More Serving

Welcome to MCC! One thing I love about our church is that we prioritize the important things. One such priority that we have around here is that serving is our posture. I think that is really important because it is one thing to say you love someone, but an entirely different thing when you actually show them that you love them. Therefore, when serving is your posture you actually show others you love them, because of the love Jesus flowing through you.

That is what Paul has been trying to teach us and his original audience throughout this letter to the Colossians. Because of what Jesus has done, we should all be living for more and you will know that you are living for the right kind of more when you start serving others the way that Jesus has served you.

Paul is encouraging us to live for more and to serve more because of what God has done for us.

Produced fruit in our lives (Col. 1:6)

Rescued us from darkness (Col. 1:13a)

Brought us into His kingdom (Col. 1:13b)

Redeemed and forgave us of our sins (Col. 1:14; 2:13b)

Brings us to fullness (Col. 2:10)

Spiritually removed your hard heart and replaced it with one sensitive to God (Col. 2:11)

Cancelled the spiritual debt you owed to God (Col. 2:14)

Raised you with Christ (Col. 3:1)

Brought you into a new kingdom where everyone is equal in the family of God (Col. 3:11)

I appreciate that Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is doing this because the culture that his original audience lived in did not do this. They did not look to Jesus to pattern their life after him. Nor did they look to Jesus’ message to guide them in how they lived their lives or how their culture should be. The culture you and I live in does not do this either. We live in a culture where everyone prioritizes themselves and their needs over others. We live in a culture where we use other peoples shoulders as our stepping stones in order to advance our own agenda and our own lives.‌

Need: As followers of Jesus, we are called to live differently than the world around us. We’re called to dress differently, as Phil showed us last week. We’re called to prioritize things differently. We’re even called to structure our lives and families differently than the culture around does.

How do you actually do that? How do we actually live like Jesus in a culture that is opposed to Him?

Scripture Statement: Well, Paul actually answers this question by imploring his audience and us today to live like Jesus by allowing his methods and his message to guide our lives so that it manifests itself in serving others.

Sermon Statement: Serving others shows us and Jesus that we are intentionally trying to live like Him because when we pattern our lives after Him it looks like serving others whenever, however, and wherever we can. ‌ Now, before we dive into what Paul writes to the Colossians, we have to realize that Paul is faithfully equipping fellow believers within the context of their own culture. Because we live in a very different culture that still has many similarities, we need to do some work on our end to faithfully and accurately apply what Paul is teaching in Colossians 3:15-4:1.‌‌

Transition: Paul gives us three initiatives that we should all be working toward in order to accurately reflect and advance the gospel, which will also advance the common good in our society. The first initiative is that you and I should:‌

Point #1: Work toward UNITY with all your heart (v. 15)

Leading up to today’s passage, Paul has been training his readers and us today in how exactly to live like Jesus. He invites us to fully immerse ourselves in Jesus so that we start looking like he did: compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patience, able to bear with and forgive others, but above all Paul invites us to put on love: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.‌

When you and I actually live like this, then something amazing happens: divisions diminish and unity take center stage. If you and I are living like Jesus, then we actually become the answer to Jesus’ prayer found in John 17.

READ John 17:20-21

John 17:20–21 NIV

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

That is so good. Jesus doesn’t just want you to be saved and a part of his family. He wants us to be united with one another and when we are united together, the wider culture starts to see Jesus for who he truly is.

That is what the Early church did, and it changed entire cities because of their unity with one another and their posture to serve others.

READ Acts 2:43 “43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”

‌READ Acts 2:47b “47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

When we live in unity and strive to reflect Jesus to everyone, our culture will notice because when we live in unity peace is produced within our lives that flows out into our culture and city.‌

But this takes work. Unity does not just naturally happen. Peace doesn’t just happen. Rather, you and I have a part to play in this and Paul clues us in on the part we play: continually allowing it to happen.

READ Colossians 3:15

Colossians 3:15 NIV

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Paul says “[You] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts ...”‌ You have to allow Jesus’ peace to rule in your heart. Jesus is not going to short-circuit your free will and because he won’t do that means you have to willingly allow the peace of Jesus to come into your life and change your life.

This type of peace that Paul is talking about is not a calm, internal emotion that results from an absence of conflict. No, Paul has been highlighting the fact that believers have died to themselves and their desires and because of this, the peace that Jesus bought with his blood should rule in our lives.

D. R. Brown, in his commentary m, says that “The peace made by [Jesus’] death is to dwell in the community formed by His death and resurrection.”

‌ Therefore, the peace that Jesus purchased for you and me by allowing his blood to flow from his veins should flow out of your life and restore relationships. The peace that flows out of your life should tear down racism. The peace that flows out of your life should end sexism. The peace that flows out of your life should bring unity where there is only division and hatred. The peace that flows out of your life should transform enemies into friends and friends into family members.

That’s hard work, but it is not all on your shoulders because Paul shows us that this type of peace comes from Jesus and Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit who is living and moving in us helping us to produce this type of peace in our lives, in our families, in our communities, in our city, in our country, and in this world.

I love the imagery Paul is using here to describe what Jesus’ peace can do in your life when you allow into your life. Paul says to let Jesus’ peace RULE. What that literally means to be the umpire in your life. An umpire calls balls and strikes in a baseball game. But that is something that happens to the batter. Not so with Jesus’ peace. Jesus’ peace acts like an internal umpire that can keep you in check so that you represent Jesus well and keep the unity within the family of God. ‌ Jesus’ peace can be the umpire in your life limiting what comes out of your life, either through your actions or your mouth.‌

READ James 1:26 “26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”

READ Matthew 12:34b “34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” ‌ Application: ‌Do you see Jesus’ peace ruling in your life? Do others see Jesus’ peace flowing out of your life? Are you serving others so that unity and peace will be achieved? ‌

Transition: We see Paul is giving us three initiatives that we should all be working toward in order to accurately reflect and advance the gospel, which will also advance the common good in our society. The first initiative is to work toward unity with all your heart. The second is to work toward growing together with all your heart.

Point #2: Work toward GROWING TOGETHER with all your heart (vv. 16-17)‌

READ Colossians 3:16 - 17 ‌

Colossians 3:16–17 NIV

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

If you are like me, your understanding of a church service or church in general, never really meant that you were personally responsible to help those around you grow in their faith. I mean, after all, isn’t that the pastors job. I’m just supposed to show up, get filled up, tithe, and be a good person.

But that’s not what Paul is telling us to do. Instead, he is commanding us to not only allow Jesus’ peace to be the umpire of our lives, but to allow the message of Christ to live inside of us and flow out of us so that we serve others and help them grow in their relationship with Jesus.‌

This makes sense though because if we are going to pattern our lives after Jesus, then serving others should be a natural outpouring of our lives because it was for him. ‌ READ Mark 10:45 “45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

Therefore, it is all of our jobs to help each other grow. It’s not just Phil’s job or whoever has the microphone, but rather we should all be serving others and helping each other grow. And we do this by allowing the message of Christ to dwell among us richly. But what does that mean? ‌ What is the message of Christ? The Greek word used here is LOGOS and Paul has already clued us in on what this is: ‌

READ Col. 1:5 “5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel”

READ Col. 1:25 “25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—”

‌This message of Christ is both the person of Jesus and the content of what Jesus taught.‌

READ John 1:1-4

John 1:1–4 NIV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Paul is not interested in you just intellectually knowing the gospel or the content of Jesus’ message, but that the gospel and the giver of the Gospel is deeply rooted in your life so much so that your life starts to look like Jesus’ life.

This is what Paul is getting at when he uses the word ‘Dwell.’ The word DWELL literally means to make one’s home, or to live or dwell (in)‌.

Paul is commanding us to actively allow Jesus to move into our lives so much so that our lives, our thoughts, our actions, our words, everything is basically his house and you can truly say:

‘‌I have surrendered and submitted to Him and I am no longer in control of my life, but he is. His methods and his message are so deeply rooted in my life that Jesus is fully in control of everything in my life.’

‌Is that true of you? ‌Paul is saying that you are allowing jesus’ peace to be the umpire of your life so that Jesus’ peace will flow out of your life and impact others so that they will begin to grow because Jesus and his message are so deeply rooted in your life that you are able to help others grow.

This is really cool because we don’t have to have master's degrees to help others grow. Paul is saying that you can use something as simple as a song to help spark spiritual growth in someone.

APPLICATION: Are you allowing Jesus to dwell in you? Are you allowing Jesus’ message to live inside of you? Are you serving others so you can help them grow as you grow? ‌Transition: We see Paul is giving us three initiatives that we should all be working toward in order to accurately reflect and advance the gospel, which will also advance the common good in our society. The first initiative is to work toward unity with all your heart. The second is to work toward growing together with all your heart. The final initiative that Paul gives us is to serve others with all our hearts.‌

Point #3: Work toward PRIORITIZING OTHERS with all your heart (vv. 18-4:1)

Paul has been teaching us how to serve others and help them grow within the family of God, but now he focuses all of our attention on our own families! He does this, according to one writer, because the church and the family “Together, these represent the two most important social settings where believers can show the transformative power of the gospel.”

So what does Paul say about how we can reflect Jesus within our families?

‌ READ Col. 3:18-4:1

Colossians 3:18–4:1 NIV

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

We need to make sure that we aren’t misrepresenting Paul or what God is communicating here. These words might sound harsh or totally unnecessary today. But the same Paul who wrote the passage we just read, also wrote these words:

READ Colossians 3:11

Colossians 3:11 NIV

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

READ Galatians 3:28

Galatians 3:28 NIV

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s words and instructions on how to live out the new life that Jesus gives us were totally revolutionary for his day. His words lay the foundation in which tribalism, nationalism, racism, sexism, and slavery could eventually be torn down.

But when we read, wives submit; husbands love; children obey; fathers don’t provoke; slaves obey; and masters do what is right, we might think that Paul is being oppressive, or these are old school rules that no longer apply to us in the 21st Century. Let’s be honest, we haven’t always gotten this right. Some have used this passage to oppress women and keep people in slavery. But that is not what Paul is doing here.

Paul is pointing us to the fact that when we allow Jesus’ peace to be the umpire of our lives and we allow the Gospel to live inside of us, then the relationships we have will look more like Jesus. Which means that they will be more freedom, love, and health.

When we live out this new life Jesus purchased for us and has given us, then our emotional health will increase, our relational well-being will improve, our familial relationships will be healthier and more stable, and peace within us and in our families will grow because Jesus’ love will be at the center of our lives and families making mutual relational serving natural and desirable.

Let’s look at what Paul is doing here, because it is pretty revolutionary. Instead of following the cultural norms of his day, Paul is actually serving the marginalized populations by elevating them, giving them worth and value, and modeling for men how best to serve others.

Paul does this by addressing each marginalized population group first. He addresses wives before husbands, children before fathers, and slaves before their owners. By doing this, Paul is prioritizing them in a culture that minimized them. When we live and serve others this way, we are actually living out the Gospel to others. Because the Gospel, or message of Christ, always elevates others. It always prioritizes their needs over your own. And it always benefits them.

Wives Paul addresses wives first and prioritizes their needs from the outset. He says, wives, submit to your husbands. What Paul is doing here is inviting wives to voluntarily yield to their husband when the husband is loving them the way Jesus modeled for all of us. When your husband is sacrificing of himself and loving you the way that Jesus does, then wives, you should voluntarily yield to him.

Children Paul then addresses Children by telling them to obey, which literally means to “follow instructions.” It’s kind of like following the instruction sheet that Ikea gives you for their furniture. If you don’t follow the instructions, that dresser is not going to be stable and will collapse, especially if you move it. Kids, don’t live a life that is shaky, unstable, and can’t handle the weight of life. Obey your parents by honoring them.

READ Exodus 20:12

Exodus 20:12 NIV

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

‌Slaves Lastly, Paul addresses slaves. Now, Pastor Phil addressed this a couple of weeks ago and informed us that slavery was very different than the type of slavery that existed in this country and that basically, in the first century, “A slave was one person who owed a debt to another.” They would enter in to slavery and work off their debt and once again gain their freedom, which is vastly different then the type of slavery we existed in this country and in many other countries in our world today.

Paul tells this group to basically obey like children are to obey, by following instructions because they aren’t working for an earthly master, but they are working for Jesus.

If you are a follower of Jesus today, then you and I should be living our lives the same exact way: following Jesus’ instructions and allowing him to be the umpire of our lives so that he will dwell within us.

Secondly, Paul addresses men and commands them to live and love like Jesus. How did Jesus love others? By sacrificing himself for their good and always inviting them to enter into a restorative relationship with Him.

So, how does this type of self-sacrificial love look within a family for us guys? It looks like loving our wives by putting their needs above ours. It looks like treating others in our families the way you want to be treated. It looks like loving your children by serving them and inviting them deeper into relationship with you instead of just criticizing and aggravating them.

READ Col. 3:18-21 in The Message translation:

18 Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master. 19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them. ‌20 Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end. ‌21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.

Paul is showing us that you can live like Jesus and serve others no matter what is going on in your life, no matter how the culture is oppressing you, or how marginalized or prioritized you may feel. You can serve others and live like Jesus no matter how bad or how good you have it.

Wives, you can serve your husbands by voluntarily yielding to their leadership when they are self-sacrificially loving you.

Husbands, you can serve your wife by sacrificing yourself for her, by prioritizing her needs and desires over yours, by actively listening to her and taking an interest in what’s going on in her life and how her day was. ‌

Children serve your parents by trusting that they have your best interests and well-being in mind and by obeying them because you know they want you to grow.

‌Fathers serve your children by allowing them to be people in their own right. Don’t nag them or belittle them but be their cheerleader and help them see themselves the way God sees them: wonderfully and beautifully created in the image of God, made on purpose, for the purpose of bringing God glory and growing relationally with Him.

Praise God I’m not actually addressing slaves or masters today like Paul had too in his day. Therefore, employees serve your bosses by working hard because you are working for Jesus and not a paycheck or praise.

Employers serve your employees by paying them what is right for the work they do so that they can live off their paychecks.

Whatever category you fall into today, Paul is encouraging you to serve others because his big idea for us today is that Big Idea: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.”

Band comes out & piano starts playing

Transition: God is calling us to work toward unity, to grow together, and to prioritize others with all our hearts.

Conclusion/Call to Action: ‌

Have can you live this out today or this week?

Examples = Serve Others in the Church: You can serve others right now by encouraging each other to allow Jesus to be the umpire of their life. You can say that to each other as you leave this place.

MEET THE PASTORS INVITE

Example = Serve Others in your family: How can you serve your family members today? Whether you are a husband, wife, or child ask yourself this question, “What would elevate, empower, and support my family member today?” Once you get an answer, go do it.

Example = Serve Others in your neighborhood

[EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA ANNOUNCEMENT SLIDE] We want to help you serve your neighbors and we have a pretty sweet opportunity coming up. It’s called EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA and it’s for you and your family to build relationships with your neighbors out in the parking lot. Today, pick up one or however many Easter Invite Baskets you need to invite your neighbors to come with you to our EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA on April 1.

If you don’t have kids or neighbors with kids, that’s okay. Sign up to serve the families who do have kids.

Whatever it is you find to do, do it with all your heart.

Let’s ask God to show us how to live like Jesus right now.

[PRAYER]

Benediction

READ Eph. 3:20

Ephesians 3:20 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Friends, I don’t know where you are in your relationship with Jesus. I don’t know what is going on in your life or if you need to serve others. But what I do know if that the power of Jesus is at work within you to do immeasurably more than you can ever image. Let Jesus work within you. Allow His peace to guide how you live so that unity will be produced from your life. Allow Jesus and his message to live inside of you and change you so that you can help others grow. And no matter what is going on in your life, serve others because Jesus wants to work through you to impact others.

We’ll see you next week.