11th Sunday of Luke
Scripture: Colossians 3:4-11
Nutshell
(1) Challenge
There’s a classic musical called My Fair Lady. In it, a professor of phonetics tries to teach a young woman with a strong Cockney accent to speak so well that he can pass her off as a duchess. As the professor discovers, the trick is convincing the young woman to give up her old ways.
(2) Sin
Today, St. Paul is a lot like that professor. He warns the Colossians that if they don’t give up their old ways of living—especially when it comes to sex and speech—they’ll fall back into the old patterns of living.
(3) What happens?
These are ways of the world, and, in some cases, they can break the unity of the Body of Christ.
(4) Christ forges a new path
Christ shows us that in order to live, we must first put our old lives to death.
(5) Longing satisfied
When we were baptized, we, along with our old patterns of living, were buried with Christ. When we rose out of the waters, we became a new creation, clothed with new, white clothes. Christ has given us the means to establish and live by new, life-giving patterns.
(6) Visible evidence
When this happens, Christ’s peace rules in our hearts, and we live by compassion, honesty, humility, gentleness, magnanimity, and, most of all, by love.
(7) What shall I do?
Since we have been renewed by Christ, we have new knowledge of how to live. Therefore, we can live, thinking straight and knowing the truth of what it means to live to the fullest.
Full Text
(1) Challenge
There’s a classic musical called My Fair Lady.
In it, a professor of phonetics named Henry Higgins makes a bet with a friend. He bets that he can take an average person off the streets of London and pass them off as a person of high society.
The person he finds, Eliza Doolittle, is a woman selling flowers on the street. Not only is she unsophisticated when it comes to manners, but she also has a very strong Cockney accent—a dead giveaway that she’s not part of high society.
Of course, the fun of this movie is watching how Eliza repeatedly tests the Professor’s patience. Again and again, she falls back into her old ways, and her accent just keeps popping out. But eventually, she’s transformed into a Duchess.
(2) Sin
Today, St. Paul plays the role of Prof. Henry Higgins. He’s trying to transform the Colossians, who are new to Christianity, from pagans to outstanding citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom.
But, like Eliza, the Colossians are having a difficult time. No matter how hard St. Paul tries, they keep falling back into their old Cockney accents. However, in this case, that accent is pagan ways of thinking about sex and talking.
(3) What happens?
Illicit sexual behavior, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and greed (which Paul says is a form of idolatry), as well as anger, rage, wickedness, blasphemy, and dirty talk coming out of one’s mouth, are all ways of the world.
You see, Paul is concerned that by giving in to the ways of the world and its gratifications, the Colossians are missing the God-given context for marriage: a bond where the couple becomes one in Christ.
N.T. Wright, one of my favorite theologians, also has this insight:
“Sexual fantasies, in other words, are off-limits for the Christian, not simply because of the actions they may produce, but because they are in themselves a way of worshipping a false god, the pagan divinity of erotic love. Like all pagan worship, this consists of giving one’s allegiance to something in the transient world of present experience, rather than to the living God, the creator. The inevitable result is death.”
Additionally, Paul is just as concerned with the speech that comes out of the Colossians’ mouths.
Just like a sexual scandal can tear a community apart, words can do the same. As Christians, we are meant to be united—one Body in Christ—yet, the sort of speech that Paul mentions can easily tear the community apart, a sure sign that one is still a part of the world.
If we are to be Christians, we are to have a new way of being, a way that demonstrates that we’ve been given new life, and that we are one in Christ.
(4) Christ forges a new path
In the movie, Professor Higgins discovers that the secret to transforming Eliza is to trick her into giving up her old ways. It isn’t enough to teach her new things and a new way of speaking; she must leave her past behind.
It was the same for the Colossians, and it’s the same for us too. We must put our past ways behind us to embrace the new life we’ve been given in Christ.
Christ shows us that in order to live, we must first put our old lives to death.
(5) Longing satisfied
When we were baptized, we, along with our old patterns of living, were buried with Christ. When we rose out of the waters, we became a new creation.
Now, when we speak about baptism, we like to talk about the dunking, the chrismation, or even the tonsure. But, just as important are the new clothes we’re given, the garments of white.
We mustn’t forget the garment of righteousness that we’re given.
These white clothes remind us of our new birth. They remind us that we’ve put on Christ, and that Christ has given us the means to establish and live by new, life-giving patterns.
The old ways have been drowned in the waters with the old Adam—put to death, no longer alive.
(6) Visible evidence
When this happens, Christ’s peace rules in our hearts, and we live by compassion, honesty, humility, gentleness, magnanimity, and, most of all, by love.
But, what does this look like? Perhaps, a good demonstration is St. Dionysius of Aegina, whom we’re celebrating today.
In the 16th century, Dionysius was the abbot of a monastery near Zakynthos, when a stranger showed up begging for sanctuary. Come to find out, the stranger had murdered Dionysius’s brother and had fled to the monastery fearing revenge from the family. Of course, the stranger did not know that the man he murdered and Dionysius were brothers.
When Dionysius’s family came to the monastery seeking the murderer, Dionysius protected the man. He even sent his family off in the wrong direction.
After his family left, Dionysius admonished the man, but also compassionately led him to repentance. For his love, Christ granted Dionysius the ability to work miracles.
Instead of living by the way of the world, Dionysius lived by mercy and love.
(7) What shall I do?
Since, through our baptism, we’ve been clothed with the white garments, we have been renewed by Christ, and we have new knowledge of how to live.
We are no longer enslaved by our passions. We are no longer given over to speech that divides us or hurts others.
Instead, we’ve been transformed, like Eliza, into royalty, children of the Most High God. And, because of this, we have a unity that keeps us together and helps us become more Christ-like every day.
Amen.