Well, we come today to the end of Colossians. If you’ve been here for the last month and a half, I wonder if you can remember what the major themes of the letter have been? There are perhaps three I can think of. The most important is the centrality of Christ. I called this series, Christ the One and Only. As we’ll see in a moment the gospel is about Christ and Christ alone. Everything else is subsumed in him. If in our preaching and teaching Christ isn’t central, then we’ve missed the point.
A Second theme, which is almost as important as the first is that of Passionate truth. That is, the exhortation to us as Christians to be passionate about what we believe. Not to generate passion for passion’s sake, but to be passionate because what we believe is so mind-blowingly amazing. To be passionate, that is, about the truth: the truth of the gospel; the truth of God’s revelation to us through Christ; the amazing truth of Christ’s incarnation, his becoming human; the truth of the forgiveness he provides through his death on the cross.
A third theme is that of Christ’s word dwelling in us richly as we teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. This was how Paul saw his task as an apostle, and it’s what he encourages us to do as followers of Christ.
Well, if those are the themes of the letter, how does Paul finish it? It seems to me that he finishes by giving us a model of Christian Ministry, or, might I suggest, a model of passionate ministry. So let’s look at Ch 4:2-18 and see what he has to teach us.
I’d like to look at this under 3 headings: The Message; The Method; and the Messenger.
The Message.
He doesn’t start here but we will. What is it that makes up the content of our message in Christian Ministry? How does he characterise it? Have a look at v3. What Paul wants to proclaim is the mystery of Christ. Now notice this. If I were to ask the average person in the pew what the Christian message is about, I imagine I’d get a whole range of answers: God’s love, reconciliation, forgiveness, wholeness, new life. Now all of these are important parts of the message. The Christian message includes all of these, but when Paul wants to summarise his message what does he say? The mystery of Christ. That is, our message can be summed up in one word, Christ. He is its centre, its major focus. Everything else flows out of who he is and what he’s done. And that’s what we find as we think back to what we’ve already seen in this letter: Christ is the image of the invisible God. He’s God incarnate, God made flesh. Everything there is to know about God, you find in Jesus Christ. He’s the creator and sustainer of the universe. He’s the head of all things: the church and everything that exists. He incorporates all the fullness of God yet appears in a human body. He’s reconciled all things to himself, whether they’re physical or spiritual beings, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. He sets us free through his death and resurrection. We’re raised with him and because of that our life is now tied up with his life with the Father in heaven. If you like, he’s our origin and he’s our destiny. So Christ is at the heart of the message we have to share with those around us.
The Method.
Well, if that’s the message, what’s the method? That is, how does Paul suggest we should go about sharing this message with others. Where does he begin? V2: "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving." The first piece of advice he gives is to devote yourselves to prayer. If you think you’re going to go out and convert people, simply by telling them the gospel, you may be in for a shock. No, to expect to see people converted is to expect a miracle, and the only way miracles happen is when God is involved. So before you start preaching the gospel, and while you’re doing it, and after you’ve finished doing it, you’d better be praying that God’s Spirit would speak to the hearts of whoever you’re talking to.
Now I’d guess if I were to ask most Christians what they find hard in the Christian life, this would be one of the most common areas of difficulty. We all find it hard to pray. There are always so many pressing demands on our time and attention. It seems so much more important to be sharing the gospel with people than to be praying about it. And Satan works hard to divert us from this activity. That’s why Paul says we should devote ourselves to it. Not just think about doing it more often, but set our minds to doing it as a first priority.
And he says keep alert in it with thanksgiving. The one thing that’s harder to do than finding the time to pray, is keeping alert once you’ve started. What I find is that when I start to pray one of two things happens. Either I fall asleep, like when I’m lying in bed at night praying, or else something comes into my mind and I start to think about that thing rather than what I’m supposed to be praying about. So keep alert. Next, do it with thanksgiving. If our prayers are just long shopping lists, like the sort of lists kids send off to Santa this time of year, then it’s probably an indication that we’ve forgotten who it is we’re speaking to. But if we remember who we’re praying to our hearts will be filled with thanks, and that thankfulness in its turn will fill us with faith to ask even more of the God who gives generously and ungrudgingly to all who call on him (James 1:5, Rom 10:12).
And notice what we’re encouraged to pray for. We’re to pray for those who proclaim the gospel, that God would open a door for the word, and that they would proclaim it clearly. I wonder is this your prayer for those who minister the gospel among us? Is this your prayer for yourself? That God would open a door for the word. In other words, that God would present us with opportunities to share the gospel with those who haven’t heard or responded to it as yet. If that is your prayer, are you looking out for the doors as they open? This would be a good thing to pray for tonight as we gather to sing carols with our neighbours. Pray that God would give us the opportunity to share with those who turn up for the BBQ or the carols what Christmas is really about. Then pray that we’d be able to proclaim the message to them clearly.
Next, he says "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. (V5)" - If you’re going to share the gospel with people, make sure you do it in a wise fashion. It’s no use walking into the office next Thursday as everyone’s getting ready for their Christmas breakup lunch and telling them they shouldn’t be taking tomorrow off because they’re not really followers of Jesus or jumping up in the tram on the way to work and telling everyone they’re going the wrong way. All that does is put people off. It always worries me when I see someone standing up on the GPO steps with a big black bible in their hand haranguing the passers-by with warnings of hell and damnation. My guess is that more people are put off by that sort of behaviour than are converted by it. No, we need to be wise in the way we act towards outsiders, but at the same time making the most of every opportunity, as the NIV puts it. In other words, being wise in the way we act doesn’t mean we ignore the opportunities that come our way. Rather we look for them and make the most of them. And, he says, "Let your speech always be gracious." This is part of being wise isn’t it? You probably all know people who are like this. People whose speech always seems to be gentle and caring, gracious, humble. When you meet someone like that it’s a delight to be with them isn’t it? What’s more, "let your speech be seasoned with salt." That is let it be interesting. Not bland and boring, but topical and thought provoking.
Finally, "know how you ought to answer everyone." Paul seems to have an element of preparation in mind here. It’s as though he’s saying, "think out beforehand the sorts of questions or topics of conversation that will come up and be ready to answer them, or use them to lead in to the gospel. There are plenty of books around that do just that. When we did the Alpha Course we used one such book, that took a number of common objections to Christianity and showed how such objections might be answered, but there are plenty more. John Chapman’s book on evangelism, "Know and Tell the Gospel" is another one that gives lots of examples of how to take a conversation and lead it to the gospel. And of course the more you read that sort of book, the more ideas of your own you’ll come up with.
So the message is Christ, the method involves prayer, clarity of presentation, wisdom, readiness, and preparedness, but what about the messengers? Who are the messengers of this gospel?
The Messengers
Well, obviously Paul is the first messenger to come to mind. He’s the one who was charged with a particular ministry of taking the gospel to the Gentiles. But notice that he isn’t the only one.
We often overlook the ends of Paul’s letters, I think. We read them and think, "Oh that’s nice, he hasn’t forgotten his friends." But there’s much more to it than that. This isn’t just a list of Paul’s acquaintances. This isn’t just his Christmas card list. No these are all people who share his ministry of the gospel, and it’s quite a list. Have a look at it.
There’s Tychicus. He’s described as a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. He was obviously part of Paul’s missionary team, and he’s being sent by Paul to share with the Colossians what’s been happening to Paul in Rome; for the very purpose, we’re told, that he may encourage their hearts. It’s good to hear how other churches are getting on isn’t it? It’s one of the peculiar and sad things about some clergy gatherings, particularly some deanery meetings, that clergy are sometimes reluctant to talk about how their ministry is going. I’m not sure why this is so, whether it’s because they’re embarrassed to admit when it’s hard, or they don’t want to boast when things are going well, but it’s very sad when it happens. We should be glad to share both our joys and our suffering. I imagine when Tychicus arrived he would have talked about Paul being imprisoned and all the limitations and hardships that put on him, but he also would have talked about how the whole imperial guard was hearing the gospel as they stood watch over Paul and how many had been converted through Paul’s ministry. One of the things we’ll do while we’re on holidays is to visit Di’s sister and brother-in-law. He’s an Anglican minister in Sydney, and I hope we’ll be greatly encouraged by hearing about the things that have been happening there in the work of the gospel. You see, doing the work of an encourager is part of the ministry of the gospel.
With Tychicus comes Onesimus, an ex-slave about whom Paul writes his letter to Philemon. Then there are 3 Jews who are part of Paul’s gospel team, Aristarchus, Mark the cousin of Barnabas, and Jesus who is called Justus. Then there’s Epaphras, who we learnt in ch 1, had brought the gospel to Colossae in the first place. It was due to his preaching of the gospel, not Paul’s notice, that this church had come into being. Then he mentions Luke and Demas, who are still with him in Rome. Then there’s Nympha, in whose house the church at Laodicea meets. We don’t know anything about her, but she may well have been the one who took the gospel to Laodicea in the first place, and so the church now meets in her house. And finally there’s Archippus, described in Philemon as Paul’s fellow soldier, so obviously another of those who fought for the gospel at Paul’s side.
What we get in this long list of greetings is a picture of a ministry that wasn’t just done by Paul, but by a whole host of people. It was a team ministry. You know, you can almost count the cities that Paul himself visited on your two hands. He didn’t ever get to Colossae for example, and yet the gospel was spreading throughout the Mediterranean. The only way that could happen was if others did the work. And that’s the picture we get here. Some were preachers, others were encouragers, others no doubt gossiped the gospel on their front verandahs in the cool of the evening, others may have done the support work in the background, but they were all messengers of the gospel in whatever form it took. So when you read the last few verses of a book like this, be encouraged. The people Paul mentions weren’t that much different from you or me. We’re all part of the gospel team. The message is for all of us to share in our own way.
So if you’re a believer in Christ what are you going to do about all this? Are you clear on what the message is? The message is Christ, who came as God in all his fullness, yet as a human being, who died and rose again, so we too could be raised with him and live with him for all time in the Father’s presence. Are you clear how to go about sharing the message? By starting with prayer, by being clear and interesting in the way you say it, by being wise in the way you behave, by being ready to make the most of your opportunities and by knowing how to answer everyone you talk to.
And are you clear who the messengers of the gospel are? They’re you and me. We’re the ones God has committed the message to. We’re his voice and his hands and feet. Just like Tychicus and Onesimus and Aristarchus and Mark and Jesus Justus and Epaphras and Luke and Demas and Nympha and Archippus, we too can do our part in sharing the message of Jesus Christ to the world.
