Final Instructions

Grace and Peace Fam! It’s great to be back with you after the Spring Break and I’m excited about finishing the semester strong

Tonight we’re looking at Chapter 4 of Colossians and it's been amazing to walk us through this incredible book and I hope you’ve been both challenged and encouraged to look to Jesus in all areas of life beginning with Christ’s preeminence over the whole of creation because he reigns above all rule and authority of the earth - We’ve seen that God the Father through the life and ministry of his son Jesus has secured both our redemption and reconciliation for those who put their faith in him - We who have come to trust in Christ have solidarity with him in his death on the cross, his bodily resurrection from the grave, his new life and the promise of eternal glory - In Christ we too stand victorious over the powers of sin and shame - We know also, that in Christ who came and fulfilled the greatest longings of his people, we now also then share in his inheritance and the covenant promise of his faithfulness towards us and tonight I hope you’ll see Paul call us even further intro maturity in Christ, ridding ourselves of sinful practices and cultivating Christian virtue

In this first verse Paul writes,  “Masters, treat your bondservants  justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” - This verse is a continuation of  the third chapters’ call to live in the new me way of life and to remember that Family Matters as a way of shaping the way that you and I in seeking to be faithful followers of Christ are called to live into, but why speak to slaves and masters in this way?

The issue of slavery in scripture is something even I have had to wrestle with so know that I acknowledge the ways in which this can be a difficult thing to grasp - There is some complexity to the way that scripture speaks to this issue that I hope I can bring clarity to that goes further than the way that I was taught in seminary that slavery as we see it here in this scripture is simply different from the story of slavery in America and yet still there is a more nuanced approach to understanding what Paul is teaching here

In Galatians in the 4th chapter Paul says,  “I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,  though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” - So Paul is making this weird application of a child in comparison to a slave in the parental relationship but also then seeks to use that same analogy to show how we are to seek freedom and to live as the very sons of God

Without question the notion of slavery among Christians has a pretty jagged past - I know we live in a time when the linear approach from question to answer is the way that we come to see what’s true, while often in scripture to grasp what’s most definitive requires us to dig deeper into the truth - One really helpful but fundamental way of grasping the issue of slavery in scripture is to face the reality that scriptures purpose is not to be a critique of culture - You’ve gotta know though, that I believe to put together the pieces of the puzzle that allow us to see the narrative of how sin oppresses and the freedom and liberation of God’s redemptive plan for humanity is ultimately then rooted in the Gospel - I say this because Paul is not writing because of an interest in tearing down the cultural institution of slavery that was prevalent in his day in the same way that he is seeking to call each of us to righteous living despite the evil of what it means to enslave others

It’s here then that I think we should draw the clear distinctions of slavery found in this instance of scripture and the past history of chattel slavery in the Americas - In the history of slavery in America we know well that many slaveholders supported the practice from scripture itself in places like Genesis 9 which tells the story of Noah and his sons - Noah the father of three sons having reached dry land after about 150 days in the ark parties a bit too much and finds himself drunk and laying naked on the floor and while two of his sons cover him one stands by and laughs and Noah awakens and says that as a result he would be a servant to his brothers

Another scripture commonly used is Ephesians 6 as Paul shares, “Slaves, obey your masters here on earth. Respect them and honor them with a heart that is true. Obey them just as you would obey Christ. Don’t obey them only to please them when they are watching. Do it because you are slaves of Christ. Be sure your heart does what God wants. Serve your masters with all your heart. Work as serving the Lord and not as serving people. You know that the Lord will give each person a reward. He will give to them in keeping with the good they do. It doesn’t matter whether they are a slave or not.” - These passages were taught by slave masters to ensure that those enslaved would see their Christian duty in service to their earthly masters

This kind of ideology has to then deny the truth of Genesis 1 in that all of humanity was created in the very image of God - The language of slaves and masters is used most often in scripture to convey a spiritual condition to show our need for Christ’s redemption - Jesus himself uses this kind of analogy in Matthew 24, Luke 12 and Luke 16 where he is in no way commending the practice of slavery but rather uses the historical cultural reality to speak to the ethical and spiritual conditions of the people to demonstrate the substandard position of their societal weakness and ultimate despair of those who turned from God and willfully chosen disobedience -

Know Fam that Paul here seeks only to show us that all authority rests in our God as he is the sovereign creator of humanity, divine judge and the only true and righteous king who reigns above all things - The practice of slavery in the Americas is a clear violation of scripture and its demands for the fair treatment of all people along with the prohibitions of brutality - Paul uses the term bondservant though to show not only that we are all subservient and entirely at the disposal of our God, but we too, no matter our status in life, should seek the liberating freedom found only in him as even slaves and masters will find eternal rest as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Look with me then at verse 2 as it tells us to, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” - To be steadfast is to be resolute, firm and unwavering in our commitment - To be steadfast in prayer though,  is to be in constant conversation with our God so that as his people we might know not only does he hear our prayers but he delights in them - in Psalm 37:4 we see that when we Delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our hearts - Not only is this church being told to continue praying, but he says they must be watchful in it with thanksgiving - Here Paul is pointing us to Jesus’ teaching in Mark 14:38 to, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - The spirit here is not a reference to the Holy Spirit, but the spirits of those he has chosen to reconcile to himself and yet they find themselves overwhelmed - Paul tells us to do so with thanksgiving which is ironic because Jesus in Mark 14 is encouraging his disciples to pray just moments before he is arrested, judged falsely and hung on a cross - So why pray, why be watchful in thanksgiving, because in everything we face, he is with us

Look Fam at verses 3 and 4, it says, “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” - This is crazy right because Paul asks them to pray while being watchful and with thanksgiving but he says pray that I can continue to do the very thing that got my locked up - Paul asks that they would pray for even more opportunities to share the good news of Jesus and the mystery here is the Gospel itself as in Romans 16 we see the mystery unveiled is the truth of how God himself has given himself for us

Verse 5 tells us to, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.” - This is the church being called not only to be welcoming to those from the outside, but to do so in a timely way - Why is this important though? I’m glad you asked because the world is watching us and it's here that the church is being called to live in such a way that exemplifies Jesus, and to do so in a timely manner is to recognize that time is not endless because Christ will soon return

Verse 6 says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” - As much as I know we like to show up on Sunday presenting ourselves like we have this spiritual thing all together the truth is this verse is a reflection of just how desperately we need Jesus to be at work in us - If we’re honest, many of us have said something to someone today that we shouldn’t have - Have you been gracious with your spouse and your kids, have you been gracious with your roommate or sibling? - Notice though that he says that we are to be seasoned with salt like Jesus says in Matthew 5:13 that, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.” - You know what’s interesting about salt, it’s a season that not only makes our food taste better but it’s also an antiseptic used to prevent the growth of disease so not only do we need to be the savor of goodness in what we say to others, its by that same saltiness in us that we keep the disease of sin from growing in us

In verses 5-18 Paul closes his letter by talking about all the brothers who are working along with him because our faith in Jesus should lead us to live in community with others and while we know that Epaphras is the pastor of this church in Colossians who comes to tell Paul all that's going on within the life of the church there are two other brothers who Paul says are with him that should immediately stand out…Anybody know who they are?

In verse 10 he says Mark the cousin of Barnabas is with him and in verse 14 Luke who he calls the beloved physician is with him as well and we know these are the same brothers who go on to write the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke - Mark is an interesting dude because he goes with Paul on what we call his first missionary journey but clearly it didn’t go so well because in Acts 15:39 Paul tells Barnabas, ‘yo, your cousin ain’t coming with me nowhere cuz this dude is scared out here in these streets,’ that’s at least that’s how it reads in the BSV (The Black Standard Version) but something had to have changed for Mark to be with Paul in this moment - Mark goes from being afraid of the difficulty in missions to the writer of a gospel that transcends time and I hope that encourages you to see that there is growth for you to come

Luke however was ride or die with Paul because we see him not only with Paul here in Colossians but Paul talks about him being there in Timothy and Philemon as well - Luke was a doctor who Paul probably really needed to be around with as many times as he found himself in some bad situations but we can see in Luke’s writings in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts what he himself describes as an accurate historical record of the life and ministry of Jesus and the development of the early church

I want to close though tonight by looking at verse 18 because Paul takes the pen from Timothy who we believe historically served with Paul like a secretary and he signs the letter himself - This for the time period was pretty common practice but Paul wants to sign it himself so that no one would question its authenticity and he tells them to remember his chains - To remember his sufferings for the sake of the truth for all humanity that we serve a gracious God who has given us his son to bear the cross for the sins of humanity and he is yet to come again…Let’s pray!