Colossians 1:21-22 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation"

Christ is the new King in Paul's worldview. He replaces the emperor of Rome as the new center of power. In his worldview, we know that "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, (1:15)," and that Paul believes that our lives should change in their entirety because of that fact. A life lived in Christ is a life lived differently.

But how should we live differently? The changes that we are called to sound at first vague. However, they are no such thing.

Instead, the vagueness of those changes is erased, beginning here. We know who Christ is; Paul told us in 1:15-20. We know that Christ is an authority who replaces all others from 1:1-14. What then, is that authority? What then, should we change.

A)Firstly, we remember that we were alienated from God.

I Recall when i wanted to kill myself. And before that. When i was hurt, broken, bleeding in my worst inner places, and totally alone.

I remember the urge to defile my body with evil - not to do sinful things, but to destroy what God might use so that nothing could be done with it.

In some ways, murder and suicide are themselves the highest expression of sin, both towards self and other.

Suicide destroys who we are. It does not hurt who we are, or alter our self to something worse. It is not like sexual sin, which "merely" brings a rift between us and God. No. Suicide destroys us.

It takes our fundamental self, and kills it, makes it gone, dead, irrevocably lost. It takes control of what God has given us, and imposes a false ending upon it.

I say false, because false is not what this end actually is. False, because in seeking to escape an almost unbearable pain, it in fact runs to a far more unbearable pain - a pain of eternal damnation, a pain which is the destruction of relationship between us and God as we are cast out. Suicide cuts us off from God permanently, in way that cannot be redeemed, save perhaps by the final grace of God, in his overwhelming and loving mercy and lovingkindness.

Murder, too, does the same thing. Murder destroys another, instead of an us. It imposes that same artificial end on them, though perhaps with a greater hope of eternal salvation, though the murderer themselves of course immediately needs the grace of God to be redeemed and in relationship with the Lord.

Murder can be forgiven. So, I think, can a failed suicide attempt. I hope that the Lord might even forgive those who murder themselves successfully. I cannot say in confidence that he will or would do so, however.

But, too, Jesus (matthew 5:21-22) tells us that hate is the murder of our brother as surely as anything we might do with a weapon - that it leaves us open to judgment, and is equivalent to the murder of another.

From here, there is a web that is complexly woven outwards, a web of sin and entanglement. A web of anger against our brother, which leads to unforgiveness to him that Jesus warns us about (matthew 6:12) - that we must forgive our brothers, or else we are subject to unforgiveness.

It is an overwhelming, frightening, impossible system we have to keep.

Thus, Jesus.

B)We must remember, secondly, that our behavior is linked to our Jesus.

There was a day and age when I turned my thoughts away from suicide. When i realized that i had a call to live again, a desire to do the right thing. A plan, an intention, to live the way God might want us to live. What does that mean, though, to live according to that plan, that intention.

I suppose that I have to say that your desires turn long before your actions. It is as though our will were leading our actions on a long rope. Think of a man on the line behind a boat. As he is pulled along, whenever the boat turns to a new course, avoiding danger, the man on the rope behind is swung out, in a radical swing away. He is tossed to the side, before he begins to swing back center. An over-correction, from the momentum of his own weight.

That's the perfect analogy for what we do when we are going to follow the will of the Lord, we follow where we are led - we hold on, and the Lord takes us. There are going to be overcorrections, and rough waters - but eventually, we will be back where we are supposed to be, right behind the Lord, following his leading. Being taken where He wants us to go. And, sometimes, we might fall off, and the Lord will have to come pick us up - but he will never leave us stranded (matthew 7:24-27).

We know that God has an intention for us to give up evil. He leads us to give up that evil, taking us to new places in new, and exciting ways.

C) Thirdly, we must know, to where Does God want us to go? What is the place God is taking us to? What is the differentiation point between our old and new self?

I could say heaven here. It wouldbe correct, in a literal sense.

But God has much more for you in store than just heaven.

Yes, I say JUST heaven. Because heaven is a far off place from here and now, even if it is just around the corner for us all.

Heaven is a place of future promise. A place where we can know God intimately. And that is good, that is wonderful!

But it's not the whole promise. Because we can know God intimately now, you know. We can feel, see, touch, taste, sense him in ways we never would imagine, as he manifestly reveals himself in new ways, constantly - non stop.

God is the God who does all of these things - who makes these promises, leads us, takes us along, protecting, and giving us plans and intentions to live by.

You see, after i was Suicidal, and after God was introduced into my life - i was able to forgive myself. And i was changed, changed into being something new, something different. God had worked on me in a special way, in a work he continues even to this day. A work to complete what he did when Jesus bore my sins. A work that went beyond forgiveness.

God, you see, has a specific goal for us all to be sinless, blameless. To be fully reconciled.

In Christ's death, we are atoned for. Our relationship with God fully begins in that moment. But, beyond that, God also has a calling for us - a calling beyond simple repentance of sins.

God also calls us to live holy - blameless, and blemish free. With our minds reconciled.

I believe in the Word of God.

I believe that Jesus is that Word, and in him God is revealed.

I further believe that our words about the Word - the Holy Bible - are entirely accurate.

And it is those i want to point out to you, with emphasis. To remind you what the christ-affirmed, spiritually-tested, and God-approved Bible says we are to do.

To LIVE HOLY AND BLEMISH FREE. A Christian is NOT to live in sin. A CHRISTIAN is called, to have a fully reconciled mind - different from the ones of believers.

And we know that God makes that mind possible. But the funny thing is, we often don't think about that. We think we MUST sin. We MUST sin no matter what, and people misquote the words of paul - in romans 3:23, and other parts of romans, to say that we must always be constantly sinning in word, thought, and deed.

But this scripture contests that. It says that we can be fully reconciled.

And I will not deny that the word of God is true, is right, is correct.

We have a right way to live, and that way is this - to live holy, blameless, unblemished. A Holy life.

So do you want that holy life?

Do you want to live the life God calls you to?

Then give your mind to Christ.

Not in some pseudo way, where you embrace the teachings of some pastor in particular, or some branch of christian thought.

Instead, give it wholly to love. Wholly to God-commitment. Give it over to Christ, have it made anew.

And you can be made holy.

Unblemished.

Free from all accusation.

Even after this - we can fall. We can always fall. But the point is - the hope is - the message of the passage is - we don't HAVE to fall.

And that's the world of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

Bonhoeffer's Understanding of Grace in Life Together

The understanding of grace which Bonhoeffer provides in his book Life Together is primarily an understanding which reflects itself in concrete terms. For Bonhoeffer, much like Luther, grace is not a metaphorical concept, but rather the manifestation of God and his people in real ways that directly impact the world and people around them, or as Doberstein writes in the introduction to his translation of Life Together, “Christianity could never be merely intellectual theory, doctrine divorced from life, or mystical emotion, but always I must be responsible, obedient action, the discipleship of Christ in every situation of concrete everyday life, personal and public.”¹ And, as this quote reveals, Christians themselves are agents of grace, not simply recipients.
Bonhoeffer's idea of grace as concrete reality begins with his understanding of God's grace towards man. He states, “It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God's Word and Sacrament.”² Bonhoeffer believes that God's grace is exemplified in the plain fact that first, Christians have existence, and further in that in that existence there is a place for Christians to gather together in a way that we can worship God through His sacraments. Bonhoeffer also rightly notes in this that not all people have this privilege of public meeting, but even in that, there is some grace in the solitude of faith.
This grace however does not simply stop at the semi-abstract idea of mere existence. Grace, to Bonhoeffer, exists in our relationship with other people. Our opportunities daily to relate and love others is an extension of God's grace³ This is a primary foundation for much of what Bonhoeffer understood as grace in our daily experience – our God-enabled relationship with others.
This God enabled relationship in a God-enabled existence is not the end of God's grace in our life experience, however. As Bonhoeffer wrote - ”it is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren”⁴ To Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the idea of Christians relating to other Christians itself was a prime example of God's grace, made possible by the teachings and Spirit of Christ. Without Jesus Christ to mediate between Christians there is no familial fellowship between brother and sister, brother and brother, or sister and sister.⁵
Familial bonds in Christ are a way for Christians to both grow, and to experience God's grace. By relating God's grace to one another, Christians become agents of grace towards other Christians. This grace manifests itself in the common and worship lives of Christians.
“the community of Christians springs solely from the Biblical and Reformation message of the justification of man through grace alone,”⁶ declares Bonhoeffer as he explains the foundation of the relationship of Christians towards each other. Because they are all saved by grace, they have an intimate familiarity of common experience and self-understanding that allows Christians to relate to one another in a special and gracious way. Bonhoeffer builds on this thought as he continues on in his theology, explaining his understanding of grace. As Graessle notes, Bonhoeffer moves “from the concept of the church as communion of saints (Communio sanctorum is the title of his doctoral thesis), as "Christ existing as a community,”” until he reaches, “a church which has to re-construct itself.”⁷

Because grace in community cannot simply stop at the communion of saints, and must affect the totality of the structure of the Church, and also the way in which Christians live their daily lives, Bonehoeffer outlines what the life of how Christians should act as a family unit, and also as individuals. It is, Bonhoffer believed, necessary for us to be thankful for us to have an increasing amount of grace in our lives - “we prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts he has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts.” ⁸ This attitude of thankfulness towards God for the grace we have been given is an attitude that will reflect itself in the way we treat others. And, our overcoming an attitude of thanklessness is made possible by God's grace, which itself was exemplified ”when God's son took on flesh, he truly and bodily took on, out of pure grace, our being, our nature, ourselves.”⁹

Our ability to relate to each other in community and grow in grace, which was taught to us and made possible for us by God is the foundation of our grace as Christians towards other Christians. “Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God,”¹⁰ is the idea that should underly Christian community relationship of grace towards one another, Bonhoeffer writes. And, as we exist together, and are agents of grace to one another, God's grace is even more a part of a Christian's daily life. We grow closer to God and Godliness as we grow closer to Christ together.

Beyond our relationship with each other in community, Bonhoeffer also emphasizes the idea of the Scriptures as a means of grace. “[God's Word] strives to stir us, to work and operate in us, so that we shall not get away from it the whole day long. Then it will do its work in us, often without our being conscious of it.”¹¹ Our time spent in prayer, reading, and meditation on the scripture provides a means for us to grow more like Christ when otherwise such growth would be beyond our ability.
And, it is the truths contained in the Scriptures that are what hold Christians together in fellowship with one another - ”it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come, as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you.”¹² This compels us to face up to the truth that Kaessman writes, “God seeks to overcome the suffering in this world with the power of love alone--not with war, empires or violence. Whoever uses the name of God should remember that,”¹³
This life, this fellowship, and this understanding of grace as outlined by the teachings of scripture points Bonhoeffer to the understanding of the Eucharist as the highest form of Christian fellowship – whereby one group of people might come together in the presence of God to both celebrate his grace, remembering that “the fellowship bears the sin of the brother,” and emphasizing the need for repentance and confession before entering into the practice of Holy Communion¹⁴ And, by celebrating communion in fellowship with other believers with whom they are in right, Christ-centered relationship, the Believers experience Christ's grace and forgiveness as taken through the physical elements.
As has been shown, all of Bonhoeffer's understandings of what constitutes grace is always expressed in concrete, real, terms. God's grace is expressed in the Creation where man exists, the modes by which He has man approach him, such as confession, prayer, communion, and the Scriptures. These ways for man to approach God are then opportunities for people to become more like Christ, without any particular action of the man himself, but rather the further manifestation of God's grace made real in the way that God changes the person. This Christ-likeness resulting from God's grace enables a person to offer other people grace in their own personal lives, either by offering community or encouragement, or even by taking (or giving) their own confession – all are God's grace for man to experience. This understanding in mind, Bonhoeffer's understanding of grace could be said to be this - “grace is the physical and real manifestation of God's love for humankind which people then experience directly in their own lives or in the lives of the Church as a body.”

Bibliography.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. Trans. By John Doberstein. San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1954.

Graessle, Isabelle. “From Impasse to Passage” The Ecumenical Review, Vol. 53, 2001, pg 25. Available online from http://www.questia.com/read/5000956508?title=From%20Impasse%20to%20Passage last accessed 22 April 2009

Kaessma, Margot. “For the Healing of the World” The Ecumenical Review, Vol. 56, 2004, pg 20. Available online from http://www.questia.com/read/5006441582?title=For%20the%20Healing%20of%20the%20World last accessed 22 April 2009

http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.0 (Win32)"> name="CREATED" content="0;0"> name="CHANGED" content="0;0">

The Almost Christians (taken from a John Wesley sermon preached in 1741)

Primary Text – Acts 26 (especially verse 28)(KJV)

Thesis – Being a Christian is far more than just

1)The Almost Christian
- what makes an “Almost Christian?”
- The “Almost Christian” might appear to be a Christian – in fact, one might be sitting next to you right now, or stand in line with you at the Grocery store, or be a part of your family.
- The “Almost Christian” can have all forms of all virtues.

• they might be very honest

• they might be very knowledgeable of scriptures

• they might attend seminary, and be seeking after the wisdom of God

• they might teach in a church, and tell others about the Gospel

• they might volunteer at the homeless mission, and offer charity to the poor.

• The “Almost Christian” Doesn't even have to attend a Christian (or any) church

  • Many pagan, or heathen, or heretical authors teach similar things to what God asks His people for.

  • Plato taught that we need to be honest

  • Buddha taught the value of prayer

  • Mormons staunchly oppose the abortion of infants.

  • Adolf Hitler was known to not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco.

- The point is you can do all of the following – be truthful, read the Bible, go to Church, teach sunday school, go to seminary, help the needy and the poor, pray, oppose abortion, and never drink or smoke – and still not be a Christian. All of these things can be a part of your lifestyle – and none of these things will make you a Christian – no matter how astutely you observe these and other standards.

2)The Altogether Christian
- If all of these things together make only for an “Almost Christian,” then what makes for an Actual Christian?

- Is there one single thing that makes an “Actual Christian” actually a Christian?
- There are 4 absolutely essential steps to being a “Actual Christian.”

1)Love God (Matthew 22:37-38)

2)Love your neighbor (Matthew 22:39)

3)Faith in God and His Son's message (romans 3:21-28)
4)Repentance – turning from your old ways to God's new plans and intentions for your life. (acts 3:19-20).

3) Those are the differences between the Almost Christian, and the Actual Christian.
-The actual Christian is only observably different in a few, impossible to know ways.

- But, more importantly, we need to remember that we should never think of ourselves as Christians in any way because of what we do. We are not Christians by virtue of our attitude or disciplines or virtues. We are Christians because of our love, faith, and repentance.
- The virtues of the Almost Christian are identical to those of the Altogether Christian. So, don't try to witness to a non-Christian by talking about the higher morality of Christians – because to the naked eye, they can seem to be virtually identical.
- Most of all, we should know that what makes us Christians is available to us by God's love, not our own abilities. God gives us the opportunity to be in relationship with Him – he does the work, he provides the grace, he does almost all of it. Our job, to be Christians, is to love, have faith, and repent.

And that's what makes someone “Actually” a Christian.

Amen.