It was a pleasure and a privilege to have Sylvia and Brian with us last night exploring Colossians through their own fine book, Colossians Remixed. They were challenging, funny, pointed and generous - depsite being asked if they were Americans! ;-) And yes I know some people actually gasped out loud when we had to get the Bibles out and read a whole book... shock horror.
Mainly, they gave an overview as to how Paul subverts the culture, economics, images and symbols of the Roman Empire through this letter to the church in Colossae. And in particular, the passage chapter 1, v15-20 being an undoing/ reworking of those Empire values to those of Christ. Brian riffed on those verses at the end, giving a 21C cultural response to the book, contextualising it for us. Looking at them again in the Message today, I was also struck by their layers of meaning and reference:
15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
I've got big shoes to fill - I'm doing next week as a follow up (gulp). So expect more on this theme and what is 21C Empire if you're coming along...
2 comments:
It was a last minute decision to come yesterday and I'm trying to catch up with postponed other stuff today... but not regretting a minute. Inspirational.
Thanks for sending this Laura. I was able to go because R & S baby sat but I found it really insightful inspitational too. Jude loved them too (reading and singing to him at 8 am)
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