MPC
25th June 2017.June 25 - Colossians 1:9-23 - "Jesus-Shaped Ethics"
MPC
25th June 2017.
Dan Wilton
Nicky and I have just embarked on parenthood - and oh boy we've entered a whole new realm of decisions- and it's such a mine field! Do we give him a dummy when we've reached breaking point with his screaming; what about the whole topic of discipline - is it ok to smack him when he's a toddler? And that's all before he's able to talk. The decisions just keep coming - what sport do we enrol him in; do we send him to a public school or a private school... it's exhausting just thinking about the possibilities.
But we all face so many decisions, every day.
Should I recycle? Or simply throw the milk bottle out with the rest of the trash.
What should I do with the tax return coming up? Should I buy a new computer, a new car - or should I be giving the money to a charity?
Or more significant decisions like whether to place your dad into a nursing home?
We make a thousand decisions every day, and most of the time we don't stop to ask why. We just make the decision.
But what factors contribute to making a decision? How do we determine what's right? What's wrong?
Sometimes it's not black and white - a lot of the time there's a whole lot of grey. How do we know which option is best?
This morning we're starting a new series titled - Transformed by Grace: a guide to Christian Ethics. There are some hot ethical issues out there - and we'll be spending the next couple of weeks thinking through some of them - ethics to do with work, community, sex and gender.
But this morning we're going to take a step back and consider the ethic that governs our own decisions. And discover how Jesus radically transforms our decision-making.
What are ethics?
Wikipedia - the fount of all cultural knowledge - defines ethics as:
a branch of philosophy that involves systematising, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.
Ethics is simply about how we determine right from wrong. And how we choose to live those convictions out. Ethics is about life! It's about the most basic questions of how we should live.
What does a good life involve? Am I right to pursue my happiness and what is the happiness I should be pursuing?
These are the big questions that underpin ethics.
But it's not a simple process. We're complex beings! And how we determine right from wrong is built on a whole lot of factors - we all come to the table with our own preferences; we have desires which have been shaped in all types of ways; we have convictions; habits learnt from others; learnt from society; traditions; experiences.
Sometimes the choices we make are guided by a set of rules - enforced by the government, or rules in our workplace. For example we have traffic laws that tell us how to act on the roads; what's appropriate and what's not. determine what's right and wrong behaviour. Like driving on the left side of the road, or keeping the speed limit - these are good and right things.
But sometimes is more complicated than that - for example when you're driving your pregnant wife to the hospital while she's in labour, you're probably less concerned about the speed limit, than getting to the hospital on time. A classic case of the ends justifying the means - no matter it takes you need to get your wife to the delivery ward.
What's more important? Keeping the traffic rules, or keeping the wife happy?
Or maybe for you, you're not so worried about every individual decision - sure there will be times when you make good and bad decisions, but as long as you're generally a good person. You have a set of values that guide how you make decisions. And as long as you uphold those values - then everything's fine.
But what if my values are different to yours? Who gets to determine what's right and what's wrong? What if I have a completely different set of values to marriage than my neighbour? Whose set of values wins out in the end?
It's a complicated task! And yet we make decisions like this every day without even giving them a second thought.
And I reckon for most of us here this morning, we're wildly inconsistent in how we determine what's right and wrong. I know I am! One day I'm going off at the guy who's cut me off on the road - and the next day I'm doing the exact same thing to someone else - but justify it because I'm late for work.
So how do we determine what's right and wrong? How can we be consistent?
And as followers of Jesus, what does it mean to have a Christian ethic? What makes it distinct?
As we come to the Bible we see the Christian ethic has a distinct shape - a distinct Jesus shape. Which is radically different from every other ethic.
And it's this Jesus-shaped ethic that we see in the passage we read from in Colossians.
We see two realities - Jesus has the authority to determine what's right and wrong; and in him we're transformed to live for a new reality.
Paul puts it like this in Colossians 1, from verse 15:
[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
At the heart of the world - at its foundation, what sustains all things is Jesus.
All life is Jesus shaped and Jesus powered.
Because everything was made BY Jesus - he was there at the creation of the world - and it's all made FOR him.
Everything is His - it's an exhaustive list! Things in heaven; things on earth. Things invisible; things visible; any power or authority - he owns it all!
There's no corner of this universe that wasn't created BY Jesus. And there's no crevice of the universe that wasn't created FOR him. It's all his!
We live in a universe that was made for Jesus. For him; for his purpose; for his intention. Nothing holds together without Jesus.
Now, if something is created by someone and for someone - then they can determine what's right and wrong.
Jesus has the authority to determine right and wrong; he has the authority to determine how to live in his world.
It's like soccer. There are clear rules that you need to keep when you're playing the game.
Imagine if the Socceroos jogged out on the field, picked up the ball and started playing rugby with it.
They'd probably play better then they currently are - but they'd all be red carded. Because when you walk on the pitch you're governed by a set of rules set up by FIFA.
The world is not arbitrary. It's not a case of me choosing what I think is right from wrong - which might be completely different to what you think.
No, there's a purpose to how things function; there's an order to how this world is designed.
There's someone who makes sense of it all. The one who made it and who it's made for - Jesus.
And it's only through him that we can begin to understand how to live in his world. Begin to understand what's right and wrong.
And secondly, Christian ethics is Jesus shaped because he offers a future beyond the grave.
Ethics is not just contained to what we can see and touch in the present, but looks forward to something more.
It's where Paul goes next. Jesus is described in verse 18 as... "the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead."
The resurrection of Jesus has brought about the beginning of the new age, the age to come, where all those who are his, who have received him as Lord, will also be raised to life to be with him forever.
Jesus has lead the way, he has been through death. He has conquered death. That is why you can have confidence that you will be raised also. The ethical frameworks of the world are inadequate for a reality that goes beyond the grave.
Jesus is supreme over all; both in this life, Lord over this created order, and the new life to come, Lord over the new heaven and earth.
Jesus' resurrection completely transforms us! We've been transformed by grace!
Those who follow Jesus have been raised with Christ. And so every decision we make is to be made in light of that reality.
The other day Nicky and I went up to Noosa to visit some family. It was a stunning day - I still can't get over how warm your winters are up here... it was fantastic.
But on the way home we were caught in the Bruce Highway car park - at a standstill. Apparently there was an accident ahead.
Now, if there's one thing I hate - it's being stuck in traffic. And so at the earliest exit we got off and went a different route. Avoided the traffic chaos - a win for Google maps!
Knowing what's ahead changes what we do now. And it's exactly the same for the Christian life. Knowing that death is not the finish line; changes what we live for now!
This new future; this new identity in Jesus is a game changer! Life isn't just about getting ahead and accumulating as much as you can before you die. We no longer live for ourselves, but for God and for others. Our ethic is governed by grace - the decisions we make are to be grace filled, filled with love.
Have a look how Paul puts just a page over in Colossians 3. He gives an ethics how to guide from verse 12:
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Can you imagine being part of a community that looked like that?
That's what Jesus shaped ethics look like - making decisions that are grace filled; that are loved filled - putting others first. Not seeking to tear down, but to build up.
For those who follow Jesus, we can't divorce the details and decisions of our lives from Him. Christ has changed us, transformed us by grace, and this changes everything.
But it's not that we simply follow a rule book of do's and don'ts. It's far more dynamic than that. We follow Jesus - who walked and spoke and acted out the Christian ethic. Who demonstrated what love and grace looked like.
As followers of Jesus we live lives transformed by grace.
We all face ethical decisions - work decisions; decisions to make about study; what to do with your time; with your money. How do we make these decisions with Jesus at the centre of our ethics?
For those who follow Jesus, we can't separate the details of our lives from Him. We need to be constantly making decisions with Jesus at the heart.
As you think through what is right or wrong about work or study or sex or food or the environment or marriage - let me ask you: do you have a framework with Jesus at the centre?
Is Jesus at the centre of how you make decisions?
If you're planning on coming to the next couple of weeks either looking for some sort of affirmation or justification that you're making the right ethical decision, or a black and white answer for some ethical dilemma you're facing. Then you'll be disappointed.
We have been transformed by grace! Jesus has given us life!
Living out ethics as those who are followers of Jesus is far richer than applying an ethical rulebook. Or imposing a list of do's and don'ts on others.
We've been transformed by grace and so too our ethics will be marked by grace.
Decisions made in light of Jesus being the creator and sustainer of all things and the reality of life beyond the grave. Decisions marked by grace as we continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus, seeking him in all things, and allowing him to work in and through us by his Spirit.