Being
Full of Grace and Well Seasoned
[Colossians
chapter four]
Today
we will be finishing the book of Colossians, and so today will be
devoted to chapter four. As you remember, when we finished up chapter
three last week we left off where the apostle Paul was writing about
the rules for Christian households. In a Christian household,
husbands should be loving and gentle with their wives, the wives
should serve their husbands and families as if they were serving the
Lord (except that I think husbands and wives should be equals,
because marriage is a partnership, not a dictatorship), children are
to be obedient to their parents, and parents may never “embitter”
their children. Meaning, if we want to have Godly families then we
must never, ever act abusively towards our spouses and our kids, and
never be overbearing, manipulative or domineering towards one
another. A dysfunctional family, no matter how “religious” they
appear to be, is a perfect example of how not to maintain a marriage,
not to mention being the wrong way to raise children. Show me parents
who are too demanding or impossible to please because they're never
satisfied, and especially if they are perfectionists, and I'll show
you a family who is CINO (Christian in name only). People who treat
others like this and then claim to love God will end up worshiping in
vain. Their names are most definitely not in the Lamb's Book of Life
(see Revelation 20: verses 11-15) because of the way they treat
others. If they treat their spouses and their children poorly and
with disrespect, how will they treat others who they never loved or
respected either? Paul also commented on the treatment of slaves,
which still has meaning today because of the extremely unfair and
immoral way in which employers treat their employees. Working for
somebody else for what amounts to a bare-bones existence is the
equivalent of slavery by any standard, and the enslavement of others
is never a Christian act. Moreover, it's an injustice! And so today
let's take up where we left off last week, starting once again with
the topic of slavery, beginning at verse one.
“Masters,
provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know
that you also have a Master in heaven. Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too, that God may open
the door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of
Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it
clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always
full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer
everyone.” (Col. 4, verses 1-6, NIV)
The
first verse of chapter 4 can be translated, or be equivalent to,
modern employers and employees. It is true that slavery still exists
today, mainly in parts of third world countries. But economic
slavery, as I pointed out last week at the close of chapter three, is
very much alive and well throughout the world, including the United
States. Here in America, the minimum wage is still only $7.25 per
hour in many parts of the country. That works out to be about $840.00
per month after taxes and Social Security, not counting state income
taxes like they have here in Georgia where I live. Has anyone ever
tried living on such a pitiful wage? Do the math and see how
ridiculous the “federal minimum wage” truly is. Based on this
verse of Scripture alone, American employers are clearly coming up
way short. In factories in China, India, Russia, Southeast Asia and
Mexico, workers are living on the equivalent of $2.00 per day.
Factories in the third world pay even less. What would Jesus say to
them about this? Would he congratulate them? On the contrary, he
would be furious about it, and he would treat them the same way as
the money changers that he threw out of the Temple in Jerusalem
during the week leading up to his crucifixion. Next, it says, “...
you
know that you also have a Master in heaven.”
Read this carefully, all you employers and business owners. Refusing
to pay a living wage is pure greed and raw selfishness, and it smacks
of elitism, which is the very opposite of Christ's message that we
are to “love our neighbors as ourselves”. We are commanded to be
merciful and generous with others, it's all over all four gospels. “I
desire mercy,”
Jesus said, “not
sacrifice”.
Don't tell Christ how much you gave at church on Sunday morning, or
call much attention to your good works. While these things are
important, how we treat people on a daily basis is what matters the
most to Jesus. “Whatsoever
you do for the least of my brethren”,
Jesus said, “that
you do for me”.
“Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
This is good advice every day of the year. For anyone to say that
they pray every day is not sufficient in the eyes of Christ. It's not
bad either, but it's up to each of us to give our all for Him. Pray
constantly, first for the Church and for Israel, second for the
congregation where you attend services on the Sabbath, then for your
loved ones at home or work, and for yourself last. Whenever I see an
ambulance go by I stop and pray for the person inside. That's just
one example of what I mean, but you get the idea. “Be
wise in the way you act towards outsiders...”. Have
you ever been in a church, or seen someone on the street or where you
shop or work, that thinks they're so elevated towards Christ that
their feet hardly ever touch the ground? You know the ones, they are
those who are so high and mighty in their “walk” with the Lord
that they can't do any earthly good, or who look down on others who
aren't as spiritually “advanced” (to their way of thinking) as
they are. Get away from those people! They think they are saved but
they are not because they treat others so poorly. To put it bluntly,
they have a rotten attitude that will get them sent straight to hell
whether they are a “good person” or not! Their eternal judgment
awaits them, and it's going to be very bad indeed for all snobbish
people. “Let
your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how to answer everyone.”
This is a clear reference to something Jesus spoke of so eloquently
at the start of his Sermon on the Mount. I quote from Matthew chapter
5, verse 13 when he said, “You
are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how
can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except
to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
If you claim to be a Christian but have no zeal or enthusiasm for
Christ, or if you are unmoved by human suffering and have no pity or
compassion for those who are less fortunate, your Christianity won't
pass the smell test. And you know what that means. Time to get busy.
Having made my point, let me continue with the rest of chapter four.
“Tychicus
will tell you all about the news about me. He is a dear brother, a
faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to
you for the express purpose that you may know our circumstances and
that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our
faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you
everything that is happening here. My fellow prisoner Aristarchus
sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (you
have received instruction about him; if he comes to you, welcome
him). Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are
the only Jews among our fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and
they have proved a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you and a
servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in
prayer for you, that you may stand firm in the will of God, mature
and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you
and for those at Laodicea and Hieropolis. Our dear friend Luke, the
doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers
at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church at her house. After this
letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church
of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
Tell Archippus: 'See to it that you have completed the work you have
received in the Lord'. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.
Remember my chains. Grace be with you.” (Col. 4, verses 7-18, NIV)
As
you can see, the majority of the remainder of chapter four has to do
with the Church's business and communication of its day. There was
none of the modern communication technology available back then that
we all take for granted today. No phones, no computers, no internet,
nor voice mail. There wasn't even a mail service back then like the
USPS today, although there were what we would call couriers in
today's terminology. Because of this, everything had to be written by
hand because the printing press was not invented for another 1,400
years. It must have taken Paul weeks or even a few months to write
this 4-chapter letter to the church at Colossi. But there are a
couple of things here that are noteworthy, such as Paul's reference
to a 1st century minister named Epaphras. Paul wrote that, “He
is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in the
will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is
working hard for you
...”. This is a clear reference to Genesis chapter 32, verses
22-30, where Jacob wrestled with God all night long, even until
daybreak. You remember this story, it's the one where Jacob's name
was changed to Israel by God. This heralds back to the apostle Paul's
Hebrew education and upbringing, which we discussed in detail in our
study of the Corinthian letters, among others. There is also a
reference to Luke the doctor, who is the same apostle of Jesus Christ
and who wrote the gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts – proving
that they all worked together, and that the apostle Paul had access
to what we now call the gospels of Christ, and was very much aware of
their content. There have been those within the Christian world who
erroneously teach that Paul could not have known about the Gospel
since it had not yet been written down. But I maintain that since
Paul knew Peter, who had opened his eyes after he been blinded for
three days while on the road to Damascus in the book of Acts, he must
have known about the Gospels as well, not to mention some of the
other apostles such as Mark and John. And that pretty much wraps up
the end of the book of Colossians. Starting next week we will move on
to the book of Ephesians. Until then, keep yourselves in prayer with
much thanksgiving and with a grateful heart. Shalom.
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