Living in the Mystery

Flat pack

As many of you will know, our family recently moved house. And in the process, we’ve needed to buy a few bits of furniture. A number of these bits of furniture have come flat packed.

So in the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to put together quite a few flat packs. Actually, I find it kind of fun unpacking the box and making a bunch of seemingly random pieces into a useful bit of furniture.

Now, if you’ve done much of this in the past, you’ll probably know that some instructions are better than others. Some flat packs are super easy as each step is clearly drawn and labelled and so you follow each step with no problems.

But others have very poorly described and drawn instructions. Not only that, but the pre-drilled holes are slightly out and it a bit of a struggle to get it together. But you persevere, and eventually, with a bit of improvisation, it comes together and you have a functioning bit of furniture.

Sometimes, we can picture life a bit like the flat pack. That is, we know what we’ve got, we know where we want to get, and so we just have to find the instructions and we’ll put all the bits together and bingo… we get our beautiful finished product.

As Christians, we might even think of the Bible as the sort of instruction book. We just have to open it up, follow what it says, and it will all work out.

You might have even heard the popular mnemonic where the letters of the word Bible become: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

This little saying reinforces this idea of life as a flat pack.

To build the life of Christ, just follow a few simple steps that you’ll find easily laid out in your Bible, and away you go.

Of course, sometimes life can prove a little tricky at times. But that’s ok, we’ll argue, because we are probably not reading them right. Or maybe because we made a mistake on one of the earlier steps, that’s why it’s not working.

But let me make a suggestion. Life is not a flat pack.

If we wanted to use an analogy, its a lot more like a piece of art or sculpture.

And for this reason, I want to even challenge the idea of the Bible being the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

You see, the Bible actually isn’t just a manual for each of life’s problem. I know we can treat it like that though. You know, if you’re feeling scared: read Ps 23. If you’re worried: read Matt 6:26. And before you know it, we’ve simplified the Bible into a manual.

But reading the bible as a manual can be problematic. Mostly because I don’t think it was intended that way. You see, the Bible is more of a story than a manual. It’s a narrative that takes us on a path from brokenness to wholeness.

So rather than seeing the bible as just basic instructions, instead we should be looking to see how our lives intersect with the narrative it provides.

Although, just for clarity, that’s not to say that the Bible can’t speak into specific situations. It certainly can (and does), but when we treat it in such a narrow way, there is something missing.

Colossians

Today, we are at the end of our series in the book of Colossians.

As we’ve seen over the weeks, Paul is trying to encourage the church to become rooted into Christ. The one in whom all things have been created through him and for him. The through whom all things are reconciled (you might recall those poetic words from back in Chapter 1).

Well, as we’ve explored this letter we’ve found lots of helpful hints for how we can root ourselves in Christ. And it can be tempting to convert this in to some sort of play book.

Avoid the hollow and deceptive philosphies.

Don’t get caught up in religiosity.

Put to death the sinful life.

Maintain appropriate order in your relationships.

These are all great lessons that we’ve explored over the last few weeks.

But there can be a danger. Once we try to simplify them we end up losing sight of the bigger picture.

You see, moment ago I alluded to the poetic words we found back in chapter 1.

In case you don’t remember (it was about 6 weeks ago after all), let’s just quickly turn back there.

When we looked at this passage I brought out two main ideas. Firstly, that Christ was over all creation. And secondly, that Christ was over the new creation.

It alludes to the grand story line of humanity, of which Jesus is over all.

Mystery

The passage that immediately follows this, then speaks about Paul’s ministry, and if you care to look, you’ll notice that a word appears which we again see in today’s passage. The word: mystery.

Back in chapter 1, we see it both in verse 26 and 27. There is this mystery that is to be made known.

In chapter 2 verse 2, he uses the word again, this time describing it as “the mystery of God, namely, Christ”.

Now of course, we could explore all of the different facets of what he means by mystery here, but the fact that he repeats as many times as he does, seems to indicate that he’s not just talking about some basic instruction that he wants to pass on.

What we have as believers is more than a basic step by step instruction that you get in a flat pack. As believers, we have the mystery of Christ.

The mystery that was kept hidden for most of history, but was revealed some 2000 odd years ago and is now available to us.

Mystery in Col 4

Now, when we look at his use of the word mystery in Col 4, we see even another facet. You see, after mentioning this “mystery of Christ”, he then adds: “for which I am in chains”.

You see, in this little saying we get something that really doesn’t seem to make sense. That is, that chains can be seen as something good. That’s not to say we should be looking to get locked up, but that God can use the struggles of this world for his glory. This is part of the mystery.

Living in the mystery

So here’s the main question I want to consider today: what does it mean to live in this mystery?

You see, in some ways it is actually simple. We just accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and we open our lives to this mystery. The Spirit opens our eyes. We see and we are changed.

But it goes further then this initial transformation.

And I believe this is where Paul finds himself when we come to Col 4:2. You see, he’s laid out some of that basic ground work for these believers in Colossae, but he knows that it’s not a matter of a few instructions and away you go.

Devotion

Now Paul does give another instruction, but it’s an instruction of a particular nature.

Verse 2 says: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful”.

You see, what I think Paul is trying to say, is… look, I’ve set the ground work for you, but if you really want to root your life in Christ, then you need to dive deep - real deep!

I can give you a summary of who Christ is and what he’s done in a few sentences. But if you really want to understand, well get your SCUBA gear on, because we need to start diving.

Prayer

And the first step to diving is prayer. But notice, he didn’t just say, “oh, and by the way, it’s a good idea to pray as well”. Rather, he said: “devote yourselves to prayer”. This word “devote” tells us that our prayer life is not something on the side, but central to everything.

Now, there is something we need to say about prayer. You see, it is so easy for prayer to become just about asking for things. Maybe, we might also add a few thanks and sorry’s in there as well, but the request section usually ends up the longest. Now don’t get me wrong. God does want us to bring our requests to him. This is right and proper.

But we need to understand that this fits within our understanding of prayer being our communication with God.

And so, in our prayer life, we should be getting closer to God.

Now sometimes, particularly if your prayer life has been a little inactive for a while, there’s a good chance that praying will feel like one way communication. That is, you’re speaking, but with nothing in return.

However, once you develop your prayer life, this should begin to change. There’s a sense in which you begin to feel closer to God. It’s not necessarily that you will hear God’s voice in a direct way. Sometimes it will be a strong feeling that God is pushing you a certain way. Sometimes it might even just be a feeling of closeness.

But to get to this point, there needs to be a devotion to prayer. Having a regular time each day is a good start, but should actually just be the start. We can start to develop an attitude of prayfulness throughout the day.

I want to suggest, that if we want to know the mystery of Christ, we will only begin to see the depth with the devotion to prayer.

Watchful

Verse 2 also told us to be watchful, and I’m going to suggest that this will also help us discover the mystery.

Now, you’ll notice that Paul doesn’t really elaborate on this occasion what it is that we should be watchful for. Possibly its a reference to that idea that the church should be watchful for the return of Christ. Certainly in other places of the bible, it tells us to be watchful in this regard.

However, hear, I have the distinct impression that it is a more general watchfulness which is in picture.

I think it is telling us to be alert to the way God is working. Be attentive to both the significant and small things that happen which show that God is in control. Watch the ways in which lives are changed.

You see, it is in these observations that we get a bigger picture of the mystery of Christ.

I could take for example the truth that Jesus loves you. I think you could say that is a truth you will learn on day 1 of Sunday School. But as you develop an attitude of watchfulness, you will begin to see a new depth to this amazing truth.

Thankful

The third thing he tells us to do in verse 2, is to be thankful.

Now the thing I want to highlight about thankfulness, is that it forces us to alter our perspective. You see we have a tendency to be self-focussed. But when we develop that attitude of thankfulness, it reminds us that the good things that are happening to us are not because we’re clever or amazing, but because God has been gracious to us.

But not only does thankfulness help us change our perspective, it also helps us to plumb the depths of understanding Christ.

Proclamation

Now, as we begin to dive into the mystery through prayer, watchfulness and thankfulness, there is a new aspect of this that opens up to us.

You see, once we experience this mystery we realise that it’s not something that can be kept to ourselves.

Because of the depth of love… because of the indescribable mercy… the hope beyond hope… we know that others need to know.

This is very clear in Paul’s life. From that amazing conversion on the road to Damascus, his outlook became one of taking the news to others.

Prayer

Now, what I love about this letter to the Colossians is that right at the start, we see Paul prayer for them, but now he’s asking for prayer for himself.

But the prayer he asks for himself, is still other person focussed. And so he asks that God may open a door for his message.

Now it’s worth pointing out the importance of prayer as we do proclaim the message to others.

You see, the thing is, as I’ve been describing, the message of Christ is described as a mystery. Once our eyes have been opened, it makes perfect sense, but for those who are firmly entrenched in the earthly nature, it just seems like foolishness.

And while we sometimes like to think that we can argue someone into the kingdom, the reality is that people come into the kingdom when God opens their eyes - and for this reason, our best method is praying.

Paul know that he needs prayer as he proclaims the mystery of Christ. Without it, the fact that he is in chains would be a dead end - but through prayer, the mystery can be known by others.

Clear message

In verse 4, he continues the request for prayer, asking that he will be able to proclaim the mystery clearly - something which he recognises what he should do.

Now, what I love about this is that in this mysterious manner (which goes well with the mystery of Christ), we see the two aspects of our proclamations.

You see, I’ve just argued that people only accept the mystery when their eyes are opened by the Spirit. But at the same time, it is also important that we can give a clear account for this mystery. It’s important that we are able to show the coherency of what seems like foolishness. But to do so, we need prayer.

How to proclaim

So, in verses 3 and 4, Paul is asking for prayer for his own proclamation of the mystery, but in the next two verses, he then switches it around and shows that, we too, the average believer, also should be moved by the mystery to the point that we want to proclaim the message.

Now, I want to come back to the idea I started with earlier, that is: we’re not a flat pack, we’re a piece of art.

You see, I argued that transforming our life is not a matter of following a few basic instructions, rather it’s about delving into the mystery of Christ.

Knowing that this is the case, it’s a bit crazy that we then want to treat evangelism in a similar fashion. That is, follow a few basic instructions, and then you have a Christian.

But look at the way Paul describes it: “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders”

As we speak with non-believers, we need wisdom. Because it isn’t straight forward. Each of them are on their own journey with their own experiences.

But we also need to make the most of every opportunity. This means watching out for when the right time comes up. This actually takes us back to verse 2: devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful...

Conversations with salt

But then we come to verse 6, and I just love this verse.

It says: “let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”.

Now, there is an unfortunate effect we see on many Christians. You see, we believe very firmly what we believe. And in many ways, this is a great thing. We’re convinced that Jesus is the only way. We’re convinced that the truths of this world are to be found in the bible. But this can sometimes lead to arrogance. And our arrogance can lead to speaking to others boldly, but in such a way that disparages them. We justify this because we speak truth, but this is what happens when we lose sight of the mystery. You see, central to who Christ is, we find love. And this means we need to love others.

Speaking down to non-believers and disparaging them is not loving. It is not the fruit of the Spirit that Paul speaks about: love, joy, peace, patience and so on.

Rather, we need to let our conversations be always full of grace. Let it get back that flavour where people can get a glimpse of this mystery which has changed our lives.

Final greetings

It is not my intention to go through the final verses of this book in detail, but if you care to go through them, you will see examples of what Paul is talking about in practice.

We see Tychicus and Onesimus, who provide encouragement to these believers. Aristarchus, Mark, Justus and Epaphras, are each there praying for them and encouraging them. And the list goes on.

The beautiful thing is that we are not in this alone.

This mystery that we experience, is a mystery which we experience together, and this just makes it so much more exciting.

Conclusion

Because our message in centered around the mystery of Christ, we need to recognise that we can’t dig deeper by just following a few basic steps. It’s rather about devoting ourselves to prayer, and being watchful and thankful.

And as we recognise that our own journey to Christ is a mystery, we need to recognise that as we share the news with others, we acknowledge that they are on their own journey and we need wisdom as we speak with them.

It is a beautiful thing to experience Christ, but the ongoing journey is even more amazing.

So let me pray...