Colossians Part VIII: Final Instructions

Readings

Colossians 1:9-13, NIV
Colossians 4:2-18, NIV

Introduction

Well, we've come to the last part in our series on Colossians. Last time, we thought about what Paul had to say about various personal relationships, and we could think of what he said as balancing authority and responsibility, tempering both with an attitude of submission and humility. Today, we think of other relationships:

• our relationship with God through prayer, and
• our relationship with those outside the kingdom through our witness.

Prayer

I'm sure we've all heard many a sermon on prayer. It's something that puzzles us. Doesn't God know everything anyway? Can we really change his mind by praying? How does prayer work?

Now, I'm not the world's best pray-er. There are probably people here who know a lot more about it. But we don't have to be experts. It's just something we need to do, and the way we do it can be as individual as we are.

Prayer for me is about consciously acknowledging the presence of God, talking life and issues over with him, allowing him to influence me. It's about working with God to bring about change; God wants us to be involved in what he's doing. However strange it may seem, prayer is something that God wants us to do; it's something that Paul encourages us to do: “Devote yourselves to prayer.”

The translators have used this word devote to convey Paul's meaning to us. When we devote something, whether that be an object or time, we set it apart for a special purpose. When we devote ourselves to something, we sweep all else aside to make way for that thing. So Paul is telling us that prayer is really important—something we can't ignore.

The Greek word behind the translators' devote is proskartereo and its use in scripture suggests persistence, intent engagement, constant attention, perseverance. Prayer is not something we restrict to a specific time in our week—it's an ongoing occupation.

Prayer is much more than religiously 'saying prayers'. It's about a purposeful, expectant interaction with God. For example, just saying the Lord's prayer does absolutely nothing for us. That prayer was intended as a model, a shape for our praying. We need to get inside the Lord's prayer, to inhabit it, to understand that this is what God wants, and I want it too! We discover God's presence and purposes when we spend time in prayer!

Prayer can be dangerous! Sometimes God's answer can be, 'I want you to do something about this.'

Paul tells us in our praying to be watchful and thankful. We should keep an eye out for the needs around us, pray about them and look for the answers, then give thanks when the answers come, perhaps especially when we discover we are the answer!

Prayer can also be part of our involvement with the worldwide church. Paul says, “And pray for us, too...” A literal translation of the Greek here would be something like 'praying together also concerning us.' The word translated as together suggests we're not in intended to be doing this only as individuals. Whether what Paul wrote suggests corporate prayer in the Colossian church, or joining their prayers together with Paul's is perhaps arguable, but certainly we should be praying for those who are working to spread God's kingdom. Paul gives us some ideas of what to pray, and we'll think about that in a while.

Obviously, we are also going to pray for ourselves. What sort of things should we pray for? In Ephesians, Paul says, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” I think that phrase “in the Spirit” re-emphasises the point about real engagement when we pray, not merely reciting prayers.

In praying for ourselves, we may pray, 'Please God, change this situation for me.' His answer may be, 'No, because I want to change you for the situation.' But pray about anything and everything. God cares for you!

There are some things we should be concerned about for ourselves, and that's why we read Paul's prayer for the Colossians again. I'm not going to preach on that passage again, but have another read of it when you get home. The things in that prayer are what Paul thought important for Christians, things that have never diminished in importance. We can, and should, pray that we might benefit from the same things today.

We also read what Epaphras prayed for the Colossians: that they “may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” So Paul and Epaphras are praying the same things really. Should we not want these things for ourselves, for each other?

Witness

What do you believe? Why do you believe it? What difference does it make to the way you live? If it makes no difference, you don't really believe it.

We are witnesses to the saving grace of God. We're living testimonies to the difference our God can bring to the needy, and to those who think they need nothing. If we are living out our faith, people will notice. Some of them will wonder why we're different. Some will ask what makes us different. We need to be ready to tell others our personal stories of our faith.

You don't need to have a deep understanding of theology. Your story doesn't have to be spectacular. You don't have to have answers to all the questions about suffering, wars, and why God allows bad things to happen. It's just your experience, what God means to you.

Is it important that others believe the gospel? Well, if it's only in Christ that people are rescued from the dominion of darkness, find entrance to the kingdom of his Son and forgiveness of sins, then it is important, and our witness is important. We need to be ready and willing to share.

So, how can we prepare ourselves? Paul suggests three things in this passage:

• Our prayers
• Our actions
• Our words

Our Prayers

Given what we've already thought about prayer, it's no great surprise that prayer is an important part of being ready to share our stories. We really can't get by without it.

I wonder what we think of Paul. Do we imagine him to have been someone who had it all together, who fearlessly spread the gospel wherever he went? He was an ordinary human being just like us, and just like us he needed all the help God could give him. And so he asked the Colossians to pray for his ministry, specifically asking for two things.

Firstly, he wants a door to be opened for his message. He was in Rome under house arrest, so maybe he was asking the Colossians to pray for his release, or maybe he was asking for opportunities to come his way regardless of his circumstances—after all, he was allowed to receive visitors and was constantly watched over by Roman guards. Ironically, they would have been a captive audience!

Secondly, he wants to proclaim the mystery of Christ clearly. Paul was a scholar with encyclopaedic knowledge of scripture. If anyone knew how to present the gospel it was surely him. Yet he asks for the Colossians to pray for clarity, so that he might be effective in his presentation.

Now, if Paul asked for prayer for those things, these are good things to pray for our own witness: opportunities to share, and the ability to be clear in our sharing.

When we pray like this for ourselves, we're telling God we're available to be involved in his work of rescuing people.

Our Actions

Paul says, “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders…” He isn't talking about us putting on a show. A literal translation here would be, “walk in wisdom toward the ones outside.” Our walk is our way of living, and our living should always be consistent with our faith. All those virtues we were told to clothe ourselves with earlier (compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness) are not to be kept within the confines of our fellowship.

We're wise to remember that we're always on display. What image do we project? We're wise to show the same love to those outside our faith as we do to those on the inside. To the Jew of Paul's day, gentiles were considered worse than dogs—but Christ is for all, Jew and gentile alike. To the Islamist of today, unbelievers are scum to be used and abused and disposed of however they see fit. Hundreds of mass graves have been discovered in territories that were controlled by the so-called Islamic State. It's hardly the sort of behaviour that would attract me to join them.

Our wise conduct will show the love of God to those who have yet to discover Christ for themselves. Our wise conduct will be welcoming of those who are seeking, and generous towards the needy. Our wise conduct will show the clear difference that God has made to our living.

Our wise conduct will make people wonder why we're different and ask us. And Paul tells us to “… make the most of every opportunity.” If you're praying for opportunities, expect opportunities. Trust that the opportunities God gives you are within the grasp of your abilities. You can do it!

A friend told me about an experience he had as a young man when he started working for the Post Office. All the men made fun of his beliefs but he stuck at it. One day he announced he had tickets for a film featuring Billy Graham. All but one rubbished the idea. The most foul-mouthed villain of the lot agreed to go along—just for a laugh! He watched the film with tears running down his cheeks and was converted that very night! The other men back at the sorting office were amazed at the transformation.

We may not always be the last link in the chain that leads someone to salvation, but we never know what influence we may have. If my friend hadn't been open about his faith, who knows what would have happened to that man? And I am standing here today because a school friend was willing to stand up and be counted.

Our Words

Our words speak volumes about our character. When I was at university, there was a guy in the Christian Union who seemed incapable of speaking anything other than sarcasm. He was most offended when I told him I'd heard enough of it! We've probably all met people who are always grumpy, or bossy, or negative, or cynical, or divisive.

But Paul tells us, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Jesus said, “… the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45). If we find it hard to be gracious in our speech, perhaps the problem lies in our hearts…

If we are Christians, then we're recipients of God's grace. That grace should be shown in our relationships and our speech. Even when we have good cause to tell someone off!

We all know how salt adds flavour to food. Paul tells us to add flavour to our speech! That doesn't mean we should embellish the truth. To the Jews of the day, salt was an idiom for wisdom. So as well as being wise in our conduct, we need to be wise in what we say and how we say it.

Peter writes in his first letter, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Paul implies in Colossians that the practice of gracious, wise conversation will mean that when anyone asks us about what we believe, we'll be better prepared to answer them.

We can help ourselves by talking to each other about faith, and listening to each other, and encouraging each other. What stops us doing that? Is it that we have nothing to say? Or are we just embarrassed? Is it British reserve? A fear that we might be seen as showing off? We need to develop the habit of sharing our faith and our experiences of God. If we can't talk to each other here we'll find it almost impossible anywhere else.

Conclusion

And so, today we've shared some thoughts about prayer and about sharing our faith with others, and we've come to the end of our series on Colossians. The remainder of the chapter consists of final greetings and refers to a number of people.

Paul's letter to Colossae addressed specific needs in a particular church, and imparted some general teaching to the people there. But, just as Paul thought it would be useful for the people in Laodicea to read the letter as well, it's also useful for us. We too face opposing influences in our society. Understanding who Christ is, what God has done for us in Christ, how God expects us to live, and the liberty God has given us to live that way, will help us resist the pressures that can undermine our trust, water down our message and divert us from the path to life.

As a preacher, I want my words to be interesting, certainly, perhaps educational. But above all, I want my words to be transformative, not merely informative. I hope that you'll think about what I've said, read for yourselves the scriptures I've been talking about. I hope you've heard the Holy Spirit speaking to you, not just me.

But, having heard, what will you do? To the Hebrew, to hear was more than just listening: to hear was to put into practice. Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.”

There are some serious challenges in Colossians, but there are also liberating truths. Read it again; read Ephesians too, and allow yourselves to be transformed by what you discover.