HIS CHURCH
Colossians 4:7-18
INTRODUCTION:
As you may know, I am not a movie-watcher. I get too fidgety before the movie is over. Maybe I’m ADD or something; I don’t know. But there is a handful of movies I have enjoyed. My favorite movie is Dunston Checks In. I want to play a clip from that movie for you this morning.
(PLAY CLIP OF FINAL CHAPTER OF DVD – SHOWING THE CREDITS FOR THE MOVIE)
The Plot is a little thin and the characters are not well developed in this clip, are they? I took the time to count and there are 278 names that appear as the credits roll at the end of this movie. Does anyone actually read this stuff? This is a little better than some that scroll at warp-speed so that no normal person could read the names if he wanted to. But again, what normal person would want to read the names at the end of a movie?
When you get to the end of one of Paul’s epistles, does it not seem a bit like watching the credits at the end of a movie? Nobody actually reads that stuff either, do they? But perhaps we should because they introduce us to people who were significant in the life of the first century church. If we look at the significant characters, we may find significant characteristics.
In Colossians 4:2-18, Paul wrote these words:
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9 He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
16 After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
If the Christian church at Colosse is in any way typical of other churches, we can learn a lot about the Lord’s church from Colossians 4:7-18. Within the lines of those verses, we learn that within any Christian church, we will find examples of faithfulness, fellowship, forgiveness and friendship. May I point out some examples from the credits at the end of the letter?
I. FAITHFULNESS
First, there are examples of faithfulness. Among those are people who had labored alongside Paul and who had proven themselves to be faithful in service.
§ Note the name of Tychicus. Paul said of him that he was “a dear brother, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord.” The name of Tychicus appears five times in Scripture: once in the book of Acts and once each in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, his letter to Titus, his second letter to Timothy and this epistle to the Colossians. In each case, when Paul mentions Tychicus, Tychicus is working, serving, laboring with Paul and for the Lord.
Don’t you know some “Tychicuses” around here? Some people that every time you see them, hear about them or think of them, it is in the context of faithful service? Every church has a few and every church wants more.
§ Onesimus is listed among Paul’s credits. He is also identified as faithful and as a dear brother. While Onesimus gets a brief mention here, he is the subject of one entire book in the New Testament. It is a short book, a little letter really. It is the book of Philemon. Paul wrote that letter to a slave owner by the name of Philemon because one of Philemon’s slaves, a man named Onesimus, had run away from his master, had come to Paul and, in the process, had found a new Master in Jesus Christ. The name Onesimus means “useful”. Paul told Philemon, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” A runaway slave had become a servant of Christ and had proven himself to be faithful in service to the Lord and his church.
In every congregation, there are people whose lives were aimless and who became most useful when the Lord captured their hearts and they became faithful in service to Him.
§ This is the only place where we meet a man named Jesus who is also known as Justus. “10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.” And about all we know about Jesus Justus is that he shared the name of His Savior and he shared the work of His Kingdom.
All of us who call ourselves Christians share the name of our Savior and we are expected to share in the work of His Kingdom.
In these verses, we also read of Aristarchus. Paul calls him a fellow prisoner. He was, you know. We first meet Aristarchus in Acts 19 when in the midst of a riot in the city of Ephesus, Aristarchus was one of the companions of Paul who was seized and who was in peril for his life. In the next chapter of Acts, Aristarchus was traveling with Paul on his mission to tell the world about Jesus but by Acts 27, he is traveling with Paul toward a Roman prison and is shipwrecked en route. As Acts closes, Atistarchus is with Paul, who is under arrest. Aristarchus proved himself faithful in suffering. And again I ask, aren’t there those in any church who remain faithful to the Lord and faithful to the church in spite of trials, tribulations, troubles and turmoil?
Of all the characters whose names scroll in the credits at the end of Colossians, I especially like what was said of Epaphras. Epaphras, a native of Colosse, had founded the church in Colosse while Paul was living in Ephesus. Epaphras is also identified as a fellow servant with Paul but there is another significant note about him: “He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” Isn’t that great? He is kneeling for you so you can stand for God. Epaphras was faithful in supplication. And within every church, there are those prayer warriors that you know you can count on to kneel for you so you can stand for God.
Among those whom Paul singles out for special recognition, there are examples of faithfulness. And there are examples of fellowship.
II. FELLOWSHIP
I’ve already mentioned Onesimus, the runaway slave who became a trusted brother. The text says, “Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you.” I take it from that, that he must have been originally from Colosse. But where he was from and what he was is not so important as who he is now: he is a dear brother.
In Christ Jesus differences of race, gender, education, class, and all other denominators that would otherwise divide us melt away in the warmth of our relationship because of Jesus Christ. I like the way Bill and Gloria Gaither put it in one of their earliest songs: “You’ll notice we say ‘Brother’ and ‘Sister’ around here. That’s because we’re a family and these folks are so near. When one has a heartache, we all shed a tear; and rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.”
I’ve already mentioned Aristarchus who was a fellow prisoner with Paul and whom Paul says had proved to be a comfort to him. He, too, was an example of fellowship.
“Fellowship” is an awfully churchy word. You don’t hear people outside the church use it very often. But while it may be a churchy word, it is a human need and a universal hunger. Thankfully, in every church, there are those you can count on to stand with you through thick or thin. The English word “fellowship” comes from an Olde English root feologa meaning “partner” and it translates the Greek word sympatheia. Don’t you want a partner who is in sympathy with you – who feels with you whether it be joy or sorrow? In Christ’s church, we are to find that and in every church there are a few who are gifted at fellowship.
III. FORGIVENESS
There are probably few in these credits whose names stand out more than Mark and Barnabas. What a story their names tell! And it is a story of forgiveness.
Paul and Barnabas were a ministry team. They were like Rogers and Hammerstein, Huntley and Brinkley, Regis and Kelly, Darrel and Tom. On one of their missionary journeys, Barnabas persuaded Paul to take his cousin, John Mark, with them as a helper. But John Mark must have got homesick because by the time they got to Pamphylia, Mark left them and went back home to Jerusalem.
Paul and Barnabas completed that mission and prepared for another journey. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them again but Paul refused because Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia.
I don’t know exactly what was said between Paul and Barnabas but it must have been a sharp and heated exchange. Perhaps even a series of sharp and heated exchanges. In the end, the differences between them became so great that Paul and Barnabas had to split company and go their separate ways. Paul chose Silas to accompany him on his mission trip and Barnabas took John Mark with him and went a separate way.
But by the end of Colossians, twelve years have passed and Paul notes that Mark is with him and sends his greetings to the Colossian Christians. We have the story of the disagreement and the division between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark. We don’t have the story of their reconciliation. The details do not appear anywhere in Scripture but we know it happened because of these lines at the end of Colossians. Two (and perhaps three) big men extended and received forgiveness, a relationship was restored and the Kingdom of God advanced because of it. Is there any greater testimony to the power of the Gospel than forgiveness extended and pardon received? After all, is that not what the Gospel is about? Paul, Mark and, probably Barnabas extended forgiveness to one another and they were working together again. Every Christian church has similar examples of restored relationships.
IV. FRIENDSHIP
Within the characters in the credits, there are two other names I want you to note. In verse 14, Paul wrote, “Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.” Two dear friends.
One is Luke who is identified as the doctor. Reading through the book of Acts, it would appear that Paul was plagued with chronic health problems. It would appear that Dr. Luke joined Paul’s group of missionaries when they were in Troas (Acts 16:10) and he traveled with Paul off and on for the rest of his life. The implication is that Luke, “our dear friend” left his home, his family and his medical practice to travel with Paul whenever Paul needed him. Friendship leads people to do such sacrificial things.
The other person noted as a dear friend is Demas. Demas was a friend of Paul when he wrote this letter. He was a friend of Paul when he wrote to Philemon. But when Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, he had to note in the closing credits, “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” Paul wrote to Timothy from a cold, damp prison cell. He never needed a friend more than he did then but Demas deserted him in his hour of need. Luke was still with him. Mark was coming. But Demas was gone and Paul says it was because Demas loved this world.
Sadly, there are others like Demas. You don’t find them in every church, though. In fact, you rarely find them in church because, like Paul says, they have deserted because they love this world. They love this world more than they love the next. They love this world more than they love their brothers and sisters in Christ. They love this world more than they love the church. They love this world more than they love the Kingdom of God. Ultimately, they love this world more than they love the Lord so they desert. Theirs is not a lasting friendship because their loyalty is to this world.
CONCLUSION:
May I point out one other name among the credits? It is the name of Archippus. No greeting is given to Archippus but a message is sent to him.
From this context and the reference to him in Philemon 2, it would appear that he might have been the minister with the church in Laodicea. And it would appear that he might have become lax in his work, so Paul told the Colossians to remind him to complete the job the Lord gave him to do. Paul wrote: “Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.’”
We do not know if Archippus did complete the work that the Lord had given him but there is another reference to the church of the Laodiceans. In Revelation 3:14-15 we learn that they had become an example of a lukewarm church and they made the Lord sick. Perhaps it was because they followed their leader into complacency and laziness about the Lord’s work. Within any church, there are those who inhibit the work of the Kingdom because they do not complete the work they have received in the Lord.
But it is also true that in any Christian church, we will find fortitude and a stick-to-itiveness that perseveres until the job is done.
