Don't Miss the Twist

My sermon from this past Sunday (August 18th) at First Congregational Church, entitled "Christ the Center" was about the household codes in Paul's letters, specifically the one in Colossians 3. Normally, these aren't passages I love to preach, but that's the nice thing about going through the lectionary or through a book of the bible in its entirety (we're going through the whole letter to the Colossians)—it forces you to preach on passages of scripture you might prefer to avoid. 

Like most modern readers (thankfully), I have trouble with these passages... "wives submit" and "children obey" and "slaves serve." They hold a lot of baggage, even if you're aware of context. Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed exposing the twist in Paul's logic—a twist we have missed to our own detremehmnt and one we're sure to miss still if we take the passage at face value. The twist is that Paul is, rather than reinforcing hierarchical family structures, is actually laying the groundwork for equality and even the abolition of slavery.... 

Have a listen...