Tuesday 27 August 2024

Psalm 50:1-15

Background
The church at Colossae, in modern-day Turkey, is feeling threatened and undermined by a rival spirituality. The letter to the Colossians is seeking to encourage and strengthen the faithful Christians in the face of this challenge. Here in this passage we can begin to decipher some of the elements in the alternative world-view – regulations governing food and drink, disqualification if particular religious practices are not observed, an emphasis on visions and the worship of angels.

The letter is quite dismissive of rival beliefs and practices, understandable perhaps as the community is feeling threatened and insecure. The main line of attack is that all this religiosity is a mere "shadow of what is to come" (v. 17) when "the substance belongs to Christ." (v. 17)

This is a recurring theme throughout the Bible – the danger of practices and observance becoming the focus, instead of the substance, of living out faith in everyday lives. Christianity itself is not immune from such a distortion.

There is, though, also a danger of caricaturing all religious practice as a distraction. This would be to go too far in the other direction. Of course, what matters most is how faith impacts on who and how people are: how kind, generous, just, peaceable and wise we all are. But religious practices can provide a framework in and through which the Spirit of God works in the lives of individuals and communities. Rites, rituals and disciplines can encourage Christians to hold "fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God." (v. 19) This is not to create "an appearance of wisdom" (v. 23) but to offer some marker posts within which wisdom, grace and love may flourish!

To Ponder:

• Which religious practices do you find helpful and which do you find unhelpful?
• How do you pray? How do you worship? What opportunities are there for you to go on pilgrimage or retreat?
• What aspects of religious observance do you find appealing in faith communities of which you are not a part?

Prayer
Loving God, thank you for religious observance which helps people to grow in faith. Help me to find practices that encourage me to flourish in wisdom, grace and love. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Graham Jones
Graham is a Methodist presbyter serving as a member of the Learning Network and is based in York. He is committed to developing ministry in its broadest sense, enabling both lay and ordained to live out their vocations and to share in God's mission in the most fulfilling and effective ways.