“Favoring God and Man”
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:41-52
Sermon Transcript for December 31, 2006
By Pastor Bob Coleman
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke2:52. This was the first verse of Scripture that I memorized and still remember today. I do not know who taught it to me. I trust it was in church; we went to church all the time. By the way, my mother and three of my sisters and their husbands were in attendance at the 5:30 p.m. service last night. And if you aren’t aware, I have four sisters. One of them lives in Georgia and she came up with her husband over the weekend. And just for your awareness, we all grew up in Indianapolis. We were born in either Methodist Hospital or Coleman Hospital or as we joke in our family, one of us was probably delivered by UPS. It has a deep, internal family meaning. But somewhere in my growing up I was regularly taken to church. And somewhere in that going to church I learned this verse.
Jesus is not the “home alone” lost because the parents are just too busy. No, they were traveling with a group of family and friends, relatives, and it wasn’t unusual for a child of that age to be off playing with cousins and friends. And that’s the way the Scripture lays it out. He goes back to do battle mentally with spiritual leaders. Very precocious for a 12-year old, but if you have ever had a 12-year old you know that’s about the time when they seem to take on the world. They know everything and from that point on our girls everything and we knew less than they knew until the time of about their ages of 22 and 23; and all of a sudden we became wise again. Because like our daughters, like all of us, Jesus was growing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
But what does it mean to grow in that way? Let’s look at the word “stature”. It simply means growing up physically. We are all born with some genetic pattern that will basically tell our body how big it’s going to be, how tall, what kind of shape, colors and all of those types of things. That’s our genetic makeup. It’s a gift of our parents. And we fulfill that when we reach that peak physically. We also have the inner parts of us like our minds and such. They all continue to grow. But we reach that peak of stature we know then we’re an adult at least physically. Jesus knew that also.
But stature can also mean the position in a society or a family. We grow up, starting as a baby, as an infant, and we work our way through until someday we become an adult also. And the parents have struggles with that—finally letting their children grow up to receive and become full stature as an adult. For us it has been a great joy to watch our two girls turn in to adult young women and to relate to them in that way, to recognize not just the physical stature, but the emotional and mental and spiritual stature. What people see in you and what they perceive in you and accept in you, that’s your stature.
And wisdom, yes, it takes on the framework of reason and application and knowledge. Of what one knows and how you apply it and how you use it within your life. There is a movie that’s playing in the theaters now. I don’t often recommend movies, but we decided to go see one. It’s called “Pursuit of Happiness”. It’s not a Christian movie. You won’t really hear any faith witness in a verbal way, but it is a wonderful movie; and I recommend it for family. There is only one word in there and the father explains it in kind of a fatherly way. There is no other violence or things like that. But Will Smith who plays the main character based upon a true story, shows the great struggle of life that he had to face and the wisdom that he obtained as he faced all of these hardships and difficulties using the knowledge that he had and gaining more and applying it and struggling against it. And by the world’s standards failing, becoming homeless. I won’t tell you the rest of the story; it’s worth seeing as I said. But for me, it is a living out at least both in stature as well as in wisdom.
What does it mean to be in favor with God and man? It really is in that order. If you are in favor with God you will be in favor with man in general. If you follow God’s way and God’s will, you gain favor from God. Now that doesn’t mean that blessing that makes a wonderful life for you, but it’s a spiritual favor. And as you grow closer to Christ and walk closer in His way and pursue the ways of Christ, you will also begin to exhibit things that will put you in favor with human beings. It can mean simply doing all that we can, the best that we can, in the way that God offers for us to. In most cases, then we will also be judged well and appropriate by others.
Now most people set aside Jesus as a special person. It’s true—Son of God, Son of man, born in a virgin birth and set aside in a special way. So when He goes to Jerusalem, when He does these kinds of things, we begin to say, “Yeah, well that’s him, but it’s not me. I have regular parents and I grew up in a regular setting.” There is one Gospel that was never cleared by the church when we chose, in about 300 A.D., put together what we now know as the Scriptures. There were four gospels chosen, but if you are not aware, there were dozen of other gospels out there. One of them carries the story of Jesus as a boy who took clay, formed it into a bird, blew on it and it turned in to a live bird. Now someone was probably overwrought with the desire to make Jesus look wonderful. I’m glad they didn’t include that. I’d rather think of Jesus just like me growing up, facing all the things that I had to face. Yes, having wonderful parents as I did, that was a blessing. And others do not. But it’s also the opportunity for us to identify with this Jesus--simply coming as a baby; simply growing up as one of us experiencing all the things that we experience, even though at the age of twelve he knew he must be about his Father’s business and be in his Father’s house.
As we flip the calendar tomorrow to the year 2007, many of us will probably take the step of making some resolutions. I think the older you get the less you do that because you remember that you didn’t keep them very well. Most of the lists that I ever made, I lost by the third week and I couldn’t even remember what my resolutions were. But Paul, in the Book of Colossians in the Letter to the Church of Colossi, gives us some guidance in the third chapter. And I would like through this because I believe that what I can glean from this particular passage I want to share with you as steps that we can take to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. It won’t happen overnight; it will take all of your life. But I want you to see how Paul lines out some things to show that we can follow in these ways and we will be as Christ.
Starting in Colossians 3:12-17, as you will see on there, follow along and I’ll make some comments. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” That’s a big order. Maybe you and I can account for one of those we sort of do sometimes. Maybe two if we’re really good. How many of us can claim that we are that way all of the time? How does one achieve these qualities? Most of us struggle to even start the list. But we must remember, it is a life long journey that we get into as we grow a little each day moving toward this description that Paul gives to us. It is true that no one can attain them quickly in a fast approach. Paul does give us, though, some steps that we can take as we move on through the Scripture that if we do on a regular daily basis and in a regular way in our lives, it will help us to obtain these.
In Verse 13, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” That’s a powerful word. It’s one that many people struggle with. It’s the one that I heard by a national news anchor, just couldn’t understand the Amish man who had lost a grandchild to a man who had shot them in their schoolhouse, that he could say the day after the death of his grandchild, “I forgive him”. And I did not take that as a flippant or quick answer on his part. But the one interviewing, just couldn’t understand. That’s the difficulty with forgiveness; we don’t understand it until we have lived through it. Remember the story of Jesus, the person who had a great debt and he pleaded with the master to forgive him. And finally the master consented and forgave him his debt. He walks outside and a person who owes him money and he says, “I won’t forgive you.” That’s not the way the Lord forgives. Grace has forgiven us even before we were born. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God. We need to receive that forgiveness. And when you forgive others, it is the greater blessing for yourself. Maybe it will positively impact the person that you forgive, but it is really for your spiritual journey to forgive others. Easy—not necessarily; but will you grow in the values that we talked about earlier? Yes!
Verse 14, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” That pretty much speaks for itself. But again, love is not something that happens when you have that first gleam in your eye with the man or the woman that you have fallen in love with. True love happens over the years, over the decades, little by little, step by step. Even when you have that first child and you love them so much, it still takes little by little, day by day to put love in the center of what you do which binds all of us together.
Paul moves on in Verse 15 and says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Love binds us together and peace is to rule in our hearts. “Peace not as the world gives to you, but peace as I give to you,” Jesus said in John 14. The peace that will pass all understanding, not the peace as a station of war, but the peace that gives you a calmness and an understanding even in the midst of turmoil and difficulties and heartaches of life. You have something you can hold on to greater than yourself. Daily practicing the peace of Christ ruling in your hearts.
Verse 16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Now that’s the “word” in two ways. That’s the word that is Christ Himself for Christ is the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. It also means the written word of the Holy Scripture. Reading the Scripture regularly at least a little each day in a devotional book or reading through it verse by verse and chapter by chapter, reading it by yourself; but hopefully, more importantly, reading it with someone else. Reading a Scripture is foundational. It helps you to remember Luke 2:52, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”
And Paul goes on and says, ”Reading the Scripture, letting Christ dwell in you richly by the Word as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,…” I believe the “you” is both singular and plural. It is the “you” of those who are given the gift of teaching, who literally can teach a class or group of people and lead them in Biblical studies and understanding. And admonishing one another with all wisdom is also saying correcting at times. But the other side is, we may not all be called to be teachers in front of a classroom, but we are all teaching nonetheless. You are teaching every day of your life. Every Christian needs first to be in a group, at least another person, where you can be taught by them and teach them and admonish one another which means a gentle urging and encouragement to do what is right and stay away from what is wrong.
And we learn and grow in that way, but we also teach by our word and in our example when we are in a line at a checkout and the lady waits until everything is checked out before she pulls out her checkbook and starts to write very slowly while you have only two items. Why couldn’t she let you go first? You are busier than she is; and you just get frustrated. And it begins to show. And I’m not telling you what I’ve seen you do, it’s what I do. And I realize God gently works with me and said, “Who are you to think your life is so much more important than hers? And besides, she’s being careful making sure she keeps good account of what she has.” That’s a good virtue, good quality. I read a little bit and I relax and I decide if I’m a minute or two late it’s not going to hurt anything. You see, we’re teaching people by what we say and what we do out in public because once you start to go to a church, people believe you to be a Christian whether you have accepted Christ or not. And they begin to look at you as the saying goes in the double negative, “You are never not a Christian”. If you declare Christ as your Savior, if you are baptized in the faith, you are always a Christian—maybe not a good one, maybe not consistent, maybe one who needs to be forgiven and one who needs to forgive. But you are always a Christian. Everywhere you go someone is needing to know that God loves them and you may be the Christ to them in what you say and what you do. We pray, as I do, that I don’t give them the opposite message.
Paul goes on and says, “…and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” That sounds like worship to me whether it is in a personal type of devotion as you daily spend some time in that way or weekly as you come to church. Whenever it is, be in worship as much as possible because it is important for us not just to experience the worship but to be in worship, to offer ourselves in worship. It is not just the pastors up front, Nancy or I, who are the leaders of worship. You are all leading the worship. You are offering yourselves by being here. And in gratitude your hearts will be open to God.
In Verse 17 Paul completes by saying, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Wonderful words! Excellent steps! Foundational, simple, very straightforward, nothing new necessarily, but something we tend to, one place or another, let slip or go. And it isn’t just to check them off and say, “Well, I’ve been to worship and I’ve read the Bible and I’ve done this and I’ve done that.” For each step is an opportunity for us to grow in the spirit of God.
As Paul says in II Corinthians, the second letter to the Church of Corinth, in Chapter 5, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old one is gone, and the new has come!” What better resolution to accept for your life? A statement of fact is that this morning, not tomorrow on January 1, but this morning you are a new creation in Christ. Every day God gives us a new opportunity. Yesterday we messed up, today we start over again. If we carry the burdens from yesterday, we’ll probably mess up tomorrow. But if we can see ourselves each day God says, “Let’s do it again. Let’s do it together. My Spirit is sufficient; my grace will carry you through.”
Paul encourages us this way and we want to do so as a church. For Grace United Methodist Church in January and February we are setting into motion a series of worship services that we hope for those who are in attendance will be able to help you to learn more about these various steps that are lined out in Colossians. How it is possible for us to grow in compassion and gentleness and kindness. And these worship services are designed to be models of encouragement, not condemnation, but to help us to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and human beings throughout the year 2007. We want to help you learn more about the wisdom of Scripture, the spiritual foundations of Christianity, the straightforward reasonable ways to help you grow and even to experience that growth.
Now using the old proverb, this is true in counseling and any other setting, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. And no matter how much we invite you and encourage you, we know all of you will not come along. Oh, you may be here physically, but you may not really be engaged spiritually. And we can’t control that. But Nancy and I want to pledge to you is that we are going to go along with you for we need it as much as you do. Don’t think that we’re up here and have something special. We have the same frustrations. We start each day anew or we carry the baggage from yesterday sometimes. Then we realize we can let it go. The power of the journey is that we do it together. That’s why God calls us to be together. It will be up to each of us to receive the blessings that we are able to receive. For example, next Sunday we will be offering baptism for those who have not yet been baptized. Now I don’t have anybody on that list and we may not have any necessarily for next Sunday, but that’s not a failure. But if you have not been baptized, will you see me? If this is the time that God’s calling you, we want to make it possible for you. But for everyone else, assuming and accepting that you are baptized either as an infant or youth or as an adult, that we will remember our baptism and be reaffirmed in that. It is the first Sunday of the year; it is the baptism of Christ in the Scripture. It’s very appropriate for us to do so. We hope it will be a remembrance of the outward and physical sign of baptism, of the inward and spiritual grace of God’s salvation for us.
On the second Sunday in January we will be offering the opportunity to share together in the Wesley covenant and sacrament of communion tied together. The emphasis then will be to move us from our individual salvation to the community salvation, the community of God together, to be more powerful together in God’s will and way then we are separate.
And then the following Sunday until Lent we will be stepping into the individual Sunday’s dealing with worship service themes on tools of the Christian faith that will be like a high density TV. We hope it will help bring it in clear and sharper to you so you will see, hear and understand the way that God offers to you. Yes, we want to offer within our power the inspiration to make it available to you, to encourage each of you to walk in the way of Christ in your daily life.
So I encourage, obviously, you to be at worship either Saturday or Sunday morning. I need you to bring a friend who you believe needs to be encouraged that way. We know, it will be a challenge to invite somebody new. But maybe you’ve been working on that for awhile. This could be the next moment. But nonetheless, we pray you will be here. And if you can’t we have videotapes. And there will be people who will be worshiping wit us through that process and the printed messages for each week. So in case you do miss you can, if you want to, keep up. So the opportunity is there for us. It’s a daily opportunity step by step and day by day for us to grow in wisdom and stature and in faith in God and all people.
I want to have a closing prayer. It will sound somewhat familiar because it was the one offered before the offering this morning. But you will see and hear how it fits for this time. Let us join together in a moment of prayer. “Gracious God of new beginnings, we seek to do everything in the name of your Son, Jesus. Gracious God of new beginnings, we desire to live in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. So as we place ourselves as an offering before you, we believe with your help and your spirit that we are moving closer to the desire of your will for us. For we ask, gracious God, that your Holy Spirit will help us to live this new year with your peace ruling our hearts. We are so thankful, gracious God. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”
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