Colossians 1:1-8 – Can You Spare Some Change?
Today, we are starting a series on a book of the Bible that often gets neglected. It’s a 4-chapter book in the New Testament called Colossians. The author, Paul, is writing to a group of believers at a town called Colosse, and his words to them are still relevant for us today. As we will see in the coming weeks, the book is about putting Christ first in our lives. There are so many voices telling us that happiness and satisfaction in life are the most important things. But there is so much more than just living and dying, somehow trying to make it through the day. The book of Colossians will show us what matters most, that living for Jesus is the very best possible thing we can do. Let’s read Colossians 1:1-8 as we begin this exciting book.
In this opening section, we see the stage set for what is going to be said. We meet the characters. The letter is written by Paul, and co-written by Timothy. Paul was an example of what it means to be changed by God, which is what we’ll be speaking about today. And Timothy was his apprentice, his student, a faithful and devoted learner. May that be true of us today, too.
And Paul is writing to the believers at Colosse. What kind of town was it? Well, let’s just say, that by the time Paul wrote the letter to them, they used to be important. But, by NT times, it had become overshadowed by Ephesus and Heiropolis, both about 100 miles away. It was at an awkward stage of being too big for a village but too small for a town. They had some close relationships, but there was a feeling of stagnation, that their best days were behind them, and they were in fear of decline. But God cared enough about them to send them some very special words, even as God cares about what happens on Cape Island and in the municipality of Barrington.
So what were the Colossian believers like? What kind of people were they? Well, first off, they were mostly Gentiles, that is, non-Jews. I say mostly, but not completely. The book is almost empty of OT references, but they obviously had some knowledge of the Jewish books, as seen in chapter 2. It’s possible that some of the believers in Colosse were even present at Pentecost, some 30 years earlier.
But more important than upbringing, more important than religious history… who were the Colossian believers? What were they like? Where were they on the spiritual journey? Paul listed 4 qualities, 4 commendable characteristics, 4 “good job, guys” traits, 4 attitudes and actions that made Paul and Timothy thankful – v3 – when they prayed for the Colossians.
The first “good job, guys” quality is also the most confusing. Paul wrote to the “holy” brothers, to God’s “holy” people, to the “saints” in Colosse – v2. The believers, the Christians, at Colosse were called saints, God’s holy people. Now, before you jump too much on that, let’s clarify something… they were not perfect. Some of the believers there had fallen into several traps: Greek philosophy, Jewish legalism, or Oriental mysticism. There may have been some issues Paul mentioned in chapter 3. These people did not live perfect lives, but yet, Paul called them holy. The word “holy” means set apart for God’s uses, different from the ways of the world, distinct and separate from how things used to be. Don’t be scared of the word. It means that God has done something.
The second “good job, guys” quality is their faith and trust – v4. Their upward reach towards God, their desire to place their lives in competent hands. Again, as we will see in the next few weeks, it was easy for them to want to trust in other things, in visible traditions or in visible spirit beings or even in visions, but in the end, it was about simply placing their confidence in the unseen God.
The third “good job, guys” quality is their love – v4,v8. Their supernatural desire to care about others more than they cared about themselves. The only place in the whole book where the Holy Spirit is mentioned is in connection with love… because you can’t love unloving people on your own. A person needs supernatural help from God to love people who we think don’t deserve it.
And the last “good job, guys” quality is their hope – v5. Hope is the confidence, the expectation, the optimism that God has not lost control of things, that what we see around us is not all there is, and that things will get better. It’s not just about heaven, or how wonderful things will be when we die, but about now… that God has already provided blessings for us now. And even if/when we go through hard times, this world is not all there is.
So these “good job, guys” qualities were seen in the Colossian Christians. Where did they come from? Simple. Their lives were changed by the wonderful news about Jesus. V5 – the word of truth, the gospel, the good news. That same good news had been going all over the world, and had been changing lives everywhere. And it was changing the Colossian believers’ lives, too.
That message is about God’s grace – v6 – God’s great kindness to people who don’t deserve it. Like you, and like me. It is God who makes changes in us. I think of a funny story from Tony Campolo. He writes: “A friend of mine tells the story of having counselled a man who was falling out of love with his wife. My friend advised the man to think of all the ways he could make life happier for his wife and then do them. A few days later my friend received a phone call in which the husband related the following:
Every day I leave for work, put in a hard day, come home dirty and sweaty, stumble in the back door, go to the refrigerator, get something to drink, and then go into the rec room and watch TV until supper time. After talking to you, I decided I would do better than that in the future. So yesterday, before I left work, I showered and shaved and put on a clean shirt. On the way home I stopped at the florist and bought a bouquet of roses. Instead of going in the back door as I usually do, I went to the front door and rang the doorbell. My wife opened the door, took one look at me, and started to cry. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “It’s been a horrible day. First Billy broke his leg and had to have it put in a cast. I no sooner returned home from the hospital when your mother called and told me that she is coming to stay for 3 weeks. I tried to do the wash and the washing machine broke and there is water all over the basement. And now, you have to come home drunk!”
Isn’t that so much like us? We try to change, but it doesn’t work, it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t click. We don’t have enough will power to be the people we want to be. We can change a little, a few things here and there, but even most of that is external, a few behaviours once in a while.
Even in the church, that’s usually our best answer. Get saved, ask Jesus to forgive you, and then try your best to obey Him. Right? The problem with that is that it doesn’t work. That is Old Testament Christianity. “Here’s what we are supposed to do, and so we’ll try our best.” The OT Jews had that much, a set of standards that they couldn’t live up to. If we are no better off than the world was before Jesus came along, then why did He come to die?
The Gospel, the good news, the word of truth is that He changes us. It’s not about self-improvement, but real and deep lasting modifications to our soul. So instead of trying to do this in our strength, here’s how it works.
We pray. We say something like, “Lord, I can’t do this by myself. I’m not good enough or strong enough. I can’t really change my heart. Only You can. Please help me to open up my heart and let you change me.” And as we continue in our journey, we become more specific with prayers, like the “good job, guys” qualities.
We realize that our lives don’t line up with what we say – our actions and beliefs don’t match. So we ask God to get rid of inequalities. “Lord, I want to be holy. I want to be set apart, ready to do Your will. So Lord, I give myself to You today. Here’s my heart. Here are my emotions. Here’s my mind. Do what You want with me. I belong to You.”
And then, “Lord, I want to trust You. Trust doesn’t come easily for me – You know that – I like to be in control. But I want to change, and to have faith in You, even when things look dark and scary. Lord, the Bible says faith is a gift from You, so I humbly ask that You will give me a greater faith.”
And then… “Lord, I know I am unloving. I know I like people, but loving them isn’t easy. Lord, infuse me with such a love and care for others that they will know You are real inside me. I am empty, but I ask that You fill me. I want to follow Your leading, and I know that You are love. Love through me.”
And then… “Lord, I want to have hope and confidence within me that gives me a good attitude when life is rough. This comes from a faith in You, and need this hope. I want to show to others that You are real, and You are alive, and I want to be an instrument of hope to those around me.”
Prayer is so important in the process. Through prayer we are showing that we aren’t trusting in our own actions, but in the power of God available to us. And we need to keep praying and seeking and trusting. The Bible says that we are to be living sacrifices to God, that is, we give ourselves to God for Him to do what He wants with us. Unfortunately, as sacrifices that are still alive, we tend to climb back down off the altar. We give ourselves to Him, but then later try again to do it ourselves. We need to keep praying, keep going to Him, and keep learning.
You can’t expect exercise that you did last summer to keep you in shape this summer. And you can’t expect a change-me-God prayer you made once to have the same effect today. If you want to continue to grow, you need to continue to go – to God. To get saved and then to get stuck… God has better plans for you than this.
In closing, I would like to share a short video with you. It’s from the movie “Shadowlands”, about the life of CS Lewis. In this clip, Lewis has returned to Oxford from London, where he has just been married to Joy Gresham, an American woman, in a private Church of England ceremony performed at her hospital bedside. She is dying from cancer, and, through the struggle with her illness, she and Lewis have been discovering the depth of their love for each other. As Lewis arrives at the college where he teaches, he is met by Harry Harrington, an Anglican priest, who asks what news there is. Watch.
(Lewis hesitates; then, deciding to speak of the marriage and not the cancer, he says, "Ah, good news, I think, Harry. Yes, good news."
Harrington, not aware of the marriage and thinking that Lewis is referring to Joy’s medical situation, replies, "I know how hard you’ve been praying .... Now, God is answering your prayer."
"That’s not why I pray, Harry," Lewis responds. "I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me.")
Prayer changes me. That is so important. If all we offer is a self-help group where change happens because of sheer will-power, then find something else to do on Sunday mornings. I’m not motivational enough to change your heart. But I invite you to go to God, who has the power to change us inside out.
