In Paul’s letter the Colossians, he told them to clothe themselves in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. “Clothe yourselves in love,” Paul encouraged them, so that the spirit of Christ that dwells inside may be evident on the outside for everyone to plainly see. Seek harmony, Paul advised, harmony between each other, and harmony between who we are inside and who we are outside. In Paul’s day, the church was just as much a work in progress as it is today. Outsiders sometimes observed that Christians were hypocritical, professing an inward grace but exhibiting gracelessness on the outside. The church in Paul’s day was far from perfect, but Paul explained that the church was being perfected by the love of God in Christ. Paul painted a picture of how the church would behave once God completed forging it according to God’s vision. Paul saw the life of Jesus as a hinge upon which turned all of human history. Prior to Jesus, humanity was marked by stubborn selfishness and greed. Before Christ came into the world, humanity was mired in judgment and self-righteousness at the expense of justice and compassion. But Paul wrote to the Colossians to explain that Jesus ushered in a new era in human history. After the coming of Jesus, a new humanity was being pieced together upon the principles of compassion and selflessness. After Christ, a new humanity was being built upon the supreme virtue of love after the example of Jesus’ love for all people. And the church was the great experiment through which God was crafting this new humanity. The church was the prototype, and as the prototype the church stood as the promise for the whole world to be re-forged into a place of peace and justice and compassion. Paul held no illusion that the church in his day was already perfected in the love of God. But he believed that God’s love was being perfected in the community of the church, as a model upon which all of humanity would follow upon the path to creating the harmony which God intended for all of creation. Paul believed that the church would eventually figure out how to treat one another with perfect love, and then the rest of the world would learn from the church how to live in perfect harmony according to the will of God.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” This instruction of Paul is the foundation of the church. Peace within our hearts is the foundation of God’s vision for all creation. Before we can fix the broken parts of the world, we must first find wholeness and peace inside. For many people, it’s easier to raise a sound a fury about something else, than it is to pay attention to the needs of their own spirits. Many find it easier to battle with powers beyond themselves in an effort to try to ignore the aching of their souls. After I came out publicly, I found many people lining up to condemn me. Some of them heaped anger and disgust on me. Some keep writing, keep arguing, keep condemning me without ever having met me. But I’ve discovered that many of those who condemned me later confess that their anger toward me wasn’t really about me. It was about their own inner turmoil. They just found it easier to express their anger at me than to take a look at themselves and recognize the unhappiness and lack of honesty and fulfillment in their own hearts. Those who’ve condemned me the fiercest have often been those who’ve later returned to admit that they’re gay, and they didn’t want to admit it, and their anger toward me was simply misdirected frustration with themselves. We’ve got to find peace inside before we can make peace with anyone else. Many people find it easier to throw themselves at some external problem as a diversion for an internal lack of peace. I worked with a woman once who was the loudest, most passionate advocate for the care of homeless teenagers. She devoted every waking moment to addressing the problem of homeless youth in the community. She invested fierce energy. But it seemed to me her fierceness grew out of a deep anger inside of her. She wasn’t a happy person. She expressed her anger at the government and at any obstacles placed in her way. But I came to learn that really what she was angry about was her own family and her broken relationships with her own children. She threw herself so fully into the fight on behalf of homeless youth in order not to have any time to wrestle with her own personal demons that rested inside of herself. She wasn’t really a very effective advocate for homeless teenagers because she just came across angry all the time. People eventually got burnt out trying to work with her because she was never going to find joy in the work. She’d always be angry, no matter what victories, no matter what advances she helped to champion. Because her anger really wasn’t about the issue that she was fighting for. Before we can make peace with one another, we must make peace within ourselves. Before we can make the world a better place, we’ve got to reconcile the brokenness within our hearts.

Love binds all things together in perfect harmony. Love is the outward expression of the peace we feel inside. Paul advised the early Christians to move on toward the perfection of love between them by forgiving one another, bearing with one another in the midst of disagreement, and showing outwardly the peace of Christ that rested inwardly. The Christian ushers us into an experience of the assurance of the love of God. By grace we are made whole, and by grace we’re returned to wholeness through the love of Christ. But how often do people outside the church see those of us inside the church acting without charity and grace? How often do people inside the church bear witness to judgment and anger and divisiveness, rather than the peace, harmony and love that we profess to possess in our hearts by the love of God in Christ? Many Christians today seem to be “Christians-as-opposed-to.” That is, they seem to understand their faith primarily in opposition to something else. Christian as opposed to pro-choice. Christian as opposed to pro-gay. Christian as opposed to gender equality or racial equality or the protection of the poor and the oppressed. Many Christians today seem to articulate their faith more in what they oppose rather than the grace and love that they possess inside. Paul taught that the church will move on to perfection when we bring into unity the peace of Christ within us and the love of Christ that we bear for all to see. When we accept ourselves as precious children of God with as much certainty as we accept everyone else as precious children of God, then we will be more fully the church. When we forgive the flaws and faults of others with loving grace just the same as we forgive the flows and faults within us, then we will be more fully the church. When we feel gentle humility deep inside just the same as we show sincere humility in the way we treat others, then we will be moving on toward the perfection of God’s love in our lives.

When it comes to a life of faith, what’s outside matters - and what’s inside matters. Perhaps what matters most is bringing into harmony what’s inside our hearts and what’s on the outside that we let others see. God calls us to set our hearts right, to embrace wholeness and healing in all the broken places inside. And then God calls us to be agents of reconciliation with others, treating one another with grace and love. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and bear with one another, uplift one another, and clothe yourselves in love just as the love of Christ lives in your hearts. Amen.