I am continuing to load a backlog of messages. this message was preached in 2023 as the conclusion to a series on the book of Colossians.
You might think that the passage we had
read out to us today is like the credits at the end of a movie. The story has
finished and we feel free to get up and walk out on them, they are not really
that important, and let’s face it some of them are hard to pronounce... And
It’s not like with the Marvel cinematic universe, there isn’t a teaser for the
next instalment for those who linger long enough. Why spend a whole sermon
looking at this section of the book, this list of names people we hardly hear
of. What is just a formality at the end of a brilliant letter?
We live in a time
when journalists more and more use human interest stories as a way of looking
at the news, as a lens to explore government policy and the large important stories
of the day. How they effect and impact one person, a person like you or I. It
makes it personal and accessible for people, apparently it is more effective at
getting an audience to react as well, to sway viewers to the viewpoint being
presented. This list of people at the end of the letter to the church at
Colossae takes the deep and wonderful good news theology that Paul has been
talking about and ties it down to it being lived out in the lives of real
people, like you and I. NT Wright sums it up at the end of his commentary by
saying “
the gospel is not about abstract ideas but about people; (Te Tangata, Te
Tangata Te Tangata, as the Maori proverb goes)
in Jesus the word became flesh; and the God who is the main subject of
the gospel is known supremely as the God of Love’.
We have been working our way through Paul’s letter to the
church at Colossae. Colossae is a city in the Lycos river valley in Asia Minor,
modern day turkey. It’s a city he’d never been to or at least we have no record
of his visit. He is writing as a prisoner, probably in Ephesus on his way to
Rome. He writes to encourage the church to stand strong, and grow to maturity
in the faith, warning then against people who would try and tie them down to
hollow manmade philosophies, a Christ plus religion. He writes affirming that
Jesus life, death and resurrection is sufficient for our salvation, our
fullness of life and our future hope. That our old selves have been crucified
and buried with Christ and we are raised to life as part of God’s new creation,
and we should live that out in the way we show love to one another, across the
social and cultural barriers of the world, that in Christ we are primarily
brothers and sisters. The key way we relate to each other is with Christ like
service and care. The series is called Colossians; Christ and Christ
Alone.
The passage we are looking at today is really split into four sections. V.7-9 deal with the messengers who are delivering the letter. V10-14 are greetings from Paul’s companions, v.15 is greetings that Paul is asking the church to give and v.16-18 are some final instructions and a blessing. So lets work through the text then look at what it says to us today.
Firstly the messengers.
Tychicus, is listed first and in Acts we learn that Tychicus was a convert
in Ephesus who travelled with Paul to Macedonia and beyond and also with Paul
on his fateful trip to Jerusalem. He is mentioned in Ephesians 6:21-22 as the
person who delivered that letter to the church. In 2nd Timothy and
Titus Paul instructs his recipients to send Tychicus to Ephesus. He is obviously
one of Pauls key leaders. He is described here as a dear brother, a faithful
minister and a fellow servant. Paul shows his great love for Tychicus and also
that he values him as a co-worker in the gospel. The use of fellow servant or
slave reminds his readers after Paul had spoken of slaves and masters that
Christian leaders are themselves simply servants. But in giving Tychicus all
these titles Paul is also affirming his authority, as the person who delivered
the letter was seen as the embodiment of the writer. He would answer the
questions and expand on what was said.
The other messenger is Onesimus, who Paul says is one of
you, he is from Colossae. We know that Onesimius was a slave in the household
of Philemon at Colossae and had run away only to be converted to Christ by
Paul. His forgiveness and ability to be involved in Paul’s ministry is the
subject matter of the letter to Philemon. We don’t at what stage we are at when
this letter is sent. However Paul emphasises the equality of people in Christ
here by refereeing to Onisemius as my dear brother, not focusing on the servant
part. Oniseimus’ presence adds a real
life edge to Paul’s teaching about new life in Christ and how we should treat
fellow Christians with forgiveness and the attributes of love. That is not just
virtue signalling but new creation living amidst the messiness of life.
Not only will these people bring the letter, but also tell
the church about what is happening with Paul and Timothy. Our in this section
reminds us that this letter is from both of these men. It says something about
them that they are more concerned with building the church up that letting them
know about their own condition and troubles.
In verse 10 Paul moves to bring greetings from six of his
companions. Three fellow Jews and then three gentile co-workers.
Aristarchus, who Paul says is a fellow prisoner, we find
accompanying Paul in Acts from his time in Thessalonica, in Acts 19:29 we see
he was also arrested during the riots in Ephesus and he was with Paul in
Jerusalem and all the way to Rome, he I also mentioned in the letter to
Philemon. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. In Acts we learn that Mark’s mother
hosted church meetings in Jerusalem. Barnabas wanted to take mark on Paul’s
second missionary trip, however Paul was not willing to after he had deserted
them on their first trip. This caused the rift between Barnabas and Paul, with
Paul taking Silas with him and Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus. Paul often uses
the word faithful when affirming his colleagues and we can see that is
something he values. The fact that mark is mentioned here shows that this rift
has been healed, again a working out of new creation living in the real lives
of people. In other letters Paul will ask mark to be sent to him as he is
useful. Mark is also mentioned in 1 Peter as being with Peter in Rome and is
traditional seen as the writer of the gospel that bears his name. One often
seen as written for a roman audience and with peter as a primary source. Jesus
known as Justus, is only mentioned here and we have no knowledge beyond this
one mention. He Is like many Jews he has a Hebrew name Jeshua or Jesus and a
greek or roman name Justus. Like Saul and Paul, possibly being known as Justus
also meant that he wasn’t always known as … no not that Jesus the other one.
These are the only three Jewish coworkers for the Kingdom
that Paul has for comfort. Paul’s mission and message of gentile inclusion into
the kingdom of God was not universally accepted and here we catch something of Paul
pain at the rejection of his message by many of his fellow Jews.
Then we have three gentile companions named.
Epaphras, is acknowledged as he is the person who had bought
the gospel to Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis, the three cities in the Lycos
valley. Paul affirms his continued concern and hard work on their behalf. His
Prayer for them to stand firm and grow into maturity which echoes Paul’s own. Luke,
the beloved physician, this is only time in the New Testament epistles that
Luke is named, and it is how we know he is a doctor. He is attributed with
writing the gospel and the book of Acts, in the ‘we’ passages of Acts there is
evidence that Luke is present with Paul, in his journeys, in Jerusalem and in
Rome. Demas is the last of Pauls co-workers mentioned, he is also mentioned as
a co-worker in the letter to Philemon, then sadly in the later letter of 2
Timothy he is sad to have deserted Paul and gone to Thessalonica, because he
loved the world so much.
It is important to see that Paul’s choice of co-workers and
companions actually shows his commitment to a cross ethnic church, a place
where in Christ there is no Jew or gentile, Greek or barbarian, free or slave,
but Christ is all and Christ is in All.
In verse 15 we have Paul asking that greeting be given.
First to the brothers and sister in Laodicea, an encouragement that as the
church we may be in our isolated communities but we are called to be connected
and caring for our fellow Christians around us. Finally to Nympha and the
church that meets in her house. Here again we have a silent witness to women in
leadership in the New Testament church. Nympha was either a widow or head of
the household that hosted a church and or its leader. Just like when Paul
writes to Philemon he greets the church that meets in Philemon’s home.
Then in v 16-18 we have Paul’s final instructions. The first
is that Laodicea and Colossae swap letters once they have read them. It is
early evidence that Paul believed what he wrote was significant and important
for all believers and while each letter was occasional to a specific time and
place, that the issues each church faced were similar enough for his message to
be relevant. What we are doing now by reading Paul’s epistles and working
through what they mean and how they are relevant connects us to this early
church and Paul’s direct instructions to them. It may just be harder for us to
work through how they apply as it is more distant in time and space, not just
across the valley.
The church is told to tell Archippus to complete the
ministry he has received from the Lord. Archippus is mentioned in Paul’s letter
to Philemon as part of his household and church, there paul calls him a fellow
soldier in Christ. We don’t know what his ministry was but it does remind us to
encourage people in ministry to keep on going and to acknowledge that people
are called by God. We in ministry and leadership need that encouragement to
persevere and complete what we have been called to do.
Paul then signs off in person. Remember that most of Paul’s
letters would have been written by a scribe, but it would have come from Paul
and Timothy and here as a mark of authenticity and authority Paul writes in his
own hand. He asks the church to remember him in Prayer and his captivity. An
encouragement for us to remember those imprisoned and persecuted Christians
around the world. Then finishes with a blessing of grace. Grace be with you. As
CK Beale in his commentary says in the end “all Paul has said to the Colossians
can only be understood, applied and obeyed in the grace of God.”
I want to finish by making three quick comments as to how
this applies to us today.
The first is that these names and the amount of warmth and
affection with which each is spoken of, shows us of the need for fellowship.
Which is not just a cup of tea and a chat after the service. Hear Paul’s use of
the word fellow… fellow servant, fellow minister and fellow prisoner, fellow
soldier. We are called to be a committed community who together live out and
proclaim the gospel. Who work together for that common goal and common good. In
the difficult times, times of hardship and suffering, like Pauls imprisonment,
amidst the difficult and potentially destructive pastoral and relational issues
which can try and divide us. Onisemius who needed to be reconciled with
Philemon, mark and Banabas who had fallen out with Paul but were now reunited,
forgiveness and grace in action. I can’t help but think it also means being
prepared to experience the hurt that Paul did over Demas deserting him, offering
all the warmth of embrace and fellowship.
Secondly it is a
fellowship across the social divides of the day. The passage speaks to us about
being a genuine multicultural church, which is an outworking of being God’s new
creation people in Christ. Paul not only
proclaimed that he lived it out, his close companions and fellow co-workers
were a natural outworking and expression of that. The people he greeted showed
it, I know it’s sadly still controversial but that include women in positions
of leadership as well. In his letter to Philemon, which is so closely
associated with the letter to Colossae he greets both Philemon and his wife Apphia,
whom Paul calls a fellow sister. I want, I long to be part of a church where
cultures are welcomed and valued and their distinctive are included as gift
into our lives and worship. I’m still blown away by the glimpse Enosa and
felicity gave us to the joy and vibrancy of that when their family came and
handed him over to us, they shared their Samoan culture and faith with us. At central when Charlotte asks to do a Waiata (Maori for song) in the service.
When we are greeted in Te Reo or Samoan or Hindi or Afrikaans, where men and
women work together, young and old. It is a present day manifestation of that
new creation people in Christ.
Thirdly, it’s easy when we read these letters and the scripture to kind of get the idea of Paul as the key figure, the hero of the piece. We live in a time when celebrity is valued and people become important and central when they have more than one platform to speak from, we see them on the platform in church, on one or more streaming platform on line. But here we see Paul’s vision of how the church and mission and the spread of the gospel works. It’s not about one person, apart from Christ. We see this community this team committed to the cause of Christ committed to the spread of the gospel and the growth into maturity of the church. You have a part to play alongside each other. They see themselves as brothers and sisters, co-workers, fellow servants of Christ. They value each other’s support and comfort and are willing to encourage each other to carry on in their ministry. Paul is Timothy’s mentor seeking to empower the next generation, Epharas has been discipled by Paul and has gone and planted three new churches, Mark uses his writing skills, as does Luke, and others simply work in obscurity. We talked about this list being like a list of credits, behind me is the famous credit slide from Citizen Kane where Orson Wells the director producer lead actor and visionary behind the film shares equal billing with camera man Greg Tolland as a way of acknowledging his wonderful cinematography that made Well’s vision come alive.
Finally in closing, Colossians is this amazing wonderful
letter speaking of the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ. In his life, death and resurrection Jesus has
done all that is needed for us to be reconciled with God, for us to know and to
live a full and abundant new creation life. Has done all that we need for a sure
and certain hope for eternity. We have died with Christ, we are raised with
Christ we will be raised to eternal life in Christ.it might feel like the
credits have rolled on Colossians but the story is not over, it’s your story
it’s my story it’s our story. We too need to stand firm in the faith we have
received in love for all God’s people, and grow to know the will of God and
live in a way that pleases God. We to need Paul blessing on the church in
Colossae grace be with you, grace be with me grace be with us… as we put our
trust in Christ and Christ alone.
