Sunday, November 20 – “The Servant Sovereign”

View this recorded version of Sunday Worship from November 20, 2022.

Bible Verses

Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43

Reflection: The Servant Sovereign

Excerpts from the reflection by Rev. Dr. Fred Grewe:

“[In] Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul the apostle, [is] making this incredible claim that God has done an incredible thing in the person of Jesus. And that Jesus, in the Greek of the language that Paul wrote in uses the word ‘the icon’ of the invisible God, like an icon on your desktop on your computer. It’s a picture, an image, and Paul is making the incredibly bold proclamation that Jesus makes the invisible God visible…

And I’m not trying to suggest that Jesus is the only one who makes the invisible God visible; that’s a conversation for another time and place–but Jesus does it seems, makes this invisible God, that we just have trouble understanding, visible.

Because if God has all power, why doesn’t God just knock everybody up the side of the head and eradicate all pain and suffering? Why does God allow all the stuff that we do to each other on this planet to continue?

I mean, if God is all powerful, God could easily stop the insane plunder of the planet’s resources, and what we’re doing to the climate. God could easily stop racism in an instant. God could make sure there was food for everybody in an instant. Why doesn’t God do these things?

That is a profound question. And Jesus is the image, or what Paul is saying, is an image of this invisible being.

And what did Jesus do? Jesus went around, and in very particular and localized situations alleviated the pain and suffering he could whenever it was within his ability and presence to do so. That is how he made the invisible God visible–it’s one of the ways he did that.”