July 10 2005

A Whistle, a Master Key and a Business Card

July 10, 2005 John Goertz

As you read the Epistles, the pattern is that they are directed to a church in a sense that has lost its focus, that has gotten off target, that has begun to wander off the path, and needs to be called back. Our scripture reading this morning is from the book of Colossians; please open your Bible to this passage. I’d like to have you looking at that as we read the message in Colossians. The concern that Paul was addressing was multi-faceted; there were a number of things that seemed to be part of the issue. One of them for sure was that they had somehow slipped into having a diminished perception of who Jesus Christ is. They had allowed themselves to hold back from recognizing the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ as the only Son of God and Savior of the world. And in this situation, they needed to be called back to remember who Jesus is. You see the importance of that is that if we have an anemic view of who Jesus Christ is, we’ll end up having an anemic view of what following Him is about too because our vision will be squelched of what the greatness of that calling is in our lives. So the first passage in [Colossians] chapter 1, verses 15-20 is pointing out the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ.

Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first Lord over all creation. For by Him all things were created; things in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together and He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in Heaven by making peace, through His blood shed on the cross.

It paints a wonderful portrait of Jesus Christ. The second reading is from [Colossians] chapter 3, verses 15-17 which takes this lofty picture and brings it down to the practical in our daily lives and how we live in such a way that we can keep focused on Jesus Christ. It says:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart towards God. In whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

This is the word of the Lord.

My outline this morning is printed as the message title; it’s a little strange, but hopefully you’ll catch what it is about. The first point is a referee’s whistle, or verse 15 which says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” Remember Jesus said: “My peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.” (John 14). And following His time with preparing his disciples for the time he needed to be taken away and he said: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” So Jesus said, “I leave with you my peace. The peace of Christ is a calm assurance or a sense of well-being from being in right relationship with God.” It’s that state of mind in which we know, “I am God’s child and God has everything under control; things are okay.” This isn’t the same as living in a struggle-free, problem-free world. There’s no such thing, is there? I don’t know about your life, but my life has certainly had those bumps in the road that I’ve had to deal with. But that doesn’t mean we cannot have the peace of Christ. The peace of Christ is what enabled Paul and Silas when they were in the prison in Phillipi, to sing even though they were bound. The peace of Christ is what sustains Christians in troubling times, in trials and difficulties. It enables Christians to say, “If it was just up to me, I would be a basket case. But I’m okay because God is in control.” That is the peace of Christ.

This peace that the verse is talking about is to rule in our hearts. What does the word “rule” mean? In the Greek it is actually a word that is used at athletic events and refers to a referee or an umpire. We might say, “Let the peace of Christ referee in your hearts.” The referee is the person with the striped shirt on that keeps the game going according to the rules. It keeps the players from clobbering each other; he keeps the boundaries in place, he enforces good sportsmanship. The peace that the referee brings is a sense of overall peace and well-being to that game. And the peace of Christ is what touches our lives and gives us a sense of assurance in our relationships and every aspect of our living. Think of what happens when a referee is disrespected in the middle of a game; you’ve seen as well I have those situations where they have those “in your face” arguments about a call that’s been made or when the referee is disrespected and the players degrade the game into an absolute brawl. Well, sometimes unfortunately in the ministry of Christ in the church, the church can degrade its life and relationships among Christians can deteriorate to the point where if Christ would step in, he would blow the whistle and say, “All right. Stop. I’m in control here. My truth, my spirit is to guide this. Calm down, let’s get things in perspective.” Jesus Christ offers us peace that is to referee in our hearts. Notice it begins in our hearts. We’re not at peace some times and it’s so easy to point the finger at someone else and say, “They did it. It’s their problem…” like kids in a squabble, trying to blame the other person when in reality it would be so much better if we would stop and say to ourselves, “Why am I not at peace in this situation? What is there in my heart, in my life, that needs to be open to the correcting and transforming work of Jesus Christ? What ruling would Christ give in this situation? What is God calling me to do to promote peace in this situation?” I know there’s a delicate balance between truth and love; that’s why the scripture talks about speaking the truth in love. We don’t eliminate the truth; we don’t water down the principles of God’s word in order to keep things peaceful. But at the same time, we find that manner and that way of life because Christ is in control of us so that we are able to relate to one another with love and with patience and with understanding that enables us to have the peace of Christ ruling in our lives. So, to help symbolize this point, I am going to put on this referee’s whistle as a little reminder to all of us. Maybe you want to get one too and be reminded that the peace of Christ is to rule in your hearts.

The second point is in verse 16 and I’m calling this a master key. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.” Notice it says the “Word of Christ” – it’s singular. It’s not plural. I take this to mean the teaching of Christ; the message of Christ in its entirety. It’s not a reference to just the red-lettered words in the Scriptures. It is talking about the message of Christ in its entirety as the Bible records it. Remember that at the time Colossians was penned the New Testament was not yet written in its entirety and certainly was not compiled under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. In those days, the teaching of Christ typically was memorized and recited and reviewed and passed along orally from person to person, within the family of faith very careful attention was given to accurately remember what Christ had said while they waited to write it down under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. So the Scriptures for us are the word of Christ; the word of Christ is to dwell in us richly. Dwell is an interesting word; it means to live in or reside. Many of us this summer have vacation plans and when we leave our home we go somewhere maybe to tent or maybe we take a camper or motor home, maybe we go to a motel or cabin or resort. All those places are good places to stay but we just go there briefly, we don’t really reside there. When you buy a new home, you have every intention of residing there and dwelling there. You think about how you will use each room, you plan and dream for the furnishings you want to put in and when you move in you have every intention of fully enjoying every space in that house. That’s what dwelling is about. When you have guests come over to visit you, they are just visitors, they go home but you stay. When Christ comes into our lives, his word is to dwell in us richly as a permanent resident. That means we give him full access to every area of our lives; his word speaks to us in every area. How does this happen? This verse tells us that it is within the community of faith. It says, “As you teach and admonish one another.” One another is one of those words the Bible often uses to describe how we relate to one another as Christians. You might just do a study sometime or notice how often when you are reading the Bible, it uses the words “one another” and there is a whole list of things. This is part of that list; teach one another, admonish one another. It says sing to one another. It involves everyone having something to contribute. Sometimes I think that we really lose sight of how the church is to function as the body of Christ; we tend to think the church, when it’s gathered, is people sitting in the pews with somebody up front talking to them and everybody looking at the back of someone else’s head. Well a much better picture of what the church is about is not only a large congregation gathered together to worship together and praise – that’s a good Biblical image – but also smaller groups. You know Jesus got together with twelve; that’s about the maximum number that can really get together and have a meaningful relationship…maybe six or twelve people sitting together, maybe in somebody’s living room or family room and sharing their lives, looking in each other’s faces, knowing each other well enough that they can really make a difference in each other’s lives in prayer and support and encouragement and helping one another when those needs may come.

So what do you teach one another? Each person is to bring something that God is teaching them and share it with the others in the church. Let me emphasize here that it is the word of Christ, not just our personal opinions. Sometimes it is easy for us to just share our own thoughts and never get down to looking at what God has to say to us. It is vitally important that within the church, within the body of Christ, that one of the things we do together is to teach one another the word of Christ. That’s our primary source. Sometimes you read good Christian books but they are secondary sources. The primary source is the word of Christ, so teaching one another. It also says admonish one another. Now things get a little stickier here because admonishing is going beyond just talking about truth out there and begins to deal with the truth in here and the truth that we apply in our lives. It has to do with those things in which we actually address the way we are living; perhaps offering a word of warning to someone or a word of caution or giving some practical advice or even gentle criticism. It is getting personal and specific with the application of God’s word. Preaching can be an example here; it’s easy for people to think that pastors and preachers just kind of talk to everyone else and when it gets to something personal that’s when we call it meddling. “Don’t start meddling with my life.” That’s what admonishing is all about. It is actually getting to the point of saying something that specifically needs to be applied. I hope that this morning you will experience this message as both teaching and admonishing, that you will sense that it really speaks to you where you live. That’s when it gets practical. This afternoon, just to let you know that this does work, I will be a part of a small group that will be getting together around Matthew 6, the word of Christ and we will be looking at this passage together and we will be talking together about what we’ve learned. We are going to be honest with one another about our struggles; we will pray together, we will build each other up in our faith. I believe that is what teaching and admonishing one another is about. I would encourage you to be looking for an opportunity to be a part of that small group fellowship if you’ve not yet had the opportunity. Here’s a little clue for you; if you will be paying attention in the next couple of months, there will be some opportunities coming your way. Be looking for those and be ready to dive in even if you’ve not yet had the opportunity to be a part of a small group experience.

So teaching, admonishing, and it also speaks of singing. It says, “As you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs…” Music plays a wonderful part in our lives together in the family of faith. It has a way of impressing on us wonderful Christian theology, sharing our experience of faith, encouraging us together. There is something that happens that is wonderful and almost magical as we lift our voices in praise to God. There is an awful lot of good sound theology and Christian experience that is presented. Unfortunately there is also some poor theology and off-base thinking that is presented in songs that sometimes Christians sing as well so it’s good for us to be alert to what we are singing. But the word of Christ can dwell in us as we sing. That is, God’s truth has a way of working its way into our very souls as we sing God’s word. This morning as I heard the organ began to play the introduction to the first hymn, my mind immediately went to “Come Christians Join to Sing.” And whether it is the organ or the praise band or whatever, when you hear a particular melody, if you are like me, my mind immediately begins to think about the words. So there is something powerful that happens when the words of Christ are set to music because it kind of grows into us and we internalize it in a way that really makes a difference. Now it mentions psalms, hymns and spiritual songs and I could try to explain to you the minute distinctions of what those words mean and each of them generally has a different dimension of what the Christian music is about but I think the important thing is to use a variety of Christian music that is faithful to the word of Christ. Might I suggest too that we should open ourselves to a variety of musical styles? You may enjoy the hymns or the sacred songs, you may enjoy the praise and worship music that is so popular today, you may enjoy classical music, you may enjoy rock or country or maybe even polka. All of those have been used to communicate and portray the word of Christ in a very effective way to a group of folks who enjoy that particular type of music. You see it’s not the type of song or even style of music that is the issue here it is rather the content in the word of Christ being presented. So pay attention as you sing. What are the words communicating? How can I drink them and make them part of my life?

So let the word of Christ dwell in you. Do you have a house key with you? Can you take it out? This is mine. All the locked doors in our house can be opened with this key, whether it be the front or back door or the door from the back yard. This is the master key to my house. There’s no place that is off-limits when you have this key. You have your key with you too. Think about that as being the master key, not only for your house but for your life. If the word of Christ is going to dwell in you richly, that is if it is going to have access to every part of your life, you are going to say, “Lord God, there’s no area, no space in my life or experience where I am going to exclude you. There’s no place that I am saying, ‘off limits,’ stay out. Whether it be my work or family life, whether it be my leisure or my schooling, whether it be my relationships with family or friends, there is absolutely no corner of my life or my experience where the word of Christ is not welcome to speak to me and to do its transforming powerful work.” So a master key…a symbol of our turning ourselves and opening ourselves over to God and to His word, to enter every area of our lives and to make whatever changes and transformation God would choose to do. You want the word of God, the word of Christ, to dwell in you? Then give Him complete access.

Thirdly, a business card or verse 17: it says, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus.” Some of you have heard those words perhaps at the time of your ordination or installation as an officer of the church. That’s very often used as a very short charge at the end of which you are declared to be an officer in the church of Jesus Christ. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” What does that mean? Does that mean that we go throughout our day, whatever we say we follow by saying, “In the name of Jesus?” Whatever we do, we always follow by saying, “In the name of Jesus?” I don’t think so; not only would that appear and feel rather foolish, but I don’t think it would really honor Christ if we were to take it that way. It simply means that whatever we say or do is to honor Christ; it’s to be a credit to his name. We go through our day in such a way that Christ is pleased by all of our words and all of our actions. On the other hand if Christ would not be pleased with something we are about to say, we would refrain from saying it. If Christ would not be pleased by something we are about to do, we would not do it because it would not be a credit to Jesus Christ. When it says in word, everything we say, whoever we are with, wherever we are, whatever we do. It includes the topic of our conversation, the tone of our voice, how we use the Lord’s name, the jokes we pass along, and our Christian witness. In deed…everything we do no matter where we are, no matter who we are with, no matter what we are doing, not just when the minister is around. That’s one of the funny thing that sometimes ministers experience is how often people will suddenly change their demeanor or change the type of conversation or the reactions because the minister is in their presence. I always have to say, “It’s not me who you need to worry about if that’s your concern. Remember that God is always present. What does he think? That’s what is important. Don’t act or speak to impress me, think about what the Lord thinks.”

If you have a business card, would you take it out? If you have one with that represents your business, what does your say? I look at mine, the one that represents what I am doing and it includes a phone number, often an email address or a website. There are a couple of words on here that stand out that I think are important. It says “quality craftsmanship.” That sets a pretty high standard, doesn’t it? And what that tells me is that as I go about my work I need to keep in mind that there is a reputation at stake here. If I do careless work I would not want that to go on for my customer to somebody else – for them to say, “You don’t want to have them do that for you because it did not turn out well.” I want it to happen in such a way that quality craftsmanship really does prevail. That’s important, isn’t it? If you don’t have a business card, or if you do, I want you to take your worship folder and find a spot on the back where there is some space and take a pen or pencil to draw a box the size of a business card – about two by three and a half inches. Make a little outline of a business card. Then write your name about a third of the way down. Then underneath that, I want you to write this, “Representative of Jesus Christ.” How does that look? How would you feel about having those available wherever you are? Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it? I think that is the point of what this is saying – “Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Do it as a representative of Jesus Christ. What kind of an impression do you and I leave? Say we had a business card holder that we carried with us and sat down next to us regardless of where we are and people were watching us and that business card said our name and “Representative of Jesus Christ” under it. If they were to pick up one of those would they say, “Now, I understand why you are acting the way you are?” Or you are talking the way you are? Or you are living the way you are? Or the character that you seem to be expressing? Or would they stand there and say, “Hmm, this doesn’t seem to add up?” Representative of Jesus Christ – you see, Christ’s reputation is at stake because of our lives, 24/7, how we live. It leaves an impression for people of Jesus Christ when we claim Him as Savior and Lord.

There’s one more area of this that I am going to touch on briefly. Maybe you noticed as we read, there’s a common thread that runs through all three verses that we have not yet talked about. That is thankfulness. It says, “And be thankful” in verse 15 and it says, “With gratitude in your hearts” in verse 16. And it says, “In giving thanks…” in verse 17. Did you notice that? When these principles are applied in our lives, that is, when we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, when we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, when we do everything in Jesus’ name, there is great cause for thanksgiving. Thanksgiving wells up in us because we recognize the great privilege we have, the blessings we enjoy, and the awesome grace of Christ in our lives. I trust this morning as you think about the referee’s whistle, as you think about your house key, as you think about your business card which says “Representative of Jesus Christ” you will take something from this morning and the Holy Spirit will apply it to your life and help you to live it out with one another for God’s glory and grace. Would you pray with me please?