Colossians 1:1-14
“How Many Times Do I Need to Preach This Text?”
Preached Sunday, July 13, 2025
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that most of you have heard this morning’s Gospel text before.
Many of you have heard, “Love God and Love neighbor as self” many, many times.
Many of you have heard the story of “The Good Samaritan” more times than you can count.
This morning’s theme, even the message of this sermon, may seem “old hat.” There is nothing new here.
And. Please don’t tune out. The message of the Gospel is so important. It bears repeating. We need to hear it again and again and again.
Our reading from Colossians today even starts with the letter writing acknowledging that the community has heard this message before: “You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you.”
I had a preaching professor in seminary who started his class by having each student summarize the Gospel in one or two short sentences. He said this is the one sermon you will preach as a preacher - there may be variations on the theme but every sermon you give will have this at the core. Because preachers are called to proclaim the Gospel - the Good News.
My Gospel summary is something like this: God loves us so much that God became one of us and is always with us. In response to that love, we are to love God and love neighbor as self. This is the Good News - the Good News for all people. You are loved. Love in return.
This week’s Scripture from Luke is at the heart of the Gospel, the core of God’s Good News for us. So yes, you’ve heard this story before. You’ve heard these commandments before. And God knows I have preached on them before. Even when the weekly Scripture is not this exact text - it always comes back to “Love God, Love Neighbor.” As Paul says in Colossians - “you have heard of this hope, this Gospel, before…”
And so, even though we’ve heard it before…let us turn our attention, once again, to the Gospel message and hear it anew.
When the lawyer, which is really, one who studies the law more so than we think of lawyers in the modern sense, but when the lawyer asked Jesus: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He already knows the answer. He knows he’s supposed to love God and neighbor as self. Jesus tells him, "You have given the right answer.” He knows HOW he is supposed to treat his neighbor - but he wants to know WHO he has to love as himself. He’s looking for the loophole here - he wants to define “neighbor” in a way that he is justified in not loving some as himself. Or even, perhaps, to justify his hate.
It is here that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan: where a man is making a long and dangerous journey and is mugged and beat up - left for dead on the side of the road. Then a priest and Levite, two well-respected and religious people, cross to the other side of the road so they won’t have to deal with the helpless man. And then, a Samaritan comes, stops, helps the man - taking him to a 5 star hotel and paying extravagantly for his medical and recovery bills.
And after telling this story, he asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"
Now, remember, we have already established HOW you should treat your neighbors - you are to love them as yourself. The lawyer and Jesus are on the same page about this. Jesus does stress this point by using hyperbole. The inn here is not an inn like Mary and Joseph stopped at but more like a very nice hotel. The amount the Samaritan pays is extremely generous. Jesus is probably using hyperbole to make his point - as is a staple in the genre of parables. But they are not discussing how to treat your neighbor - they are discussing who is your neighbor.
And so, in response to the question, “who is the neighbor,” you’d expect a straightforward answer “The Samaritan.” After all, he gave a very straightforward answer to the summation of the law. But the lawyer answers Jesus, “The one who showed him mercy.” Which, I mean, was the Samaritan. But - the lawyer hated Samaritans so much - he couldn’t even bring himself to say that the “Samaritan” was the neighbor. The very thought of admitting that the neighbor was a Samaritan probably made him sick - he couldn’t even bring himself to say it.
You have heard me share before that Jewish New Testament Scholar AJ Levine has said that a modern equivalent of “the Good Samaritan” would be like telling the story of “The Good Hamas Member” today. Perhaps it would be like telling the story of “The Good Russian Soldier” to a Ukrainian. In our own country, we are so divided by hateful political rhetoric that depending on who your audience was, it could be “the Good MAGA” of “The Good Democrat” alike.
And so here we come to another part of the Good News - the Gospel Message we have heard before. The sermon I have preached over and over.
We have heard HOW we are to respond to God’s love for us - and that’s to love God and to love neighbor as self.
We have also heard, again and again, time and time over, “Who is my neighbor?” And the answer? - Even the Good Samaritan. Everyone is your neighbor, even your enemy.
Love God. Love neighbor. Love your enemy.
I’ve preached this sermon before.
You’ve heard this sermon before - not this exact sermon, but this message.
And sometimes, I can’t help but ask myself, “How many times do I need to preach this text?”
Maybe you’re wondering, “How many more times do I need to hear this?”
Sometimes I get discouraged when I look at the world. Sometimes I ask myself, “Does preaching Love make any difference?” Am I “preaching to the choir?” “Am I preaching to a wall?”
Perhaps you feel the same way. I know that many of you are trying your absolute best to live lives of Love. Lives filled with Love of God. Love of Neighbor. Even love of enemy. I know that you are all on a journey of discipleship. That the Spirit is working in and through you, to be sanctified, to follow Jesus, to live a holy life of Love.
But maybe you too look at the world around you and wonder…is it making any difference? Am I making any difference? Is God’s love making any difference?
My exhortation to myself and to each of you this morning is this: Keep on preaching Love. Keep on living lives of Love. Maybe, just maybe, it may be the first time someone hears a message of love. It may be the 1000 time someone hears a message of love…and it may be the first time it sinks in, the first time it makes a difference. Keep on going. Keep on preaching love, keep on living Love…until there is fruit.
Our text from Colossians says: “You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.”
Basically, you’ve heard the Gospel message before - and from the very first day you heard it, The Spirit has been at work within you to bear fruit. And not just from the very first day you heard it - but the day you really got it too. The day it clicked. The day that the Love of God, the Good News of the Gospel, the command to Love God and Love Neighbor as self and yes, even to Love our Enemies - the day it went from head knowledge to heart knowledge. The day that that heart knowledge spilled out in an overflow of Love.
And I want to add - not just the DAY but the DAYS. Plural. We are all works in progress. As Christians we call this Sanctification. That day by day, the Spirit of God works with us, through us, within us…to help us love just a little better. And there are days and times when we don’t get it right. When we move backwards. When we fail to bear good fruit. And the Good News - the really Good News of the Gospel - is that isn’t the end of our story. God never gives up to us. We will hear the Gospel of Love again. And again and again, we will have the opportunity to respond in love.
There is another parable in the Gospel of Luke about a fig tree. It goes like this: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’”
We, and our world, are like the fig tree. The Gardener may be telling us the Gospel of Love, over and over and over…and yet we fail to produce the fruit of that Love. But - The Gardener does not give up on us. The Gardener is patient with us. The Gardener tends our soil with, pardon the imagery, the manure of Love. So every time we hear the Gospel of Love, the Good News to Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Enemy…each time we hear it, it is like The Gardener putting manure on our roots, planting us more firmly in Good Soil, giving us everything we need to bear Good fruit for God.
How many times have we heard this text? How many times have we heard the Gospel? How many times….? May we produce the fruit of love tenfold as many times as we hear it.
Closing prayer for each of us, as it comes to us from Colossians:
“For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
May it be so, Amen.
And after telling this story, he asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"
Now, remember, we have already established HOW you should treat your neighbors - you are to love them as yourself. The lawyer and Jesus are on the same page about this. Jesus does stress this point by using hyperbole. The inn here is not an inn like Mary and Joseph stopped at but more like a very nice hotel. The amount the Samaritan pays is extremely generous. Jesus is probably using hyperbole to make his point - as is a staple in the genre of parables. But they are not discussing how to treat your neighbor - they are discussing who is your neighbor.
And so, in response to the question, “who is the neighbor,” you’d expect a straightforward answer “The Samaritan.” After all, he gave a very straightforward answer to the summation of the law. But the lawyer answers Jesus, “The one who showed him mercy.” Which, I mean, was the Samaritan. But - the lawyer hated Samaritans so much - he couldn’t even bring himself to say that the “Samaritan” was the neighbor. The very thought of admitting that the neighbor was a Samaritan probably made him sick - he couldn’t even bring himself to say it.
You have heard me share before that Jewish New Testament Scholar AJ Levine has said that a modern equivalent of “the Good Samaritan” would be like telling the story of “The Good Hamas Member” today. Perhaps it would be like telling the story of “The Good Russian Soldier” to a Ukrainian. In our own country, we are so divided by hateful political rhetoric that depending on who your audience was, it could be “the Good MAGA” of “The Good Democrat” alike.
And so here we come to another part of the Good News - the Gospel Message we have heard before. The sermon I have preached over and over.
We have heard HOW we are to respond to God’s love for us - and that’s to love God and to love neighbor as self.
We have also heard, again and again, time and time over, “Who is my neighbor?” And the answer? - Even the Good Samaritan. Everyone is your neighbor, even your enemy.
Love God. Love neighbor. Love your enemy.
I’ve preached this sermon before.
You’ve heard this sermon before - not this exact sermon, but this message.
And sometimes, I can’t help but ask myself, “How many times do I need to preach this text?”
Maybe you’re wondering, “How many more times do I need to hear this?”
Sometimes I get discouraged when I look at the world. Sometimes I ask myself, “Does preaching Love make any difference?” Am I “preaching to the choir?” “Am I preaching to a wall?”
Perhaps you feel the same way. I know that many of you are trying your absolute best to live lives of Love. Lives filled with Love of God. Love of Neighbor. Even love of enemy. I know that you are all on a journey of discipleship. That the Spirit is working in and through you, to be sanctified, to follow Jesus, to live a holy life of Love.
But maybe you too look at the world around you and wonder…is it making any difference? Am I making any difference? Is God’s love making any difference?
My exhortation to myself and to each of you this morning is this: Keep on preaching Love. Keep on living lives of Love. Maybe, just maybe, it may be the first time someone hears a message of love. It may be the 1000 time someone hears a message of love…and it may be the first time it sinks in, the first time it makes a difference. Keep on going. Keep on preaching love, keep on living Love…until there is fruit.
Our text from Colossians says: “You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.”
Basically, you’ve heard the Gospel message before - and from the very first day you heard it, The Spirit has been at work within you to bear fruit. And not just from the very first day you heard it - but the day you really got it too. The day it clicked. The day that the Love of God, the Good News of the Gospel, the command to Love God and Love Neighbor as self and yes, even to Love our Enemies - the day it went from head knowledge to heart knowledge. The day that that heart knowledge spilled out in an overflow of Love.
And I want to add - not just the DAY but the DAYS. Plural. We are all works in progress. As Christians we call this Sanctification. That day by day, the Spirit of God works with us, through us, within us…to help us love just a little better. And there are days and times when we don’t get it right. When we move backwards. When we fail to bear good fruit. And the Good News - the really Good News of the Gospel - is that isn’t the end of our story. God never gives up to us. We will hear the Gospel of Love again. And again and again, we will have the opportunity to respond in love.
There is another parable in the Gospel of Luke about a fig tree. It goes like this: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’”
We, and our world, are like the fig tree. The Gardener may be telling us the Gospel of Love, over and over and over…and yet we fail to produce the fruit of that Love. But - The Gardener does not give up on us. The Gardener is patient with us. The Gardener tends our soil with, pardon the imagery, the manure of Love. So every time we hear the Gospel of Love, the Good News to Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Enemy…each time we hear it, it is like The Gardener putting manure on our roots, planting us more firmly in Good Soil, giving us everything we need to bear Good fruit for God.
How many times have we heard this text? How many times have we heard the Gospel? How many times….? May we produce the fruit of love tenfold as many times as we hear it.
Closing prayer for each of us, as it comes to us from Colossians:
“For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
May it be so, Amen.
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