A  sermon on Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-21 

If you have heard the news any time during the week you almost certainly heard about the Manly NRL jersey debacle.  It is a result of a culture war that we have created, the result of a dualism that set us against the other.  And the thing is when we create these wars no one wins, those in the LGTBQI+ community continue to be hurt by being discussed publicly as ‘an issue’ rather than being accepted for who they naturally and wonderfully are.  The culture war of sexuality has seen people on both sides shouting convinced they are right.  Our culture wars promote black and white thinking with little to no willingness to listen to and engage with the other.

Why do we create these camps? Us and them, right and wrong.  People in both camps are convinced they are right and not only that they are also very angry about other people being wrong.

Psychologically we, our egos, love dualism.  We love being able to create absolutes.  So, we pick issues and draw lines in the sand.  Then we stand on the right side of the line and point our fingers at those on the wrong or bad side of the line.  Having a 'them' to compare ourselves against and to see as 'bad' helps us to see and believe ourselves as 'good'.

As Christians this can become even more important because we seem to think that our being right about everything is one of God’s biggest concerns.

I think this is particularly a problem for Protestants.  The reformation wanted to make clear that our salvation is not through the sale of indulgences, or our works.  Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  This has meant that we have created a new criteria by which to judge others: 'do they believe the right things?'  New lines in the sand have been drawn and to be a Christian you must believe this doctrine and this doctrine…

Maybe because we humans are so good at judging we think that God must be the ultimate judge and we keep creating images of God that are judging. If the Judge is not judging our good works then he must be judging our beliefs. So we have created an image of a God that is constantly judging us, and God’s judgement is largely based on whether we’ve got our beliefs right and even how firmly and assuredly we hold them.  I think this is a misunderstanding of who God is and what God is like.

In our reading from the letter to the Colossians there is a list of behaviours that we must get rid of “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language.” There is no mention of error, doubt, uncertainty, or even being flat out wrong.

It also tell us that we should “clothe ourselves" or put on other behaviours “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” There is no mention of certainty or fierce opposition to error, or even right beliefs.

The apostle seems far more concerned with our attitudes to one another and the ways that we speak to and treat one another than with whether we are right in all our beliefs.

It goes on to say in verse 14 “above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

And that is entirely consistent with what Jesus said he wanted his followers to be most known for. He didn’t say they will know that you are my followers by the fact that you are right all the time and that you make sure everyone knows it! He said they will know you are my followers when they see the love you have for one another.

Paul tells us since we have been raised with Christ, we are to set our mind on what is above.  Not because of some heaven/earth dualism wherein heaven is a higher good than earth.

Our minds should not be set on some other realm.  When Paul says we should “Set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” it is not a summons to neglect material reality and focus on what is spiritual. It does not mean abandoning the physical realm for the metaphysical. Rather it means we are to commit to the things that belong to a life in Christ. We are to look to Christ and take our cues from him. We are to concentrate on the things that matter to Christ, and not let ourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around us.

Agendas like greed which in the letter is referred to as idolatry.

In the gospel reading Jesus was asked to arbitrate a disagreement someone was having with his brother in the matter of an inheritance. Jesus says no he is not going to do that but he does take the opportunity to teach and he tells a parable.  A parable that warns against greed.  The issue is not the man’s wealth as such, or that he saves for the future, but his focus is only on himself.  The rich man talks in this parable only to himself, and about himself: “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry’”

You have probably heard it said it is not all about you.  It is not all about ourselves. The parable illustrates simply and memorably the futility of choices made in isolation. The man should work it out with his brother, in conversation with his brother.

As I said we are not to let ourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around us.

Agendas like creating 'us' and 'them' culture wars. Culture wars mean we hyper focus on issues and it narrows our vision.  If we set our minds on things that are above rather than hyper fixating on the pride rainbow we might see the sports bet sponsors logo and we might be more concerned with the betting industry.  An industry which has a business model of exploitation and greed. They profit from the suffering of others.  Australians lose more to gambling than any other nation, Australians lose more than $1.2 billon per year.  It is destructive and maybe if our minds were set on things above we would be more concerned about this that the rainbows.

We are not to let ourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around us.

Agendas that set us against each other.  The 'us' and 'them' of Aboriginal Australians and other Australians.  A culture war that results in people being fearful of acknowledging the truth that Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants of this place.  Our fears of others see us build walls, sometimes literal, but even worse the metaphorical walls around our hearts that mean we do not show “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

Jesus came to reconcile us all to each other and God.  We are not to demonize.  We are not to use power over but to work together collaboratively, to hear one another, to understand differences in culture and together work towards a future that seeks the well-being of all.

Previously I said that the Cosmic Christ is in all of creation, God’s first incarnation was creation.  Creation is the hiding place of God and the revelation of God.  Being hidden with Christ is an invitation into the bigger picture, a picture that is inclusive.  It is an invitation to see that Christ is in all of creation and therefore see value in all of creation. It is a picture that tells us our well-being is dependent on the well-being of the whole so we need to seek the well-being of all of creation.  It is an invitation to seek first the Kingdom of God or the Culture of God, that is to live God’s way.

If only the attempt to show inclusivity by the Manly Sea Eagle NRL club had actually demonstrated inclusivity by engaging in conversation with all the players. If only they had put aside the belief that their cause was right, even if it is right, and had clothed themselves with humility compassion, kindness, meekness, and patience.  Then the Manly Sea Eagle jersey debacle may not have been a debacle at all.  Those who did not want to wear the jersey may not have been demonized.  People in the LGTBQI+ community may not have been objectified and made again "an issue and symbol". Maybe a pride jersey could have been clothing that actually demonstrated inclusivity, humility compassion, kindness, meekness, and patience.