July 21, 2013
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
When I hear the word, “All,” I think of the laundry detergent that cleans both light and colorful clothes in cold and hot water. By having just All, I’m able to use one product for all my laundering needs.
Probably the most prevalent homiletical style in preaching is to begin with humanity. This is to say that almost all the time, I would begin with a personal story or an ordinary observation of the human existence that hopefully would connect you with me before I plunge into the meaning of the Scriptures. It’s like how you became intrigue by my mentioning using All detergent.
The assumption here is that if you and I can relate on this anthropological level in some minimal degree then you just might understand what I might be saying on the theological level. At least, I can hope.
Colossae
From our lesson for today, the Church of Colossae was located on the fringe of the great Roman Empire. In what was once known as Macedonia and Asia Minor and now modern-day Turkey, life for these Christians could not have been that easy for them, nor could they have felt very secure. The congregation was a little band of believers huddled together and holding on by their fingernails.
They know that Jesus, a Jew was condemned as a criminal and tortured to death by the authorities but somehow they were able to establish small groups of believers here and there. And if Paul was like me and like most modern preachers do today in our sermon preparation, he would have addressed the Colossae Christians personal needs and interests first besides his typical greetings and prayers for their regard. But he didn’t.
Addressing these believers, Paul expends some of his most extravagant and admirable language. Paul preaches to them that, in the end, when all has been said and done, Jesus shall reign. All things shall be united in him, all things in heaven, all things on earth, all things both human and divine, all. A fragmented, disjointed creation shall be unified and completed by him.
While Jesus had once called his disciples and followers the “light of the world,” their light seemed fragile and dim, no real competition with the brilliance of the Roman Empire. Yet, these Colossae Christians were convinced that an event had occurred no less cosmic and world shattering than the end and the beginning of all things. These small groups of Christians at the fringes of the empire felt commanded to proclaim this salvation to the ends of the earth, to enlist disciples from all nations, both Israel and Rome, without distinction. All.
Previously, they had made careful, religious distinctions between Gentile and Jew, male and female. Now they claimed all such distinctions were destroyed in the inclusive embrace of Christ. Paul writes, “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 the cross” (Col. 1:20). Where there were once barriers and walls, God has reconciled these differences by making peace in Christ on the cross so that we now have bridges and highways.
In the apostolic church, there was this sort of reckless extravagance in their behavior. They took everything they had and piled it all together to be used for the care of all. They bragged about having no personal property or possessions, now having “all things in common.” All.
The basis for these outrageous claims about God’s salvation was something that had happened to them. These early Christians experienced these things for themselves. Nobody is more extravagant than Paul in his sweeping declaration of what has actually occurred in our salvation. No longer seeing that they are being jerked around by the elements of the universe, no longer being intimated by the powers and principalities at the time, they stood up and spoke up, now free from sin and death. They spoke up not about an opinion that they shared, a new theory that they devised. No! They spoke up about the series of events of being saved that had happened to them, something even now happening.
Paul even when he was on his way to jail, he wrote, “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). Paul claimed that this gift of freedom is already received rather than only a future hope. Just like the All laundry detergent can clean off dirt from all types of fabrics in hot or warm or cold water, Christ has forgiven all sins in all people so that we are now all squeaky clean. All of us.
World Today
As you know, I read the San Francisco Chronicle almost every day. I suspect that most of us would first leaf through the sections to get to the Sporting Green or Bay Area or Datebook first. These stories tend to speak to our interests and personal lives the most. But interestingly, the Chronicle and probably all newspapers put breaking world and national news on the front page. The editors want us to be informed about what is happening in the universe; around the world, in all the continents, in all the countries. All.
Karl Barth, the great theologian in 1957 preached a sermon that he simply titled, “All.” His one text verse was: “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all” (Romans 11:32). Barth was preaching to a group of prisoners in the Basel jail to make the point that since we cannot climb up in our thoughts or in a sermon then God in his mercy climbed down. Barth’s sermon begins with a focus upon what God has done and now does for us. Barth begins with God, beginning with what we know God from God’s revelation, believing that we really don’t know who we are until we know who God is and what God has created us for.
Then Barth notes that this “all” is without qualification—Gentiles, atheists, believers and nonbelievers, those who have been formally incarcerated and those who sit in judgment upon them—“all.”
Barth confesses that sometimes he is guilty of wishing that this “all” did not include “this fellow creature beside me, in front of me or behind, whom I don’t like.” Then he admits to the intention of his sermon: “The one great sin from which we shall try to escape this morning is to exclude anyone from the “yes” of God’s mercy.” All are prisoners; all are shown mercy.
Getting back to my daily ritual of reading the Chronicle, when I read the Bay Area, I gain a broader understanding of developing news where I live. I read the Business section and I currently feel more confident about my nest egg. I read the Sporting Green and fantasize victories and championships for our hometown teams. I read the weekly Health section and eat better and exercise more. But when I read the front page, I receive almost nothing valuable for my personal living.
What can I do about the internal unrest in Egypt? What can I say about the warring conflict in Syria? What can I do about the genocide in Nigeria and in Myanmar? While I am happy to hear that Secretary John Kerry will be getting the Israelis and Palestinians back at the peace table, what can I do to make them become peaceable neighbors? How can I bring more understanding in our diverse neighborhoods after the verdict that cleared George Zimmerman from killing Trayvon Martin? There are so many places around the world that are troubling and upsetting and as far as I can see, there’s very little that I can do about it! But according to this lesson from Paul to the Colossian Christians, all things are brought back to God. All things.
We tend to believe that religion as having only personal and individual significance. Paul is telling us to not believe that. Christ is one with God, of equal status with the Creator. Creation shall continue, shall be brought to the glorious, unifying conclusion that God originally intended. All things, all countries in the world and especially those that are in conflict, at war, in turmoil will be brought back to God. All things.
While we might not be able to personally or directly help these terrible and unsetting situations around the world, we believe that God in Christ is doing something about them. And when you and I read the front page of the Chronicle, we pray and become confident that all things are brought back to God. All.
All Creation
We see this expansive vision in the Revelation to John where the curtain of eternity is pulled back and we are given a glimpse of creation completed. In Revelation 5:11-13 we read: “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”
We tend to interpret the Revelation to John as addressing a persecuted and struggling church to be rescued from oppression and be safe before the Lamb’s throne. But Revelation’s emphasis is upon the “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.” A huge crowd is gathered before the throne, a massive, constantly processing choir made up not only of myriads of people, but even “of every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.”
Salvation is not only for humans but even for the whales! After the fall of creation in Genesis 1-2, creation is now healed. The creatures are singing. Creation and redemption are together. One day, there before the throne, we shall take our places among the myriads of myriads, with the humpback whales and bullfinches, the wolves and the lemurs, with those whom we have loved and those whom we have despised, all singing with one voice, “Blessing and honor and glory and might to the Lamb!”
To All
In our Baptist life, we emphasize the importance of hearing you say, “Jesus died for my sins” or “I know that I will be in heaven.” In our church in this small corner of the world, we have a very specific address—1 Waverly Place, San Francisco, 94108. I begin almost all of my sermons with a personal story with the hope that you might identify what I’m about to say.
But in Paul’s letter to the Colossians today, he has poetically gone beyond our personal daily lives and revealed to us God’s desire in Jesus Christ is akin to God’s cosmic desire in Genesis 1-2. God is busy bringing worlds into being that were not. The restless Creator became the relentless Redeemer. The Redeemer is the same Creator who brought order out of chaos. The work of the cosmic Christ is cosmic salvation.
Picture Paul preaching this extravagant claim to a little group of huddled Christians at 1 Waverly Place, San Francisco, 94108. He said, “Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 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. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 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” (Col. 1:15-17, 19-20). The good news is to unite all things to him. All.
I am delighted that our church has an expansive vision in our ministry and mission that has led us to go to places like Thailand to share in Christ’s work of uniting all things to him.
I am less dismayed and troubled when I read the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle believing that when I personally may not be able to bring peace and justice to conflicts and violence around the world, I am confident that it’s never been solely up to me but God in Christ is reconciling all things to himself.
For now, the church’s task is to proclaim, in word and deed, the grand fact of our salvation. It’s a fact that is considerably bolder than simply, “Jesus Christ died for me and my sin.” It’s a sweeping claim that eventually God shall complete the work that God began in creation. God isn’t done with the world, not by a long shot.
All things shall be drawn to God, redeemed in God, united in God. All things brought back to God. All!
Let us pray.
Almighty and Ever-living God, grant us the faith in your Good News that dares boldly to believe your promises. Save us from timidity of expectation. Deliver us from small-minded faith! Keep us ever expectant for the full restoration of all creation by your saving work. In the name of Jesus Christ who reconciled all things, we pray. Amen.