Reflections from June 18, 2010

Today we begin Paul's letter to the Colossians, written around A.D. 61. Paul apparently never visited the city of Colosse, but had this letter sent there as encouragement to the Colossians to stand firm with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the preeminent Lord of the Universe. We read Paul's words on this in Colossians 1:15-18, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."

So Paul here presents Jesus as the "cosmic" Christ, Creator of the universe, Sustainer of earth and all that is in it. Other letters such as the one to Philemon, Paul presents Jesus as Lord of our private and personal life where He speaks to our heart and to our mind directly. But to the church in Colosse, Jesus is Lord of all dealing with global concerns.

This is the same Jesus and does in fact rule over both domains. This suggests the type of activities we can and should be involved in. Jesus will deal with us personally to transform us individually through our jobs, family and relationships. But Jesus also works globally by using people to transform complete societies and systems, He confronts principalities and powers, and does works for human rights and justice.

How great is it to have Jesus as Lord over all; all people AND all things.

From Proverbs 18:13 we read, "He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is a folly and shame to him."

Have you ever noticed how a person will interrupt you to answer a question that you haven't asked, or finish what you're saying? Also, a person sometimes will give an answer immediately without any thought. Solomon says this is folly and shame to that person. And typically, the answer is ridiculous. When someone does that to me, I try to show patience, and simply say that's not the question I was going to ask. But more importantly, I don't want to be like that so I work hard on listening to the whole comment, the whole thought, the whole question before responding, and even talk through the question to ensure understanding. As is stated in James 1:9, be swift to hear and slow to speak.

Proverbs 19:17 tells us, "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given."

I know I have struggled with giving spare change to a homeless person. I can and often do feel sorry for them but on the other hand, I feel like they just use the money on booze and cigarettes. Or, quite often, I think they should get up and get a job like I did. However, we shouldn't be the one making the distinction on these decisions. We should think in terms of giving to God, not to them, and God will take care of the matter. The person who receives the gift will answer to God as to what type of steward they were, and we will too. The bible indicates we should help the poor, and God will hold us accountable for this.

Blessings to all