Grace, peace and mercy are yours through the Triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I was pretty chuffed that this reading came up in the service I offered to lead today…you see, this reading from the letter to the Colossians was my wedding text, and since our anniversary comes up in a few days, it’s even more meaningful.

So, you may be asking…how does a wedding message become our message today?

I was pondering this text, and I sought out and read through the service order from the wedding. What was it about this text that we chose it? In many ways, it’s obvious, because it’s choc-full of good advice to a couple starting a new life together. ST Paul, here, is giving great advice to the new Christians of Colossae. And as I was reading through this list of great virtues and good advice, I realised that just as his advice was great advice for Mark and me as we started our married life together, it’s also great advice to all of us here today, standing at the brink of a new year, contemplating our journey together this year as a church family. St Paul is giving us lofty goals to strive towards…and there is no doubt that if we all manage to hold to his words and do as he says, life together here at St Peters congregation would be pretty good for all…have another listen…

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.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 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.

Colossians 3:12-17

But then I remember what Pastor Peter Close reminded us in his message….these are pretty lofty goals, and the reality is, they are not going to be easily and perfectly attained. Even St Paul himself was not such a great bloke, and he was the first to admit it. And truth is, no matter how good we try to be, even the most well-intentioned advice isn’t necessarily always easy to hear, let alone to take to heart or to put into practice.

In fact, I don’t know about you, but when I start to hear a list like that, I start to get uncomfortable. I think of the times that I failed to show kindness or patience. I make excuses for myself when I held a grudge. I think about how hard it can be to feel love for some people. I hear a list like that, and I want to say to Paul…”Do you know how hard that is? Yeah, it’s a great idea, Paul, but this is the real world…it’s just not that easy!”

So I read passage again, and I realised I didn’t want to start my marriage or the sermon today with all the great advice in the text – I wanted to start with what Paul started with…the bit that’s easy to miss – “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved”. Paul starts not with good advice, with listing what we should do. Paul starts by reminding us who we are. and I think that’s a pretty good way to start the coming year … by being reminded that we are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…that YOU are God’s chosen child…that you ARE holy & dearly loved.

This is what is distinctive about who we are…we are constantly starting with the Gospel…the good news that God is with us in Christ Jesus. Despite our very human nature and human failings, God sees us as worthwhile through Jesus’ life death and resurrection. This journey we share with all God’s people. We ARE made holy…we ARE dearly loved…we ARE God’s chosen people. This is our starting point, and something it’s worth being reminded of when we’re having a bad day, when a loved one is causing us grief, when we’re disagreeing with a colleague. You ARE God’s child, holy and dearly loved. They ARE God’s child, holy and dearly loved.

The truth is, living in community is not always easy, just like marriage is not always easy; Life together comes with misunderstandings, arguments, difficulties. We all have bad days…maybe some of us more than others. There will be days when a child’s antics grate more than others, days when well-meaning friends say something you don’t want to hear. But we are reminded that we all are God’s chosen people, we are holy and dearly loved by God…and God empowers us and motivates us to rediscover this each and every day. And the Spirit empowers us and motivates us to start living out the words in the text… because God is the one who clothes us with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. God is the one who enables us to bear with each other and forgive one another. And God is the one who envelops us in love, which binds our community together in perfect unity.

And how does he do this? Well, this is where I want to jump back to the Gospel reading. You see, here in this story from Jesus’ childhood, we’re reminded that God was born and became a human being in Christ Jesus. We are reminded that we have a God who understands what it is to be human, to live in this sometimes difficult world and to deal with sometimes difficult people. We have a God who knows that living up to who we were created to be can be hard. And so we have a God who promises to always be with us. Just as Jesus reminded his parents that he must be in his father’s house – in the temple – so this is where he is to be found now. 2 Corinthians 6 reminds us that “we are the temple of the living God” – each one of us is the place in which Christ dwells.

When we feel like we’ve lost it…when we feel like we can’t live up to expectations or find God in our lives, we discover that we don’t have to search. We can come here to worship and be reminded of the great promise made to us in the waters of baptism. We discover that Christ is indeed with us, clothing us in his robes of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And when we dirty our robes of righteousness with the grime of everyday life, we know that Christ will take those clothes, wash them clean again, and clothe us with what we need for our life this year.

So my prayer for you as you go into the new year is Paul’s prayer: “That 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.”

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.