What do you love? How do you share love?
What do you need forgiven for? How do you forgive yourself, or others?
What brings you peace? How do you give peace?
What are you thankful for? How do you give thanks?

Colossians 3:12-17

?As God?s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 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. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 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. 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.?

As I sat on an airplane last night and reflected on the scripture lesson for today, the words love-forgiveness-peace-thankfulness- swirled around me. I looked out my window and saw the beautiful fall colors of orange, red, brown scattered below me. I saw rivers, lakes, hills, roads that disappeared, and sunset colors that took my breath away. I could almost see the crispness in the air and watched the wind blow the clouds into different shapes and sizes. As I looked out my window, I thought, I love God?s creation. I love all that God has done and I am constantly amazed at God?s love for everything that is created.

As I look forward to today and the future that is before me, I think about the past. About the many journeys and the multiple twists and turns my life has taken. I reflect on how life has not turned out the way I expected or how I planned life to be. But recognize that is okay. As I look towards another new journey with Lamont and Emma, I realize that I have to continue to forgive myself for the mistakes of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That in order to move forward, forgiveness of myself and of others must happen. And that forgiveness is vital to moving forward and beginning anew.

As I reflected on the past 18 months with the church in Kannapolis?the journey to a more sustainable children?s and youth ministry?I remembered the laughs, the tears, the hard times, the difficult conversations, the documents worked on, the communication mishaps, the traveling, the friendships, the sweet babies born, the transformation in the church but more importantly in peoples lives, the loss of loved ones, the multiple life transitions, and so much more. And I am truly thankful that God brought me into the lives of the folks in Kannapolis. I am thankful that God knew what was needed and worked through us to move them to the next level in their ministry. I am thankful for this congregation and the congregations I am called to work with each day. Especially this congregation.

And as time allows, I have begun to reflect on those last moments with my dad and the 37 years that he was with me?I am reminded how we loved, guided, taught, lead, praised, challenged, and encouraged me?As I think about the last 18 months of watching him fight for his life and as I fought for him with doctors and for treatments; as he battled cancer, went through treatments, received infusions, battled depression and fought for his life so he could be with his family for just one more day; not only do I see an overabundance of love for others, I am eternally grateful and thankful for these moments and years. I realized that I am overcome with a huge sense of peace?knowing that God?s peace surrounded him from the moment he took his first breath until the moment?surrounded by his loved ones?he took his last sweet breath?peace overcomes my soul. And I find peace in his life and in death.

Love-Forgiveness-Peace-Thankfulness are some of the reasons Jesus came into this world. Jesus came to teach the world that there are better ways to live. There are life-giving ways to be around ourselves, around other people, and in all of our relationships. As a congregation, peace can make us whole. In the Advent of Peace, as we wait and prepare for the arrival of the prince of peace, I pray that we can continue to look for ways of peace in our world.

When Jesus was born into our world and took a human form, God wanted us to learn that there was a different way to be in relationship with ourselves, one another, and within the world. And sometimes it seems that we have forgotten that. And instead, we are waiting for something or someone else to be our ?prince of peace? and are living a way that doesn?t fall in line with the life of Jesus. In saying this, I sometimes wonder if we truly want peace at all or if we want to believe in the ?prince of peace.? In thinking about this passage from Colossians, a colleague of mine rewrote the passage saying the following, ?I can?t help but think that we in the church (and society at large) act as if the opposite were true. So I wrote a version of Colossians that is more in keeping with our actions.?

?As God?s perfect select few, dress yourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (unless someone makes a political or theological argument you disagree with, then put on your best defensive gear). Bear with one another and if anyone has a complaint against another, post it publicly on Facebook, being just vague enough to offend as many people as possible. Forgiveness is God?s job, not yours. Above all, clothe yourselves with a watered-down, Hollywood version of love, which means everyone exists to make you happy, and you owe no one anything. And let the false peace of emotional detachment and inaction rule your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one homogenous body (of people who worship and vote and look and think just like you). And be thankful you?re better than everyone else. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, but only those parts that justify your particular beliefs and can be used as weapons against others, ignore the rest; teach and admonish one another in all superiority; and with pride in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to yourself for being so very right. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of self-worship, giving thanks to God that you are better than so many poor, misguided souls.?

It was Whitney?s hope in writing these words that this interpretation of Colossians that it would be ?a tough read and it might wake us up to how difficult the demands of this text really are.? I recognize that this is a hard passage to live into, but when I look around at our congregation, at other Christians, and at those who claim to be Christian, there are many times we are not living out of a place of love, forgiveness, peace, and thankfulness. We wear clothing that represents the old ways, instead of wearing clothes that represent a new life, a life transformed by the presence of Jesus Christ.

These virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience are all about how we are to be in relationship with ourselves, one another, and with God. They mark how we think and behave towards one another in community. These values are the framework for how we are to work through times of unity and disunity. Can you imagine where our congregation would be if we always operated using these virtues? Can you imagine what people would say about Christians if all Christians operated out of these virtues? Can you see what our world would even be like if people were clothed with Christ?

I don?t know if I can. After all that continues to happen in our town, our country, our world, I don?t know if I can imagine what our world would look like if people lived life like it is described in this passage. But I am reminded that I don?t have to do this alone. We are to ?bear with one another? in this journey. We are asked to put up with one another, by putting our hope and trust, in word and deed, in Jesus Christ. And if we are truly bearing with one another, then we are examining every interaction with one another. And as we look at every interaction with our fellow Christians, we can ask the following question: ?Am I holding them up, or tearing them down?? Living out our faith is really that simple; we can tear people down, or we can build them up. If we tear people down, then our world will continue to look the way it does. If we build people up, then we might be able to enhance our close relationships and then that will slowly start to reach out into our town, our nation, and our world. In knowing that, I can see love, forgiveness, peace, and thankfulness happening all around me; in knowing that, I can see the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience being lived out. Then, I truly can imagine what life lived clothed with Christ will look like, where people are new and transformed?and the reason for the season and for our lives, the true prince of peace, is shared with all that we meet. As you go into this week, ask these questions: where do I see peace? And am I holding people up, or am I tearing people down? See how God works in you this week. Amen.