6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ. – Colossians 2:6-8
Good morning. Here in Colossians 2, Paul gets to the heart of that which ails this violent and broken world, that which afflicts Christians who succumb to frustration and callousness. What is this ailment? What is this affliction? Simply put, it is human tradition.
Because mankind exists in a perpetual state of violence and corruption, human tradition rarely seeks to liberate, while often lacking any measure of density or integrity. Instead, it habitually proves itself eager to enslave and imprison, while always willing to defraud and swindle.
How different life becomes when Christ lives in us. Unlike the empty fragility of human tradition, a life in Christ is a life with roots that run deep enough to withstand the strongest storm and the worst heartache. Unlike the manufacturing of lies and fabrications produced by human tradition, a life in Christ is a life that builds upon truth and certainty.
Throughout history men and women have been killed and imprisoned having suggested what I’m about to propose, or re-propose once more this morning. Is it possible that the cure to the disease of violence and hate exists outside human tradition? Could it be that the remedy to our frustrations and insensitivities lies beyond the boundaries of human knowledge?
I submit that we need a cure of cosmic proportions, a remedy of divine dimensions. The good news of the Gospel proclaims that though this cosmic cure once resided well beyond our reach, it did not stay there. Born in a manger and killed on a cross, Jesus Christ is the cosmic cure, the righteous remedy.
Since he remains fully God, Christ offers to fully dwell in us. Yet before Christ can fully dwell in us, Paul says we will need to be cut upon first. Now Christ does not cut away at the flesh as old traditions demanded, but instead Christ aims to sever us from routine sins and unfit allegiances.
By separating us from all our usual sins and unworthy loyalties, Christ’s forgiveness offers to us what human tradition never could. For only when we experience the power of forgiveness do we realize what it means to be fully alive. And it is to live a life free of guilt and debt, a life absent of condemnation and shame.
Tragically many today still hold to human tradition and its notions that we can disarm only when we destroy, that we can thrive only when others are deprived. This week I encourage us to break free from such logic, escape such reasoning that seeks to hold us captive. And instead allow Christ to fully dwell in us so that we may come to see the path of forgiveness as the only way forward.
CJE