Worthy

Worthy – Colossians 1: 11 - 20

Intro: George was a faithful man. He attended a church on the edge. By that I mean the church struggled to keep afloat. There was so much that needed doing; but, there just never seemed to be enough money to do any of the things that really mattered. So, George took it upon himself to go to the Lord in prayer. First, George prayed that each member of the church would be moved to give more to the church each week so there would be increased revenue to do the things that needed doing. That didn’t happen! Then, George prayed that God would send more new people to the church to provide an increase in revenue. That didn’t happen either! Finally, George prayed for weeks that he would win the lottery so he could give the necessary money to cover all the needed things. That didn’t happen either! One night as George prayed his best lottery prayer, he heard a voice say to him, “George, this is the Lord, George. I can’t help you win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket!”

I I can identify with George. Sometimes in the church there is more month than money. The only difference between me and George is that I have purchased lottery tickets but have not won.

A VS. 11 – “Being strengthened with all power according to his (the Lord) glorious might . . .” Paul is encouraging the people to rely on the power of God to strengthen and enable them.

B The Greek word for strengthened is dynamo /d??aµ?? can mean strengthened or enabled / but it implies strengthened by some miraculous power.

C The problem in Colossae was the people were relying on the teachers who were telling them that power or strength came through rituals and following false teachings. In many ways, we are the same as we seek solutions that do not rely on God.

II VS. 11b – “. . . so that you may have great endurance and patience.” These are 2 concepts with which many people have difficulty including the people at the time of Paul in Colossae. To increase my understanding and yours, I went to the Greek.

A When we think of the word endurance we normally think about sitting in a corner somewhere passing time by not doing anything. I had a neighbor who once defined endurance by saying, “Suck it up buttercup.” The Greek word for endurance is hupomone / ?p?µ??? and a full meaning of the word in Greek involves much more than just “waiting.” It is waiting that does not surrender to circumstances. It is waiting cheerfully with hope. That’s a little different from what we assume.

B The second word is patience. Barbara will tell you that this is a concept that is somewhat foreign to me. A dictionary definition is: “the capacity to accept or tolerate delays, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” The curious thing is that in Greek the word patience is makrothumia / µa?????µ?a which means forebearance / fortitude / longsuffering / patience.

C The people to whom Paul writes were having difficulty with waiting for the return of Christ Jesus. This is something with which we can identify. How much longer must we wait?! Why not NOW!

III Why is it so necessary to endure and have patience? How much patience do you have? Does it depend upon circumstances?

A VV 13 – 14 says: ”For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” This is the reason Paul gives to the people of Colossae and to us.

B What Paul is talking about here is realized eschatology. That is a fancy theological concept. It means that Christ Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He has risen from the dead and is present with us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and we should be thankful that we are worthy before God because of Christ Jesus.

C Thankfulness to God for all that God has done for believers in Christ is clearly one of the essential Christian beliefs for Paul, the Colossians and for us.

Concl: This week we will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. It is appropriate for us to be grateful that we are worthy for what God has done for us through Christ Jesus. We are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints through our relationship with Christ Jesus. We must remember also that we are to actively endure and be patient. This does not mean doing nothing! It does mean to continue serving each other, our community, and world as we await the return of our Lord.