Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Colossians 2:8-10
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  January 15, 2023

In the book called the Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegorical take on Christian faith in modern times, the world is called the Dying Lands and the people there are infected with something called the “Hollow Plague”. It’s this creeping virus that slowly spreads throughout the entire body until the person is completely hollow, and they take on a sort of zombified-state, always hungry but never full. It’s an eerie depiction of our world, isn’t it? One of the authors’ choices that I thought was wise was that the character named “Faith” was also infected with the Hollow Plague. It isn’t just unbelievers who often feel empty, is it? Even as Christians, we too often find ourselves desperate for something new, ready to consume anything in the hope of finding fullness.

That same temptation was infecting the Colossian congregation in the first century A.D. And the Apostle Paul writes from prison in Rome to warn them of this Hollow Plague. We’ll begin with verse 8: See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. This verse is not against philosophy in and of itself. Paul was adept at philosophy as evidenced by his interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:1-34). Paul was warning the believers not to be taken in by a specific philosophy that was working against true faith in Christ. The false philosophy at Colosse was hollow and deceptive. It was based on human tradition and what Paul calls “the elemental spiritual forces of the world”. That phrase is much debated in interpretation and overall it is difficult to get a clear picture of the heresy that threatened the Colossian congregation. But what we can tell from this letter is that it was made up of at least three distinct types of false teaching. There was an element of Mysticism, an element of Asceticism, and an element of Gnosticism. Now those are some fancy words, but they are alive and well today too even if they aren’t usually labeled as such. Remember, the Devil doesn’t create anything new, he just repackages time-tested temptations. And what made these teachings all the more dangerous was the fact that they claimed not to supplant, but to supplement the Gospel which the Colossians had received from Paul. These new teachings didn’t say that Jesus was wrong, just that he wasn’t enough. So let’s explore these three false teachings  and see just how harmful they are in our world today.

1. Mysticism Mysticism is a type of spirituality that is broad, defined as finding the divine through self-surrender or meditation, often through use of the occult. Now, is mysticism still around? Yes, and it’s growing in America. A quick search on Google brought up 18 psychics and mediums in Dane County alone. There’s an entire section at Barnes and Noble labeled “New Age Spirituality”. Did you know that Tarot card sales have doubled within the past five years in America? Astrology, Zodiac signs, and Horoscopes thrive among the youth, statistically high among young women. And the Ouija board has become a trademark brand worth close to a billion dollars. People, and yes, even Christians are attracted to mysticism today. It’s tempting to get a reading or find out something from a horoscope, or maybe just dabble with some sort of eastern meditation practice, because what’s the harm? It’s not like you’re going to stop going to church and being a Christian right? Well, at that point you’ve already been deceived. You’ve been tempted into thinking that Christ is not enough, and you are trying something that may be interesting in the moment but will leave you hollow, with a terrible emptiness. Not to mention, as certainly as we believe in Jesus as Lord, the Bible teaches about the spiritual forces of evil, like satan. Now, I’m not warning against a caricature, some Hollywood depiction of demons. I’m warning of the biblical reality of unseen spiritual forces, like Paul talks about here, that take people captive, especially when they open themselves up to mystical rituals and such. The poet Charles Baudelaire famously wrote that “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Mystic practices likely won’t look like anything sinister, but they will draw you away from Christ.
2. Asceticism Asceticism is the practice of strict restriction or abstinence as a measure of spiritual discipline. Now before I get too far, there is a right form of self-denial and discipline to the Christian life. But, whatever self-denial and discipline we practice, it must never be done to add to what Christ has accomplished. It must only be done willingly in an effort to flee from sin and temptation out of love and thanksgiving for what God has done, not as a requirement. Asceticism historically was practiced as a way to get right with God. And for the most part we might think that it ended with the Reformation and the end of medieval Christianity with their monastic orders, the vallory of chastity, repulsion of the flesh, fasting, etc. We’ve moved past that right? Well, not really.

It could be argued that asceticism is flourishing today. With the decline in religious belief and practice, ascetic instincts have found secular doppelgangers, if you will. Food for the soul is no longer relevant; it’s all about the body. There is a drive to seek meaning and fullness through strict control of the body in our culture. Look at the explosion of the health and wellness industry over the past 20 years! Look at the amount of money people spend on gyms, supplements, diet plans, and the like. Now again, taking care of the body God has given us is a good thing. But where is the line between taking care of ourselves and obsession? Too often, even Christians become unproportionately concerned with their bodies. We don’t feel like we are complete until we look a certain way. Body dysmorphia, the upsurge of plastic surgery, the boom of eating disorders, Peds and steroid use, they all point to a near religious zeal for control of the body… And when we can’t control our desires—for our favorite foods, or to stick to a diet, or whatever—we often experience feelings of shame and self-loathing that are quite similar to the ascetic guilt felt in times past. Yeah, I think there are many of us who understand the hollowness of asceticism. Modern asceticism will be attractive, especially to those who are self-disciplined, but it does not change the heart. It might make you feel good for a while( if you’re doing well), but it is not the path to fullness. Even if by restriction and deprivation you finally accomplish every physical goal and look exactly like your idols, there will still be a hollow place in your soul. There will remain a gnawing emptiness. Moreover, it directs all your attention to what you are able or unable to do and, again,away from Christ.

3. Gnosticism Gnosticism is basically the notion that one is saved by “knowledge” (gnosis). Gnostic thinking is that human tragedy is not the result of sin, but just ignorance. The answer to life’s problems and inequities, therefore, is found in a secret knowledge that the enlightened find. Now when this was applied to Christianity in the first centuries A.D., it was particularly deadly because it claimed that Jesus was a fount of this secret knowledge. In other words, Jesus was respected and revered, just not really worshiped as the full revelation of God. It was so seductive because you could love Jesus, you could appreciate some of what he said and leave what you didn’t want. You could elevate your own enlightened conscience over the words of Scripture. So in other words, truth was relative. Gnostic thinking whispers to the anxious soul, “Search your heart; seek the truth deep within your soul.” Totally opposite to this is the Bible, which tells the searching heart that the true human tragedy is sin and Jesus died for us, even in our ignorance. The Bible says that not only the “smart” or “enlightened” are saved, but the simple and child-like who trust in the love of God. We don’t have to sit and mutter to ourselves, searching for some hollow voice of inner assurance. We have a Savior who bids us come, not because he is wise and culturally relative, but because his heart is gentle and humble, and in this we will find rest for our souls. We have the black and white testimony of a crimson cross and an empty tomb which screams of our comfort, regardless of how we feel or think on a given day. Needless, to say the echoes of gnostic thinking are loud and proud today, we must remain grounded in Christ.

Through the letter to the Colossians, it’s clear that the Apostle Paul sensed that these new teachings were obscuring the unique  greatness of Jesus and the complete sufficiency of his salvation. He knew that without clear focus on Jesus, God’s people would become captives. Slaves to earthly thinking, slaves to the satan’s devices, captives to the hollow plague. And yet by inspiration, he does not justify falsehood by addressing each one individually, but rather he overwhelms them all simply by reminding the Colossian Christians of the fullness of Christ. And that brings us to the most famous verse in this entire letter, what has been called the most comprehensive verse on Jesus’ divinity within the entire Bible. Colossians 2:9: For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ. The word for “fullness” (πλήρωμα) here was commonly used by Gnostic teachers to refer to the totality of divine powers. And the highest knowledge or goal in gnostic religion was to experience this πλήρωμα. But Paul uses the word to describe Christ who is the fullness, the totality of God, for all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ! There is no other spiritual authority outside of Christ! There is no other God to find.And since all of God’s fullness resides in Christ, every spiritual need and blessing is found in our Savior! In Jesus, we lack nothing. Without Christ we will be hollow, but with him we have found fullness. We don’t need any other knowledge of God. The Apostle Peter said it well: “Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” Or as Jesus said about himself: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Paul applies this fullness of Christ to us in verse 10: And you have been brought to fullness in him.  Notice that finding fullness is passive here in verse 10: “You have been brought to fullness.” Finding fullness is the result of God’s work of faith in your heart. You don’t have to figure it out, you don’t have to produce it yourself. The fullness of your life comes from Christ’s fullness. You are part of Christ’s body, the church; you are united to him through baptism as his beloved family. You have received new life (vv. 12-13), you have been forgiven, you have been freed from captivity of self-deprivation and special knowledge, you have been healed of the hollow plague. Your heart is a dixie cup held under the waterfall of Christ’s fullness. As John writes: “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We are those who have found fullness, because Chirst loved us and has called us to be his own. Jesus is fully God and  you are fully complete in him. “The Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want…you have been brought to fullness in Christ. I’ll end with the blessing of verses 6 and 7 of our text which is my prayer for you: “Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him,  by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith with thanksgiving.”

Amen.