Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : August 8, 2004
Ring Around the Christian
Pentecost 10
Have you heard the latest theory about the origin of "Ring Around the Rosie"? Apparently, some think that instead of being a cute, harmless nursery rhyme, this little game had its origins in a very dreadful time -- during the years that the Bubonic Plague decimated a third of the population of Europe. "Ring around the rosie" actually refered to the sores that would develop as a result of the plague. Some believe "A pocketful of posies" was based on the medieval belief that carrying around this flower would ward off the plague, so many people carried them in their pockets for protection. And everyone falling down referred to what happened to a third of those living in Europe at the time -- they fell down sick and died. Now whether this is true or not we may never actually know for certain, but it makes you think.
Today I want you to think about a different kind of ring -- the ring around the Christian. This one doesn't have some sinister meaning to it, though. Instead, this ring around the Christian is what we mean when we are "in Christ" -- a phrase that Paul uses a number of times in our text. What does it mean to be "in Christ"? Paul says two things: You live your life in Christ, and You base your faith in Christ. Let's look at those two aspects of the Christian life as we look at the Ring Around the Christian.
Paul talks about that ring around the Christian right away in the first verse of our text: "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him." Paul gives us what seems to be a very difficult command: continue to live in Christ. He's saying that your life is different from the unbelieving world. Why? Because of the first part of the verse -- "you received Christ Jesus as [your] Lord." You have been brought to faith in Jesus as your Savior and so you treat him as the one who now dominates your life.
Is it difficult to live our lives in Christ these days? You bet it is -- because we have some powerful enemies that want us to jump outside the circle or ring of God's grace and live for ourselves. That's why we need to see where we get the strength to live our lives in Christ. The next verse tells us: "continue to live in Christ, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Paul paints a number of pictures here. He pictures us as trees. Isaiah used the same imagery. He said, "[Believers] will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61:3) So God took us as tender plants who couldn't do anything for ourselves, and he planted us.
What did he plant us in? Actually it's not what, but whom. "Continue to live in Christ, rooted and built up in him." Again Paul talks about the ring around the Christian. God the Holy Spirit planted us in Christ. But he doesn't want us to stay small, little plants -- he wants us to grow up in our salvation. When you look at a mighty oak tree, you are only seeing one-half of the tree -— the other half is below ground. The root system gets water and food for the tree. If you are digging a hole next to a tree for some reason and to do so you have to cut off a few roots, the tree will still most likely survive. But if you cut off too many of them, the tree will die because it has no way of growing. It's the same with us -— if Christians are to live "in Christ" in this life, they need constant spiritual food. Our food source which gives us strength and nourishment to grow is Jesus. Jesus used a similar picture: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) Jesus wants us to put our roots more and more in him, feed off of him and see our faith grow in him. The result will be that our faith will be strengthened. Then no storm of life or wind of false teaching can topple us. All of these things are God's doing -- he planted us; he builds us up through his gospel message; he stengthens our faith through the means of grace -- the Word which we are hearing now and the sacrament of holy communion that some of us will take later. If we start cutting ourselves off from regular Bible study at home or at church or in devotions with the family or coming to church to hear the Word of God or to receive his sacrament, we run the danger of dying spiritually. How strong is your root system as a Christian? Can you think of more ways of sinking your roots into Christ and his gospel?
When we are growing in our faith, there is an inevitable result: we will be "overflowing with thankfulness." Our response to God taking us out of the sinful world and into the light of his Son will overflow in our lives. In other words, we won't wait for someone to ask us to serve God and our fellow Christians -- we will automatically do it and have fun doing it because God's grace has overflowed into our lives.
But there are dangers, and Paul wants us to realize that. Right now, through faith, we are "in Christ", firmly planted in him, growing in him. But we have many enemies that want to pull us out of God's protection in Christ; they want to uproot us or poison us; they want to take us out of the ring of God's grace. Paul says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Paul pictures an invading army that ravages and pillages as it seeks to destroy us. The freedom of serving Christ and living for him can be lost -- we can be taken captive by false ideas and temptations. Do you sometimes feel that serving your Lord Jesus isn't always so fun? That's the temptation of the world calling to you. It says, "Don't live like a Christian. It's not that important. Live how you want to live. Do what you want to do. Then you'll have real fun." But notice how Paul describes these ideas -- hollow, deceptive, based on man instead of Christ. You've just uprooted yourself from Christ and sunk your roots into the things of this world, which can only poison you and kill you. We would have stepped out of his circle of influence and protection, the ring around the Christian, and if we stay there, our faith can and will eventually die. Sure, it might seem that we can have more fun living for ourselves -- letting our lusts get the better of us, sleeping in Sunday mornings, putting twenty other things before Christ and his Word on our list of "things to do today." But it's hollow. It's deceptive. We're not having the enjoyment God meant for us in a life of serving him, and if we're not careful, we might lose our enjoyment of eternal life itself.
Why would we want to live our lives in Christ? Because we base our faith in Christ. That's what Paul talks about next.
Paul reminds us of who Jesus is -- he isn't just some person we can live for one day and discard the next -- he is God himself, before whom we will all stand one day to answer for our deeds. "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." But Paul mentions this to bring us comfort. Why? Because the holy, almighty God, who could have destroyed us in his anger against sin, instead decided to send his Son to save us -- that's Jesus. He became a human being, lived for us and then died for us, thus making peace between God and us, giving us eternal life. Now we have every thing we need, as Paul says, "You have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Just as Jesus was actually the complete fullness of God in the flesh to take our place to save us from our sins, so now, because of Jesus' sacrifice and through faith in him, we have been given the fullness of Christ. That means that Jesus' perfection is what God sees when we stand before him. To give us that perfection, Jesus conquered the hoards of hell, every demon and the devil himself. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. After Christ declared, "It is finished!" he descended into hell. But he didn't go there to suffer -— he had already suffered all the fury hell could throw at him. Christ descended into hell to proclaim his victory over the devil and his demons. The picture is of a commanding general returning in victory after conquering his enemies, and his enemies are shown off in their chains to prove it. That is what being in Christ is all about -— the gospel of Christ crucified has chained the devil and his demons, and we have the victory through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you won a sweepstakes and the prize was the choice of a lifetime supply of anything you wanted, what would you choose? A lifetime supply of candy bars would be nice, or buttered popcorn. How about a new car every year, or a faithful and loving husband or wife for a lifetime? Those would be great, wouldn't they? How about a lifetime of Christ? Really, Paul says, he is all we need, he is our greatest treasure. We have a lifetime of Christ given to us, and it doesn't even stop when we die -- it continues through eternity. That's what being in Christ is all about -— basing our faith him and then living in him. When Jesus was buried in the ground, through baptism we were buried with him. When Jesus rose from the dead, we too were raised to live a new life -— not one that goes after the things of this world, but one that desires only Christ.
Through faith, you are rooted in Christ. You are "in Christ." God has placed a protective ring around you as a Christian. Don't listen to the world and devil and follow the things of this world -— you'll only be cutting yourself off from Christ; you'll only be walking outside the ring around the Christian which is Christ himself. Why would you want to stay "in Christ"? Because of what Christ did for you. "God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins" through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Have you ever been told to think "outside the box"? Usually that happens at work -- if sales are down, we are encouraged to come up with some new idea so more people might want what we are offering. It might happen in your life when life seems boring -- so we need more excitement. With Christ, you don't need to think "outside the box" or "outside the ring." Christ is all we need. But, in another sense, we also need to be continually thinking "outside the box," or "outside the ring" of Christ. There are many, many souls that are lost and held captive by the devil and their sins. They need to be "in Christ." They need to know that someone has already paid to have them released from their captivity. That someone is Christ Jesus. And you have the message that will do it for them. He has given you reason and motivation to praise him in all you say, think and do. Continue to live your faith "in Christ." Amen.
