"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

 

         In reading Colossians in these summer weeks, we have found a message to the church: You are rooted, established, healed and chosen in Christ.

        Today we look at the last word, "chosen." Paul calls them "God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved." We think immediately of Jesus, who was chosen by God, holy and the beloved Son. You are God's chosen people.

         "Chosen" is a powerful word for us in memory and emotion. We remember what it has meant in various settings to be chosen, or not chosen.

• Did you grow up playing games of baseball or kickball on the school playground where teams were chosen, and what did it feel like to be chosen first, or last?
• If you played sports, do you have a memory of the day that the list of those who made the team was posted on the gym wall after school, and you knew you were either on your way home, or you were going to practice, depending on whether you had been chosen?
• Perhaps it was the high school Homecoming Court, and the students voted and then a few were chosen.
• Or maybe it was the school musical, and one day the parts were handed out, and a few were chosen, after years of work, to take the leading roles.
• Then, there is that long process of filling out college applications and the letter comes back from your first choice, and when you open the envelope you will find out that you were chosen, or maybe not.
• After school there is the shock of applying for that first job and discovering that maybe 100 qualified people also applied, and who will be chosen for the position?
• This continues, all the way to the top, and now we are inundated with news and pleas, and eventually someone will be chosen to be the next President of the United States.

         When we stop to think about it, it is remarkable just how much value our society places on being chosen. It begins in early childhood and continues all your life until they start naming buildings after you.

         But with age, there comes a caution about the benefits of being chosen. We observe that the sports heroes and Homecoming queens of the world do not always fare so well in life. We see that some chosen ones become arrogant, and others become lazy and some become corrupt. Some who are chosen for high position end up with very difficult tasks to do and get worn down by work or stress or criticism. It is a good thing to be chosen, but there is some caution that comes with it.

         And you are God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. That is a good thing; it is wonderful to be chosen by the grace of God and to know his love. But remember that to be chosen by God does not mean you are privileged above others. It is in fact not a life of status and ease, but one of humility. To be chosen by God in fact does not always feel good; the tasks and callings of the Lord are not always easy or free of risk. You must learn a life of submission to the will of God. It is not always so easy, and things do not always go your way. There is a mystery in this being chosen. It is the way of Jesus, and that is the way of the cross.

         It is still good, though. It is a life lived by the grace of God, and although we do not always believe that we are chosen, holy and loved, it is true. We do best when we can remember that.

         So, Paul gives some instruction for the chosen people of God. He says we are to put our minds on the things that are above. One of the commentaries pointed out that sometimes ancient writers used spatial language when they were referring to time. That is, "above" can in fact mean "the future." To put your minds on the things that are above means to think about what is coming, the Kingdom of God, and live by it. So life in Christ participates in qualities that are new, that are of God, that are both present now and yet to come. Chosen people are to live in anticipation of something greater.

         This kind of life is summed up in five essential virtues. Paul refers to them as "clothing." By that he does not mean "superficial" or "external" or "fashionable." These are qualities that are eternal. They do not quite fit this present age, but we are to put them on, as best we can, and some day we will in fact, feel at home in them.

         The first virtue is compassion. This is a quality made especially for people who are in too much of a hurry, for those whose hearts are set on success and can be a little callous towards the needs of others. The word means "a heart of mercy" and it speaks of that which constitutes one's personality at the deepest level, that which gives us the capacity to love. It seems to reside in those who have cried out for God's mercy, and experienced it.

         Next is kindness, which can also mean goodness or generosity. This is a quality of God that He demonstrates to all people. God desires the salvation of all people, of the sinner. I am worried that we may be forgetting this. We need a fresh encounter with the kindness of God, and a fresh vision of his heart for the people of the world.

         The next two qualities go together well: humility and gentleness. Both have to do with an attitude we find in Christ. The scripture calls us to serve with an attitude of humility or lowliness. In the Old Testament it was the gentle, or the meek, those without property and rights, whom God loved. They were able to seek help from God alone.

         Finally, there is patience, or long-suffering. This is simply a willingness to put up with the behavior of others. It is not real flashy; it is just hard to do.

         To me that is the central point of the list. These qualities are difficult to maintain through life. They go against our human nature, and how the TV tells us to live. But because of that, they cause us to live in hope, if we take them seriously. They point us away from the consumer orientation of having everything NOW, away from the aggressive culture of self-fulfillment. They are, in fact, qualities that often leave us feeling empty. So we turn back to the Lord. I think of the group that serves at the food pantry, where these relational qualities are very important. But sometimes the team gets used and manipulated, and lied to, and they do not always come away with warm feelings about their noble efforts. But that is when you turn to the Lord, and realize that Kingdom virtues and values are not always held in high regard here.

         Paul indicates that these five virtues lead us to forbearance and forgiveness. Murray Harris writes, "That grounds for complaint will arise among members of a congregation is here regarded as at least a possibility, if not a probability." And where there is a grievance, not a conflict or misunderstanding, but a real grievance, the New Testament principle is to forgive because you have been forgiven.

We live in a culture of litigation. That takes place in the courtroom where people seek justice when wronged, but it carries over into our perspective on daily life. I don't have to sue someone to feel that their actions have hurt me, and that their words or actions have threatened my good name or standing in the community. I want to make sure everyone knows I am in the right. I want them to have to pay something for the pain inflicted on me. So it is hard for us to forgive. We should not talk about it as if it is easy. It often cannot happen quickly. But it is essential to being chosen, holy and loved.

         Then comes love over all, which binds them, or us, together in perfect unity. Harris says, "Love is that which overcomes plurality and produces unity." I knew a basketball coach who one year was having trouble with his team. He could not seem to get them to play together. All of them were excellent players, but they all wanted to be the leader, to be the hero. They all had a slightly different vision of how to be successful as a team. And so he took a risk, and after one frustrating game, he told them calmly that there would be no more practices. He said he found many fine qualities in each one of them as players and as people and that he would be glad to go around the room and point out those good things in each one. That was not the problem. The problem was that they were plural, each one was holding to their vision of what was right. So practice was not doing them any good. It only took a few days without practice before the players got together and decided to start working as a team, and asked the coach to come back and show them how.

         The American church struggles with being a plurality. We come on Sunday morning, great people who love the Lord. Each one of us has a slightly different vision, a different source for how to succeed. For some it is Christian radio and their favorite Bible teachers, for others it is para-church organizations, for some former churches, or neighboring churches or Christian schools or seminaries that form their sense of how to proceed. The congregation then becomes a plurality of well-intentioned, good-hearted people who love the Lord and each go their own way.

         Paul says that love is the only thing strong enough to bind together a plurality into a unity. When we really love each other, that is when the peace comes, and then we can teach and admonish one another. Love binds together a group of diverse individuals and creates of them a community.

         "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. . ." It does come back to love. God, in love, sought you through Christ, and through the cross made peace and made of you his chosen people.

         Amen.