A letter about Jesus from Saint Paul to the Colossians
(Chapter 1, verses 3-4, 9-20) Adapted from "The Message"
After Jesus died and went to live with God in heaven, small Christian congregations began forming in towns all along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. These new Christians got together each week to share a meal, tell stories about Jesus, and worship. In the beginning, some people were a little confused about Jesus. How was he connected with God? Was it OK to worship him? If you prayed to Jesus, would he hear you? There were lots of ideas floating around about these things - so many ideas, in fact, that people weren't sure what to do or what to believe! This was true about the Christian congregation in a town called Colossae. The people there were called "Colossians."
Saint Paul and his good friend Timothy knew a lot about Jesus, and so they decided that Paul should write a letter to the Colossians. Paul's letter would teach the Colossians about Jesus and give them some good ideas about how to worship together.
The last day of our church year is called "Christ the King Sunday." On that day, we hear this part of Paul's letter to the Colossians:
"To our brothers & sisters in Christ who live in Colossae:
God's peace to you! Thank God for you all!
We keep hearing about your faith in Jesus, and the love you are always sharing with all Christians. God is present in all that you do, and we pray that God is helping you understand that. We also pray that the kind of lives you lead will make Jesus proud of you. We know that sometimes living the way God wants us to live is hard. But God will give you the strength you need to make it through those hard times. With God's help, you will discover great joy.
Give thanks to God! None of us has to be weighed down by dark things any more! God has brought us all into a new kingdom - where Jesus is king! In Jesus' kingdom, everything wrong has been made right. In Jesus' kingdom, there is forgiveness for everyone! Jesus' love makes us feel like we have a new beginning.
When we remember what Jesus looked like, and picture him in our minds, we can begin to see what God looks like and begin to understand that God is everywhere. In fact, God has always been everywhere - in everything we can see and in everything we can't see. Everything got started with God and everything has a purpose because of God.
Even Jesus! Jesus the King is the head of the church. He holds everyone in the church together. There is so much room in Jesus' church that no one or no thing gets crowded out. In Jesus' church, anyone or anything that is broken gets fixed. Everything fits together in a peaceful whole, all because of Jesus. His death on the cross and the life he now shares with God has made all this possible.
Your friend, Paul
Questions to think about:
Have you ever been confused about something?
How did you get "un-confuse"?
What questions do you have about Jesus?
Who could help you with these questions?
What do you think life is like in Jesus' kingdom?