18 May 2014
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Colossians 4:7-18
Colossians 4:7-18
(NIV)
7 Tychicus will tell
you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow
servant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him
to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and
that he may encourage your hearts.
9 He is coming with
Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you
everything that is happening here.
10 My fellow
prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of
Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you,
welcome him.)
11 Jesus, who is
called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow
workers for the kingdom
of God, and they have
proved a comfort to me.
12 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 all the will of God, mature
and fully assured.
13 I vouch for him
that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea
and Hierapolis.
14 Our dear friend
Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
15 Give my greetings
to the brothers at Laodicea,
and to Nympha and the church in her house.
16 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.
17 Tell Archippus:
"See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."
18 I, Paul, write
this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
-- a couple of years ago, a parishioner at a
small church in Spain grew concerned over the environmental damage occurring to
the Ecce Homo – "Behold
the Man" -- a fresco of Jesus that
was had been painted on the wall of her church in the late 19th century -- and,
like me, if you're not sure what a fresco is, a fresco is a painting done with
watercolors on wet plaster that permeates the plaster and becomes fixed in
place forever as it dries
-- this elderly parishioner wanted
to restore the painting to its former glory, but rather than hiring a
professional to come in and restore it, she decided to do it herself -- the
results -- it is safe to say -- were not necessarily what she had hoped for
-- thinking about this botched
restoration of the portrait of Christ, it made me wonder how we present Christ
to our world today -- it has been said that every day, we paint a picture of
Christ for others through our lives, our actions, and our words -- but what do
they see when they look at us? -- are they drawn to the cross and the person of
Christ because of who we are? -- or do they turn away in revulsion because of
what they see?
-- God loves beautiful people
-- but the beauty God loves is the beauty on the inside rather than the beauty
on the outside -- it is the beauty within that draws people to God -- not the
externalities we so typically portray to the world
-- think
about it -- Jesus' harshest rebukes in the Bible were for the Pharisees --
followers of God who outwardly followed the Law to perfection, but inside were
far from Him -- followers who looked good on the outside, but were dirty and
unclean on the inside -- the picture of God they presented to the world was not
flattering at all
-- it
reminds me of Oscar Wilde's only novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
-- this novel tells the story of a young man named Dorian Gray who is so
beautiful and so perfect in his appearance that an artist asks to paint a
portrait of him
-- as the
artist works on the portrait, Dorian becomes convinced that he is truly so
beautiful and so perfect that nothing else matters except maintaining his
beautiful appearance and fulfilling all of his wants and desires, no matter how
sinful or how debauched they might be
--
realizing that one day he will begin to get old and his beauty will fade,
Dorian cries out, expressing his desire to sell his very soul in exchange for
maintaining his appearance -- Dorian's wish comes true with a unique twist --
as he grows older and falls into sin after sin, his external appearance never
changes but the portrait that the artist painted changes and displays the true
appearance and nature of Dorian's heart
--
throughout the years, Dorian would gaze at the portrait which served as a
reminder of the effect of his actions upon his soul, with each sin displayed as
a disfigurement of his form or through a sign of aging -- so, while Dorian remained
as beautiful and youthful as ever on the outside to those around him, the
portrait showed the true picture of who he was on the inside
-- when
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, He was showing the world who they truly were on
the inside -- and He told His followers to be something different -- to not
follow the path of the Pharisees, but to become beautiful people in their own
regard -- not focusing on outward appearances, but focusing on the heart --
Jesus taught that what makes a person truly attractive to others is not how you
look, but who you are
-- to
follow Christ -- to live according to His word -- means that you become
beautiful on the inside -- and if you do that, your outside will begin to
reflect the true beauty that lays within
-- so as we
turn again to this passage in Colossians, I want you to reflect on this thought
-- what picture of Christ are
we presenting to our world today? -- or, better yet, what picture of Christ should we be presenting to the
world today?
II. The Portrait
of a Christian
-- in this
passage from Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, he draws for us the portrait of a
true Christian
-- before
we turn back to this passage, let me give you the context -- scholars believe
that Paul typically did not write his own letters -- meaning that Paul did not
put pen to paper -- but would dictate the letters to the churches while a
scribe would write them down
-- and
that's just such a beautiful picture in my mind -- this letter to the church at
Colossae was written while Paul was a prisoner in Rome -- and I can see him
pacing around his home there -- chained to a Roman soldier -- pouring out his
heart and preaching to an invisible audience while the scribe recorded every
word that Paul uttered
-- most
scholars believe that Paul would take the finished letter in hand and would
read it to himself again -- making sure it was accurate and captured his
thoughts for the various churches -- and when he was satisfied, he would add a
final closing to the letter in his own hand -- putting pen to paper as he
greeted and encouraged individuals in the church that he knew
-- that's
exactly what we see here in this letter to the Colossians in verses 7-18 of
Chapter 4 -- here Paul gives messages specifically to people in Colossae and
Laodicea that he personally knew and mentions by name several others who were
helping him in his ministry
-- let's
look back at this together and see what we can learn from them about being a
portrait of Christ to this world
-- verse
7-11
7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear
brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you
may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.
9 He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother,
who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings,
as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about
him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)
11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These
are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God,
and they have proved a comfort to me.
-- in
reading these verses, the very first thing that just leaps out me is the word
"brother" -- growing up in Methodist Churches, we didn't use
"brother" and "sister" to refer to each other and we didn't
call our pastor "brother" -- but after I left home and began visiting
other churches in other denominations, I have attended a few where this a
common practice -- everyone is introduced as "Brother so-and-so" or
"Sister so-and-so" -- in fact, when I was a pastor in the Methodist
Church, there were several in my congregation who insisted on calling me
"brother" because of my position in the church
-- and, you
know, I always found it somewhat humorous and archaic -- it made me think of
the stereotype of the old southern Christian that you see in old movies or
satired in our media today
-- but in
recent years, I have come to a new understanding about this term -- it began a
few years ago when the earthquake struck Haiti -- I remember the DJ on the
Christian station appealing to his listeners to send donations to help the
earthquake relief
-- he said,
"When I've asked people to send money to Haiti, a lot of the times they
tell me, 'We're saving this money for a family emergency.'" -- and, to be
honest, I kind of felt the same way -- then he said something in his appeal
that really cut me to the quick -- he went on and said, "This is a family
emergency -- if you are a Christian, then the believers in Haiti are your
family, and they need your help -- they are your brothers and sisters and they
need you"
-- and, you
know, we say that, but we don't really act like that -- we call them brother
and sister, but we don't regard them the same as flesh and blood -- but we
should
-- when I
perform marriage ceremonies, I always make the point in my message that the
allegiance of the groom and bride are changing at the moment their vows are
said -- their most important relationship is no longer as son and daughter, but
as husband and wife -- their family is changed because of who they are becoming
-- it's the
same with Christians -- we hear about that in other countries, where people
converting from Islam and other religions to Christianity are excluded from
their family because of who they have become -- when they become a Christian,
they have no family but Christ -- no family but Christians -- and that's
something we should keep in mind
--
I ran across an essay the other day called "The Apology of Aristedes the
Philospher" -- he wrote this essay to the emperor of Rome to explain to him who Christians were --
and he speaks to this very point we see Paul making in this passage when he
calls these men his brothers
-- Aristedes wrote: "Through love towards [others] they
persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them
brethren without distinction -- And when they see a stranger, they take him in
to their homes and rejoice over him as a
very brother -- for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but
brethren after the spirit and in God."
-- when we think about who we are to
be in Christ and the portrait of Him we are painting for others, we need to
keep this thought in mind
-- the second thing that just leaps
out at us in these verses are the words "faithful minister and
servant" -- faithful -- someone who keeps their promises -- who does what
they say they will do -- who finishes their assignment
-- Paul calls Tychicus and Onesimus
here "faithful ministers and servants" -- they always ministered to
others -- they always served others -- they met the needs of their family --
when a need arose, you could count on them to be there -- when someone was in
trouble, they didn't hesitate to respond
-- remember where Paul is -- he's in
chains -- he's in a Roman prison -- yet Tychicus and Onesimus continued to
serve him in that place -- they ministered to him and comforted him and extended
God's grace in whatever way they could to both Paul and the community of
believers in Rome and abroad
-- faithful minister and servant --
another brush stroke with which to paint our portrait as a Christian
-- verse
12-18
12 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 all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for
those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send
greetings.
15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her
house.
16 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.
17 Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the
work you have received in the Lord."
18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my
chains. Grace be with you.
-- let me close by focusing on one person in
this section -- Epaphras
-- Epaphras is one of my favorite Christians
in the Bible, although you'll miss him if you're not careful -- he is
mentioned several times in Paul's letters -- both here in Colossians and in the
letter to Philemon -- Paul calls Epaphras his dear fellow servant -- his fellow
prisoner in Christ -- someone who was with Paul in Rome and who ministered with
Paul and to Paul in that place --
someone who obviously meant a great deal to Paul
-- Paul
writes here that Epaphras was "one of you" -- now that has a couple
of different meanings
-- first,
Epaphras was one of them because he was from Colossae -- he was their own -- he could be
trusted
-- you know
it means something when someone is "one of you" -- it gives them a
little more credibility -- a little more respect -- let me give you an example
-- a few years ago at work, we were needing to get access to the farmer's land
north of the base -- there was a flock of birds that was roosting on his
property and they were a hazard to our planes and we wanted to go on his
property and chase them away -- so the guy that we hired to specifically work
on bird problems like this went to the farmer's house and knocked on his door
and was abruptly turned away -- the farmer refused to talk to him
-- so he
called me and asked me to go with him -- I went and we knocked on the farmer's
door and when he opened it, he gave us that look -- that one that says, "I
don't trust you and I don't want to talk to you" -- but when I started to
talk to him, his demeanor completely changed -- he realized we were kindred
spirits -- he asked me where I was from and when he found out I was from Adel,
we started comparing notes and turns out that we had friends in common -- and
before long, I had secured permission to go on his land -- not because I'm a
smooth-tongued devil or because I had a persuasive argument -- nope, it was
simply because I was one of his own -- I was a local farmer boy who happened to
work for the Air Force and so he trusted me
-- that's
what Paul's saying here when he says that Epaphras was "one of you"
-- Paul had never been to Colossae -- he had never met most of the people in
the church there -- but he says, you can trust me because I know Epaphras --
he's "one of you" -- he can vouch for me and my message
-- now,
like I said, that phrase has another meaning, too -- Epaphras was one of them
in position -- he was not an apostle or prophet -- he was not a professional
minister -- he was not an ordained elder -- he was simply one of them -- just
an ordinary saint who followed the example of Christ
-- now
there's important lesson there to realize as we look at this portrait of a true
Christian -- the most effective ministers are not the professionals -- the
people who touch lives and really make a difference in the world are not the
pastors and prophets -- not the ordained elders -- but the common, everyday men
and women who sit in the pews on Sunday mornings and who follow the teachings
of Christ
-- remember
that it was professionals who built the Titanic -- it was an amateur who built
the ark -- God doesn't want to use you because you are a professional -- He
wants to use you because you are one of them -- you can speak with credibility
and with truth because people will trust you -- this means that you don't have
to travel to Papua, New Guinea, or the Honduras or anywhere else to be an
effective minister of the gospel -- all you have to do is minister to the
people around you -- to the people that you know -- to your family in Christ --
that's what Epaphras did and that's why we know his name today
-- Paul
writes that Epaphras was a "servant of Christ Jesus" -- because he
was one of them, he cared about them and ministered the gospel of grace to them
-- in Colossians 1:6-7 Paul says that the church of Colossae was started because of Epaphras --
scholars believe that Epaphras founded the church while Paul was ministering in
Ephesus -- it is likely that Epaphras was converted in Ephesus and brought the
gospel with him to Colossae
-- Epaphras
painted a portrait of Christ by ministering in three distinctive ways:
-- first,
he was an evangelist -- in Colossians 1:6, Paul writes that the church of Colossae heard the gospel from him -- he
didn't keep his faith private, but he shared it with those he loved
-- you
know, I've heard people say that God didn't call them to be an evangelist or
that they spread the message of Christ through their actions -- that may be
true in one sense, but at some point, you have to open your mouth -- at some
point, you have to tell them what you believe and why you are doing what you
are doing
-- that's
all that Epaphras did -- he told his friends and neighbors about the joy that
he found in Christ -- about the salvation that Jesus' death and resurrection
made possible -- and they responded and believed because they trusted him and
could see it played out in his life -- after all, he was one of them
-- you
don't have to be a professional to tell others about Jesus -- you don't have to
know the plan of salvation from the Romans Road or the Four Spiritual Laws --
you just need to tell others what you believe and why -- maybe that's something
that God is calling you to today
--
secondly, Epaphras was a teacher -- In Colossians 1:7, Paul says that the
church at Colossae learned what it meant to be a Christian from Epaphras --
regardless of whether this means that Epaphras specifically discipled and
mentored other Christians there in Colossae or whether he just showed them by
example, the truth remains -- he taught them how to live as a true Christian in
a pagan society
-- we teach
people everyday, whether we mean to or not -- our words and our actions and our
behavior paint a picture that instructs people on what we believe and what we
hold important in our lives -- we need to be careful to make sure that we are
leading people to Christ with our actions -- that we are teaching people how to
obey the word of God -- rather than teaching them the wrong things
-- teaching
others is something that Christ called all of us to -- whether professional or
amateur -- whether clergy or laity -- in the Great Commission in Matthew
28:18-20, Jesus said to go and make disciples and to "teach them"
everything that He had commanded us to do
-- Epaphras
was a teacher of Christ -- and his lessons built the church at Colossae on a firm foundation
-- finally,
Epaphras was a warrior -- Paul tells us here that Epaphras "wrestled"
or "labored fervently" in prayer for the church at Colossae -- the
Greek word that is used here is where we get our term "agony" -- it
was used to describe wrestlers in the Greek gymnastic games who strained and
struggled and wrestled with their opponents to overcome them
-- Epaphras
wrestled in prayer for the Christians at Colossae -- not only did he speak the
word of God to them -- not only did he teach them what it meant to be a
Christian -- but he interceded on their behalf before the throne of God --
through his agonizing prayers, he fought against the rulers and the powers and
the spiritual forces of evil that were coming against the church -- Epaphras
stood on the front lines of a battle -- not a physical battle, but a spiritual
battle -- he wrestled for the souls of men
--
specifically, Paul says that he worked hard for them and prayed that they would
stand firm in the will of God -- that they would become mature and perfected in
Christ -- growing more and more like Jesus every day -- and he prayed for their
spiritual assurance -- that they would know beyond the shadow of a doubt that
they belonged to Christ -- that Jesus was a real presence in their lives -- and
that they had been saved through the death and resurrection of Christ
-- what a
difference we see between the portraits of Tychicus and Onesimus and Epaphras
and the Pharisees that Jesus rebuked -- the Pharisees put forth an image of
beauty and perfection that was only skin-deep and had no real impact on their
world -- while these men put forth a picture of Christ
-- these
were men who truly followed God -- men who were beautiful inside and out -- who
spent their time and focus on the needs of others -- who were faithful servants
and ministers -- who shared with them the message of Christ -- who taught them
what it meant to follow Jesus -- and who wrestled for them in prayer
-- these
men painted a portrait of Christ that continues to impact the world to this day
-- we are called to do the same
III. Closing
-- I want
to close by sharing with you a story from Eugene Peterson, the pastor who
translated the paraphrase that is called "The Message" -- in his
writings, Peterson shares a story about meeting a German immigrant to New York when he was in
seminary
-- this
immigrant -- an accomplished artist -- hated Christians because of what he had
seen them do in Germany
during the time of Hitler -- he hated the church -- and he thought Christians
were hypocrites -- all of them -- Peterson included
-- Peterson
wrote, "The Christians he had known had all collaborated with and blessed
the Nazis -- the Christians he had known were responsible for the death camps
and the cremation of six million Jews -- the Christians he had known had turned
his beloved Germany into a pagan war machine -- [so] the word
"Christian" was associated in [his friend's mind] with state church
Christians who had been baptized and took communion and played Mozart all the
while they led the nation into atrocities on a scale larger than anything the
world had yet seen."
-- Peterson
said his friend made a partial exception for him and said that he wasn't all
bad because they were able to be friends -- one day, Peterson's friend offered
to paint a portrait of Peterson as a present because of their friendship -- as
he worked on the portrait, he refused to let Peterson see it until it was done
-- when it was done, he let Peterson see it
-- it was
not what Peterson expected -- the portrait that his friend had made was not
what Peterson looked like on the outside but what his friend thought Christians
looked like on the inside
-- the eyes
were flat and empty and Peterson's face was portrayed as gaunt and unhealthy
and unkind -- not a flattering portrait by any means -- and remember, the
artist considered Peterson a friend, so imagine what a portrait of another
Christian might look like
-- Peterson
kept the portrait and writes that he has it to this day -- he keeps it in a
closet and takes it out from time to time as a reminder of what he can become
if he is not careful to follow Christ with his whole heart -- he looks at the
picture and then he looks at his heart and tries to make sure that they do not
match [Source: Eugene H. Peterson, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3.]
-- each and
every day, we paint a portrait of who we are on the inside for those around us
-- our challenge is to paint a picture with the brush of Christ -- to live our
lives in such a way that those around us are changed for the better and are
drawn to the Savior's embrace
-- every
day, we have a choice -- we can either live lives and leave a portrait like the
Pharisees -- clean on the outside but dirty within
-- or we
can live lives like Tychicus and Onesimus and Epaphras -- clean and righteous
and holy inside and out -- and leave a portrait of grace that will change lives
forever
-- I pray
that we choose to walk the path of the faithful servant and minister -- the
path of Christ -- and that the picture that we paint for those around us brings
them joy and peace for eternity
-- let us
pray
