Sermon Notes – Sunday 4th February

The Face of the Invisible God

Colossians 1:15-20 The Face of the Invisible God

“We’ll be late” he muttered, “We’ll be late. Philemon warned us not to be late”. “I need to pack the food”, she said, “I promised Apphia I would bring it. We can’t expect them to feed everybody! That’s too much!”

He shuffled impatiently by the door. “Come on! I want to be able to hear!”

She gathered bags of food, called the children and they set off, him striding ahead with her and the children trying to keep up.

“I wonder how things are going with Onesimus”, she said. “Tense I think”, he replied, “probably better not to ask. Now hurry up, we want a decent place to sit”.

They arrived at Philemon and Apphia’s house and he had been right to worry, lots of people were already there inside and there were many hanging around outside the door and by the open windows. Apphia greeted them at the door, “Come in, come in, I think there’s room inside if you don’t mind squeezing in.” They found a space in the corner of the room just big enough for them and their children. They sat on the floor trying to take up as little space as possible. They spotted some friends and waved and called to them. Others around them were doing the same.

It was so hot and so noisy but that’s the price you paid to be here. People chatted excitedly to those around them. “A letter from Paul!” “Epaphras told him all about us!” “A letter from Paul!” This was a big deal, it was the first reading of the letter. It would be read again, over and over again, but everybody wants to be at the first reading don’t they?

The ‘Reader of the Letter’ came in waving it above his head, he slowly stepped over the people sitting on the floor until he was in the centre of the room. Everyone went quiet, you could feel the anticipation. One person coughed and was hushed, “Sssh, we need to be able to hear.”

The Reader started, “From Paul, an apostle in Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae”.

A cheer went up at the mention of us. Why? I don’t know. Solidarity I guess. Why do people cheer when they hear their hometown mentioned? They do, and we did. We cheered and clapped and then the room went quiet again.

The Reader continued. Paul thanks God for us. The gospel message is being spread all over the world and people are believing. That’s good to hear. Epaphras told him how we had heard and received the gospel message.

Another cheer when the crowd heard the name ‘Epaphras’, he’s a good ‘un. And then silence again as the Reader continued.

Paul is praying for us, asking God to give us wisdom and understanding so we can live a good life, grow in the knowledge of God and be strengthened with his power to have patience and endurance. There are some murmurings at this part. We definitely need some strength and some patience and endurance living as we do. He’s not wrong there. It’s good that he understands our struggles though, faith here is not easy.

The Reader waited for silence before continuing again. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”

The room suddenly became tense. You could feel it in the air. Even the Reader faltered at this He had been reading it at the top of his voice, performing it really so that everyone would be able to hear. But now he looks at the windows to see who is outside. Who is there that might have heard him say this?

The image of the invisible God. Oh my goodness. We live surrounded by pictures of Caesar to remind us of his power, to remind us who is in charge. In this world the emperor is considered to be nothing less than a son of God, and woe betide any person that says otherwise.

The Reader continued, with a little less volume now. “For by him all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.”

There was a whisper beside me. “I think this is intended to be comforting”. Maybe…but the danger it puts us in does not feel comforting. This letter could be considered sedition.

Rome believed they were the force for good. They brought order against barbarian and terrorist chaos that lies at the edges of the empire. They certainly kept order, that’s true. But that order came from the emperor. Everything revolved around him.

For Paul to claim that all creation, power, thrones were created and therefore belong to Jesus is outrageous. Put simply, If Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, then Caesar can’t be. If Jesus is Lord, then the throne of Caesar, the dominion of the emperor, the rulers that keep the order and the power with which they do all this then becomes subject to Jesus. People are executed for saying less controversial things than this.

There are noticeably fewer people outside by the windows now. It’s too much and too dangerous. What if someone passes by and sees them listening to this? They’ve gone home and will hear the rest of the letter at another time.

But in the house, the Reader carried on, looking more than nervous now. Everyone listens intently, they know he isn’t going to be shouting anymore.

“Jesus is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have pre-eminence.” “Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself.”

She looked around at the faces of others in the room. Some had their heads in their hands, others had a small smile on their lips, some just looked confused – can this really be so? Is this really true? Is this what being a follower is about? Their heads were spinning.

Apphia nudged Philemon and whispered to him. He nodded and jumped to his feet.

“Maybe this would be a good time for some food?” he called. We can hear some more later. The Reader looked relieved, he could definitely do with a break.

People started to stand up and stretch. Children that had been constrained whilst we all listened now were free to go outside to play. Plates of food appeared and started to be passed around. People ate, drank and quietly discussed what they had heard.

“The Emperor is the head isn’t he? But now we’re saying Jesus is? Jesus is the head of the body which is the church. But if Jesus is over Caesar then is the church more important than the empire? Sssh you’re talking too loudly!”

She sat with the people, only half-listening to them. In her head was the line “He is the image of the invisible God”. Jesus is the image of invisible God. She had always struggled with what God might look like. The stories made him sound scary, powerful, ready to strike you down at any moment. She had never really been able to picture what he looked like. But now, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. To know what God is like she just needs to know what Jesus is like. That seems a very different picture. Jesus was kind, loving, good fun, tolerant, had time for all people, he liked a party.

Yes, the words and ideas of this letter could get them into a lot of trouble…but she felt strangely comforted by them.