Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ

I would appreciate your prayers this morning

We have here in front of us what has to be one of the most powerful and convicting passages of Scripture that you could find anywhere in the Bible

And there are a lot of convicting passages

What we have here in front of us is a very powerful, wonderful, but very serious message

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me

Pause

Read passage again?

Folks I admit that when I set about to study this passage, I was not quite prepared for the consternation that I would feel

I wasn’t quite prepared for the conviction that I would feel

When you read this passage, what was your response?

If you were reading it with any kind of curiosity and interest, there should have been at least one or two things in this passage that made you say, “Hmm? What?”

Something in this should have grabbed your attention

Usually I’m pretty methodical when I go through these passages, looking at it verse by verse

But this morning I want to first look at something in verse 25

minister

“I became a minister” [of the church]

I have a question for you all this morning,

“How many of you feel like you are being called to the ministry

You know, there are different words or titles that are used for people like me

I hear different terms used even around this community

Some of us use the word “Pastor”. I’m fine with that, though in general I’m sort of uncomfortable with titles

Others of us use the word, “Minister” to describe what I do

And I must admit that I struggle a little more with that word

Mostly because of what it implies.

It’s because of how we use it.

Generally when you hear this word, we are talking about someone or something “special”

We say things like

He’s one of the ministers at our church (one of the leaders)

He’s in seminary preparing for “the ministry”

They are in full-time ministry overseas

Usually when we hear this word, we are thinking of something that only a select few people are, or do

But I want to remind us of something that I suspect we already know

The Ministry is not something that only a few people are called to—it is something that ALL of us are called to

ALL of us who have responded to the Gospel of Jesus are called to be ministers.

This word “minister” used in verse 25 is the Greek word diakonos

The same word where we get our word Deacon from

And again, you might hear that and say, “Ha, well, there you go! I’m not a Deacon either! Steve and Norma are our Deacons”

Well, sorry (not sorry) to break it to you, but you aren’t off the hook.

This word diakonos simply means “servant”

It refers to someone who serves [specifically] the church.

This is for all of us, not just a select few.

I was a bit frustrated when I was studying this word because a lot of my study resources still sort of reserved this word for church leaders.

And I know we have our different offices and things like that, but I would contend that ALL of us should view ourselves as ministers or servants of the church

Why do I think that? Because there is this passage

Ephesians 4:11–12 “11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”

Are you a saint?

Then you need to be equipped for ministry

For serving the church. This is something every single one of us needs to be a part of

My question again: Are you called to the ministry?

Yes! You are!

Verse 24

Now, I want to back up to verse 24

This is where I want to spend the rest of our time this morning

And this is where things get challenging

Colossians 1:24 “24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,”

First of all, this phrase:

“in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions”

Does this phrase make you say, “huh? What?”

Who does Paul think he is? What is he saying here

Is he saying that Jesus left something out? That Jesus went through all of that and came out the other side and said, “Nuts. I forgot something.”

As I said before, this verse has caused me a lot of consternation over the years.

What is lacking in Christ’s affliction, or suffering?

Just looking at this phrase makes me feel

Like Paul is being arrogant

Kind of doubtful about what Jesus has done

And that’s the way I have felt over the years

But let me just assure you and us this morning: Paul is NOT saying that the suffering of Jesus was somehow deficient or missing something

He’s not saying that Jesus left something out

Rather, here is what I believe Paul is saying:

The suffering of Jesus Christ was indeed sufficient. He left nothing out

He satisfied perfectly the will of God

But let me ask you something:

If Jesus came to this earth, was born, lived, suffered, died, and rose again, He ascended to Heaven

If He did all of that, and

Nobody in this world heard about what He did

Nobody in this world put their faith in Him to be saved

What if Christ’s Body, The Church was never formed and never thrived and grew?

Could you say that the work of Christ was completed and that His suffering was worth it?

Think about that for a moment

Certainly from a human standpoint, anyway, it would seem not

It would seem to me that there is something lacking in completing the work that Jesus came to do

John in his gospel said that the reason that he wrote what he did about Jesus was so that we would believe

This was the point. Hearing and believing, and for God’s Kingdom to be established

If no one hears, and no one believes, if a community of Believers (the church) did not thrive, then why did Jesus come?

Why did he suffer?

Here’s the point:

The sufferings of Jesus did what they were meant to do.

That is, make a way for us to be reconciled to God

But His sufferings did not guarantee that people would hear the Gospel

They did not guarantee that people would Believe and that a church would grow and thrive

And in that sense, then, there is something lacking in the suffering, or the afflictions of Christ!

And Paul says, I’m going to take that seriously and I’m going to do something about it!

And how is that being done?

SUFFERING

Not only that, but JOYFUL SUFFERING.

Colossians 1:24 “24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,”

Paul’s attitude was this:

I am willing to put everything, even my own body, on the line so that the work that was left unfinished could be finished

I will endure suffering. I will bear affliction and hardship, mocking…whatever it takes, in order that the work of Christ will continue

And not only that, I will rejoice in the suffering that I face for the sake of the Church. For the sake of Christ!

What is up with this?

What kind of an attitude is this?

You know, we have talked many times previously about our attitude in the face of suffering

But mostly, we have looked at it from the standpoint of

We are out serving Christ, sort of just being obedient, and minding our own business, and suffering comes to us.

We don’t go looking for it or anything like that, but we receive it, and we endure and are faithful for that

We know that we should expect this kind of suffering

But what Paul seems to be talking about here it seems is on a whole other level!

It’s like Paul is saying

I revel in suffering!

I delight in suffering!

It’s one of my favorite things!

He literally says, “I rejoice in my suffering!”

I’m going to go out there and embrace it wholeheartedly

Can you imagine if someone came up to you and asked, “So, what do you like to do in your spare time. Got any hobbies?”

And you would respond, “Well, I like to suffer.”

Number one, I can’t imagine answering this question in that way

Number two, I can’t imagine the expression on that person’s face if I would!

But this is Paul’s attitude!

“I embrace suffering! I rejoice in it! Bring it on!”

How are we to think about this? How are we to absorb this attitude? Because to me it’s mind-boggling

Through the lens of Jesus

As we know, this is what He taught

One of the hardest things that Jesus ever said: Luke 14:26 “26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

But you don’t come after Him, sort of like a dog on the end of a leash

He expected joyful sacrifice and joyful suffering!

Matt 5, “Are you suffering for my sake? Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! You are blessed because your reward in Heaven is great!

Don’t just expect it, embrace it and rejoice when it comes to you!

Why?

Because you are in the will of God

if you are suffering for His sake, it must mean that you are “doing something right”

Which is completely opposite to how we think. We think that if we are in the will of God, then life will be good

Sound of Music movie—Captain von Trapp and Maria after discovering that they love each other sing, “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good”

How humanistic is that!

Sometimes this happens, but this is not what we should expect

But not only that, Suffering means that you get to identify with Jesus in a way that is intense and personal! It is like a badge of honor

Acts 5, the Apostles had been arrested, miraculously set free, arrested again, brought before the council and interrogated, and beaten, and let go

And it says in verse 41 the disciples left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name [of Jesus]

They wore this suffering like a badge of honor, like they had just won an Olympic medal!

The reason was that they had gotten to identify with their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, in a very intense way!

This kind of suffering can only be grasped through the lens of Jesus

But the other thing about the suffering that Paul is talking about in Colossians is that it is a very specific kind of suffering.

There is a very specific reason that he is embracing suffering

He says, “I am suffering for your sake”

And then He says, “I am suffering for His Body, the Church, of which I became a minister.” of which I became a servant

And I’m going to embrace my role as a servant, no matter what comes

Paul’s aim, his burden, his heart, is people. The people that God loves!

He’s not suffering for the sake of his personal goals

He’s not suffering simply because he loves suffering

The reason that he can say, “I delight in my suffering” is because he is suffering for the people whom God loves!

He is suffering for the sake of the church that is the people of God

And he is suffering for the people with two goals in mind

Verse 25—to make the word of God fully known

Verse 28—to bring people to maturity

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ

He says, this stewardship (responsibility) was given to me

To make the word of God fully known

And to bring people to maturity in Christ

This is what the goal of suffering is

It is evangelism and discipleship—the mission of Jesus

Folks, October is when we usually have 10:2 Sunday

And it’s then that we focus on the task in front of us

There is a big task yet to accomplish

There is much that is still lacking in the affliction of Christ

Two things that are clear:

There are billions of people who have yet to hear the word of God

And there is a desperate, desperate need for maturity among the Believers

UPG—A group that does not have enough evangelical Believers to effectively evangelize their own people

Little to no access to the Gospel

Quite possibly without the Scripture in their own language

3.4 billion people still are a part of an UPG

There is a desperate need for people to have proclaimed to them the “mystery hidden for ages and generations

The riches of His glory

That Christ can be in you, the hope of glory—vs27

Among churches around the world, there is a desperate need for discipleship

Men and women who are mature and who are willing to sacrifice to see other Believers mature

To learn how to be 100% sold out disciples of Jesus. To learn what it means to follow their Lord Jesus in every area of their lives

This is what Jesus meant in the Great Commission when He said to go into ALL the world and make disciples of all nations.

Teach them to be mature followers of Jesus

And the question that is in front of us this morning is

Do you and I agree that this is the primary mission of the followers of Jesus?

To make known to all people the riches of His glory

To make disciples—mature followers of Jesus

And if we agree, then what are we willing to give up in order that this mission might be fulfilled through us?

The mission looks huge, overwhelming

But that’s OK.

That didn’t phase Paul, and it shouldn’t phase us

Paul closes this chapter by saying in verse 29

“For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that He powerfully works within me.”

It’s toil,

IT’s struggle

It’s suffering

Paul is just one man, but he’s not phased

And the reason is because He is a minister, serving the Church of Jesus Christ

And Jesus Christ is the head

Jesus called him, commissioned him as a minister and now he is full bore ahead

working to see that

the word is preached and fully known

that the church reaches maturity

embracing the suffering joyfully

Folks, what would this world look like if all of the followers of Jesus around the globe had this sort of passion?

50%?

25%?

What if only 10% of Jesus followers around the globe had this sort of passion?

Are you following me?

Do you understand what I’m saying to you this morning?

Can you see why I found this passage convicting?

Honestly, I know that I fall short of this

I’m too concerned about my own comfort and seeing that my agenda gets carried out too

I’m too afraid of true suffering and hardship

What will it take for me to have this kind of single-minded purpose?

This next Saturday is our International Student Hayride

I know it’s on a Saturday, and I know that we are in the middle of harvest

And I know that I’m paid to do this kind of thing full-time and you all have a lot of other things going on.

I know that

But every year we get students from all over the world that come to this hay-ride

Students from Unreached People Groups

Students who have yet to hear and understand the mystery of the Gospel

But I wonder what it is worth to us

What is it worth to us to see that they do indeed hear

To simply show up and make a friend and have a chance to share Jesus with them

Is it worth the suffering, the toil, the struggle?