"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

 

         Last summer, while I was driving to Chicago one day, I happened to hear a radio interview with the novelist Philip Roth. He was talking about his latest book, called "Everyman." I have not read it, nor do I plan to, but I was intrigued with what he said. In this book, "Everyman," the main character does not have a name. The story concerns this man's dying. He is described as a person without faith or religion. He left the synagogue the day after his bar-Mitzvah, and he does not want the rabbi to visit him in his last days in the hospital. Roth said that he wrote the book in the style of a medical history. He feels this is the most significant way in which we think about our lives these days: We are bodies with a medical history.

         The Colossians passage we read today addresses the issue of emptiness in human experience. When we follow certain teachings, practices and spirits we feel empty, hopeless and fearful. If we think of ourselves as merely bodies with a medical history, or if we think like the ancients that we are slaves to the controlling spirits in the universe, we end up empty. What I want to say is that the Lordship of Christ leads us to live against all emptiness. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord, we are given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

         In these weeks we have been confessing that Christ is Lord. When you receive Christ Jesus as Lord of your life, he becomes the legal owner, the legitimate authority in your life. He gives you fullness in Christ, grace to live the new life, forgiveness of sins, assurance of salvation, hope of the resurrection, and power of the Holy Spirit. This life of confessing Christ as Lord gets expressed in your behavior, in your serving and in your giving. David Garland writes that "Belief that does not have an impact on one's behavior is useless."

So Paul says that once we have received Christ as Lord, we are to continue to live in him; we are to be rooted and built up in him, we are to be strengthened in the faith, and we are to be overflowing with thanksgiving. That is what fullness in Christ looks like. That is our stewardship of a redeemed life. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. There is nothing we can do or need to do to achieve it for ourselves. But our conduct needs to be consistent with his Lordship.

         Now, there is a problem with this life of living under the Lordship of Christ. For one thing, storms keep coming our way. When the storm comes, it can feel like Jesus is not the Lord anymore. The disciples went out in a boat while Jesus was off praying. And they got into a storm, and they feared for their lives. And then Jesus came walking toward them on the water, and he calmed the storm. When the storms of life hit you and your faith is shaken, Jesus the Lord walks towards you and says "Take courage. It is I."

         Paul says it a little differently. He says that one of the storms that comes through is "hollow and deceptive philosophy" that can take us captive. What is he talking about here? He uses several terms that described a way of thinking common in the ancient world. In verse 8, "hollow and deceptive philosophy," "human traditions," and "basic principles of this world"; and in verse 15, "powers and authorities."

• The "hollow philosophy" was actually more of a religion with rituals and magic and strict laws.
• The "human traditions" were a body of knowledge to be studied that did not come from the revelation of God.
• The "basic principles" were most likely gods or spiritual beings that were believed to control the movement of the stars, and through the stars to control human destiny.

It is all a bit difficult to understand how it fits today. But the end result is that people who came to believe such things and practice the magic and rituals and legal requirements found themselves leading empty and hopeless lives. They felt captive to other powers and could do nothing for themselves.

         David Garland summarizes it his way. These star gods or controlling spirits are forces that seek to take over the role of Lord in people's lives. They enslave and seek to control, calling for obedience that does not lead to fulfillment, but to greater enslavement. They thwart God's creative purposes for people. They create a climate of fear. They heighten a sense of human insignificance. They heighten a sense of determinism and create a feeling that humans are mere puppets. They create hopelessness. They fill people with emptiness.

         Today we recognize all of those results in addictions, in superstitions, in ways of living that leave people empty. We may not attribute it to star gods or spiritual beings, but we know the behavior, we know what hopelessness is, we know people who have lost control of their lives, we know what drives people to emptiness. We might call it consumerism or materialism or alcoholism or drug addiction or the demands of the popular culture. But something, some teaching or style of life or anti-social behavior leads people to feel enslaved, to feel empty.

         The Lordship of Christ leads us to live against all forms of emptiness. On Thursday I attended what is called the "Catalyst Forum," a yearly event for Lake County churches put on by the Catalyst group. John Perkins was the featured speaker. There were about 700 people in attendance, filling the Hawthorn Hills Church. For part of the time we were divided into district groups, and so I sat with about 30 pastors and staff members from churches in Green Oaks, Libertyville and Mundelein. We were asked to talk about what we saw as spiritual needs of people in that area.

One term struck me: "spiritually starving." People who were closely connected with the region's schools expressed concerns about what they called the "accelerating troubles" of young people, including problem use of the Internet, drugs, alcohol use and troubled behaviors. Concern was expressed for parents who are hurting as they see their children taken captive by these behaviors. Others noted that some parents were not able to be parents because of their own addictive behaviors. Some spoke of racial tensions with a growing Hispanic community, especially in Mundelein. Some spoke of loneliness experienced by older citizens, or by newly arrived immigrants and visitors, especially those from India. Motorola, for example, brings people here from India for several months of training, and it becomes a very lonely time for many of them.

         All of these are indications that there is a spiritual hunger in our community, a feeling of emptiness, a loss of hope among many. Paul writes, "When you were dead in your sins . . . God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins . . . he disarmed the powers and authorities . . . triumphing over them by the cross."

         I heard Mindy Caliguire speak recently. She has a spiritual guidance ministry called "Soul Care." She talked about the effects of soul neglect. What happens when people lose their life giving connection to God? She spoke of a lack of prayer, of "things that turn my head that did not turn my head before," of avoidance of speaking the truth, of isolation, anger, spiritual compromise, apathy, absence of joy, feeling driven, pretending to be OK. These are real issues that touch us all.

We need a vision for the lordship of Christ in our lives, in our church, and in our community. We need to be willing to live against all emptiness.

         "When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ."

         There is an African Christian song, written in a part of the world where there is more awareness of spiritual powers and oppressions. Here is what the liberating Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ means:

         "Jesus Christ is the conqueror

         By his resurrection he overcame death itself

         By his resurrection he overcame all things

         He overcame magic,

         He overcame amulets and charms

         He overcame the darkness of demon possession

         He overcame dread.

         When we are with him,

         We also conquer."

         "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him."

         Amen.