A targum inspired by the excellent work Brian Walsh and Slyvia Keesmaat in Colossians Remixed and dependent on Stephen Fowl's excellent Philippians commentary
I give thanks to God
I rejoice
I feel glad
I find delight
in your heavenly selection,
in your grace-filled call,
and your clear response
to be partners,
fellow actors
committed players
in God’s salvation drama.
We are called,
in ways known and still to be made known,
to offer a daily performance,
out of grace, for the sake of God’s glory
of this greatest play –
simple in storyline
but deep, rich, profound in meaning and promise.
So live a life together that demonstrates
and makes plain
for all to see
that God,
through the gospel of Jesus,
is working in your lives
and we are found in his.
Don’t go thinking this life can be lived in private
Out of earshot or eyesight
This gospel contains a new politics
A new ordering of heart, mind and hand
A call of duty,
but to Christ not nation
to cross not sword
to joy not pleasure
to humility not ambition
to love not self-interest
to koinonia not independence
to gospel.
Live this shared life
before God the divine playwright and director,
with obedience
with ‘fear and trembling’,
with recognition that the plot is not about you
with humility that yours is a supporting role.
So learn your parts,
its lines and actions …
rehearse, practise, study
its words and directions
so that just as stars shine in the night sky,
your joint witness will stand out and be noticed by a world
too often captivated and satiated
by the powers of media, celebrity and shopping.
Live this shared life on God’s stage,
in God’s play,
even where the audience is hostile,
even where their reviews are dismissive,
even where there is a threat to your freedom …
Lived this shared life,
looking out for one another,
wanting each other to give their best performance –
you are a company of players,
a community of God
there’s no room for prima donnas
or space for long individual soliloquies.
Live this life together
not for the applause of others, not for prestige
but for the sake of others
your thoughts should be
‘myself for the community’
At the centre of this drama,
and also at it’s beginning and ending,
is Jesus Christ.
It is his life,
his death,
his resurrection
that have made it possible for you to be called to act.
It is his life,
his death,
his resurrection
that give the star performance,
the perfect performance,
the performance that God intended
to which we are summoned to follow,
seeking to mimic his words, his actions, his presence.
Therefore may your imagination be fascinated,
captivated, animated by Jesus par excellence.
Giving up his advantage
Laying down his divine status
Jesus became like us.
He took God’s stage
as a human entering our prison of sin
one like us
one for us
seeking our benefit
seeking our salvation.
He was obedient
a slave to the script
to the part he was sent to play
obedient to the point of death
a humiliating death
a cross-shaped death.
Jesus chooses slavery
To abandon his freedom
Jesus chooses death
To give up his control
Jesus chooses a cross
To accept humiliation and suffering.*
This is the true performance
This is the gospel script
This is the life we follow.
And out of this
out of this life,
out of this death,
God – who began it all –
lifted Jesus up
to the highest point
and bestowed on him the Name above all names
that everything
above, below, within
will see and respond,
will sing and shout
'Jesus Christ is Lord.'
This is the star performance,
the perfect performance,
and it’s our guide
and our template.
Christ is the one God is
bringing us into line with;
it’s the one we are working to imitate,
in heart and mind,
body and soul,
living and dying.
*These lines borrowed in part from Sam Wells sermon 'Outrageous Humility'.
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