Dear Friends
Colossians 1: 11 – 14
11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It was my first car, an Austin 1800. I can still remember the number plate. WGH 621G. I bought it for £400 from a man who lived up the road and who had put a new petrol tank in which wasn’t as big as the original one. I’d had it for about a week when I ran out of petrol drawing up to the traffic lights in Potters Bar. The petrol gauge said 1/4 full but the smaller fuel tank was empty. The power for the vehicle ran out! My cousin, who lived nearby, rescued me.
Where does your power come from? Shredded Wheat for breakfast? Quite possibly but I don’t really mean that sort of power. I mean the sort of power that allows you to confront life head on. The passage above is quite clear that power comes from Christ. He’s the one who is providing the strength that makes us strong. Strength that comes from his glorious power. Strength that comes from putting Jesus first instead of our own wellbeing.
Is that you? Or are you rather mmore the sort of person who hides behind the parapet, to make certain it’s safe before venturing out. Patiently waiting for the right moment to act, to say something. The passage also claims patience as a gift from Christ. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience. Patience that comes from acknowledging that at the end of the wait, Christ will be there to greet you.
Jesus Christ, the man, the Son of God, didn’t seem all that strong when he walked the earth. It seems his strength came from obedience to his Father’s will, rather than putting his own security first. This led inexorably to the cross, of course which was surely the greatest failure of a not very successful three years on earth when all he achieved was upsetting the rich and powerful. Everyone except his disciples turned against him, and even they abandoned him at the end. But his ending in darkness paved the way for our rescue from sinful introspection as he gloriously rose from the dead.
The wonderful verses above could be the inspiration for much more, but read them again and note the connection between strength and patience and Jesus Christ. The man for others. Whatever sort of person you are, (and isn’t it just as well that we’re all different?), note the difference that putting Jesus first makes, and in the confusing, frustrating, worrying tims in which we are immersed, allow that knowledge to rescue you to cope with strength and/or patience!
Here is the Collect for Easter Day
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Amen.
Here a great hymn about Jesus which we don’t sng enough.
Every blessing
Andrew