December 31, 2017 (Christmas 1 B / New Year’s Eve)
“A New Year’s Resolution for Divine Word:”
Colossians 3:12-17

Our Second Lesson seems to fit perfectly as a “New Year’s Resolution” for Divine Word. Paul was encouraging his people at Colosse to, as a CHURCH, strive toward this goal. It’s lofty, ambitious, and a very high bar God sets before us in this text here:
Colossians 3:12–17 (NIV 11)
12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
As we stand here on the eve of a new year, do you think we – as a congregation / a family of believers . . . could look like THAT throughout 2018? Well, we can’t see the future, but we can quite easily look back on the past. So, let’s look at 2017 according to this standard, and see how we measured up:
In 2017 we could all point to times where there was a LACK of compassion and warmth shown to those who needed it among us.
In place of kindness there were many examples of people being harsh and mean to each other.
Where humility was called for, pride often showed up instead.
When people needed gentleness they were treated coldly, with indifference, or even harshly.
Where patience was supposed to be present, tempers flared and people got angry.
When God directed us to bear with each other and forgive one another – instead relationships were strained and walls went up between people that still remain to this day.
Where agape love was needed to bind us together in perfect unity – selfishness was present and people had conflicts and battles with each other.
When God looked for peace to rule among us as a body of believers, He found plenty of disharmony instead.

While we all have so much to be thankful for – people were complaining / they were discontented with their lives, their circumstances, and the perceived lack of blessings that God had given them.

Where the message of Christ / the Word of God was to prevail as #1 . . . people didn’t think it was that important. They put other things first. They fought for their own wants, desires, passions, glory and honour instead . . . which made us rather ugly at times throughout this past year.
In 2017 we all individually and together as a spiritual family FELL WAY SHORT of this goal that God has set before us. So, is it a foolish waste of time to set this as a new year’s resolution for a congregation of sinners like us? Is it somewhat like a 600 pound man who can barely stand up, who is covered in blemishes and riddled with health problems from head to toe . . . making a new year’s resolution to have the body of an Olympic athlete by the end of the year? He’ll give up pretty quickly on that one. Getting into shape – both physically and spiritually is really HARD . . . maybe we should just give up and realize it’s just not possible for a church like ours.
If God did not send a Saviour . . . then I would totally agree. If Christ had not come to save us sinners – then there would be ZERO hope for us to ever, in any way, shape, or form – be the kind of people that God wants us to be.
But . . . HOPE is packed into the first word of this text: “Therefore”. That word reaches back to the first part of Chapter 3 – “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ . . .” Your sin was nailed to the cross and you got a brand new start / a new life there in the Resurrection. We have it by faith – that new self / the new life planted in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul (in verse 10) tells us to: “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” 
And our text begins: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved . . .” In Christ Jesus we are HOLY / in Christ Jesus we are dearly loved / in Christ Jesus we are the saints of God! Therefore look again at 2017 as GOD sees it through Christ: all our sins (individually and collectively) are washed away in His Blood. God saw the past year, in Christ, as if we were EXACTLY what Paul describes here in the verses before us!
Therefore – as we look ahead to 2018, He’s not placing an unattainable goal there before us – He’s merely telling us to keep being what He has already made us into through Christ!
If I seem to be contradicting myself here, look at it this way: we know what God wanted us and our church to look like in 2017. We stand in front of two mirrors today as we consider it. In one – you could put the word LAW above it – you see the 600 pound man covered in sores and riddled with physical problems. That reflection is accurate; I was not lying about our failures and how far from perfect we were over the past year. But . . . there’s a second mirror – with the word GOSPEL above it – there you see the perfect body of an Olympic athlete / Jesus. And – it’s an accurate picture because Christ has taken all of our ugliness and given us His perfection. GOD ACTUALLY SEES US THAT WAY!
Look in that mirror (the second one) and tell that person to “get in shape!” He’d simply reply, “No sweat! I’m in shape already and I love it. I’ll just keep on the same path here.” That is the sense in which the verses before us were written. Paul says here – THIS IS WHO YOU ARE – go be the spiritual athletes you already are!
So why then . . . is it so difficult? 

Well . . . bring it down to a personal level. You, as believers in Christ, personally and individually stand before

 2 mirrors with 2 very different pictures of who you are. Unbelievers only have one – the LAW one, and they can’t even see a clear picture in that one because they don’t have God’s Word, so it’s totally muddled and confused. But you have TWO. 

The first one (the LAW one) shows with crystal clarity how ugly and blemished you truly are / and how far short of perfection you are in your sin. 

The other one (the GOSPEL one) shows you how God sees you in Christ Jesus and what you will look like there in heaven with Him. It’s REAL because God says it is . . . that’s how He sees you.

Which mirror do you honestly spend more time looking into? 
The FIRST one / the LAW one – we’re more comfortable with that one (for some twisted reason) and we fixate on it. We nitpick every little flaw and lament on how terrible we look. We might glance at the second one, but we stew on the first one. Oh, that first mirror has a role – God wants us to see it; it shows us how much we need a Saviour . . . but Satan will hold you there, because he’s terrified of you ever spending ANY time in front of the other one, for he knows how powerful it truly is.
GOD wants us to stare intently into that second mirror. Spend HOURS there marvelling at how God sees you, in Christ. It’s the perfect heavenly version of YOU. That person lacks nothing. That person can tackle anything. That person can walk right into heaven because that person belongs there. When you realize THAT is who you truly are . . . then you are liberated and empowered to be that person.
I never told you exactly and precisely WHAT this New Year’s Resolution is for you as an individual and for us as a congregation. It’s not to: “whip that fatty into shape” by your own effort and power – to somehow turn the person in the first mirror into an acceptable and attractive person, no, that just leads to pride. The resolution is simply this: STARE at who you ARE in CHRIST. Immerse yourself with the Gospel and let it sink down into your bones. Fixate on the fact that God has made you into THAT person. Everything Paul describes in these beautiful verses flows naturally from people who know WHO they ARE in Christ.
Our New Year’s Resolution for 2018: STAND before that Gospel mirror and SEE who you are in Christ. Know that you can face any challenge and deal with any obstacle because of what He has done for you. See your future there where this is what you’ll look like and there will be only 1 mirror, and embrace the time He gives us down here – for we are spiritual Olympians who know exactly what kind of people God wants us to get out there and be.

And (as Paul says) whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Amen.

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