Faith, Love, and Hope

There is a joy In teaching. There's a joy in learning something new and understanding and realizing that you get it. like, when you were finally able to work out that math problem, Or when you finally understand how to really sew such that the two items actually Stay Together. and there's joy for the teacher as well, when the teacher sees the student, learn and grow, and truly take on and grasp the tasks that's been given. This weekend, my daughter and I had a chance to go fishing together. And she's of an age in which she's no longer satisfied to catch the bluegill. She now wanted to catch the bass. Which meant that you wanted to graduate from Hook and worm to some form of lorr. And I don't want to bore you if you're not into fishing, but the lure that she chose was a jerkbait, great name, right a jerkbait and with lures, each lower is different in how you present it, how you work it in the water, such that the fish will be attracted to it. So she needed to learn how to work the jerkbait and I taught her and I told her what to do and she patiently would throw the jerkbait out and then work at and and worked on what it is to work that lower just right and she had to throw several casts until finally six feet from the boat. She watch the bass come up from the depths and grab her lure and the joy that she had, as she not only caught the bass, but then she learned to work the jerkbait. Teaching the joy of teaching and passing on and seeing others grasp. What is being taught this morning? We are going to Journey with epaphras who was Todd and then taught others. Epaphras is the person of our Focus this morning. If you've been with us at all through the summer. You know, that we've been trying to hit upon different minor characters in the New Testament, we've been looking through the stories and the letters and we've been looking into those Nine Stories. They remind us that besides the great names in the faith. There were others who are dedicated to following Christ and have much to teach us as well. And so, we're looking into epaphras, Who is credited with being the one who founded the church and colossal and Paul kind of backs it up as he writes his letter to colossae, and even identify said, he's never been there. Paul's never been there, but gives credit to epaphras for the founding of this church. And so we're going to read from Colossians chapter 1 and I think the passage on the screen will begin at verse three. But I'm actually going to start at the first one and then the screen will pick up with us and we'll read all the way to verse 7 or 8. So let us pray that God's word will be open to us. Lord, we pray for your help this morning.

Your help for us to hear your word. To understand your word. And to really take your word into our hearts, to let it really press upon us. Oh, Lord, we know these are opportunities for us to be taught for us to fully take in. So help us Lord not only to just get the right answers as it were, but to really take it in with full joy. We pray this Jesus in your precious name. Amen.

So to the letter to colossae, the first chapter first, verse Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the Saints and faithful, Brothers and Sisters in Christ at colossae. Grace to you and peace from God. Our Father. We always thank God the father of our Lord. Jesus Christ. When we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you have for all the saints. Because of the Hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this, you have heard before in the word of truth of the Gospel, which is come to you as indeed in the whole world is bearing fruit and increasing as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God and Truth. Just as you learned it from epahpris our beloved fellow servant, is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and is made known to us, your love in the spirit. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So there you heard it. Paul is writing the letter. Paul actually and Timothy are writing this letter to the church in colossae and he himself identifies right at the start. That he's heard of their faith. He's heard of their acceptance of the grace of God and he's acknowledging that he's not been there, that, that was done through someone else. Through Epaphris.

So let's do a little bit of backstory. How did this happen? Colossae is about a hundred miles Inland east of Ephesus. Ephesus, being a giant Port City in the ancient Roman world that sits right along what we think of turkey, on the westside of turkey. A hundred miles in from that Port City, stood Colossus, as well as two other cities. Periopolus and Leodesia, Leodesia is that one that we hear of in Revelations, when were told to be either hot or cold, but not be lukewarm, that's in reference to Leodesia. These three cities are in kind of a region, a hundred miles in and Paul is writing to Collosae. And we find even at the end of this letter that they're supposed to circulate this letter, also to those places as well. But Paul is writing because he's heard about them. He's heard about some of the issues and some of the good things and he's heard all that from Epaphris. Now how did it get there? How did the word of God? Get a hundred miles inland? To colossae. Well the best guess we have is that while Paul was in Ephesus and he was there for a considerable period of time, it looks like over two years. We're told that Paul withdrew from the synagogue after he had a certain number of Believers and he set up camp and kind of rented if you will a hall called the Hall of tyrannus. A place basically there in Ephesus and he met almost daily with people. People would come to hear what he had to say, what he was teaching and in a giant Port City like Ephasis since you had people coming and going from all over the world.

And so it's believed that among those people that came and sat at Paul's teaching was likely this fellow Epaphras. Now we don't know for certain but it seems pretty obvious that that's probably where Epaphras picked up his faith. And then took it back home. To colossae. And so Paul writes that they've learned of their faith through or the grace of God through Epaphras. Now, this is all fun little background history, fun to play with and and look into the details. Epaphris was pretty accepted by Paul were told that Paul was so much a part of the Inner Circle there probably in Ephesus and even later on when he's now in Rome with Paul and Paul's in prison, that Paul refers to a path for us as a fellow slave or a fellow servant in the Lord, It's a phrase that he kind of reserved for just a few. One of the other people that's named such as a fellow servant, or slave is Timothy, And he gives such a title or reference to Epaphras and as I said, epaphras eventually ends up back in room with Paul as well and then later in the letter to feloman, he's mentioned as a fellow prisoner with him. So Epaphras is part of the Inner Circle, part of the inner workings of the church, part of the development. And as I said, it's really good and interesting historical note, but in the end besides curiosity of Scholars and people like myself.

There's something that matters more. What matters more is? What did he teach? what was it so valuable that the people in colossae received and accepted?

And Paul writes to that. Paul writes to what was taught. That the grace of God was shared with the people in colossae. And that they accepted the grace of God. The truth of God. And Paul breaks it down into three parts. And you can see as you hear these three parts. There's nothing new to them you've heard these before, but when you hear them, you're going to realize, all my goodness. It turns out there was a curriculum that was being passed around being taught from place to place, three elements that were involved in this grace of God. And those three elements were Faith, Love and Hope. Sounds kind of familiar. Faith. Love and Hope if you been to a wedding, which I'm sure you have. You probably been there. When you heard, what usually referred to as the love chapter coming out of the 13th. Chapter Corinthians chances are some of you use that passage yourself, and I'm going to say it was some really familiar. Now, these three remain faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is So, you've heard it. The orders just reverse the little bit here instead of faith, hope and love here, in Colossus way to the church in classe. Paul writes Faith, Love, and Hope. And one can imagine the circumstances in the emphasis upon one or more of those may have changed depending on the need of the listeners and those being taught at the time, but these three elements Faith Love and Hope are the undergirding of the teaching that comes out of the grace of God.

So the grace of God begins in this case, with Paul writing about we've heard about your faith. Your face. Now, the grace of God. Is really, A decision to no longer stand Upon Our Own abilities. Our own actions. What we do in life, but instead to stand upon the gift that God has given to his son. Jesus Christ. We often say that Grace is a free gift. We don't deserve could never earn or ever repay. That Grace is a gift given by God through his son, Jesus Christ, the Forgiveness of our sins, but we have a choice, whether we're going to continue to stand on our own abilities, we were able to do our own confidence. Or whether we're going to take the gift that God has given us. See, I'm making you watch me instead of the screen.

Or stand completely on the gift of what God has given.

Faith. Is that choice? To stand in the grace of God.

Faith is a choice to say, I'm going to abandon my claims. And now, stand with the one who claimed me.

we had a service for John Osterbaan on the other day and we read from Romans chapter 5 and he or Paul is emphasizing faith, and he refers to Faith as being that which gives us access to the grace of God. Know when I think about access. I can't help but think of that backstage pass, you know, if you're at a concert or maybe you go to a Broadway show when you want to go backstage, if you were to go backstage on your own abilities, there is security there to stop you, right? There's security there to put a pause on you if you were to try and go down onto the athletic field at a pro event, right? And a professional than a baseball game or a NFL game, there would be security to stop you and arrest you unless you have a nice little lanyard hanging around your neck with a little tag that gives you a pass. It says I'm allowed to be here. Faith in Jesus Christ, is what allows us access to the grace of God. And Paul says, we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus. Now, there's the teaching for us, who already know. There's a teaching for us to go out and share that part of our work and concerning the grace of God is about faith. Recognizing that each of us has a choice. Everyone out there has a choice to accept God or not accept that gift that God has given. I promise you that though it's only a couple of days ago. Anna is now able to teach any of you who want to learn how to work a jerkbait. Because she's seen the action, she seen how to work it and she seen the results. She watched it happen before her very eyes and Paul and the apostles and the others who were growing in the faith. Watch the action of people hearing the grace of God and then choosing taking a step of faith in the direction of abandoning themselves and taking hold of that gift that God has given.

Faith. But that faith, then does something else. It creates in us, A New Kind of Love. You see there's two loves that are going on in our lives. It's a similar choice. There's that love of self that we're kind of born with that sense of what if in the end we were always pursuing only our own interests. What do we call that? We call that selfish. I think there's a Jerry Seinfeld line something along that lines were some of this is so selfish to do this and this and not help anybody else and the responses I think, actually, that's the definition of selfish.

The other part is then to have a love for others, a love that is born out of what Jesus did for us. Jesus went to the Cross, he abandoned himself or is it says in Paul's letter to the Phillipians He emptied himself. All the claims that he has he is God's son, he emptied himself of all of that and instead went obediently to the cross out of love for us. And the incredible irony is he went out of love for us even as we were against him and running from him. He died for those who even willing to destroy him That is a whole different working of love. And Paul is writing to that to the church and closet and recognition that they now have engage. They've begun the process of engaging. In a love, that moves outside of self outside of self-interest like family and everything else. But choosing now to love others because Christ has loved them. It's choosing to love.

One, another as truly family, you see, I'm no longer in competition with you. I no longer have to show myself to be better than you. I no longer have to build myself up in a way that I might feel better about myself. Now, I can be concerned about you in the same way because we all stand equally in the grace of God.

it's no longer a debate about how long we may have been a member here. How much we may have worked here. We no longer stand in the faith in our self. Instead we've given our faith fully over to God and the grace of God, we stand in his grace. And because of that we now can love one, another fully. Completely. And sacrificially.

It is an amazing gift that God has given us through Grace that we now can learn to love. Without restraint.

Until Paul writes, I have heard of your love that you have for all the saints for all believers. Such that there is even able to receive a letter from someone, they don't know. But someone who is a brother in Christ.

And as I said in the letter to the Corinthians Paul writes a lot more on the love and how much that plays a part in our every action. And everything needs to be done out of love. So we got faith and love these two principles of the three that are part and undergird. What it is to live in the grace of God. They are the instructions for who we are to be as a community. That follows and lives in the grace of God that we live in faith, not in our own ability but fully in God's gift that we live in love, not because we're better than someone else and therefore, we can offer charity, a form of love, but rather because we are now equal with one another. We are Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We are together on this journey, spurring one, another on. Which brings us to the third element?

Hope. Hope.

Paul speaks to them of hope, in each of these three items, the faith, the love, and hope we get the sense that epaphras sat at Paul's feed, took it all in and then carried it back to the people and colossae shared with them the grace of God, and now, they too were being built up in faith and love and now hope. And so, Paul is writing these familiar words to them. We've heard of your faith, we've heard of your love and we've heard of your hope. Now when we talk about Hope in our English language, there's at least two meanings. The first one we talked in terms of Hope is often talking about hope as a kind of wish. We expressed what we hope will happen. We share with one another. What are wishes? What the way, we wish things will turn out. You know, I hope that Michigan state will have a winning season this year. That's a wish. For those of, you know, anything about that. You know, how much of a wish it is.

We talk in terms of Hope as a wish. With kind of an emphasis part of the way. We we, we want life to turn out You know, I hope my kids would visit me more or maybe call a little more often. you know, if we talked in terms of what our wish is, That's kind of the first use that we have, but that's really not the, the term of hope that Paul has in mind. Paul is speaking in terms of a another form of our definition of Hope is that definition which we talked about that which is certain in our life. I do this because I have this confidence, this hope I know this to be true. I know this is the way things work out. That's why I hope this way because I know what it how it works. You know, you can go out and fish and forgive all the fishing analogies and have a bum day but, you know, ultimately that it will work.

Sometimes you have to be patient more than others, but, you know, it will work. Anna will use the jerkbait again because she watched it happen before her very eyes. Every part of it unfold. It wasn't one of those long throws where, you know, you got something you're pulling it in and also turns out it's weeds or grass. It's something she watched happened. We have a hope and a future that we know is certain and if you know, you start to play any game and you know, in the end how it's going to turn out, you play that game differently, you play it with a certain sense of confidence, you know, the end results and we are people who gather every Sunday knowing the end result. There's nothing that can change that. We are in Christ Jesus and because we are in Christ, Jesus, no one can take that away our promise of life eternal. With the father is unblemished, it cannot be removed.

We have this hope. And you know a hope like that changes the way we operate.

It changes even the most extreme of things. Take suffering, for example, the struggles of life you know what hope does for that, hope not only tells us that we don't have to endure this forever that there's an eventual upside But more than that, hope reminds us because of the life eternal that we have with the father. Hope reminds us that the suffering of the moment is just an indication of the battle that truly is in place. Between the prince of evil who has Dominion in this world. And a life that is to come. Suffering just reminds us that this is not our home. and when we learned that of suffering, we can start to endure it. Knowing that there's a future and a promise. How many of you have said to me, in difficult times? I don't know how others handle this without a hope in Christ.

Hope. It gives us a future. And a promise.

No, epaphras shared these three things with the church in class, and it looks very much like in laodicea and gyropolis as well. He was that ambassador to that region to carry the words that were taught to Paul and the words that have been passed on to us as well, and that we read this morning. But there's one more element about Epaphras.

That we need to be reminded of. Paul in closing out this letter to colossae. Writes that epaphras is praying for them everyday diligently and urgently Another words colossae is not a one-time event in epaphras is life. He planted the church there great, move on to the next place. You know, these Church planners they move on from place to place planting churches has no no. Because their brothers and sisters in Christ. And because their family. He's praying for them. He's holding them up before the Lord.

Is dedicated to them.

If you walk out of here today wondering what we're supposed to do, what the God's word, teach us today. Maybe the best element comes in the very end. Reminding us that we are to be in prayer. For each other. and for our church, To be in prayer that we engage fully in the faith, in the love and the hope that we have. That we see this world differently. Rather than measuring, how many people are here? How much is coming in to measure things in terms of how God sees the world? And oh we've seen a vision of that. God speaks to the prophetess. As you see this valley of dry bones. Can they live? Only, you know, O God. To follow in the footsteps of a fellow believer, like Epaphras is to enter into a continual journey of Prayer. That we might see what God's will is, what God's next step for us is that we might realize it, it will be beyond our abilities. It would be beyond what we claim for ourselves because we no longer live for ourselves. We now live in the faith that God has given us in the grace of Jesus Christ. it's in that spirit that we are called to pray, not just I'll pray for you or I'll pray around the evening meal, all those things are good but to urgently And with every breath that we have, pray for this church and God's will for it.

Epaphras is just one more reminder of the many early believers. For whom. We now stand here because they passed on the word of faith, the grace of Jesus Christ. Why don't you pray with me?