Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (Colossians 2:16-23 NIV)
I once visited a lady who was a Mormon. Mormons don’t teach the truth of the Bible. They add their own book—the Book of Mormon—with all sorts of extra rules that distort the message of Jesus. So as I listened to her talk, my mind was racing. “How can I convince her that her religion is man-made? How can I help her see how much better Jesus is?” I was anxious. I wanted to say just the right thing. But, suddenly, she stopped her life story and said to me, “I have one question for you. Does your church let people drink coffee? Mine doesn’t let people have caffeine.” I said, “Yes, at our church you can drink coffee.” She said, “Okay, I’ll start coming to your church!”
I wish it were always that easy! It’s good we never set up traditions like that, right? No caffeine? We don’t make extra rules, right? Or do we? Let’s be honest. All of us look for ways to be close to God. To feel better than other people. Maybe it’s not coffee, but what do you judge people by? “I’m at church today, and ______ isn’t. I must be closer to God than he is!” “Look at what she’s wearing. I dress so much nicer. I must be closer to God than she is!” “I don’t drink like he does. I don’t smoke like she does. I don’t fall asleep in church like they do. I must be closer to God than they are!” Do we ever think that way? Traditional churches like ours have lots of … traditions.
But listen to what Paul wrote: “Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” In Colossae, Christians must have been judging other Christians. So Paul said, “Don’t let people judge you by the food you eat or the day you worship.” Here’s something interesting: Do you know who had told the Israelites not to eat pork? God himself had! Do you know who had told the Israelites they needed to celebrate religious festivals every year? God did! Do you know who had told the Israelites to always observe the Sabbath? God himself did! So what gives? Man-made rules are one thing. Are we supposed to follow the rules God laid out in the Old Testament? Yes or no?
Listen again: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” A couple weeks ago, I was playing in our backyard, when I saw a shadow move across the grass. Instinctively, I looked up. Do you know what I saw? A bald eagle! Can you guess what I forgot the moment I saw the bald eagle? The shadow. I’m glad I saw the shadow. But I’m way more glad that I got to see the bald eagle. Shadows are helpful. They gives us a heads up to something. But the reality is so much better.
Paul says that those Old Testament laws and traditions were a shadow. A shadow of what? Christ! God gave the Israelites specific food to eat in the desert. Remember what it was? Manna. It was a good thing. They needed it. But that manna was just a shadow. Jesus later came and said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Manna is cool. But what’s better? Jesus! God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice lambs. Every day. Those sacrifices were important. They showed the people’s need for forgiveness. But those lambs were shadows. When Jesus came, John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Once we have the real thing, we don’t need the shadows. Does that make sense? The Bible is so connected. From beginning to end, it has one united message—one focus. What is it? Jesus! Take the Sabbath day. God specifically commanded the Israelites to rest and worship on Saturdays. It’s even one of the Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). So do we need to observe the Sabbath day today? No. Why? Because even the Sabbath day was a shadow. It pointed ahead to true rest. Where do we find true rest? Christ!
We could go on and on. Paul mentions religious festivals. Have you heard of the Day of Atonement? Yom Kippur? On the most solemn day of the year, the Israelites had special sacrifices to remember their need for atonement. So why don’t we observe the Day of Atonement anymore? Because on one day—Good Friday—Jesus took away our sins once and for all. It was a shadow. Have you heard of the Passover? Each spring the Israelites remembered how God used the blood of a lamb to rescue his people in Egypt. Why don’t we observe the Passover? Because in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives us his own body and blood for our salvation. Shadows are helpful, but once you see the real thing, the shadow is forgotten. The reality is found in Christ!
So here’s the question: Are you basing your life on shadows or on the reality? Paul was really concerned about the Christians in Colossae. As great as Christ is, they were tempted to turn back to the shadows. He wrote, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you…. They have lost connection with the head.” People were boasting about their humility in following their own rules. “I don’t even drink coffee!” People were puffed up with their own traditions about angels. They had lost their connection with Jesus—the Head!
This drove Paul nuts. “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules… are based on merely human commands and teachings.” Can you see what he was thinking? “You have Jesus. The reality! You have God’s grace. You know that you’re forgiven in the cross. That you’re God’s child in baptism. Why are you going back to your rules? Why are you basing your life on human commands rather than God’s grace?”
Do you know why? Do you know why we create our own rules instead of following God’s Word? It’s simple: Our rules are easier to follow. Think about it: Mormons says, “Don’t drink coffee.” God says, “Be perfect.” Which is easier? Catholics say, “Don’t eat meat during Lent.” God says, “Never look at another person lustfully.” Which is easier? We boast, “I go to church most Sundays.” God says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.” Which is easier? Can you see what I mean? Man-made rules are always way easier than God’s actual commands.
But do they work? Paul concludes, “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Do rules make us better? No. Sure, they might make us look better in other people’s eyes. But not in God’s eyes. We don’t need to avoid certain foods. We need a new heart. We don’t need to cut caffeine out of our diet, we need to be forgiven. We don’t need to worship on Saturdays. We need to worship God with our whole lives.
Don’t base your life on shadows. If you think your rules are making you good, you’ve lost connection with the Head. If you think by making just a few changes in your life, you’ll be all set, you’ve lost connection with the Head. If you think you can fix your heart on your own, you have lost connection with the Head. If you think the answer is to try harder, to work more, you have lost connection with the Head. If you think what you eat or how you dress or how well you behave has any bearing on God’s love for you, you have lost connection with the Head.
“These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” The gospel is so much better! Do you know how you get a clean heart? It’s not by trying harder. It’s through being born again in baptism. Do you know why God loves you? It’s not because of what you’ve done. It’s by grace—God’s underserved love for you in Jesus. Do you know where you find true rest? It’s not in a certain day of the week. It’s in the forgiveness of sins that’s yours every single day in Christ. Look up from the shadows and see the reality in Jesus!
It’s freeing, isn’t it? In our country, we like to talk a lot about freedom. God does too. “Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” You’re free from man-made rules and traditions. Of course, the Bible has commands for us. God tells us his will for our lives. Come back next week and hear about it! But know that God’s judgment isn’t based on our goodness. God’s judgment is based on Christ’s goodness for us. You are free from having to please other people. You are free from worrying about what other people think. You are free from having to work your way to heaven. You are free from having to earn God’s love. Why? You have it already. In Jesus. By grace.
This past week, I was in Arkansas exploring opportunities to start new mission churches. We met with a little group of nine WELS Lutherans in Little Rock. Just nine people in a city of hundreds of thousands. Part of me was thinking, “Why don’t they just go to another church? Why are they holding out for a new Lutheran church? Does it really matter?” Then one of the ladies began to talk. Her daughter is in college at a Christian college. But here’s what she tells her parents: “There’s no grace here. I go to chapel, and there’s no grace. I go to Bible class, and there’s no grace. I go to church with my friends, and there’s no grace. There are lots of rules. But there’s no grace.” The mom added, “The Lutheran church is the place where we have found grace.”
Then the husband began to tell his story. He was an atheist. He wanted nothing to do with God. He had tried different churches. For some reason, he went to a Lutheran church. He kept going. For years. And something changed his heart from the inside out. It was grace. God’s undeserved love for him. He said, “You can go a lot of places and hear about rules. You can go a lot of places and hear motivational speakers. You can go a lot of places with great programs or fun activities. But I need grace. I need God’s free grace in Jesus.” My heart smiled. Those people get it. Right? This is what it’s all about: God’s grace in Jesus. The reality is found in Christ!
That grace is what sets Jesus apart. Do you know Buddha’s last words? On his death-bed, Buddha, the famous religious leader, said, “Strive unceasingly.” That makes sense. That’s something that we people say, right? “Keep working hard. Strive unceasingly.” But compare that with Jesus. Do you know what Jesus said on the cross? “It is finished.” That’s where peace is found—at the cross of Jesus. That’s where strivings cease. That’s where anxiety and guilt and regret die. At the cross. “It is finished.” You are not bound by “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.” So drink your coffee. You don’t have to follow shadows. You have the reality—Christ!
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