Do It in the Name of the Lord!

A Post from Pastor Kathy:

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17, NRSV)

God has called us to be part of the body of Christ and this passage in Colossians gives us a good picture of what our life together as the body of Christ should look like. The writer of Colossians urges us to be a people who give thanks to God and who sing to God with gratitude.

Maybe this passage appeals to me because I love to sing. In fact, my daughter used to ask me to please stop singing, so it's nice to have a biblical text that tells me I'm supposed to! Colossians 3:12-17 is (all joking aside) a good text to use to take stock of ourselves as God's people as we continue to determine what God has called us to do and be.

In this passage of Colossians, Paul paints a picture of what the people of God are to look like when we gather together. We are to focus on our many blessings rather than on our complaints! It is often very easy for us to see what is not right about our life as a community in Christ. (I know how easy it is - I'm a born complainer); it is less easy to see what we do well. Colossians reminds us that we are special in God's eyes. God chose us; God loves us. God never gives us a task without also giving us the abilities and gifts to do what he has called us to do. This passage challenges us to live as if we believe it!

Because God chose you, wrote Paul, because God declares that you (we) are holy and beloved we are to “clothe ourselves” with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. How do we “clothe ourselves” with those traits? The only way I know is by constantly practicing them. Paul often calls them gifts of the Spirit and as individuals we may find one or more of them are easier to do. I keep telling God that I’ve decided I don’t want the gift of patience but I am continually being taught that I have no choice if I want to follow my Lord. (Some days I’m more patient than others!)

Sharing the love and joy of the Lord with everyone means we need to look at our neighbors (as well as those who are our church family) with compassion. For me as a pastor, one question is always who are the neighbors we are called by God to minister to at this current time. This is especially challenging for when I serve in what are “open country” churches. To share with everyone can become so general that we share God’s love and joy with no one in particular. We could focus on sending gifts to national and international organizations and fail to see the needs in our local communities; or, we could focus on the city nearest us where there are many people with many needs and not even see the needs of the people who live around our church buildings. What do our neighbors need? How do we share God’s love and joy with them? Even more basic, who are our neighbors?

Paul ends this passage, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” When we cloth ourselves in the gifts of the spirit, (compassion, kindness, patience. Etc.) we will be doing everything in the name of Jesus; we will be living together as the children of God; and we will be truly sharing the love and joy of the Lord with everyone.