Do Everything in the Name of Jesus - Lectionary (RCL) Reflection for Christmas 1C (Colossians 3)

Colossians 3:12-17 New Revised Standard Version

¹² As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ¹³ Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. ¹⁷ 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.

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                I have chosen to write my lectionary reflection on the second reading this week for the First Sunday after Christmas. For many clergy, this is a Sunday to take off from preaching. It’s also likely that any usual study groups have taken the week off. In other words, this is what we call a “low Sunday.” So, perhaps there is little use for a lectionary reflection. For many the Sundays after Christmas (this year as I write there are two of them) are something of an afterthought. We’ve been hearing and perhaps singing Christmas carols for more than a month. The focus has been on getting to Christmas Eve (or if that’s your tradition on Christmas Day), and now that we’ve reached the goal what more can be said? Why not just rest until we can get to Epiphany and a new season. Yet, Christmas is still with us for a little longer. There are still carols to sing and words to hear. One of those comes from Colossians 3.

                This word from Colossians doesn’t really speak to Christmas per se but it does speak to what it means to live Christianly. That’s rooted in the Christmas story. After all, Christmas speaks to the incarnation, such that Jesus serves to reveal God’s vision for humanity.

                It’s always good to note when dealing with a letter such as Colossians that we simply don’t know who the author is. It could be Paul since it’s written in his name (Col. 1:1). Interestingly, in the closing of the letter, we are asked to remember his chains (4:18). But like Ephesians, there are reasons to doubt that it was written by Paul. That conversation needs to wait for a different location. Also, like Ephesians, the Colossian letter has the feel of being a circular letter. Despite the questions about its “authenticity” as a Pauline letter, this is a text worth considering. Therefore, the charge that it is a “fake letter” is inappropriate. It could be what scholars call pseudepigrapha (that is, it is written in the name of someone, but it isn’t really their work), it is a reflection of first-century Christianity and has been received as such by the church through the centuries. Most often those who make the charge that this is a “fake letter” don’t like something in the letter/book and so this is a way of setting it aside (the household codes in Col. 3:18-21, for example). But those problematic passages can be dealt with appropriately without throwing out the rest.

                The opening word we hear in this reading from the third chapter of Colossians is directed at “God’s chosen ones” (the elektoi) who are “holy and beloved.” The author (and for sake of simplicity we’ll call him Paul) tells God’s chosen ones, those who are counted among the elect, who might dwell in Colossae or somewhere else (Laodicea?), since Colossae had been badly damaged by an earthquake in 60-61 CE and wasn’t rebuilt until the 2^nd century would there even have been a church in this city in Asia Minor. Earlier in the letter, Paul provided a powerful description of the cosmic Christ. There in the opening chapter, Paul spoke of Jesus as being “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.” The hymn goes on from there, but the point is that Jesus is the one in whom “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (1:15-20). You can see hints of a view of Jesus that early Christian theologians picked up on as they sought to understand who this Jesus was, whom they professed to follow. Is he a mere human? Colossians seems to say no.

                It is that message of Jesus’ cosmic (divine?) identity that stands behind what is said here to us, who are God’s “chosen ones.” According to Paul, our calling as God’s chosen one is to clothe ourselves “with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” You see here some of the fruit of the Spirit Paul details in the Galatian letter. These fruit/virtues stand in contrast to vices named previously in the letter – “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth” (Col. 3:8). As one makes this fruit part of one’s Christian life, then one can “bear with one another” and forgive each other if one has a complaint against another person. Why? Well, according to Paul the Lord has forgiven them, so they should forgive in return. Remember that parable of Jesus about the servant forgiven much, but who failed to forgive another who had offended him? (Matthew 18:23-25).

                Here is the key point: most importantly, be sure to “clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything in perfect harmony.” It all begins and ends in love for one another. If we are to experience unity as a community, then it requires love for one another. That is Jesus’ command to us and it’s a command rooted in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18). From this, the peace of Christ can rule in our hearts. This is our calling as members of the body of Christ. For this, we can give thanks.

                Having encouraged the readers to clothe themselves with love and let the peace of God rule so that they can give thanks, Paul writes that they should “let the word of Christ dwell” in them “richly,” so that they might teach and admonish each other with this wisdom that comes from the word of Christ. What comes next suggests that what we hear in this passage is a call to worship. Thus, what has come before is rooted in the worship of God, which includes listening to the word of Christ and teaching/admonishing from that word. Then, added to that is a call to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. Yes, the Christian life is rooted in the worship of God.

                Finally, we have this admonition: “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Yes, whatever you do in this life, do so in the name of Jesus. What that means is, as a follower of Jesus, the way we live our lives should reflect the way of Jesus. If it doesn’t, well then changes need to be made. So, love, forgive, and speak appropriately, for this is the way of Jesus.   

Image attribution: Heavenly window, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55313 [retrieved December 20, 2021]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Villeneuve-sur-Lot_-_Chapelle_du_Bout-du-Pont_-090.jpg.