suffering for the suffering sake, right? 166 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,520 And deny that it's hard or it's difficult. 167 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:42,040 This kind of rejoicing, this kind of biblical rejoicing is 168 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:46,680 grace. And grace isn't the absence of 169 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:50,640 discomfort. It's the reality of the presence 170 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:56,280 of God in your life who brings the presence of purpose in all 171 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,080 things. I'm going to say that again, it 172 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,640 grace is not the absence of discomfort or pain or 173 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:08,320 difficulty. Grace is the reality of the 174 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:14,840 presence of God, Christ in you, the hope of glory, and he is in 175 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,160 you. And because he is in you, you 176 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:18,960 have purpose and there is a purpose. 177 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,160 He's working all things. He's holding all things 178 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,400 together. NT Wright puts it really 179 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,280 beautifully. He says the afflictions of 180 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,040 Christ are not the atoning sufferings of the cross, but the 181 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:37,000 birth pangs of the new world. Paul is called to share these, 182 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,160 to be the means by which the love of the cross is translated 183 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,840 into the language of the present world. 184 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,000 And I was thinking about a friend of mine I know who works 185 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,920 in global logistics. And there's a term, if you work 186 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,880 in that world, you'll know it, called the last mile. 187 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,440 You know, a company will have a warehouse full of a product, a 188 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,400 gift ultimately that somehow solves a consumer's problem and 189 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,440 the warehouse will be stopped. All the hard work has been done 190 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,520 and it's finished. And then there's a logistics 191 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,640 system that is well oiled as they transfer from the the 192 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,240 warehouse to their depots. And the last mile is what they 193 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,760 call in that world, the description from the local depot 194 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,440 and to the specific front door that it needs to be delivered 195 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,600 to. And the last mile is the 196 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,680 headache piece for a logistics company. 197 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,680 It's where the traffic comes in, the rain and the, and the 198 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:41,800 weather systems can impact things. 199 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,800 There can be Rd. closures, there can be confusing GPS 200 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,720 instructions. There can be a delivery driver 201 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,800 who just wants to Chuck your package over the hedge because 202 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,560 they can't find your house. There's, you know, there's all 203 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:56,320 these dynamics involved. And if the driver isn't willing 204 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:01,040 to navigate those dynamics and gives up, the gift remains 205 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,880 undelivered. And I thought, gosh, isn't that 206 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:09,200 like us? We are Kingdom delivery drivers. 207 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,000 We have received this gift of Christ in US, and we're 208 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,840 commissioned to deliver the beauty of who He is to the world 209 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,120 around us. And we might be jars of clay 210 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,360 that feel fickle and broken, but we carry a treasure. 211 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,760 And when we move from what feels like the warehouse part of that 212 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,080 of our Sunday mornings into the last mile of our Monday through 213 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,080 Saturday, we hit Philippus the pressure. 214 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,800 You know, we might feel that in the awkwardness when we offer to 215 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,840 pray for a colleague and we're met with silence. 216 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,280 Or we pray for healing. And maybe we don't see what we 217 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,960 hoped for. I was thinking about this for 218 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,680 myself, like back to the days when I was trekking in the 219 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:59,400 Amazon jungle, taking the gospel, the good news of Jesus 220 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,840 to a people that had never heard his name before. 221 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,480 And we saw incredible fruit. But my Philippus was the 222 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,760 thousands of mosquito bites that caused my body to literally make 223 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:16,080 me cry because they hurt so bad. We can feel it in the cost of 224 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,680 forgiving someone who hasn't even said sorry, in choosing 225 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,040 integrity in the boardroom or while you're writing an essay as 226 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,320 a student when others are cutting the corners and you are 227 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,280 trying to do what you know is the right thing. 228 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,880 We can feel it when staying faithful to the calling, when 229 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:39,040 nothing seems to be changing regardless of what the part is. 230 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,560 Paul is reminding this church, and I want to remind us in here, 231 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,560 there is a shift in our maturity when we're becoming more and 232 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:52,520 more aware of Christ in US, Christ in us, the hope of glory. 233 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:57,680 We have two choices When we hit those precious spaces, our faith 234 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,760 can act like a a mirror. And when the pressure hits, we 235 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,440 can just see ourselves and we can start asking ourselves, why 236 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,360 is this happening to me? Why is this so hard? 237 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,440 What did I do wrong? Or our faith can act like a 238 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,200 window where we stand side by side with God and we look at the 239 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,680 pressure and we say, God, what are you doing through this? 240 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,480 What are you doing that I can't see? 241 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,040 How are you shifting something in me or forming me? 242 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,520 Or how is your grace, God being delivered through this right 243 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,480 now? This shift from the mirror like 244 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:40,280 faith to a window like faith develops a growing maturity as 245 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,240 we move from confused wise to understanding that we've got a 246 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,920 God who's on the move and he's commissioned us to partner with 247 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,280 him. Secondly, we see another dynamic 248 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,840 at play in this Scripture and it's the dynamic of the Holy 249 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:03,600 Spirit's power that invites us to move from striving should 250 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:10,760 do's to empowered get to's. Who in this room would love 251 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,920 every person they knew to encounter Jesus? 252 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,240 Hands up, it's good. Who in this room would love to 253 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,840 become more and more like Jesus themselves and grow in their 254 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:23,880 faith? It's good, it's good. 255 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:31,680 This is encouraging as a pastor, but you know, I think often we 256 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,520 desire those things, don't we? But somewhere between what we 257 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:39,320 desire and what we actually do, things can get a bit mixed up. 258 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,720 And in verse 28, Paul says he is the one we proclaim Jesus so 259 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,280 that we can become fully mature in Christ. 260 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,200 And to this end, Paul strenuously contends with all 261 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,840 the energy Christ so powerfully works in him. 262 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,160 And he goes on to say, I want you to know how hard I am 263 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,720 contending for you. Now, first up, I love it because 264 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,680 Paul is reminding them yet again. 265 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,200 It's Christ in you. Christ in you. 266 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,319 And I feel deeply reassured that other people have to be reminded 267 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:12,800 of the main thing over and over again because I definitely 268 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,000 easily forget. But Paul hits another nail on 269 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,160 the head around our wrestle that I think most of us face in one 270 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,760 way shape or another. We know in our minds that Christ 271 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,160 is central and we're aware that the Holy Spirit lives in US. 272 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,840 And yet somehow we still fall for this trap that we've got to 273 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:37,800 work it out on our own. And I'd like, why is that our 274 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,640 default? I mean, I'm sure there are many 275 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,720 reasons, but one of them I was thinking about is because I 276 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,520 think as a human race we're conditioned by merit and a lot 277 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:54,560 of cultures, our earliest school days, we're taught do the work, 278 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,840 get the great, perform well, get the promotion. 279 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:05,360 Our world continually teaches us that value is always tied to 280 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:10,120 output. And subtly we bring that world 281 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,880 view and mindset to our relationship with God. 282 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,920 But the Kingdom of God is an upside down Kingdom and that is 283 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:21,080 not how God works. And so we fight this belief that 284 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:26,520 God's pleasure or even our own spiritual growth is something 285 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,840 that we have to buy with good behaviour. 286 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,840 We think that the Holy Spirit is a reward for our hard work 287 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,040 rather than the gift of power that we have been given to do 288 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:42,280 the work of the Kingdom. And I was thinking about our 289 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,280 faith and and how we grow our faith. 290 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,640 And I was thinking about gyms. Now I am not part of a gym. 291 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,080 I would love to kind of fall in love with the gym, but I'm not. 292 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,280 But I do have boys who have really come to love the gym in 293 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:56,600 reason. So I, I feel like I'm a bit of 294 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,840 an expert because I sit like a good mum and listen to the many 295 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:06,840 things about the gym. And I hear that, you know, there 296 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,840 are all kinds of personalities at the gym. 297 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,800 You've got the socializers, you know, they, they love to go in. 298 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,400 They know about the machines. But oh, there's my friend. 299 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,760 Maybe I'll lean on this one and I'll talk to her and have a 300 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,680 catch up. You've got the quiet workers, 301 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,920 the ones that put the headphones in. 302 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,640 They've got the routine. They're going to do their 303 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,240 routine and then they walk out. You've got the flexes as well. 304 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,480 I've called them those who love to go big or go home and they 305 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,880 love to show everyone else in the gym just how strong they 306 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,320 really are. And my boys may love to come 307 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,880 home and show me their muscles, but you know, and if we think 308 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,440 about growing our faith, and I asked you how you might grow it, 309 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,400 you might talk about praying and reading the Word and fasting and 310 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,360 worship. And I want you to imagine like 311 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:58,000 those things, like they're the machines in the gym. 312 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,240 They're all good. In fact, they're all designed 313 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,760 for our formation and they're wonderful. 314 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:10,280 But I think if we're honest, we can be all of those different 315 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,840 persons, gym personalities in our faith, including the 316 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:19,360 flexors, dare I say. Because I think at times we fall 317 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:23,320 for this trap where we treat prayer in our quiet times like a 318 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,480 performance review. Did I give God enough minutes 319 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,680 today? We can slip into thinking that 320 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,360 the Bible reading is like a textbook that we have to master. 321 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:35,280 Like one day we're going to stand before God and we're going 322 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:37,800 to have to pass a test on our knowledge of the Word. 323 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,760 Or we can think that certain ways of worship or or certain 324 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,360 language somehow makes us a better Christian than others. 325 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:48,600 And we enter this world of striving. 326 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,280 We shift from receiving a gift freely given to trying to lift 327 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,320 the weight of our own growth by our own sheer will. 328 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,720 But Paul's description reminds us that Christ is the centre, 329 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,840 the free gift, that the source is the Holy Spirit, Christ's 330 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,160 power in US. And that is how he puts to 331 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,600 action, strenuously contending, because that is action and 332 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,040 effort. It's definitely not complacency. 333 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:20,680 John. Mark Cromer says it this way. 334 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,520 The spiritual disciplines are not a bar that we have to jump 335 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,360 over to be a good Christian. They are the way that we 336 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:30,360 createspace for the Spirit to do in us what we cannot do in 337 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:33,880 ourselves. And just to bring it home a bit 338 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,840 more, I was on Hollywell Hill parked in my car waiting for the 339 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:38,880 traffic light the other week, and there was this guy who was 340 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,720 cycling up the hill on a bike and man, his legs were peddling 341 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,160 right. You know, Hollywell Hill, it's 342 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,880 not a joke and he's putting all the effort in. 343 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,920 But the reality is if he stopped peddling, that bike would stop 344 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:51,280 peddling. And then before I knew it, there 345 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,480 was this other bike that came up the hill, only he seemed to be 346 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,680 just like no effort at all. And then I realised he was 347 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:03,280 peddling an E bike, but he was still peddling, right? 348 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,840 But he had this surge of power in that frame that together was 349 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,440 multiplying his effort. And church this morning, I want 350 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,360 to remind us in this room that the power that raised Christ 351 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:20,240 from the dead is alive in you. It's not out there, it's in you. 352 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,520 And so as we give God our lives, as we set to prayer and worship 353 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,480 and fasting and all of these dynamics, they are good things. 354 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,600 But we don't do them to earn the Holy Spirit. 355 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,840 We don't do them to earn God's pleasure. 356 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,040 We do them because they allow us to make space for the Spirit in 357 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,120 our lives and for us to become responsive to His Spirit. 358 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,440 There is a work in US forming us and helping us to become more 359 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:50,560 and more like Jesus. And you might catch yourself 360 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,240 striving and or you might think, I don't strive. 361 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,240 Claire. No, I know, I know, I know I'm 362 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,760 loved by God and I definitely don't strive. 363 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,960 But one of the ways that caught my attention on this in my own 364 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:08,360 life, super practical. Out of the heart comes the words 365 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:11,600 of our mouth. And I realized I started 366 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:16,640 listening to myself and how often I was saying I should pray 367 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,800 or I must read my Bible rather than I get to. 368 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,280 I get to communion with the Father. 369 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,120 I'd love to spend time in His presence. 370 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,320 I should come to space or I'd love to come to space and be in 371 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,560 His presence. Do you see that difference? 372 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:42,080 One is rooted in I need to do better for God, and one is 373 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,520 rooted in, and I understand that He's in me and that because He 374 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,160 loves me, He's given me this incredible gift of His power. 375 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,760 That means I want to be with him and I want to develop this 376 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,080 responsiveness of His work in me and me responding to Him. 377 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,560 And thirdly, as time races away, the third prox, the third 378 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,320 dynamic, I wanted to bring it to our attention this morning in 379 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:09,200 the scripture is proximity, moving from isolation to being 380 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,960 connected. I'm sure there this is this is 381 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,320 probably not a great joke. I'm sure there are many men and 382 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,200 women who love the show. How's it made? 383 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,720 I don't know who watches that show, but I've definitely put 384 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,480 some wife tacks in in my years with our husband, who loves to 385 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,640 watch shows like How's It Made? And I lovingly sit in our living 386 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,520 room occasionally and we'll watch the show with him. 387 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,320 But in that show, they unpack all kinds of things. 388 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,760 And one of the things that I do remember from one episode was 389 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,680 unpacking what carbon fibre is. And you will know if you know 390 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,640 anything about carbon fibre, that if a single strand of 391 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,560 carbon fibre is on its own, it's like a piece of hair and it will 392 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,560 snap and it's very fragile. But carbon fibre is made-up of 393 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:02,680 1000 thousands of strands that have been knit together and 394 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,960 they're compacted together and they're in close proximity to 395 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,120 one another as they are woven together. 396 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,520 And that is how the strength comes for them to be able to 397 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,920 make racing cars and, and like hold up for normal airplanes and 398 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,160 all kinds of things. Carbon fibre is extremely strong 399 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,800 and here in this last portion of the Scripture, Paul after after 400 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,160 being quite a hardcore leader, I think in the rest of his letter 401 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,000 laying out the the hard dynamics of what it means to be a 402 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,840 follower of Jesus, we see a bit of his pastoral heart kicking 403 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,040 in. He says my goal is that they 404 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:41,320 would be encouraged in heart and united in love, full of the 405 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,240 riches of complete understanding. 406 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,320 Christ in whom all the hidden treasures of wisdom and 407 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,840 knowledge come. And I tell you this so that none 408 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,120 of you would be deceived by fine sounding arguments. 409 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,680 Paul wants us to grow, but he knows that we need to be 410 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,240 encouraged. He knows that we cannot do it on 411 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,920 our own and that we have to be united together in love, which 412 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,080 that united together literally means being knit together. 413 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,800 And in 2026, just like that Colossian church, we need each 414 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,520 other more than ever because we live in a super disconnected 415 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:22,480 world and so we have to be ultra intentional about drawing 416 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:28,040 together in proximity. To truly encourage someone, you 417 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,920 need to know them and you need the heart of Jesus to to be 418 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,800 knitted together. With all of our different 419 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,480 cultures and our messy uniqueness, we sure need Jesus, 420 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:40,800 and we literally need each other. 421 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,760 You cannot be knitted together on your own. 422 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,120 The Bible is so clear about this weave. 423 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:53,400 Ephesians 415 to 16. It talks about how from Him the 424 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,240 body is joined and held together by every supporting ligament, 425 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,600 and it grows and it builds itself in love as each part does 426 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:05,680 its work. Proverbs 2717 says as iron 427 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,200 sharpens iron, no person sharpens another. 428 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,440 You cannot sharpen iron from across the room. 429 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,320 There has to be contact. There has to be friction. 430 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,760 Dare I say it? Proximity to each other is a 431 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,760 gift. In fact, a friend of mine used 432 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,800 to say this all the time, that proximity produces passion, 433 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:30,000 distance produces distortion. And in the context of scripture, 434 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,040 I would rephrase it to say that proximity to Christ and his 435 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,960 body, you and me, cultivates passion. 436 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,760 And when the distance, when we distance ourself, the truth we 437 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,920 root our lives on becomes vulnerable to distortion. 438 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,920 And think about what God is passionate about. 439 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,520 He's passionate about people. He's passionate about seeing his 440 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,600 people restored to himself. He's passionate about you. 441 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,880 He's passionate in his love towards you. 442 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,520 He's passionate about the person sat next to you. 443 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,360 He's even passionate about your annoying neighbor and the person 444 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,440 that you cannot stand. He loves them, right? 445 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,720 And he's passionate about seeing all people restored. 446 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,240 And he's passionate that we would grow in our love for him 447 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,640 and our love for each other. And he's passionate about us 448 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,720 when we ask hard questions and when we wrestle in our faith. 449 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,720 And he loves it when in the middle of those wrestles, we 450 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,760 stand next to each other and we don't condemn each other. 451 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,120 We say we're here for you and we're going to work this out 452 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,560 together because he is a relational God. 453 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:37,880 And so Paul is reminding us that the temptation when we're human 454 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,080 is to withdraw when things get messy or heavy. 455 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,040 And we think, maybe I won't go to church this week because I'm 456 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,160 not, I'm not doing well. I don't, I don't feel quite 457 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:53,200 together enough. I won't meet that friend for a 458 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:54,880 coffee because I'm just going to cry my eyes out. 459 00:28:54,880 --> 00:29:03,720 And she doesn't need that. But distance is how we're going 460 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,560 to fall into spaces where we see God and ourselves and each other 461 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:13,080 through warped lenses. Paul's inviting us to cheer each 462 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,760 other on and make our lives the spaces where we can show up for 463 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,400 each other and know that we will encourage with love and truth 464 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:27,880 and grace so that we can each grow to find the full riches of 465 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,280 understanding Jesus Himself. Amen.