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Christian
Baggage Restrictions
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Colossians 3:1-11
Our scripture is from the book of Colossians. When I was
little, we had to memorize all the books of the Bible. And
you know when you do that, and you say ‘em kind of fast, all
the words kind of slur together… By the time I got to
Colossians, I always thought this book sounded like
Golashers—you know rain Golashers. So, today our sermon is
based on the third chapters of Golashers, versus 3-11.
This book is part of the many letters written by Paul (we
think it was written by Paul) to try and hold his churches
together. Remember that Paul and his followers went out
establishing these little Christian communities all over
Asia Minor. They would stay, get them set up, then head on
their way to start another. Things were peachy while he was
there, then inevitably someone in the community would have a
question, or someone would start arguing over stuff (who is
this Jesus guy—really, how do the Gentiles fit into this?
Stuff like that) And then…the next thing you know, the
church is falling apart. Since Paul couldn’t just jump on
like Jet Blue outta Istanbul, he had to do his damage
control through letters. So we see the letters of the New
Testament like Ephesians written to the church in Ephesus;
Philippians, written to the church in Philippi; and
Thessalonians written to the church in Thessalonica.
Colossians is a letter to a community in Colossae—100 miles
inland from Ephesus—in modern day Turkey. While the book
addresses many conflicts the community was experiencing, our
section deals with a conflict regarding the idea that human
beings were beyond saving. Apparently, a competing cult or
mystic religion had come into that community (maybe Gnostic
folk) and begun teaching that humans as earthly creatures
were bad and that we had to do all kinds off extreme
stuff—severe living conditions, extreme fasting, etc to be
acceptable. Paul wrote back attacking this teaching. In our
scripture, Paul says you as human beings are loved,
affirmed, saved, resurrected – whatever you wanna call
it—now, here on earth. The only bad thing about earthly
existence is the stuff we pile on ourselves unnecessarily.
Paul says “put to death, therefore, whatever in you is
earthly: evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)…you must
get rid of all such things-- anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive language from your mouth…strip off the old self
with its practices...and cloth yourself with the new
self…according to the image of its creator.”
Paul is basically talking about emotional baggage. Not the
stuff we were created with in the beginning at birth… but
all the stuff we add. We are good, fine and loved as we are…
God has already done the work to make us that way. That’s
how we were born. And we are made that way by our lives in
Christ. Our problem is that we don’t believe it. And so, we
load up on all this earthly baggage to convince ourselves.
We try and plug the holes in our hearts with whatever we can
find.
I think that Paul is saying, to be a Christian—there is a
baggage restriction. Just like Delta, or United, Paul is
saying that you have to check your unnecessary bags… cause
the plane can’t take off, the work can’t be done, we can’t
live the life we need, carrying all that unnecessary
baggage.
This is not a new idea. Rings like a lot of words we have
heard right? Jesus’ words” “Come to me all ye who are heavy
laden and I will give you rest.” As well as every self help
book in a America. “How to love yourself forever.” “I’m OK,
You’re OK” . This is not an earth-shatteringly new
discovery. Pop psychology has said it. Paul said it. Jesus
said it. Buddha said it. Mohammed said it. Lao Tse said it.
And probably on some undiscovered prehistoric cave wall
somewhere there are little stick figures checking their bags
with a smiling God above. It is not a new idea. So, why
don’t we get it?
I have a theory. I think it is because over time, we have
kept this baggage around so long and it has become so
ingrained, that we literally have become addicted to
it—addicted to the way we are. Now when we think of
addictions, we think of addictions to drugs or
alcohol—substance abuse. And that definitely falls into the
addiction category. However, life is full of other many
dangerous addictions. And some may be quite dangerous,
simply because we don’t recognize or acknowledge them as
addictions.
The author and teacher Father Thomas Keating defines
addiction as occupying yourself so much that you can’t feel
the pain that is really killing you. And that pain comes
from the fact we don’t believe that we are loved. So, we
allow things like anger, sadness, greed or blame to consume
our lives. In some strange way, those emotions feed us,
nurture us and ostensibly fill that hole in our heart.
Let’s think about these things Paul listed a minute. How
about greed? Ever thought about yourself as being addicted
to greed? A lot folks say, of course not. I’m not wealthy,
so obviously I can’t be greedy. Well, you don’t have to be
wealthy to be greedy. Many of us spend our lives wanting
more than we have.; always being angry that others have
more. Identifying ourselves by what we have, computing our
self worth by what we own. But, you know we weren’t created
that way. Think of babies… think of a two—three month old.
Past basic food needs, they just want to be loved. They
don’t get mad because their stroller is not as nice as that
other baby’s. They don’t look at the label in the back of
their little snugglies to see if Donna Koran designed them.
They only want sustenance and love. Needs past that are
unknown to them. Yet, as adults we focus constantly on what
others have that we don’t… and in some strange way, we are
fed by that. For we KNOW, that if we had that harley, or
that cruise or that pair of Jimmy Choo’s, or lost that 10
pounds we would be better people...
How about anger? Can anger be an addiction? Absolutely. Oh
yeah… take it from me. Anger is a way of life in this
society. That goes from everything from road rage to murder
statistics. It is the American way – be a warrior, not a
door mat. Or n the words of Marshall Wyatt Earp: “the Meek
ain’t inheriting nothing West of Chicago.”
Well, unfortunately, Wyatt’s right. However, that doesn’t
mean it is healthy or right. It has been said that anger
after 30 seconds is ego. When we find anger to be
consistently our first response, we have have to ask
ourselves: have I become addicted to being angry? Like other
addictions, we can be fed by a show of anger. A NY Times
article this week on revenge said: “People express rage for
the same reason they eat chocolate” It is about finding
temporary pleasure. We get something from it. We use it to
TRY and plug that hole in our heart.
This unnecessary baggage takes a million forms. How about
blaming others? Do we consistently try and blame others for
things that happen to us? How about allowing others to blame
us? Do we consistently take to heart everything that
everyone says about us? Have we become accustomed or
addicted to feeling put upon, like a victim sometimes? Are
we accustomed or addicted to feeling sad or fearful… because
that is what we know and we find that feeling comforting?
It is very easy in this world to find ways to plug the holes
of our hearts… to collect baggage. Maybe too easy. You know
the Psalmist say that you become what you love…but you also
become what you hate. So, we have to ask ourselves… are we
carrying unnecessary baggage? Are we violating the baggage
restrictions? Cause if we are… the plane won’t even be able
to get off the ground.
Now the self help shelves at Barnes and Noble are packed
with thick books filled with sage advice on ridding yourself
of emotional baggage. However, I might suggest considering
Paul’s advise in Golashers, for its simplicity: remember and
believe who you are—for you are a beloved child of God. The
believing part is most of the battle… and that comes down to
listening.
You know most everything about our lives is driven by that
little voice, that inner monologue we feed ourselves.
Sometimes it is positive “you’re good at this” “that was a
good job” but most times it is not. We hear things like
“you’re not good enough” “who are you trying to fool
everyone” “what in the world are YOU doing giving a
sermon??!”. And maybe one of the first steps in checking
this baggage, is to listen—really listen to what that voice
is saying. If it is anything but positive, anything but
consistently telling ourselves that we are loved, then we
have to reprogram it. And it starts with reminding ourselves
everyday that we are loved. Maybe it is through prayer.
Maybe it is through reading scripture or simply saying to
yourself… I am a beloved child of God. Probably one of the
most powerful ways is to simply allow yourself/make yourself
sit in silence and allow God to tell you God’s self.
Paul says: “As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,
and patience…Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which
binds everything together in perfect harmony.” We have work
to do. So check your baggage and lighten your load so we can
move forward. Hand your burdens back to God, stand a little
straighter, and most importantly remember and believe that
you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.
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