"Anointed"
a condensed version of the
sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, November 25, 2007 at Union Congregational Church in Somonauk, Illinois.
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Solomon and David, like Saul before him and like kings that came after him, were anointed. The king was the "anointed one."
Anointed one – in Hebrew: mashiyach = messiah.
Anointed one – in Greek: Christos = Christ
To be an anointed one is a big deal. But the kings of Israel were anointed ones – messiahs – christs.
And then Jesus comes along and meaning starts to shift. Christ means something more – as in THE anointed one instead of the anointed one. There had been lots of anointed ones in history and even several who claimed to be the one about the time Colossians was written – making the work of the Pharisees and the Sadducees difficult – weeding out all the false messiahs – and missing Jesus for the real thing in the process.
But some got it. They talked about it. They preached about it. They sang about it! In our reading today from Colossians 1:11-20 you can find an ancient hymn. No one knows the tune and in translation the words don’t flow the way they should have, but if you move things around and try to give it a little rhyme and melody, it could be singable. I’ve made an attempt to capture the spirit of this ancient hymn with the hymnody of a much more recent time: The 18th century. To the tune of J.S. Bach’s Ach Gott und Herr here’s The Invisible God We See in Christ:
The Invisible God We See in
Christ
Kirk Moore
The invisible God we see in Christ
The firstborn of all things created
All that there is, in heaven and earth
Are through him and for him intended
There is nothing before that could
ever exist
And together Christ keeps everything
The head of his church – yes our Christ is first raised
First place - in everything supreme
God’s fullness is pleased to
dwell in the Christ
And through him the world to restore
There is peace everywhere in heaven and Earth
Through his blood – giving life forevermore.
words © 2007 Kirk Moore
As the readers and hearers of the words of Colossians may have sung, spoken, heard or pondered this ancient hymn, they might have been thinking of a scriptural description of wisdom from Proverbs 8: 22-30: The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. {23} Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. {24} When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. {25} Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth-- {26} when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world's first bits of soil. {27} When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, {28} when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, {29} when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, {30} then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.
It’s not exactly the same – but it’s similar. And these Colossians loved their wisdom. They loved debate – and they argued about whether some things were OK to eat or touch or not and whether Christians were called to endure self-beating in order to truly be considered followers. Some were afraid of the invisible entities that demanded their obedience. Things were a bit messed up and our reading today is kind of a "Here’s how things are" speech. It’s an explanation about who Jesus the Christ is and what that means to all.
Listen to how the word of the hymn – not rhyming – sound in a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible called "The Message."
Colossians 1:15-20:
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen.
We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.
And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone.
So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
So here’s a song – an ancient creed that describes who Jesus – THE anointed one of God – Jesus the Messiah – Jesus the Christ – is. In song form it became memorable and lasted in the minds of the Colossians who needed some reminding and teaching about who Jesus was. They had gotten off track with rules, rituals and fear that was misplaced or even wrong.
But we don’t have any of those things, do we – rules, rituals and fear that are harmful to us and that keep us from really understanding who Jesus is? What is it in our lives that keep us from acting as if we really did believe that Jesus is "THE ONE?"
Is it greed? War? Violence? Addiction? Commercialism? (Anyone wait in a long shopping line on Friday?) Do the things that we fear influence us more than our own ambitions? Do our own ambitions keep us from following THE ONE?
If Jesus is THE anointed one – THE messiah – THE Christ – and I believe that is exactly who Jesus is, then Jesus is the only thing worth following.
And in following Jesus we experience love and joy – love for God and one another and joy in knowing we are not alone and that we serve Jesus who is Christ. Jesus who is Messiah – Jesus who is anointed.
Close with prayer.
© 2007 Union Congregational Church, All Rights Reserved