Faith in the Powerful Working of God

​7th Sunday after Pentecost – C (Proper 12)                                                  LSB #’s 761, 702, 685
Text – Colossians 2:11-12
 
In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
 
FAITH IN THE POWERFUL WORKING OF GOD
 
 
Last Sunday,  a scientist was exploring a cave system in Italy  when a sudden rockfall caused a head injury & trapped him there.  Though the injury prevented him from escaping on his own,  he was eventually found over 130 feet below ground.   In order to carry him to the surface, the cave had to be widened by explosives  at three different junctures. 
I expect  that none of you  have ever been captive  130 below ground in a cave.   Some of you may have felt captive in a bad marriage.   Others may have felt captive in a bad job  because you needed the money.   Listening to ‘the news,’  may leave you feeling like a captive in a very broken world. 
There’s a lot of depressing news in our nation today with riots & protests & lawsuits,  in addition to all the usual burglary & murder going on.  Topping it off, it seems as if more corruption is being reported on in our government every day.  Apart from all the mayhem caused by sinful actions,  Satan is also trying to drag us down through all the depressing news. 
It’s not a stretch to wonder  if God is doing anything at all in our nation  & in our world?  And Satan loves to feed any sort of despair that we feel.  It’s not easy being a broken human being,  & each one of us is broken.   The older you get,  the longer you’ve tried to fight it,  the easier it gets  to recognize that.   The question,  at any age,  is, “What to do about it?” 
The answer is extremely simple  yet confusingly complicated.  Surrendering to the will of God is the answer,  but our sinful nature fights it  every step of the way.   “Let go  & let God” sounds  less humiliating,  but there’s no difference between that  & surrendering to God’s will.  In either approach,  we  still  come face to face with the 1st commandment, “You  shall have no other gods.”   Whenever we don’t get our way,  we are tempted to be held captive  in rebellion against our Lord & Creator.   My way,  or the highway,  is not our friend. 
All of us  who are sinful  should know what it is to be helplessly captive  & unable to escape on our own.  You & I suffer from far more than a head injury,  & there is no way for any of us  to rescue ourselves from sin.  Sin is like quicksand,  the harder we try to escape on our own,  the farther we sink into its clutches. 
Because we are corrupted by sin,  even the knowledge we cannot escape it,  is something that comes to us  only apart from ourselves.   On our own,  all of us are trapped by sin & held captive with no hope for escape.  On our own, we can’t even pray our way out of sin  because we have no idea to whom we should pray.  The Holy Spirit must give us that knowledge. 
If you are in any way feeling captive to the current circumstances of your life,  the Apostle Paul is writing about the solution in his letter to the church at Colossae:
“In [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands,  by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”  (2:11-12 ESV) 
Apparently, people in the church at Colossae were emphasizing that Gentiles who became Christians had to be circumcised.  Paul is telling them that,  by their own standards, circumcision would be inadequate for salvation  because it did not remove all the human flesh that is corrupted by sin. 
In contrast, the spiritual circumcision of Christ does do away with the entirety of the
sinful flesh.  Paul then connects that spiritual circumcision to baptism where, having been buried with Christ,  we are also raised with Him through faith.  That faith is centered in the powerful working of God demonstrated as He raised Jesus from the dead.  In that resurrection, the old flesh of Jesus, though never sinful, was raised in a new, glorified state. 
It is that flesh which now belongs to all Christians  for all eternity;  a flesh that can never again be corrupted  in any way.   It is a flesh that will never again be held captive in any manner.  Clearly,  we don’t yet possess that flesh here,  but it is a sure & certain part of our inheritance to come.  We long for heaven,  not simply because it will be beautiful,  but because we will be. 
Though it is hugely important, the Good News that our sins are forgiven is not the only message of the Gospel.  In heaven,  everything about our mind, body & soul  will be perfect.  Part of Jesus’ mission on earth was to reveal that bodily perfection once He’d risen from the dead.  Heaven will not be only a spiritual place, but a real, physical existence in flesh & blood. 
It’s God’s design that our new life should begin as we are brought, early on, to the waters of Baptism.  Our Creator wants us to receive His gifts as soon as possible,  because we need them to counter the attacks of the Devil.  There are so many distractions in our world,  so many things Satan uses to draw our attention away from the fact that Jesus came to rescue us. 
To the naked eye, Baptism appears powerless.  People still sin, horribly, even after baptism.  Christians still wander from Christ & forget His blessings.  Christians are still rude & insufferable.  However, the faith the Holy Spirit creates in us sees & hears the powerful working of God even though our eyes & our ears do not. 
As insignificant & ordinary as baptism appears, it brings us to eternal & everlasting life.  The fullness of God appeared in human flesh & when we’re baptized into that flesh we are being re-created into the flesh of Jesus Christ.  After the resurrection, sin & death will never be able to impact us again.  Those who are baptized have been raised with Christ from the death of our sins through faith in the powerful working of God.  However, faith can grow faint  if we’re not connected to the Vine which is Jesus Christ.  In this life we constantly need to be connected to the Vine.  We live in a toxic world & that is hell bent on poisoning us. 
As the reading from Colossians begins, Paul is encouraging us: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted & built up in Him & established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”  (2:6-7 ESV)  The phrase “so walk in Him” basically means stay connected to the Vine, to Jesus, in everything you do. 
When we remain connected, when we walk in Christ, then we can experience abounding in thanksgiving.  If we remain connected to Christ, it doesn’t matter what our circumstances are.  Our thanksgiving does not come from our circumstances.  It comes from the Holy Spirit whom we receive as we’re connected to Jesus. 
Will our lives be perfect?  No.  Faith is believing what we cannot see.  Sin causes us to fail in everything we do,  because we never do anything 100% perfectly.  Our hope & our joy come from the fact that Jesus did do everything perfectly & He joyfully offers the credit to us. 
The Colossians were being pulled away from their trust in Jesus.  The fullness of God dwelling in human flesh strengthens us & saves us, therefore there’s no reason to panic nor to despair.  Paul wants to convince God’s children who’re still struggling here on earth that they have already risen from the dead, from spiritual death, & truly are alive in Jesus. 
The life lived in the joy of the Good News is the most powerful witness to the hope we have in Christ.  That draws other people to Jesus for eternity in spite of what they see.  Amen. 
May Thy rich grace impart  strength to my fainting heart;  my zeal inspire!  As Thou hast died for me,  oh, may my love to Thee  pure, warm & changeless be,  a living fire!   While life’s dark maze I tread  & griefs around me spread,  be Thou my guide;  bid darkness turn to day,  wipe sorrow’s tears away,  nor let me ever stray  from Thee aside.  Amen.  LSB 702:2-3.