Holding All Things Together: a sermon on Colossians 1:13-20

This was my sermon at Holy Cross on November 24, 2013--the Sunday after the tornado hit New Minden. I had spent the better part of the previous week back in Illinois helping with the recovery. It was good to review it as I prepare for preaching for the redidication service on August 9, 2015. 

In the name of Jesus, who holds all things together, dear fellow redeemed,

             On Monday I had the opportunity to sit at lunch with my Dad. Unfortunately we were not alone. It was crazy in our school basement. Victims, rescue workers, and volunteers were all grabbing a bite to eat before getting back to the recovery. Of course, victims, rescue workers, and volunteers weren’t the only one who were there. The media was there too. As I sat down with Dad, two reporters from a large Metro-East newspaper joined us.

            They asked the questions you would expect from reporters after a tornado strikes: What do you say to your people after something like this? Is God judging us?

            Dad pointed them to the hymn we just sang. “Built on the Rock the church shall stand even when steeples are falling.” That rock is Christ, who is first in everything as our reading tells us. The church is built on Him. It doesn’t depend on a building no matter how beautiful or historic.

            This is where our reading today takes us. It reminds us that Jesus is the one who holds creation itself together. He is also the one who holds His body, the church together. That’s what I saw with my own eyes this last week in New Minden, IL. I hope today we can see this together as we examine this text.

First, Jesus holds creation together. The first verses of the text remind us that Jesus, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one who made the world.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16

           

            Nothing that has been made was made without Him. He is not part of the creation as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses would say. “By Him all things were created” doesn’t really leave anything out. 

For us as Christians, the fact that God made the world goes much further than debating what should be taught in schools. It shapes how we look at the rest of creation. That’s important because we living in creation. If we believe that God made the world then we believe that nothing in all creation is outside of His control. Indeed this is what our text says. “In Him all things hold together!”

We can have confidence that the universe won’t suddenly zap out of existence. Think of it. If the universe is here accidentally, then it could suddenly disappear accidentally. I’m not sure why more atheists aren’t worried about that. We never have to worry about that because “In Him all things hold together.”

If God is holding creation together, then why does He let things like tornadoes happen? This is a really good question. It’s one that makes some question either God’s goodness or even His existence at all.

Here’s the best answer we can give: God allows us to see glimpses of hell sometimes. That is to say He lets us see what the universe would be like without His providence. He lets us see how horribly broken the world actually is. It’s our fault. We are the ones who rejected God’s perfection. We thought our own way was best. For brief moments like a tornado or for long moments like a battle with cancer, God lets us see what the whole world would be like if it was left up to us without His protection. It’s a reminder that if this disaster or disease doesn’t get you, something else will. Death is coming for us all.

He doesn’t let these things happen to punish individual, specific sins. He does these things so that we know He’s the only one we can trust. He’s the only one on whom we can depend.

He even goes further than that. He begins the process of making peace. “For in him 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.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

Jesus has made peace between His rebellious creation and its perfect creator. He did this joining the creation and became part of it by being born as a human being. He made peace by shedding His blood for you on the cross. There He died so that you wouldn’t have to fear death.

He rose again from the dead as the firstborn from the dead. That if you have a firstborn, what does that mean? It means you’re going to have more. In this case many, many more. If He is the head then He will certainly bring His body with Him. What is His body? It’s the church! It’s you. It’s me. In baptism you were made a member of Christ’s body. He made you a part of Himself. He can no more easily be separated from you than you can from your own right hand.

            Jesus holds us to Himself. Jesus holds us close to everyone else He’s holding close to Himself. This is how He holds the church together.

            St. John’s New Minden was built from locally quarried stone during the Civil War. In places, the walls are over four feet thick. The stones are tied together to give mutual strength and support. But this week, when the rocks were falling apart, another kind of stone was coming together. Hear what Peter, the rock, said about this in his first epistle:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

            When I was home this week it was wonderful to see the church holding together. They saw that Jesus was the corner stone. They were each living stones in the church. They supported each other just as the stones did in the church building. People, who for years had heard that the church was more than just the building, were now not only actively confessing this but were showing it with their actions.

It was easy to see. On Monday afternoon I walked into the school basement and immediately all my senses were reminded of the out pouring of love and support I saw in Joplin two years ago. You could see everyone gathered together to support each other. You could hear the sounds of people encouraging each other. You feel the warmth of Christ’s love in the room. And of course you could smell and taste the food, which so many loving hands had donated and served.

Debris was cleared. Homes were surveyed. Track hoes and skid steers went to work. Pieces of lives were picked up so they could be put back together. The church was there, even without its building.

When people see a need, as in this tornado, it’s easy to know how to respond. I know you all would do the same. You guys cook really well. If this happened here, there would food to feed an army. You guys have the machinery to clean up, and you’d be happy to use it. I have no doubt that you all would respond to such a disaster in the same amazing way.

The challenge comes when we look for needs which are constant. Just here this week we have the food drive for the food pantry. Next week the angel tree will be up with ideas for things we can give away. I know you all would be willing to help with something big. Yet right here God is giving us the opportunity to help with things that are small. Will we be up to the challenge?

            Just now, we’re coming up on 10 o’clock this morning. God’s people back in New Minden are gathering for the service, which will begin in just a few minutes. They’ll be meeting in the school basement. They will probably be there for a while. They’ll be outside their normal sanctuary for a while and without their organ, bell and steeple for even longer. But they’ll see that they are still the church as verse two of our hymn proclaimed:

We are God’s house of living stones, built for His own habitation.

He through baptismal grace us owns—heirs of His wondrous salvation.

Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell.

With all His grace and His favor

             May God give us the same perspective. Let’s just hope He does it without sending us a tornado. Amen.