Finding Focus

Colossians is a letter that is about focus. There is a bit of personal irony for me to be picking up a series about focus right now. If you have been with us in recent weeks then you know I have been out sick the past two Sundays dealing with Covid. And even though I am past the illness, I am still very much trying to press my way through what many are calling covid brain fog. My lost ability to have any amount of focused concentration has made writing this message from Colossians about focus very difficult for me to focus on. I guess we will see today how helpful it is to hear me preach a message about finding focus coming from a guy who is having a hard time finding focus.

But perhaps we all know what it feels like to lose focus at some point; and it can happen for a variety of reasons. It would be good for us to consider that for just a bit before figuring out how the apostle Paul’s words to the Colossian church apply to us today too. We are people who struggle with focus too. Perhaps we may have times when focus gets highjacked and taken over. I remember one time when I misplaced my house keys and could not find them. In the moment it really was not all that critical because I had a spare set of keys—so I was okay. But my brain just could not let go of trying to figure out where my other keys went, retracing my steps and trying to find out where I had set them down. It almost felt like my brain was stuck on that one task of locating keys even though it did not have to happen at that very moment. It was the only thing I could seem to focus on at that time.

Or perhaps focus becomes dominated by the wrong thing. My kids try to convince me that they can do their homework and scroll TikTok at the same time. But what can I say because of how often I am reading and have a baseball game on the television at the same time. In my defense, it’s baseball—there is not really that much going on to be distracting. But the point is that we may all have moments when our focus is being pulled in the wrong direction because of distractions.

Or perhaps most significantly we have moments when our focus becomes overwhelmed. There is just too much happening all at once and we may not even know what to be focusing on at any given moment. For as much as we use a term like multitasking, humans are not really wired to spread our focus in several directions at once. Sometimes those facing serious critical illness or sudden tragic loss can feel overwhelmed like that, and the best we can do is just make it through one day to the next. Don’t even ask me about focusing on what is coming next week or next month, sometimes it takes all our energy just to make it through today and get to tomorrow.

Colossians is a letter written by the apostle Paul that talks about the way in which our faith in God requires a certain amount of focus. And just like our focus in everyday life can be affected in different ways—misguided, distracted, overwhelmed—the focus of our faith can face those exact some challenges from time-to-time. Let’s jump into that today with a few thoughts about how you go about finding a focus in your life of faith. I am jumping into Colossians today at the very end of chapter 1 and into the beginning of chapter 2. There is an outline in your bulletin that hopefully makes the structure of these verses outlined in a helpful way.

Colossians 1:24–2:5 (NIV)

Colossians 1:24–2:5 NIV

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. 1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

What do these verses have to do with finding focus in your life of faith? Let’s dig into that by noting first how these last verses of chapter 1 follow the exact same structure at the fist verses of chapter 2. That helps us see the theme and major point that Paul is making to the Christians in Colossae. I have labeled it on your outline with three headings that weave back and forth in a mirrored structure. The themes are struggle, mission, and message.

suffering — Paul is contending with imprisonment | physical separation from the Colossian people — vs 24, 29, 1, 5

At the very bookends of these passages, Paul frames some kind of struggle. In verse 24 and 29 he talks about the suffering in which he is contending (Paul writes this letter to Colossae while in prison. His surroundings and life circumstances are far from ideal as he is being held captive. The particular struggle that Paul seems to be naming here is one of physical separation. The second set of verses make that clear. Verse 1 and 5 tell us that there are people who have joined the Colossian church whom Paul has never been able to meet personally—his struggle is that he cannot be there with them in person.

mission — presenting the word of God, encouraging and teaching God’s people to become mature in the fullness of Christ — vs 25, 28, 2, 4

The mission that Paul lays out here is one of presenting the word of God, encouraging and teaching God’s people to become mature in the fullness of Christ. We see this in verses 25 and 28. And then this mission is stated again in verses 2 and 4. Paul wants the believers in Colossae to know the truth of the gospel—the grace of God we have received in Jesus. Paul’s struggle of physical absence from the people in Colossae does not cancel or invalidate his mission. We see here an example of God’s apostle finding a way to sharpen his focus on the mission he is given by God even though his personal circumstances are not what he would have liked.

message — focus is Christ | the glorious riches we have in Christ, the hope of glory we have in Christ, the treasure of wisdom and knowledge we have in Christ — vs 26-27, 2b-3

And then the center of these passages which form the center of the theme about which Paul is writing: the message. The message is in verses 26-27, and is repeated in verses 2b-3. The focus of the message is Christ—the glorious riches we have in Christ, the hope of glory we have in Christ, the treasure of wisdom and knowledge we have in Christ. But in both these instances Paul tells us that this focus upon Christ is a mystery that has been hidden. It is as though Paul is acknowledging here in scripture that this focus upon Christ is a focus that can be easily lost, or hidden, or obscured, or distracted. The Greek word which translates into our English Bibles as mystery is not referring to a puzzle to be solved or a key to be unlocked. Paul’s use of mystery refers to vast nature of God which is not completely comprehensible to humans.

a mystery that is hidden — not puzzle or riddle to solve, but the nature of God which is not completely comprehensible by humans

It is clear from Paul’s own life experience that he himself did not comprehend who Jesus was, as so much of his life before becoming an apostle was devoted to persecuting the church. And the gospels tell us that even the disciples who spent time with Jesus himself struggled to fully grasp who Jesus was and why Jesus was here. I think this is Paul’s way of remaining humble even as he does everything he can to place Christ at the very center of his focus—placing Jesus at the center of our focus does not mean that we place Jesus in some kind of box as though we have God completely figured out. Paul’s focus on Christ always leaves room for Jesus to show up in unexpected ways—and most certainly the Bible tells us that God often shows up in ways nobody is expecting.

Alright, let’s pull something helpful from this. We see in these verses from Colossians the example of Paul in his experience of finding focus in Jesus. Let me identify a few features we see in Paul’s example that could be helpful for each one of us as we consider a life of faith that finds a focus in Jesus.

don’t allow struggles to define my focus

First, don’t allow struggles to define your focus. If Paul allowed his struggles to become his focus, then he would have been primarily concerned with getting out of prison. The physical absence from Colossae made it more difficult for Paul to take up the mission he was called to do. But Paul did not allow his imprisonment to become the center of his focus. He stayed on mission despite his personal circumstances.

Don’t allow struggles to define your focus. Maybe you didn’t get that big promotion this year, or the bonus you were counting on didn’t come through. And although you desire to be a more generous person, you get stuck focusing on how much more generous you could be if that promotion would have happened, stifling any generosity which might be available to you right now. Maybe you remember times when Grandville was a different community and the ministries of this church had different opportunities for Bible studies, small groups, children’s programs, etc. And maybe you think if Grandville could just go back to what it was 30 years ago and we could just have all that back again then my faith can re-engage with something that used to be.

Nothing about any current struggles or circumstances changes the mission God has given to the church

Our mission to grow in discipleship as people of faith remains the same. Our mission to reach those in our community who feel distant from God remains the same. Nothing about any current struggles or circumstances changes that mission. Don’t let struggles become your focus instead of Christ being your focus.

leave room for God to surprise me

Second, leave room for God to surprise you. Maybe sometimes we have difficulty focusing of Christ because our focus is actually more on what we want God to be for us, rather than a focus on who God really is. Leaving room for God to surprise you takes humility. It means we always have to admit that we haven’t completely figured God out. There is still a mystery that is hidden in receiving and responding to the gospel in your life of faith. And in that response of faith, God most certainly shows up in unexpected ways you may never have seen coming.

do not put Jesus into a box that fits all your expectations

Having Jesus as a focus of your faith does not mean putting Jesus into a box that fits all your expectations. Leave room for God to surprise you.

We are going to talk more in the next few weeks about the way Colossians instructs us to keep Christ in focus. It is a good start today for us to recognize that even someone like the apostle Paul had to work a bit in order to find that focus in his life of faith. It does not just always happen automatically.

God promises that he will always be found | what we truly discover is that it has, in fact, been God who is seeking after us

But here is the good news for each if us today. God promises that he will always be found. Just because Paul says that the mystery of the gospel has been hidden from our complete understanding does not mean in any way that God is hiding himself from you. God promises us that those who seek God in faith will find him. Jesus tells it this way, knock and the door will be opened. And for those who seek God in faith, what we truly discover is that it has in fact been God who is seeking after us.