It's my joy once again to welcome the Reverend Dr. Erwin Entz to preach the word this morning.
For those of you who have just come in for worship, who have not been here for the weekend,
we've had a fantastic time.
We've been exploring this topic, the title of the retreat, A New We, talking about what
it means to have a vision rooted in the gospel, an understanding of what it means to bear
God's image, to forsake attempts to seek dignity apart from that dignity that is to be found
in our identity as image bearers of God, as people in Christ.
We've been talking about this ultimate vision that to bear God's image is most fully realized
when the entire world, the multi-ethnic body of Christ, is joined together under His Lordship.
And we've been exploring some amazing themes, both big, grand themes, and then also asking
hard questions about what that means for us at Church of the Advent.
And so it's my delight to welcome Dr. Entz back.
He's the, if you don't know, he's a pastor at Grace DC.
He's also the director of the newly formed Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission.
And it's a delight to have you with us.
Thank you, Pastor.
Well, good morning, y'all.
Good morning.
For one last time together, at least.
The time being, it has been a delight this weekend to be with y'all and getting to know
y'all and enjoying all of the talents that were on display last night.
Some great pictures of some men in this congregation.
I want to kind of wrap up our time this weekend looking at these three verses that were read
to your hearing from Colossians chapter 3 on this subject.
Gratitude is the attitude.
And really, the point of this is that we live as God's people together with a daily gratitude
to God as the peace of Christ rules, rules in our hearts, and as his word, the word of
Christ, dwells richly among us.
So let me pray, and then we will start to dig in.
Father, we thank you for your word.
That's not dead, but that is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing
to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and the intentions
of the heart.
Lord, our confession this morning is that we are all naked and exposed to you, the one to
whom we must all give account.
And that's good news, Lord, because you know precisely what we stand in need of then.
So would you, through the preaching of your word, meet us where we are and give us what
we need?
Lord, if we need encouragement, would you be pleased to encourage our hearts in your gospel?
If we need correction, would you, in your mercy, correct us that we might walk rightly?
If we need, Lord God, if we need faith, hope, would you give us those gifts that we will be
people who live for the glory of Jesus Christ.
In his name we pray.
Amen, amen, and amen.
Let me read those verses to you again from Colossians chapter 3, verses 15 to 17.
The apostle Paul, we're catching him in mid-thought here, really.
And he says,
I want to tell you a brief story about a young African-American couple, Daryl and Joyce.
These are pseudonyms, it's not their real names, just protecting the innocent.
They live in a densely populated urban city in America, and they're both musicians, and
they met while they were each pursuing a master's degree at a prestigious conservatory here in
the U.S., and together they attend a racially, ethnically diverse church in their city, serving
on that church's music ministry team.
And I interviewed this couple during my research for my doctor of ministry dissertation, and
many of my interview questions when I would meet with people were intended to provoke a
emotional and thoughtful response.
And one group of questions that continually prompted that kind of response were these.
I would ask, what does it feel like to be your ethnicity at your church?
And I would get specific.
If they were black, what does it feel like to be black at your church?
What does it feel like to be white at your church?
I would ask, how often do you think about your ethnicity at your church?
And then I would ask him, what ways has that begun to change since you began attending your
church?
And when I asked Daryl that question, what does it feel like to be black at your church?
He said, I can't really be black at my church.
And of course, I wanted to know what he meant by that.
And he said, I mean, the things that I would do if I were in a more black setting, I can't
do that.
I often say, if I want to worship God, he said, I'm very expressive, and I'm going to
express it with my whole being.
The culture of all saints' church is pretty much the opposite.
They call me to play the organ.
Yes, it's the ham and be organ, but I'm not going to play it the way I would be playing
it in a black church.
It's a sad thing, but it's going to be something they can relate to.
And he's been a member of that church for over five years, so obviously he stayed, even
though he felt like he suppressed a part of himself, a part of his identity, and he's
still a part of the music team.
And when I asked, well, why is that?
He said, I used to get upset that I had to suppress it.
But over time, I've learned to see things from everyone's perspective.
I've been learning over the years how to deny myself.
He said, I hope that it can be the other way around, too, that they can deny themselves,
too, and we can assimilate across the different cultures.
And then his wife, Joyce, added this.
She said, I prefer to hear gospel music played.
I prefer actually to play gospel music, and those things are fine to prefer, but really,
at the end of the day, my growth with Christ is not about my preferences.
Actually, she said, it's a stripping away of my preferences.
We're supposed to be, Darrell said, ministers of reconciliation, and we need to really see
that in our city.
What does it look like in practice to live as a reconciled community, as the beautiful
community we've been talking about?
One of the things that is explicitly clear, if you've been paying any attention at all over
the past few years in the good old U.S. of A., it's been explicitly clear that we don't
live in a land where reconciliation is the norm.
You might even find yourselves this morning a little bit weary from all of the talk and
the issues that surround race in this land.
You might be angered or find yourself grieving by the ongoing evidence of this enduring problem
when will it end.
How will the strife be done away with?
We need to be perfectly clear, of course, the only true and permanent reconciler is Jesus
Christ.
And what is absolutely necessary is for the members of his body, the members of his church
to be ministers of reconciliation.
And that begins with his church living as reconciled community.
Should Darrell have had to feel as though he had to suppress a part of his racial identity
at All Saints Church?
Probably not.
Should All Saints Church be aware of its preferences and how their African-American musician was feeling
and what he was experiencing?
Yes, they should have been, but Jesus is the reason that Darrell can say,
I've been learning over the years how to deny myself.
Jesus is the reason that his wife Joyce can say,
my growth in Christ isn't based on my preferences.
It's based on the stripping away of preferences.
What's more, both had grown in thankfulness to God for this Christian community that they were a part of,
even though things were not precisely the way they wanted them to be.
You see, gratitude is the attitude that Jesus creates in the hearts of his people.
Did you notice that in these three verses,
the tagline, almost like an add-on by the apostle at the end of each verse,
is thankfulness to God.
There's a movement of gratitude in these three verses.
We see peace and place and practice.
We see being grateful in peace,
grateful in place,
and grateful in practice.
And this chapter, this section of Colossians,
is primarily about instructions on how the church is supposed to live
in light of what Jesus Christ has done for us.
It's about life in the messy middle
between the time that Jesus will come to set all things right.
How are we supposed to live?
He starts out this chapter in verse number one,
saying,
Since then you've been raised with Christ,
set your minds on things that are above,
not on earthly things,
for you have died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Since Jesus is the Father's right-hand man,
so to speak,
with all power and authority
to affect God's will
and to protect his own people,
then the Christian life
should be completely oriented
by reference to him.
And he sets this out,
saying,
listen,
that has some implications,
Paul is going to say,
in this chapter,
that therefore,
this is a life of putting off
and putting on,
put to death,
therefore,
he says,
what is earthly in you
because you've put off the old self
with its practices
and you've put on the new self
which has been renewed in knowledge
according to the image of its creator.
Therefore,
he said,
put on,
as God's chosen ones,
who are holy and loved,
put on tenderheartedness,
put on compassion,
put on kindness,
gentleness,
humility,
patience,
forgiving one another.
And he says,
above all these things,
put on love,
which is the binding glue of perfection.
This life,
in other words,
is not about me and you
as individuals,
as we've been talking about.
God is not simply interested
in making a new me.
He wants to make a new we.
And this reconciled community,
Paul emphasizes in verse 11
of this chapter
where he says,
here,
there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian,
Scythian,
slave,
free,
but Christ is all
and in all.
They are supposed to,
as this reconciled community
of Jew and Gentile,
barbarian,
Greek,
Scythian,
slave,
and free,
that are holy
and loved together.
They are to be putting
earthly things to death
and putting on love
together
across all of these differences.
And this is absolutely clear
in this first point,
being grateful in peace.
He says in verse 15,
let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts
to which indeed
you are called
in one body
and be thankful.
The desire for peace
is not new.
The fact that in this world
we are regularly confronted
with violence
and injustice
and war
and disharmony
and disruption
and division
is nothing new.
We long for peace,
but the world
has never known
how to get it.
And this is in part
because peace
is not simply calmness.
Peace is not simply
the absence of strife.
When we see
in cities
in America
over recent years
racial unrest
and protests
over racial injustice
and police killings
that explode
into violence,
when we see it
in a city
like Charlottesville, Virginia,
do you know
that before the riots,
Charlottesville, Virginia
was not a city
at peace?
When you gather together
on Sunday morning
in Brooklyn
in D.C.,
there's no violence
necessarily going on
outside of the windows,
but D.C.
is not a city
at peace.
Peace
is not simply
biblically speaking
the absence of hostility.
It is the presence
of something.
It is the presence
of well-being.
It is the presence
of wholeness
and flourishing
and prosperity.
It is all things
working together
as they ought to.
So here,
when the apostle says,
let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts,
to be a Christian
at least means this,
it means to be
at peace with God.
Jesus Christ
reconciles us
to God.
We are God's enemies.
We were at war
with God.
That's a losing battle,
but we didn't care.
That is how life
apart from faith
in Jesus Christ
looks.
This is why Paul said
in the first chapter
of this letter,
verses 19 to 22,
for in him,
in Christ,
all the fullness
of God
was pleased
to dwell
and through him
to reconcile
to himself
all things,
whether on earth
or in heaven,
making peace
by the blood
of his cross.
And you,
who were once
alienated
and hostile
in mind,
doing evil deeds,
he has now
reconciled
in his body
of flesh
by his death
in order to present
you holy
and blameless
and above reproach
before him.
Jesus Christ
is our peace.
He's our holy hope
for peace
with God
and what that means
is that in
Jesus Christ,
we are restored
to wholeness
and flourishing
in our relationship
with God
and so Paul says,
let the peace
of Christ,
this peace
that Christ
has established
and brought you
into,
let that rule
your hearts.
The command
is for something
to rule
and the subject
of that command
is not you.
The subject
is the peace
of Christ.
Ruling here
has the sense
of an arbitrator
and an umpire
like in baseball.
When there's tension
and difficulty
among you,
what is the determining
factor
and what you all
say
and what you all
do?
What's in the position
of calling balls
and strikes
in your decision-making?
What is in the position
and the decision-making
position of
do this
and don't do that,
say this
and don't say that?
Is it your feelings?
Are you driven
by how you feel
at the moment?
Is it your likes
and your dislikes?
Is it your preferences?
Would you please
notice with me
that this is something
that the Colossians
are to let happen,
not make happen.
Paul doesn't say
make the peace
of Christ rule.
Let the fact
that we have been
reconciled to God
and have peace
with God
or a flourishing
relationship
with God,
let that be
the ruling factor
in our decision-making.
He says,
do not get it.
Twist it.
You are called
to this
in one body.
You didn't call
yourselves
into this life.
God called you
into it.
God placed you
in this one body.
It's not even
your body.
It's the body
of Christ.
You've been called
into peaceful
existence
in this body
and you're only
a part of it
because God
called you
and placed you
in it.
Were it not
for the blood
of Jesus' cross,
we would have
stayed apart
because of differences
and divisions.
The pursuit
of what makes
for peace
only happens
to live
in a position
of gratitude
for that peace.
peace.
When he says
and be thankful,
it's not a
throwaway lie.
What he means is
keep on being thankful.
Keep on being thankful
for the peace
that Jesus Christ
has made
for you
with God
for life
in this world
by his blood.
keep on being thankful.
Let that be
the decision-making
authority
when you relate
to one another
in his body.
Being grateful
in peace
is intimately tied
to being grateful
in place
and when I say
being grateful
in place,
I'm talking
about the same place
that the apostle
is talking about.
He says in verse 16,
let the word of Christ
dwell richly,
richly,
that is live
in you all
richly
in all wisdom
as you teach
and admonish
or warn each other.
He doesn't say
let the word of Christ
dwell in your hearts,
but that's what he means.
He's still talking
about what is
at the center
of our decision-making
in our life
together.
Notice he says
let it live
in you,
let it live
in you all
richly
with all wisdom
as you teach
and admonish
each other
singing psalms
and hymns
and spiritual songs
with gratitude.
With gratitude
where?
He says
with gratitude
in your hearts
to God.
The peace of Christ
is supposed to be
the head honcho
if you will,
the decision-making
power in your hearts
and now he says
the word of Christ
is supposed to
flourish there
and letting
the word of Christ
dwell richly
among us
isn't simply
about memorizing
scripture verses
that you can apply
to various situations.
I'm all for
memorizing scripture,
right?
We are people
of the book
as it were.
The Bible
is our only rule
for faith
and for practice
but the word
of Christ here
is related
to the peace
of Christ
in verse 15.
I like the way
Chaplain Blackman,
the chaplain
at Wheaton College
put it recently
when he spoke
on this passage.
He put it this way.
He says
let the verbalized,
vocalized
announcement
of God
about what
Jesus Christ
is doing
and who he is,
let it be
the telling influence
of your control tower,
the executive center
of your being.
let it be
the telling influence
of everything
that you think
and act
and do.
It is
the living voice
of Jesus Christ.
The peace
of Christ
is ours
because
of the word
of Christ.
The word
of Christ
is God's
declaration
of who Jesus
is,
what he's doing
and why he's doing it.
Let this word,
the apostle says,
live among you
all richly.
So don't just
read your Bible.
In other words,
hear the voice
of your Lord.
Hear the voice
of your Lord.
Realize it is
the living word
of the living God
and it shouts
to us
about God's
reconciling
and renewing
all things
in Jesus Christ.
And letting
the word
of Christ
live in us
is to be done.
He says,
with all wisdom,
when the peace
of Christ
is our decision
making
and the word
of Christ
is flourishing
among us,
we will engage
one another
with all wisdom.
We won't simply
be walking around
quoting Bible verses
at each other
to correct one another
or try to fix
an issue.
And listen,
biblically speaking,
wisdom is not just
about knowledge.
It is the skill
to apply
what we know
in a way
that enables
life to thrive.
And he's doing
something intentional
here,
the apostle is.
He's setting them up.
Look at what he said
in chapter one
verses 28 and 29.
At the end
of the chapter,
he says,
him we proclaim,
Christ we proclaim,
warning everyone
and teaching everyone
with all wisdom
that we may present
everyone mature
in Christ.
Paul says,
for this I toil,
struggling with all
his energy
that he powerfully
works within me.
He's talking about
himself as an apostle.
I'm working hard
to proclaim
Jesus Christ
to you all,
warning and teaching
with all wisdom.
The purpose is your
maturity in Jesus Christ.
And now,
when we get to chapter three,
he says,
this isn't just for me
to do for you.
This is for you all
to do with
and for one another.
He uses the same words
that he used
in chapter one,
with all wisdom,
teaching,
and warning each other.
In other words,
he said,
don't only look to me
as an apostle.
As the peace of Christ
rules in your hearts
and the word of Christ
is lavishly living
among you,
God will grant wisdom
so that you can grow
in maturity together.
together.
This dwelling
of the word of Christ
with all wisdom
as you teach
and warn each other
actually happens
when we come together
for worship.
It happens
when you're singing
psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs
with gratitude
in your hearts
to God.
The teaching
and the warning
actually is happening
when the body of Christ
comes together
for worship.
Isn't it wonderful
that he calls out
our corporate singing
as a particular way
in which we let
the word of Christ
live richly in us
as a way we teach
and warn one another.
Like,
what do you think
when you come to church
to sing?
What do you think
is happening?
Do you just think about
you and God
on an island together?
just me dwelling
and worshiping God?
Does it work
into your praise
to be thinking
about the people of God
you are among
when you are worshiping,
singing psalms
and hymns
and spiritual songs?
Is it generating
a gratitude
gratitude
in your hearts?
A thankfulness
to God
for the community
in which
he has placed you.
When we come
together
we're able
to help each other
be grateful
for the peace
of Christ
that's been given
to us.
We're able
to help each other
be grateful
that we're called
together
in one body.
We're to help
each other
be grateful
that God
has opened
our ears
to hear
the word
of Christ.
We're to be
grateful
in the place
we're to be
grateful
in the place
that God
has captured
to help
each other
be grateful
in our hearts.
And lastly
the apostle
commands us
to be grateful
in practice.
He expands
this attitude
of gratitude
to the entirety
of our lives
and whatever
you do
in word
or in your
work
do everything
in the name
of the Lord
Jesus
giving thanks
to God
the Father
through him.
Yeah, yeah
I know
gratefulness
in your hearts
to God
when you're
singing songs
and hymns
and spiritual
songs together
in worship
but he's like
look, look, look
whatever you do
in word
or in work
in word
or in deed
do it all
in the name
of the Lord
Jesus
giving thanks
to God
the Father
through him.
In other words
this attitude
of gratitude
is to spill
out of Sunday
worship
into everyday
living.
The rubber
is to meet
the road
in our daily
lives.
So let me
kind of wrap
this up
with an example
of what gratitude
in practice
looks like
from something
I was blessed
to see
and hear
just a couple
of years ago
from a good
friend of mine
a brother pastor
during a time
of racial tension
in his city
my brother
Howard Brown
who pastors
Christ Central Church
in Charlotte
North Carolina
back in September
of 2016
he was interviewed
in a local
for a local TV
news program
to discuss
the racial tensions
in his city.
the city
just exploded
in protests
and there was
violence
and the reporter
said to him
he said
pastor
you have a very
unique position
in that you have
police officers
in your congregation
yet you also
have congregants
who are very
frustrated
with the police
and pastor
Brown said
he said
correct
the work
we do
is the work
of reconciliation
so we have
open and honest
discussion
and we
believe
that we serve
a God
and we have
a gospel
that can handle
any kind of dispute
in any kind
of issue
and then the reporter
said
but what is the
challenge for people
even
he said
even
people of faith
what is the challenge
is reconciling
their spirituality
reality
with real life
right now
in which
a lot of people
feel disenfranchised
and feel like
they're targeted
actually being
killed by faith
pastor Brown said
he said
what the community
of faith
needs to realize
and communicate
to people out there
is this
you have a God
who is highly
concerned
and upset
at the oppression
he's highly
concerned
about the issues
that people
are going through
but he also recognizes
that it is impossible
for us
to get the justice
that our souls
and our situations
deserve
so he was willing
to go to bat
for us
through the work
of his son
Jesus Christ
we believe that
the question
we need to ask
is
is there space
and room
not only in our churches
but in our gospel message
for those folk
who are in the street
who are really hurting
and he said this
the only difference
between you
and the folk
who are running
in the street
is the degree
of mercy
and grace
that you've received
that you fail
to realize
you are no better
you are no more moral
you simply
are being given
a grace of God
in a different situation
that is not
of your own doing
what pastor Brown
was describing
is what gratitude
in practice
looks like
gratitude
in practice
particularly
when it's rough
around the edges
when there are disputes
that bubble over
into tension
and hostility
is a recognition
that I
have been given
a grace from God
that is not
of my own doing
that I have received
peace with God
through Jesus Christ
and this governs
the realities
of my life
day in
and day out
and what that means
is I walk
into these situations
with humility
I don't walk
into them
as I know it all
having all
of the answers
and would you notice
that there's
no escape clause
the apostles
have been giving them
lists in this passage
in Colossians chapter 3
and now
in
just in case
anybody might think
that there's a loophole
he says whatever you do
in word
or in deed
do
everything
as we say
everything
in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ
giving thanks to God
the Father
through him
do you know
particularly
when you're trying
to pursue
beautiful community
when you're trying
to pursue it
in the church
when you're trying
to pursue it
in your community
it's a lot easier
to give thanks
to God the Father
through Jesus Christ
when things are going well
this
particularly
has
has pointed
power
when we are
dealing
with difficulties
and divisions
and differences
and hostilities
and we ask
the question
what
difference
is Christ
making among us
what difference
is the presence
of the peace
of Christ
making
among us
are we learning
like Joyce
when she said
I'm learning
that my growth
in Jesus Christ
isn't about
my preferences
is actually
quite often
the opposite
it's about
the stripping
away of my
preferences
gratitude
is the attitude
that God
calls us to
gratitude
is the attitude
that God
calls us to
to live
out the reality
of the peace
that we have
been given
by him
through faith
in Jesus Christ
the peace
that we have
with him
that is
to just
flow out
into a pursuit
an active
pursuit
of peace
with another
as we live
as one body
with gratitude
in our hearts
to God
let's pray
Father thank you
for your peace
you pray
Lord
that it is
indeed
the ruling
factor
over our hearts
as your people
we pray
Lord God
that we grow
in gratitude
and in love
for one another
and for our
neighbors
as we worship
your holy name
being reminded
that you've done
for us
what we could
not do
for ourselves
and we pray
Lord God
that this
this gratitude
for this peace
would just rush
out into the
daily aspect
of our lives
every day
all day
to the praise
of your glorious
grace
in Christ's name
amen
let's rise
and sing
song number
four
and so
to