We’ve Got Mail – Again!

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

November 20, 2016

We’ve Got Mail – Again!

Selected Texts

The apostle Paul was a letter writer.

Had Paul lived today, in our time,

I’ve no doubt he would have dismissed Twitter

and its cousins

as self-indulgent and superficial.

No, Paul wrote letters,

letters to express his thoughts,

his arguments,

his words of encouragement,

his words of concern;

words he laid out carefully,

methodically,

thoughtfully,

faithfully.

We heard from Paul last summer,

when you heard me read from what I called,

“the Epistle to Manassas”.

Well, we’ve got mail again from Paul,

another epistle.

All of Paul’s letters were written to be read aloud,

read in community,

read to provoke us to think and respond.

So listen now to our brother Paul’s words

to you and to me:

To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ

in Manassas:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Our prayers for you are always spilling over

into thanksgivings.

We can’t quit thanking God our Father

and Jesus our Messiah for you!

We keep getting reports on your steady faith

in Christ, our Jesus,

and the love you continuously extend to all ….

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you,

we haven’t stopped praying for you,

asking God to give you wise minds

and spirits attuned to his will,

and so acquire a thorough understanding of

the ways in which God works.

We pray that you’ll live well for the Master,

making him proud of you

as you work hard in his orchard.

As you learn more and more how God works,

you will learn how to do your work.

We pray that you’ll have the strength

to stick it out over the long haul—

not the grim strength of gritting your teeth,

but the glory-strength God gives.

It is strength that endures the unendurable

and spills over into joy,

thanking the Father who makes us strong enough

to take part in everything bright and beautiful

that he has for us.

We look at [God’s] 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.

He 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 [on] the Cross.

You yourselves are a case study of what he does.

At one time you all had your backs turned to God,

thinking rebellious thoughts of him,

giving him trouble every chance you got.

But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross,

actually dying for you,

Christ brought you over to God’s side

and put your lives together,

whole and holy in his presence.

You don’t walk away from a gift like that!

You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust,

constantly tuned in to the Message,

careful not to be distracted or diverted.

 

…[Beloved,] I want you woven into a tapestry of love,

in touch with everything there is to know of God.

Then you will have minds confident and at rest,

focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward:

Just go ahead with what you’ve been given.

You received Christ Jesus, the Master;

now live him…. !

And let your living spill over into thanksgiving….

If you’re serious about living this

new resurrection life with Christ,

act like it….

See things from his perspective….

Your old life is dead.

Your new life, which is your real life—

…is with Christ in God….

HE is your life!

So, chosen by God for this new life of love,

dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:

compassion,

kindness,

humility,

quiet strength,

discipline.

Be even-tempered…,

quick to forgive an offense.

Forgive as quickly and completely

as the Master has forgiven you.

And regardless of what else you put on,

wear love.

It’s your basic, all-purpose garment.

Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other,

in step with each other.

None of this going off and doing your own thing.

                          

[C]ultivate thankfulness.

And, let the Word of Christ—the Message—

have the run of the house.

Give it plenty of room in your lives.

My friends, pray diligently.

Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.

…Use your heads as you live and work…

…Make the most of every opportunity.

Be gracious in your speech.

The goal is to bring out the best in others…,

not put them down,

not cut them out.

[And remember:]

It is not you or I who live,

but Christ who lives in you,

Christ who lives in me.

Now, may God himself,

the God who makes everything holy and whole,

make you holy and whole,

…spirit, soul, and body—

…[And may] the amazing grace of Jesus Christ

be with you all!

These are Paul’s words to us,

Paul’s words to all followers of Jesus Christ,

Paul’s word from scripture,

by way of Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”.

And what that means, of course,

is that they are not only Paul’s words to us,

to you and me,

they are the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

AMEN  

(Adapted principally from

Paul’s letter to the Colossians

as found in The Message)