ROOTED IN CHRIST (27)
Scripture: Colossians 2:6-15
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Rooted in Christ (27)
Lectionary, Year C, Proper 12
Christopher B. Harbin
Colossians 2:6-15
Where do we get our nourishment, identity, and direction? There are all sorts of competing narratives that would direct our lives. We can look to morality tales of childhood which gave our lives direction. We can look to fairy tales that told us to beware of the Big Bad Wolf, obey our elders, stay away from dangerous places, fear strangers, and wish upon fairy godmother to get us out of a crisis. We can look to the Greco-Roman myths of heroes fighting the gods to advance their own interests. We can look to tales from our own civilization painting illustrious images of rugged individualism, industry, and risk-taking as the means to accomplish great things and a place in our national heritage. Where do we seek a model to direct us or respond to the world around us?
Some years back, we were binge watching The Waltons as a family and recognized that a lot of our shared theology was more closely tied to that TV series than to our participation in church programs. Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, and Andy Griffith held a greater level of significance in creating models for our lives than much of what we brought home from church. In large part, there was some overlap in the messages we took from those shows and what we heard in church. On the other hand, some concepts we thought we had taken from the Bible or church were actually transmitted to us through other venues that we simply called entertainment. We weren’t trying to cast John Walton as the model and example of our lives, but looking at the conflicts of life they grappled with gave us a sense of how we should likewise respond to life’s conflicts. We did not really pause to consider the origins of those messages at the time.
Many of those messages we received and incorporated into our lives were consistent with what we might see in Jesus. Many of them match up with attitudes that are healthy for us to ...
Lectionary, Year C, Proper 12
Christopher B. Harbin
Colossians 2:6-15
Where do we get our nourishment, identity, and direction? There are all sorts of competing narratives that would direct our lives. We can look to morality tales of childhood which gave our lives direction. We can look to fairy tales that told us to beware of the Big Bad Wolf, obey our elders, stay away from dangerous places, fear strangers, and wish upon fairy godmother to get us out of a crisis. We can look to the Greco-Roman myths of heroes fighting the gods to advance their own interests. We can look to tales from our own civilization painting illustrious images of rugged individualism, industry, and risk-taking as the means to accomplish great things and a place in our national heritage. Where do we seek a model to direct us or respond to the world around us?
Some years back, we were binge watching The Waltons as a family and recognized that a lot of our shared theology was more closely tied to that TV series than to our participation in church programs. Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, and Andy Griffith held a greater level of significance in creating models for our lives than much of what we brought home from church. In large part, there was some overlap in the messages we took from those shows and what we heard in church. On the other hand, some concepts we thought we had taken from the Bible or church were actually transmitted to us through other venues that we simply called entertainment. We weren’t trying to cast John Walton as the model and example of our lives, but looking at the conflicts of life they grappled with gave us a sense of how we should likewise respond to life’s conflicts. We did not really pause to consider the origins of those messages at the time.
Many of those messages we received and incorporated into our lives were consistent with what we might see in Jesus. Many of them match up with attitudes that are healthy for us to ...
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