Introduction
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Native American warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, “What are we going to do?” Tonto replied, “What you mean ‘we,’ Whiteman?” (Edward Dobson, In Search of Unity, p. 20-27.)
This is not unity nor good fellowship. Hilarious? Yes, absolutely. But it is not being together and joyful about it.
This is how many of us in the church are today. We are with one another until we see some others who are different and against those we are with. We abandon each other for those people thinking we are doing right.
We are all to be together. We are all to share in the suffering of Christ as the body of Christ. If we get slightly offended by a brother or sister in faith, we need to forgive and not allow this to cause a split.
We need to stick together and speak to one another if we are in disagreement about something but not be mad and leave and split.
Back in Col. 3:5 Paul wrote,“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Any time we are angered and we decide to have division over it rather than meet up and resolve the problem or just forgive it and move on if it is a minor disturbance, we are earthly, with impure, evil, passionate desires.
That is how we once walked (v. 7). We are not like that now. That is the world. The world is like Tonto and will leave the one for the other if the other looks to be better.
We are one body together if you are in Christ and we are not to be that way. We are to be Together and Joyful About It.
This is what we see in the text today. In Col. 3:12-17
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12–17 ESV
In this text we see first:
We’re Forgiven so We Forgive (12-13)
As those who are in Christ, we have been forgiven much so we need to be forgiving of much.
We are God’s in Christ chosen to be holy and beloved by Him. As such we must learn to live well together and worship well together.
This elect of God is“Because of redemption brought by Christ’s death on the cross, all who participate in his death and resurrection can now be identified as his own people.” (David W. Pao, Colossians and Philemon, Zondervan Exegetical, 240.) We are God’s and as such we need to act as His.
We see in this text a list of how we are to do this.
1.We see we are to have compassionate hearts we are to be compassionate from our deepest inner emotions, not false compassion.
To be compassionate means we have compassion for others and are not out to tear them down over any grievance. We have mercy with others. We are not out to tear them down to build ourselves up.
2. We are to be kind.
We need to be willing to be generous, considerate of others, and seek to not harm them but build them up. This means we speak truth in love. Paul tells us to do this in Eph. 4:15
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Ephesians 4:15 ESV
3. We are to show humility.
Simply we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we are. We are not to try and seek to be better than everyone else. We are not to seek to try and top other peoples stories with ours. Simply, we are not trying to one up one another but live together and mutually build one another up.
4. We are to show meekness with one another.
This means we are to be quiet and gentle with one another. We are not seeking to make one another falter and become discouraged but we are seeking to build one another up as the one body of Christ. We are to not be overbearing of one another but in mutual submission following the head of the church: Jesus Christ.
5. We are to have patience with one another.
Patience is hard but when we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:1-2), we can have this patience.
When we have patience with one another we will be willing and able to forgive one another and not hold grudges against each other.
If someone offends you at church or you hear something that you don’t quite agree with, you come back and have patience because you may have heard wrong or felt something was wrong when it was not.
We bear with each other because we are one together.
We are part of the body of Christ and as such we are one with many members.
We here at WTCC are a finger in the body while other churches are other parts of the body in the church universal that has spanned all centuries since the church began to today.
As part of that we have many parts in the finger. You have the bones, sinews, finger nail, skin, veins, cartilage, and many other parts that comprise the finger. If any of them are not right the whole finger is not working right. We must strive to always be together and serving the Lord as one so we can be effective for the Lord.
This requires work and commitment on all our part, me included. The transforming of our minds is something we must always work at because the devil and his minions will move in and take advantage as much as possible. We must always seek to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient with one another and always be willing to forgive as we have been forgiven.
This means we do not let bitterness take root in any form. We do not allow for anger to grow. We do not let anything that is wicked or evil bring separation but we rather:
Let Peace and Love Rule (14-15)
When we continually seek to allow compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience rule in us, we will have the peace of Christ and we will love each other.
When we do this we will have harmony we will be many but one. We will be the body of believers that do much for the Lord.
Much like when,
one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other[.] They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.)
When we are tuned by Jesus and His peace alone, then we will be of one accord.
When we let His peace rule in our hearts and rest in His wisdom and grace, then we can have harmony.
We will not only have harmony but we will be thankful for one another. We will have joy together even in our differences because we are resting in the grace and peace of the Lord.
We will be, while together, like many couples are after they lose their loved one. There are many who realize that the annoying thing the other did was something they miss now. They found joy in that annoying trait of leaving socks on the living room floor, or their shoes in the hallway, or any number of things it may be.
We need to realize that the differences we all have as parts of the one body are so that one body can function correctly. If we were all exactly alike we would never get anything done. We need differences and those differences are what make us work well together.
But to work well together we must be together regularly. In a marriage the family cannot become a family of more than two if the couple are never together. The husband and wife must spend time together if they ever want to see their family become more than them two alone.
That is the same for the church. We must spend time together and grow together if we ever want to see more people come in. Because when we do and when we are in unity we seek to bring more and more people with us and therefore, grow the family, the church.
We must have unity in the Christian community if we want to see the community grow any at all. If we are alone in the world and not serving and doing life together because we think we can make it alone, we will fail and fall. We are not that good.
We are like snowflakes. Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. The few fragile become something quite powerful and dangerous if working well together, just look at what avalanches do. But alone they are nothing and that is us if we decide to not continue in fellowship together and allow the peace of the Lord rule our hearts and let love bind us together in harmony.
We can do all this when we:
Let the Word Guide us in All We Do(16-17)
If we allow the word of Christ dwell in us and let it alter us we will be able to change and transform ourselves into the compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient people who let Christ’s peace rule in us living out love that brings harmony.
We will be together and joyful about it because we are living out what the Lord has told us. We will be His and acting like we are His.
We will let His wisdom guide us and not the wisdom of the world. When we let the Word of Christ dwell richly in us, having permanent residence, we will begin to act out the Word and live it for all. We will have its wisdom guiding us and nothing else.
So when we admonish one another, we will do it with a spirit of building up and not tearing down-even in the critiquing of one another, it will be positive and edifying and not derogatory.
We will bless each other through songs and hymns. I cannot tell you how many times in my time as a chaplain that the music of the church was so uplifting and encouraging to the men and women I visited.
Music is powerful and it will strengthen us if it is the correct type. Psalms and hymns are those kind that will.
Look at Psalm 46
Psalm 46 (ESV)
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Some of our hymns are just as encouraging. For example Blessed Assurance, or Leaning on the Promises of God.
Both of these are pointing to God being our encouragement and strength and guarantee. If we encourage one another with this we will have the strength and courage to face many things in life.
When Christ is our life, we will be saturated by His love and word and we will strive to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and we will not allow for a few simple grievances to separate us. We will strive to be together and grow together and we will make excuses to be together rather than excuses to miss meeting together.
We will do this because we will be thankful for one another and for the ability to meet together and be joyful about it.
We will live our lives in a manner that is given over to God the Father and will strive to live our life in a manner that is worked fully for His glory. We will be thankful in all situations giving thanks to God through Jesus our Savior and Lord.
Remember as a believer, if you have believed in Christ, we are one and we may have disagreements on some interpretation but we are together one in Christ and we need one another for strength and encouragement.
Conclusion
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp. When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ’s commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, “What did you do then?” “We were just one,” he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred. When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ. (Our Daily Bread, October 4, 1992.)
Let us be more like those believers who allowed grace to rule in their lives and found it better to be together than separated. We may hit bumps and bad situations in life that cause schisms, but let us always seek to be together and joyful about it.
Let us always let the word of Christ dwell richly in us building one another up because His peace is ruling our hearts and we are being compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient with one another not holding grudges or bitterness but forgiving because we have been forgiven.
Let us always be thankful for the assembly of our body because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. He suffered and died so we could be one together and live as one, let us love and live together as one and glorify Jesus and the Father by doing so.
