"Christ In You" a sermon on Colossians 1:15-28

Colossians 1:15-28
“Christ In You”
Preached Sunday, July 17, 2022

The first 5 verses of our reading today are often called the “Christ Hymn.” It was thought that Paul pulled from a hymn that the early church sang about Jesus as he wrote the letter to the Colossians, drawing from what the church knew in order to make a point. I imagine it is how I often use hymns in sermons to drive home my points. Something about the sung word can resonate more deeply within us.

I will admit, I spent a little bit of time this week trying to match up the reading to a well-known hymn tune to see if I could present the Scripture that way and I am not very musically gifted and had to change the words around a little - I think they probably worked much better in the ancient Greek and however they would have sung it - but you heard that mash up today of the Scripture spoken and sung - not quite like it would have originally been sung, but a hymn nonetheless.

And indeed, like those early Christians, we too sing hymns. It is perhaps from our hymns, even more than sermons or Sunday school teachers, that we learn from to know who Jesus is. Again, there is something about the sung word over the spoken word that tugs deep on our heartstrings.

There are hymns that even pull directly from this Christ hymn from Colossians. The one that comes to my mind is Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. Join in if you know it -

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.”

This is a hymn about God’s nature and goes on to sing not only about the wisdom and everlasting-ness of God but of how all life comes through and is sustained by God - just like in the Christ hymn from our text today.

There are a lot of hymns out there about Jesus though, aren’t there.

There is the one we sang for our children’s moment today, “Jesus loves me this I know…” The message of that hymn is unmistakable. Jesus loves me, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves children, Jesus loves all.

Maybe another hymn you know from your childhood, What a Friend We Have in Jesus:

“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.”

This hymn reminds us that Jesus is our friend and that we can always turn to him in prayer, to talk to him, to know he is there for us.

Of course, some of my favorite hymns about Jesus are Christmas hymns, like the second verse from Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

“Christ by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord; late in time, behold him come, offspring of a virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the God-head see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.”

I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s one thing to SAY that Jesus is God incarnate, God with-us - it’s another thing to sing it, to belt it out at Christmas time with such beautiful lyrics.

And, of course, there are so many hymns about Christ’s death on a cross, about his grief and suffering. About the immense love that God had for us that put him on that cross in the first place. We sing about it in many hymns, including What Wondrous Love Is This:

“What wondrous Love Is This, O My Soul, O my Soul, what wondrous love is this, oh my Soul, what wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse, for my soul?”

Okay - one more - cause we can’t say how we sing about Jesus’s death and not also say how we sing about his resurrection! His defeat over the grave! The joy and celebration and hope and promise that gives us! Like the Easter favorite, “He Lives.”

“I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today; I know that he is living, whatever foes may say, I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him, he’s always near. He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today, he walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way, he lives, he lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.”

Okay - did I miss any? I know I did, there are a lot out there. What are some of your favorite hymns about Jesus?

As we know very well, hymns have a special place in our hearts. Or worship songs. Or, music in general. We know that our brains actually learn better from music and music and our memories are tied up together. It’s why I can’t remember what I ate for lunch yesterday but I can sing songs from my childhood without even thinking. I did not think I still had that much Backstreet Boys in my brain until I listened to the throwback playlist and realized I somehow still know every word! It’s because our brains - and our hearts and souls just react to music in a different way, a deeper way.

And so it is no wonder that the early church, like even the super early church, already had songs about Jesus, songs about their faith - especially in a world that didn’t have the Gospels. They didn’t have the New Testament - they had the letters Paul wrote to them - like literally this letter from Colossians - but not much else! It’s no wonder the earliest disciples turned to music to teach about Christ.

Paul pulls from this hymn on who Jesus is to drive his point home to this early church community. And WHO is Jesus, according to this early hymn?

Christ is the image of the invisible God
The firstborn of all creation
ALL things were created through him
He is above all things - even thrones, dominions, rulers or powers
He is the one who holds all things together
Christ is the head of the Church
He is the firstborn of the dead - the first resurrected
All of God is within him
And he is the one who will bring peace, starting with the blood of the cross

These early Christians, if this hymn is any tell, they knew who Christ was. What Paul is doing here is reminding them of who Christ is to drive home a point about who THEY are in light of that. This awesome God that you just sang about? He has reconciled you to him! That it doesn't matter that you were once estranged and doing evil deeds, Christ has reconciled YOU so that you may stand holy and blameless before God.

Paul goes on to say: “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of his mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

“The riches of the glory of his mystery…which is Christ IN YOU.” This God, Christ Jesus who we just sang about - the image of the invisible God - that God, Jesus, IS IN YOU.

What does that mean? Let’s get theological for a moment. There is something in theology that we call the imago dei. And that means “the image of God.” It partly comes from Genesis where God says, “Let us make humankind in our image.” And it is the belief, not that our physical forms look like God, but that there is something innate within humanity that reflects the Divine Creator. The Breath of Life that God breathed inside of us, our capacity for love and goodness, our ability to know and love God, our souls. This is the imago dei in us. In the Church or more evangelical circles, we often hear language about Christ being or living in our hearts - and that is certainly part of what it means for Christ to be in you - but the imago dei, the image of God inside each of us, is also something that is is inherent in all of us. That is there without us ever having to do a thing.

So stick with me here: Do you believe that you are made in the image of God? Do you believe that God is within you? That Christ, the image of the invisible God, is IN you?

When you examine yourself, when you look in the mirror - who do you see staring back at you?

There’s a common picture, many of you may have seen it or something like it - but it’s of a cute little adorable kitten looking in the mirror but the reflection is a majestic lion. And if you’ve ever had a cat you know that’s how they see themselves. But my question to you today is - like the cat who sees more than what’s on the surface - when you look at yourself - do you see the amazing and loving God we sing about reflected back through you?

I have a good friend who quite literally does not see herself as she is in the mirror - and not in a good way. From a very young age she has had body dysmorphia. She grew up in an abusive home and as a child was told horrible things about herself - and when she looked in the mirror she didn’t see herself as she was, she didn’t see herself as God saw her, the power of Christ within her, she saw herself as the lies of her abusive parent would have her believe. Those negative words that were drilled into her changed her reality so much, that she was driven to do harm to her body through an eating disorder. I do want to say that my friend has sought mental health care in the form of therapy and medication and strives to have a much better and healthier relationship with her body and herself today. And I have permission to share this part of her story.

But maybe some of us here today can relate more to what my friend saw in the mirror than what God wants us to see in ourselves and others - and that’s the image of God. Especially for those who struggle with mental health, we may believe lies about ourselves. That we’re not good enough, that we’ll never measure up, that we’re less than, that we don’t deserve life or love. But whether we struggle with mental illness or not, there are plenty of lies that we’re sold about ourselves. Our world wants us to look in the mirror and see ourselves as less than we are. We may see ourselves by our gender or our skin color or our salary or our political party or by our job titles or our place in our families…

If the words others say about us, or even the words we say about ourselves, have the power to shape how we see ourselves - for better or worse - my question to us is, can the words we say about Jesus - or even, the words we sing about Jesus, can those words also change how we see ourselves and others, knowing deeply, that Christ is IN US, Christ who is the image of the invisible God - that image of God is imprinted in who we are, who we were created to be.

And when we start to see Christ within ourselves - others will see Christ within us too. Because when we see the God who created the whole world within us, the God who loves the whole world within us, the God who redeems and reconciles the whole world within us…we begin to love the whole world too. We begin to be forces for redemption and reconciliation for the whole world too. And we begin to see not just Christ in me but Christ in us and Christ in you and Christ in all.

So let us continue to sing songs about Christ and his love for us. Songs about Christ and his love for all. And maybe, just maybe, if words that are sung sink a little deeper into our hearts - then we will truly live and love like Christ. To see his immense love in us - and spilling out of us.

Let us sing about God’s love for us and about God’s love for others.

We’re going to sing one more time what we sang during our children’s moment - Jesus loves me and then Jesus loves you and then Jesus loves all - are you ready?

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves you,
Yes, Jesus loves all,
The Bible tells me so.

Let those words really and deeply resonate within us - until we truly begin to see the image of God in ourselves and in others, the image of the invisible God, Christ, in us.

Amen.