Jesus-Centered Growth (Centered #6)

I want to begin by thanking YouTube and Netflix. About five years ago YouTube tried its hand at original content, made a series, then decided to get out of that business and passed the show along to Netflix, who have now carried it into a fifth season. I am talking about the masterpiece known as Cobra Kai.

If you are not familiar with it, it picks up the story of the original Karate Kid movie from 1984 and jumps ahead thirty-some years. Same main characters, only now they are married with kids, and the kids get into fights at school. It is a karate show. It is fun.

The reason I am grateful for the revival is that it means I do not sound quite as much like an old geezer when I open a sermon with a Karate Kid illustration. I was eleven when the original came out, and if you were not alive then, you may not realize what a cultural juggernaut it was. I cannot tell you how many of us boys stood on the playground in a crane stance, waiting to drop Johnny with a kick to the face. And of course, everyone was saying it: wax on, wax off.

You remember the scene. Daniel has to wax the car and then unwax it. Then he has to paint the fence, and it has to be done a very particular way. Mr. Miyagi was teaching him that karate is actually very simple. He took him all the way down to the basics. Not the Cobra Kai way — strike first, strike hard, no mercy — but the simple way. The basic way.

As we jump back into Colossians, the Apostle Paul is going to be our Mr. Miyagi. He is essentially telling us that if you want to grow in your faith, if you want to be a black belt at following Jesus, you are not going to find it in the most aggressive, advanced, complicated thing. You are going to find it in the basics. This is the wax on, wax off of the Christian faith.

The Text

Here is Colossians 2:1–7:

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Devotion Costs Something

Have you ever devoted yourself to something? Really given yourself to it? Maybe it was a sport. Maybe a project at school or at work. Maybe you have had to devote yourself to a loved one who is ill. If you have kids, you know exactly what devotion means. Some of you devoted yourselves to starting a business. I had to devote myself to starting this church.

If you have ever done that kind of devotion, you know it costs. For some of you it cost money, but the cost I am really thinking about is your time, your energy, your emotions. You poured your blood, sweat, and tears into it.

That is what Paul is describing as he opens chapter two. He devoted himself to these people. He longs for them to know Jesus. He hinted at the cost at the end of chapter one when he mentioned his suffering, but we learn the real extent of it in his other letters and especially in the book of Acts. Start around Acts 9 and read through chapter 28 and you will find shipwrecks. You will find him receiving thirty-nine lashes across his back. You will find him dragged out of a city and stoned and left for dead. He endured brutal weather and constant mockery. All of it because he wanted people to learn about the Jesus who had changed his life.

Paul had been on track to become one of the greatest rabbis Judaism had ever produced. Jesus wrecked all of it by showing him who he really was. And once Paul understood, he stopped arresting Jesus followers and started making them. He gave everything to it, because he was devoted.

He Was Devoted to People He Had Never Met

Here is what is remarkable. In verse 1 Paul mentions people he has never seen face to face. He had never been to Colossae. The closest he ever got was about a hundred miles away when he planted the church in Ephesus. Then he mentions Laodicea, another town about twelve miles from Colossae — the hope being that this letter would travel there too. He had never met those people either. It did not matter. He still carried this devotion to see them know Jesus.

Some of you know what that is like. We support a church-planting family working in a rough, diverse neighborhood in a major city several hours from here — a place with a lot of crime and a lot of violence. We pray for them and support them financially, and a handful of you have gone up to help in person. But most of you have never met a single person in that neighborhood, and yet I routinely hear you talking about that work like it is sitting right on your heart.

Some of you sponsor a child through a relief organization. Every month you send money that helps provide education, clothing, and food through a local church somewhere in the world. You have never met that child in person. You get a photograph. You get letters. You write letters back. But it is different when you meet someone face to face, and yet your heart still yearns for that kid.

We have families here who have adopted, and others of you are beginning to think about it. Even though the adoption has not happened, you already care for that child. That child may not even have a name yet. And somehow you already know: that is my kid. You did not create them biologically, and yet they are already invested in your heart, and you have never met them.

That is exactly what Paul is expressing.

What Paul Actually Wants for Them

So what does he long for on their behalf? He tells us in verse 2, and there are three things.

That their hearts may be encouraged

This one feels very human. I genuinely hope you are encouraged. I would feel like a terrible preacher if you walked out of here feeling beaten up and discouraged. Parents, you want to encourage your kids. You want to encourage your friends. We all have weak moments where something harsh slips out and discourages instead, but for the most part encouragement is what we are after.

That they may be knit together in love

Paul takes it deeper than a friendly note. He wants them tied together. For him, that means tied together as Jesus followers with the gospel at the center of their church. He wants them to know they are not alone. I hope you would realize that too.

That they may reach all the riches

If you are not a Christian, you might perk up at that. All the riches? Not those kinds of riches. He says “all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.” He wants them to fully get it. To grasp the gospel. To understand God’s heart toward them. To see what God has been doing across all of time and how it pours out onto them — because he knows what that will do in them and through them.

I suspect if you follow Jesus, something in you wants that. You may be facing a barrier right now. There may be something going on that is keeping you from that kind of life. But even on your worst day, something in you still yearns for it.

The Problem Is We Are So Easily Distracted

We get distracted by our circumstances. By our pasts. By our sin. And some of us get distracted by the new.

If you are like me, you are a little addicted to new. I got a new shirt in the mail on Friday and made sure to wash it Saturday so I could wear it Sunday, because I like new. I always want to hear the newest song. How many of you already listened to the new Taylor Swift album? Right. You want the new. You want to see the new movie — I am trying to find an excuse to go see the latest superhero film even though the critics hate it, because the audiences love it and it is new. I cannot wait for the new restaurant to open in town.

The problem is that this addiction to new bleeds into our spiritual lives. We start believing that the only way we will truly experience God, the only way we will go deeper with him, the only way we will get that kind of life, is through something new. So we chase the new worship song. We have to read the new book. We get the new Bible translation. We try the new church, or the new podcast preacher. We are always going after new, thinking that is where joy in God is finally going to be found.

Now hear me: the new is not bad. I am routinely the guy telling people, hey, have you heard this song? Sometimes the new genuinely helps. But do not believe that only the new can help, and therefore conclude that you have to abandon the old. Because if you live there — always new, always next — you set yourself up to be deceived.

Plausible Arguments Are the Most Dangerous Kind

That is precisely what Paul warns about in verse 4: “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.”

Any fishermen here? I grew up going fishing with my dad, so I understand the concept even if I do not do much of it anymore. Here is a question. If you were heading out to fish and deciding what to throw in the water to lure them in, how many of you would tie a Bluetooth speaker onto the end of your line, blare music out of it, and cast that thing out there?

Ludicrous, right? Why? Because fish do not eat things that look like Bluetooth speakers. They do not eat things pumping out heavy bass. They eat silent bugs, worms, and smaller fish. So you want your bait to look plausible. Believable. You want the fish to think it is perfectly normal and regular. That looks good. And then they bite, and it hooks them.

Paul’s concern for the Colossians is that they will hear something that sounds good, sounds plausible, sounds believable — and they will swallow it, and it will end up dragging them away from this life-changing gospel. That is where deception is most dangerous: when it sounds so good and so right. Hey, if I just chase that new thing, I will get a better understanding of God. Paul wants to protect them from that.

Therefore: Wax On, Wax Off

And the way he protects them is the Christian version of wax on, wax off. Look at verse 6. It starts with “therefore.” If you are new to the Bible, here is a simple rule: whenever you hit a “therefore,” ask what it is there for. It is telling you that what you just read is connected to what you are about to read.

What did we just read? That Paul wants their hearts encouraged, wants them knit together in love, wants them to have this full understanding of God, so that they might be protected — not deceived, not deluded by plausible arguments. Therefore, because that is what he wants for them, here is how to protect yourself:

“As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”

How did the Colossians receive Christ? If you were with us back in August, you may remember a man named Epaphras. Most scholars think Epaphras found Jesus through Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. After being discipled in that church, he went back home to Colossae and shared the gospel with his family and friends. Some of them believed the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and a church was planted. Eventually Epaphras got the chance to travel to Rome, where he met Paul under house arrest and told him about this church back home.

So how did they receive Jesus? Epaphras came, shared the gospel, they heard it, and they believed. In other words, they received Christ by faith.

Now notice what Paul says next: “so walk in him.” Paul loves that word walk for the Christian life. It is the idea that as you go about living, you live for Christ.

Here is the point. If your faith started with Jesus, it needs to continue with Jesus. If your faith started with the gospel, it needs to continue with the gospel. It started by faith; it continues by faith. You do not need to graduate to the bigger, the better, the more complex, the more whatever. You stay with Jesus. Wax on, wax off.

Rooted and Built Up in Him

And look at what happens when you keep applying that simple, basic, foundational thing. Verse 7 says you become “rooted and built up in him.”

I love that phrase, because it conjures up Ezekiel 47 — the passage our church takes its name from. Starting in chapter 40 of his book, Ezekiel is given a tour of the temple. As the vision winds down, he notices water flowing out from the temple. He goes outside and walks along it, wading through it four different times. I am convinced that river represents Jesus. Wherever it flows, it brings life. And each time Ezekiel wades in, it gets deeper. That is exactly what we want to see happen — more and more of your life given over to Christ.

Then right at the end, Ezekiel 47:12 says: “And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary.”

Notice: those trees produce fruit, but the fruit is not for them. They do not consume it. The fruit is for the animals, for people, for others. It is a blessing that flows outward. And what nourishes those trees is being rooted into the river.

That is what Paul is drawing out. As you continue with Jesus, as you continue with the gospel, your roots keep going deeper and deeper, and you get built up.

Established in the Faith

And as you are built up, the next phrase kicks in: you become “established in the faith.”

An established tree does not panic when the weather changes. A tree whose roots run deep does not start fearing during a drought. It does not quake in a flood. It does not panic in winter. Why? Because it knows its sustenance is not found out on the surface or up in the branches. Its sustenance comes from driving its roots down deep. And the deeper the roots, the stronger it is, and the more firmly it holds through the worst windstorm.

That is what Paul wants for Jesus followers. He wants your faith so deep in Christ and in this gospel that when new theologies come, when new philosophies come, when the cultural winds shift, you do not fear. You stand firm, because you are established.

Abounding in Thanksgiving

There is one more benefit in verse 7. When you are doing the wax on, wax off — receiving Christ and walking in him — you will be “abounding in thanksgiving.”

To quote a great theological commentator from the world of children’s cartoons: a thankful heart is a happy heart. Some of you now have that song stuck in your head, and I am not sorry.

How many of you want to be happy? Pretty much all of us. Well, the happy heart is the thankful heart. But too often our happiness rides entirely on what is happening around us. I got the job, I am happy. I just got let go, I am crushed. I came into some money. The market just crashed. I feel great today. I just got a diagnosis. I have not given in to my addiction all week. I just crashed hard.

If you are rooted and built up, if Jesus is the center, if he is what everything is about — yes, you will still feel the wind. You will still sway. But for the most part you will stand, because you will always have something to be thankful for.

She may have just left me, but God is still with me. I may be in a financial crisis, but God can provide. My health may be failing, but I get an eternity with God. I may be struggling badly with this, but Jesus died for my sins.

When your roots are in Christ, when you are built up and established, you will always have something to be thankful for. And that thankfulness gives you more than momentary happiness. It gives you a true, underlying, everlasting joy.

Go Back to the Beginning

So if you follow Jesus, do not fall for the trick that you have to chase the new. Sometimes the old, the simple, the basic is exactly what you need. Just as you received Christ, so walk in him.

And as you walk in him, you will find your heart encouraged. You will find yourself knit together in love. You will find yourself reaching all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ. You will find yourself rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, abounding in thanksgiving. And you will not be deluded by plausible arguments.

Sometimes living the black belt life just means going back to the beginning and doing the simple things — and watching God do something great in you as he slowly, steadily drives your roots deeper into himself, building the kind of life you want and he wants.

What If You Are Not a Christian?

Then today is the perfect day for you to be here. Because just as Epaphras went to Colossae to share this life-changing message about Jesus, I have come to you today with the same life-changing message. And just as they received Christ by faith, I invite you to receive Christ by faith.

I do not have a time machine. I cannot take you back to Jerusalem and show you the cross. All I have are historical documents — but I am telling you it is true. Jesus Christ, God the Son, who from eternity past created all things including human beings, came to this earth to die for human beings. Even though we were made in his image, we sinned and walked away from him. And because he loved us so much, he willingly came to this earth, took on human flesh, and lived a sinless life — which meant he did not owe the penalty for sin. So he paid it for us instead. And now he invites us into relationship with him.

You receive it by faith. And when you receive this story by faith, believing it is true, you will begin to see your heart encouraged. You will begin to be knit together with other Christians in love. You will be on the journey of discovering the full assurance of God, his love, and his wisdom. You will begin to be rooted and built up and established in him, abounding in thanksgiving.

Most people, when they realize the truth of this gospel, mark the moment in prayer. So if that is you, pray. Confess your sin. Acknowledge where you fall short. Give your life to him.

And for those of you who marked that moment weeks or months or years ago — just as you received him, continue with him. The cross is so powerful that it does not only forgive your past sins; it forgives your current sins. There is no sin so big that Christ cannot cover it and wash it away. So come to him now the same way you came at the beginning: confessing, believing, hoping.

Why We Come to the Table Every Week

I want to add something I read this week. A pastor I have been slowly working through a book by described going on three different mission trips — one to Asia, one to the Middle East, one to the west coast of the United States. On every trip, he noticed how quickly God knit his heart together with the people he was with. He found himself deeply encouraged, and he could not figure out why he was experiencing that on those trips and not at home.

He gives several reasons, but one of them stuck with me because it lands right on what we saw in Colossians. On one of those trips, someone pulled out a guitar and started spontaneously singing to the Lord, and he was struck by how completely abandoned the group was in worshiping Jesus. He felt convicted, admitting how often he sings lyrics or prays prayers without really experiencing what he is saying. What he noticed in all three environments was a preoccupation with Jesus. Everyone’s words pointed toward him, because they felt they had received so much from him. Jesus was clearly the reference point for their actions and their attitudes.

That is why we come to communion every single week. Not out of duty. Not because it is just what we do around here. We do it so that we are preoccupied with Jesus.

So if you follow Jesus, come. Let him fill the vision of your heart and mind as we sing, as we pray, as we take these elements. His body was broken, represented by the bread. His blood was shed, represented by the cup.

And if you have heard the invitation and you are still not sure about all this, I would respectfully ask that you not take the elements this time — because they are entirely about Jesus going to the cross and dying for our sin. But if you follow him, even if this is your very first Sunday with us: come. Be preoccupied with Christ. Let us do this in remembrance of him.