MPC, 28th January 2001.Colossians 3:17-4:1 - Living For Jesus
Andrew Richardson MPC, 28th January 2001.
As most of you probably know, I'm a student at Moore College down in Sydney. So I thought I'd share with you some of the wisdom that I've gleaned from that great institution. Some of the TIPS FOR LIFE that get passed on from generation to generation. Survival rules. One of the LIFE RULES which Peter Jensen our College Principal got from his mum and has passed on to us. Here it is. "If you're going swimming... always keep a fat man between you and the open sea."
That's what she said. And he's always done it. "If you're going swimming always keep a fat man between you and the open sea." It's the kind of handy principle that applies in all kinds of situations. It's not just about SWIMMING AT THE BEACH. It's the kind of principle you can apply to all sorts of situations in life. Make sure you're not the most attractive bit of SHARK BAIT. Whether you're playing OFFICE POLITICS. Or doing business. Make sure you're not the one MOST EXPOSED. Always have someone else to HIDE BEHIND. Now, I'm not sure that it's the way I WANT TO LIVE LIFE. But it's helpful, isn't it, to have principles like that for living. It means you can work out what to do no matter what situation you find yourself in. And I'd guess for lots of you, there are little phrases and ideas that maybe have been HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS... that you use to guide you through life.
There's something like that here... for your CHRISTIAN LIFE. A handy summary... of CHRISTIAN LIVING. In a simple sentence. A principle that can guide you for life... almost anywhere. Anytime. Any situation. ANY RELATIONSHIP.
Last week we saw Paul saying Christians should live like NEW PEOPLE because of what Jesus has done for them on the cross. And he sums up what it means to live as a new person in one principle. One idea that you can apply to any situation. It's in Chapter 3 v 17. Look at it with me.
And whatever you do... WHATEVER YOU DO, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Did you get it? Here's the principle. If you're a CHRISTIAN, then EVERYTHING you do, you should be doing it in Jesus name. Do EVERYTHING as if you're REPRESENTING JESUS. Everything you do from when you get up in the morning to when you go to sleep at night, do it as if you're STANDING IN FOR JESUS. The Governor General, you see him on TV, he'll make a speech, he'll present an award. Everything he does, he's doing it IN THE NAME OF THE QUEEN. Everything YOU DO... Paul says, here's the principle... do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Now, if you've got a principle like that, it's good to have a few examples of how the principle applies in different situations. So you can see it at work. And that's what Paul goes on to give the Colossians. He gives examples of how the principle is going to apply to family life. What he's saying is, if you're a wife, if you're a husband, if you're a kid, if you're a parent or a master or a slave, here's an example of acting like Jesus - here's an example of doing things in Jesus name.
Just look at how many times Paul tells people to remember Jesus in these next few verses:
v 18 Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.
v 20 Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord
v 22 Slaves obey your earthly masters in everything with reverence for the Lord v 23 working for the Lord v24 you will receive an inheritance from the Lord. It is the Lord Christ you are serving
and 4 v1 Masters provide what is right and fair because you know that you also have a Master in heaven... The Lord Jesus.
He says to the Colossians, whoever you are, whatever part you play in the family, it's the Lord, it's Jesus who's going to show you how to live. It's him you're serving. It's him you're pleasing. Do it ALL ... in the NAME OF THE LORD. On HIS BEHALF.
Let's have a look at what Paul says to the different people in the household about living in Jesus name. That's going to be helpful for us because family life's difficult at the best of times and we need all the help we can get. In my experience even Christian families don't look like what Paul says a lot of the time. I guess we might often pretend they do. So we need Paul's help on how to be part of a family when you're serving Jesus.
The first people that Paul talks to are wives. He says if you're a wife the way to do things in Jesus name is to submit to your husband.
v 18 Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.
Maybe you're wondering why it's fitting in the Lord for wives to submit to their husbands. Maybe you're thinking it sounds HARSH. Unfair. But Paul says it's FITTING for someone who's representing Jesus, because that's what JESUS DID. He submitted to his father's will by DYING FOR US. He GAVE AND GAVE AND GAVE. Without taking. Submission wasn't demeaning for Jesus. It didn't make him less important. But it showed his love for his Father and for us. And Paul says if you're a wife the way to live for Jesus in your marriage. The way to be like Jesus... is to submit to your husband. To respect him. To support his leadership in your relationship.
And sometimes that's tough. Often you're much better at seeing what needs doing in your relationships and families. Often you're more committed Christians, and it's always going to be tempting to take over from your husband. To tell him how your relationship is going to run. To organise him into a bible study when he'd rather be at home watching TV. Paul's saying resist the urge to take over. Encourage your husband, but let him be the leader.
Of course it's going to be a whole lot easier for wives to submit to their husbands if their husbands are living as Jesus' people too. If they're trying to be like Jesus towards their wives. And so Paul tells husbands how they relate to their wives in Jesus name.
v 19 Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
If you're a husband you've got to love your wife. Sounds obvious, but lets think about what it means. Last time we looked at v 14, a couple of verses back and it tells us about what it means to love. Paul says that love sums up attitudes like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. That's how husbands are to treat their wives and that's how Jesus treats people too. And it's the exact opposite of harshness. If you're a husband you should be looking out for your wife's best interests not your own. You should be doing everything to make her life as good as you can. Paul's instructions leave you with absolutely no excuse for being a tyrant - for forcing your wife to do anything, no excuse for not listening to your wife, no excuse for not being gentle and kind. No excuse for not encouraging her to grow as a Christian. If we're going to take Paul's instructions here seriously. If we're committed to doing everything in Jesus name. We husbands are going to be radically different to most blokes in our society. Husbands don't have a great track record with this stuff. From physical violence to criticisms and put downs, wives have often had to put up with a lot of harshness from their husbands. Even worse some Christian husbands have claimed God wants their wives to submit to their harshness. That's outrageous. Nothing could be further from the truth. Any kind of harshness is exactly the opposite of what God wants. Paul says, if you want to be like Jesus to your wife love her and don't be harsh with her.
Paul's next instruction is one I've always heard enthusiastically supported in churches. The way for kids to live for Jesus in their family. The way for kids to act in Jesus name with their parents is to obey them.
v 20 Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord
So kids, how's it going with obeying your parents? It can be tough can't it, when they seem to be making all kinds of difficult rules? Especially if they're more strict than your friends' parents like they don't let you go and see the same movies everyone else is watching. When they don't let you stay out as late. It can be tough to obey your parents when you've got your own stuff to do and they tell you to set the table or tidy your room or mow the Lawn. Obedience is always tough, but Paul says if you're a Christian, if you want to be pleasing to Jesus, if you want to be like Jesus, then obedience to your parents is the way to go.
And what about you, parents? Sometimes v 21 doesn't get as much airplay as vs 20.
Verse 21 says this. And dads, we need to take notice.
Fathers do not embitter your children or they will become discouraged
If you're a parent whose cheering on Paul's instructions for your kids to be obedient, take a minute to think about your side of the relationship. How are you going at living for Jesus by the way you treat your kids? What would it be like for them to have JESUS as their dad? You should be showing that. Paul says don't embitter your kids or they'll get discouraged. Our job's to ENCOURAGE THEM. Do not embitter - sounds a bit like v 14 again. If you're being compassionate, kind, patient, forgiving that's not going to embitter or discourage your kids.
So do you load them down with all kinds of rules that are difficult to obey? Do you set rules for your kids that'll be good for them, or that'll just be convenient for you? Do you lecture them endlessly when they get things wrong, but never encourage them when they do the right thing? Paul says Fathers, and mothers too, don't embitter your Children.
It's easy to be a bit unrealistic in Christian circles about what's going to embitter kids. Sometimes it's easy to demand TOO MUCH. I know one church where parents were still making it compulsory for guys between the ages of 17 and 21 to turn up to church BUSINESS MEETINGS when they clearly weren't interested. There were certainly some bitter kids in that group. The parents would have quoted 'children obey your parents' to justify it, but if they'd read the next verse - Fathers don't embitter your children, they might have thought twice. Seems to me that FORCING kids over 17 to go to church meetings if they don't want to is a good way to make them bitter for ever.
If you're a parent, you've got a lot of power. Make sure you're acting like Jesus when you use it. Don't embitter your kids.
You might be wondering why Paul uses slaves and masters as a third example of how to live in Jesus name. For us, Slaves and masters don't seem to have much in common with wives, husbands, kids and parents. But in the Roman empire when Paul was writing this, slaves were part of the household. They were like housekeepers, odd jobs people and babysitters all tied into one. And they were on call 24 hrs a day 365 days a year with no pay and no holidays. And Paul says to them, obey your masters in everything. That's a big call. These slaves, they're not getting paid, they're not getting their freedom, but Paul says, If you want to live as a Christian. If you want to be doing everything in Jesus name... then obey your master. Work for them with sincerity. Like they were looking at you all the time. As a Christian slave your work should show reverence for Jesus. You need to keep him in mind when you're working. He's the real master you're working for and he's even going to give you a reward.
v 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and REVERENCE FOR THE LORD. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, AS WORKING FOR THE LORD, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the LORD CHRIST you are serving.
In other words, WHATEVER YOU DO, do it IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Same principle.
If slaves are doing everything in Jesus' name it's going to make a big difference to the way they work, and it's the same for Masters. Masters who want to live for Jesus need to keep in mind that they've got a master themselves. They're not the top of the heap. They're only middle management. Jesus is their master, and they need to keep that in mind in the way they treat their slaves.
Ch. 4 v 1 Masters provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a master in heaven
Can you see, even if you're not a slave or a master, it's still the SAME PRINCIPLE at work. Whatever you do, do it in Jesus name. And it applies in every situation. It doesn't matter who you are or what you're doing. If you're wanting to live for Jesus do everything in his name. Do it the way he'd do it. It's not just a matter of going through the motions on a Sunday morning, is it? And yet for so many Christians that's what it comes down to.
It's easy to think of lots of situations where you can apply the principle. If you're a boss - be a boss like Jesus. If you're a worker - work for Jesus. What would it be like having JESUS for your next door neighbour? YOUR NEIGHBOUR SHOULD KNOW. If you're a neighbour - be a neighbour like Jesus. If you're a driver be a driver like Jesus. If you're a tax payer, pay your tax like Jesus would. Whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And that should make Christians stand out. Whatever you're doing, it'll be like Jesus is doing it. A lot of the time we Christians just look the same as everyone else. We're the same kind of husbands, the same kind of wives, the same kind of workers, the same kind of neighbours as everyone else. We're the same kind of drivers and tax payers. But we shouldn't be. We should be radically different. We should be like Jesus. whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him