Colossians 1:15-28

Trinity 7 (18 July 2010)

Text: Colossians 1: 15-28

 

We have been standing at the pulpit & lectern Sunday after Sunday, with a sole purpose of trying to help you hear and understand God’s Written Word.  Our sole purpose is so that you hear about Jesus and knows what it means to follow him.  We are not here just to tell you about laws and rules and historical facts. We want you hear the Good News of what God has done for you in Christ.

I cannot speak for the other preachers, but I personally find it hard to be funny and tell jokes when I am at the pulpit. May be I don’t have the gifts and I easily forget jokes that I have heard from someone.  But I want you to know that I do my very best to make my messages to be as practical as possible, even if you think that it is not what you need to hear.  What do we need to hear and understand?

First, I want you to understand that ministry is hard work. In our Epistle reading today, Paul speaks of working hard, labouring, and even struggling. In verse 24 he speaks about his suffering. Ministry involves struggles and sometimes disappointments. It is not always easy, and it is not meant to be easy.  It is like that because we are the body of Christ.  Remember what Jesus said in John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” As such, we should not be surprised when we go through tough times. If we want the message of the Gospel to be carried to the ends of the earth, it will be accompanied with difficulty. In fact, in order to share the gospel, it is necessary to share in Christ’s afflictions.

So suffering is part of discipleship. Christ followers are recognized by the trials they endure because they follow a suffering Saviour. The question is: how far are we willing to go in suffering for the gospel?  Are you on the verge of giving up?

The second thing is found in verses 25-27: “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Paul likes to refer to himself as a servant. This word “servant” can be translated “minister.” The word “commission” means “management” or “stewardship.”  Paul recognized that he was entrusted with a special task; that is to present the “word of God in its fullness.”

I recognize my responsibility to preach the Word of God in its fullness. That means that that there will be time when I have to say things to encourage you, and there will be times that I have to say things that you don’t like to hear.  That is why we preach about heaven and hell, and proclaim that Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God. We stand on the Bible and we are committed to presenting the Word of God in its fullness.

The third thing that I want you to take note is our proclamation verse for today. Note that Colossians 1:28 has the word “everyone” mentioned twice – “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”

Paul wants it clearly understood that when the Gospel is proclaimed, it is intended to touch and reach all kind of people.  It is not a ministry just for the rich, or just for the poor, just for the old, or just for the young.  Some of the false teachers in Colossae said that the deep things of the Spirit could only be understood by some people, and if Christians wanted to know them, they have to join the group that has this special knowledge.

There are some of us today who think like that today.  We think that the work of the Church is only meant for special group of people.  We say that Bible study is only meant for certain ‘religious’ people, or that prayers can only be said by special leaders, or that the sharing of the Good News is solely the responsibility of the priest or pastor.  We assume that the work in the church is only to be done by the full-time workers or elected leaders. Such thinking needs to be put right.  So the question is: are you serving according to your calling?

We need to know that no one is too big or small to need the Word of God or to receive the touch of the Spirit. No one is too rich or too poor to receive God’s grace. None of you is too young or too old to walk a life of faith. Most importantly, no one is too bad or too good to need the Gospel. No one is exempt from the call to follow and obey Jesus.

The fourth thing we learn in Paul’s goal was to “to present everyone perfect in Christ.”  This must be our goal too. I know that some of us have problem with that word “perfect”.  We often associate perfection with something that is flawless or a person who is sinless.  We tend to excuse misbehaviour by saying, “No one’s perfect.”  Or we excuse ourselves by saying, “I am only human.” 

Yes, we are humans and we are not flawless; but remember that the Bible tells us that we are the crown jewel of God’s creation and made a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). We were created in God’s image (Genesis 1: 26).  The New Testament tells that we are so valuable that Christ died on the cross for us and the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Perfect doesn’t necessarily mean being flawless or without sin. Here it means “being complete, mature, or had fulfilled the purpose for which we are designed to be”.  Our job as a church is not just to admonish, or even to teach people. We do those things in order to create spiritually mature Christ-followers. We should all be in the process of growth, of becoming more like Jesus every day. Our focus is not on numerical growth, or just to build buildings, or to impart religious information: our goal is spiritual growth, to build believers, and to transform lives.

The truth is none of us will ever be without flaw or sin, but we can be what God made us to be. This is what the ministry of the church is all about: to help us all know our purpose in life, which is to know God. We were made so that we have a relationship with God. We are called to learn and walk in the holiness and love. We are called to discover the gifts God has in store for us.  We are called to be witnesses for Christ.  

Do you feel a bit aimless, or even bored in your life? The cure to that is not to focus on your problem.  Start making impact in other people’s lives; start being generous, caring, and considerate to others; and learn to give yourself to a cause – and you will see what it will do to your personal life!  If we are serious about growing to maturity – don’t grow up alone; try to help moving other people to maturity.   

Our final question is: How do we do it?  In this passage Paul also tells us how he carried out his ministry. There are two sides to the equation. On one side is the human side.  The human side involves planning, setting up of a strategy, and the need to learn constantly in order to improve ourselves.  But this is only half of the equation.  We cannot do it all but our human effort. We need God’s help because this is God’s business.  That is what makes the difference. We can work as hard as we can, but we cannot create new life. Only God’s Spirit can do that. That is why ministry must involve prayer, direction of the Holy Spirit, and power from God, if it wants to achieve something.

We may accomplish much because we work hard and we work smart.  But all of it is nothing compared to what God can do through us when we humbly submit to his will. We cannot really know what is ahead. Good times and bad; laughter and tears; successes and failures; dreams and disappointments - they will all be there.  But most important of all, God will be there too.  

I want to encourage you to stay together as brothers and sisters, as fellow labourers in the work Christ because that is where real joy is found. I hope that you will agree with me that it is much better to do battle together than to battle each other, and it is much better to walk together than to walk alone.

As I was typing my sermon on my computer on Friday, a letter from the Bishop arrived by fax; appointing me as the Chaplain of the ADYC. It will mean extra work because I shall be doing 2 jobs at the same time.  The Bishop is quite aware that it can cause problems because both the ADYC and the parish demands equal attention. As such I hope that you can regard my appointment to the ADYC Chaplaincy as opportunity for this parish to see itself as co-caretakers of all the Parish Youth Fellowships in the 30 parishes in Sarawak and Brunei.  As we do not have any mission outstations, we can consider the various youth fellowships in the Diocese as our outstation ministry.  And that also calls for greater responsibility for our youth in this parish.