Sermon for August 25, 2013 BMZ Church Series: ABSOLUTE: A Study of Colossians Text: Colossians 3:18-4:6 Title: Live Wisely Introduction: How we doing, BMZ?!? Glad you are with us! Today we continue in our series called, ABSOLUTE and it s a study of Paul s letter to the Colossians. If you look up the word Absolute, you will find some interesting words to describe Absolute that include: Total, Complete, Unlimited, Supreme, Pure, Perfect, Unquestionable, Unequivocal, Unbounded, Resolved, Unmovable, Final, UNCHANGEABLE, Certain, Truth, and Solution. Paul believed that Jesus was Absolute. I believe that Jesus is Absolute. Do you know what that means? That means that the things that Jesus said are absolute. That means that the things in our Bibles written about who Jesus is and who we are supposed to be are ABSOLUTE. Colossae, who Paul was writing to from prison in Rome, had this crossover of people who were trying to take Christianity and blend it with their own beliefs. They were trying to take the GOOD NEWS of Jesus and ADD TO IT what they already believed to be true. Jews in the city and Gnostics and other religions from the East. If you missed any of the messages in this series, catch them on our website: www.bmzchurch.org. I want you to know something I don t like BATS! This past week, Sally found a bat/mouse in our bathroom. She came and found me. Molly went with me to get the bat. Sarah was in the basement if there is anyone on the planet that likes bats and rodents less than I do; it s Sarah! I had to go and take care of the bat! When I got to the bathroom and found it, I figured out that I couldn t trap it in the position it was in. I didn t want it flying around the house (keep it in the bathroom). Molly, when I hit it you close the bathroom door If I missed, I ll figure it out from there. I hit it. She screamed and never closed the door. She didn t have to though. One hit and the bat dropped right into the open toilet So, Paul is attempting to tell the people of Colossae that JESUS IS ALL THEY NEED!! Jesus is ABSOLUTE! Jesus IS the SON OF THE LIVING GOD and is EVERYTHING THAT HE SAID HE IS! And, in response to Jesus being ABSOLUTE Paul says that we should KNOW HOW TO ACT! This week, we find out how Paul says we should act in our FAMILIES and in our WORKPLACE and in PUBLIC. And, we need to know how JESUS wants us to ACT! So, I believe that as Paul writes to the Church in Colossae in the 1 st Century, he also has a lot to offer 21 st Century USA. If you have your Bible with you, turn with me to Colossians 3 if you don t; no worries. All of our Scriptures for today will be up on the screen and much of what we are doing is in your program. If you don t own a Bible and would like one, please stop by Java Jct/Blessed Bean and someone will get you set up with your own Bible. Speaking of which If you haven t already, I invite you to take out your message notes and merge card... On one side you will see our Scripture for today and on the other you will find a brief outline walking us through our Scripture. You will see that there are blanks to fill in I would love to have you take the time to do so. Grab a pen and write down whatever else you think is important to you and your faith journey. After worship, take this home and refrigerate it. Please Re-read the Scripture and the notes to keep growing and learning. For those of you watching on-line, you can hit the button for notes and for MERGE CARD and stick with us. If you are watching/listening later, or IPODing; you can download the outline off of our website so you too can take notes.
2 Let s pray and then we will press on with where we are going today LET S PRAY (turn off marked lights during prayer)! Why are we taking time to study the Book of Colossians?!? BECAUSE, 21 st Century USA is a lot like 1 st Century COLOSSAE I want you to know that I often use part of this section of Scripture for Weddings Why? Because it s all about LOVING RELATIONSHIPS! Paul wanted the people of Colossae to experience loving relationships in their personal lives, their homes and in the CHURCH! I d like that for us as well Again today, we could spend hours on the content of these verses from Chapters 3 and 4 of Colossians. We aren t going to today, BUT, we will hit on some things that are very important to us as we are or are at least considering following Jesus. We did a whole series on relationships ( As You Wish this past Spring) and on the workplace (Spring 2012). If you cannot get online and watch those or listen to those, let us know. We would be happy to make you a CD or DVD of those series Here we go let s start with MARRIAGES! Colossians 3:18-19 = 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 1 I heard the groans, women! Please hear me out as you are thinking Submit to him?? Pastor Stan, do you KNOW HIM?!? I. Husbands and Wives We are reminded by Paul that all of our relationships need to be grounded in our Faith in Jesus. All Paul wants is for the people of Colossae to be MORE LIKE JESUS! Paul starts with the women: As is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. In other words, in the same way that we TRUST JESUS, we are supposed to learn to TRUST each other. In the same way that you SUBMIT your life to Jesus, you SUBMIT to EACH OTHER. Here in Colossians, Paul writes for the women to SUBMIT to their husbands. BUT, IT S NOT FAIR! Right Remember where Paul is getting this from. Paul takes what Jesus taught about loving each other, but he puts a word to it that really turns a lot of people off. Many people won t even listen to what Paul says because they are offended. Paul also used the DIRTY S WORD when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. Here s what he writes to the marrieds of Ephesus: Ephesians 5:21 = 21 And further, submit (whoop there it is!) to one another out of reverence for Christ. 2 Yes, Paul goes on to say some other things that include Wives submit to your husbands, but that is AFTER he says this SUBMIT TO EACH OTHER! In Colossians, Paul doesn t write SUBMIT TO EACH OTHER. Instead, he writes that wives should SUBMIT to their HUSBANDS and HUSBANDS are to LOVE THEIR WIVES! Do you know how Jesus defined LOVE? There is no greater love than to lay down your life for another Hear me on this Paul gets a bad rap because of what he says about women; BUT, we have to understand the culture of 1 st Century Middle East. In those days, women were not considered as much more than objects or, a necessary evil to produce babies. If single, women had no rights. They only had credibility in their society when attached in marriage to a man. For Paul to command men to LOVE their WIVES ; was revolutionary. For Paul to expect men to SUBMIT to women was earth-shattering. Their culture had never heard that before. 1 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Col 3:18 19). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 2 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Eph 5:21). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
3 So, Paul is challenging the marrieds of Ephesus and Colossae to learn to practice MUTUAL SUBMISSION! Mutual Submission is Paul s way of saying what Jesus said: LOVE (Remember? Make Love a VERB?!?) EACH OTHER!! Well, what does Mutual Submission look like?!? First, Submission means that we have a willingness to yield or surrender to somebody, or the ACT of doing so (Encarta Dictionary). Now, put that into MUTUAL SUBMISSION I will yield to you No, I will yield to you No, let me yield to you I really want you to be happy NO, I really want you to be happy I want you to be the best person you can be No, I want to do what I can to help make you the best person you can be I SURRENDER TO YOU NO, I SURRENDER TO YOU AND WHAT YOU WANT See how that works? See what that looks like? It looks like Jesus who SURRENDERED HIS LIFE, NOT BECAUSE WE EARNED IT OR DESERVED IT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND ME THAT MUCH PERIOD! And we are challenged to give our lives for the people around us IT S NOT ABOUT ME!! Remember that bat story?!? Listen, please don t get me wrong. I screw it up all of the time as a husband, but I knew that I had to kill the bat and love my wife! That couldn t be about ME and my extreme dislike of bats. So, Wives = SUBMIT! Husbands = be worth SUBMITTING TO! LOVE HER the way she needs to be LOVED! AND, don t treat her HARSHLY! What does HARSHLY mean?!? HARSHLY is doing or saying anything to your wife that stems from your SELFISHNESS it s not about you! Talking down to her HARSH. Physically or emotionally hurting her HARSH. Not FORGIVING your wife for mistakes made HARSH! Anything less than LOVE = HARSH. HARSH = Don t ever tell anyone you are a MAN!! If you cannot love your wife without being HARSH you re no man Remember what LOVE looks like I Corinthians 13:4-5 = 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 3 This is Paul writing about the CHARACTER of JESUS. These are the things that Paul saw in Jesus. We are supposed to love our spouses the way Jesus loves us. How? 1. Always put the needs of other people 1 st. Never asked, What s in it for me? 2. Always FORGIVES and FORGETS if we will just ask! Marriage = you are married to an imperfect person. Stop expecting them to be perfect Well, I don t expect them to be perfect Really? Then forgive them for the mistakes they ve made and stop throwing it in their face all of the time!! Wives, if your husband LOVES YOU like that would you SUBMIT?!? IF you KNOW that in all that he says and does, he has YOUR BEST INTEREST in mind?? You are #1? He forgives and forgets?? Let s move on Paul then talks about the PARENT/CHILD Relationship Colossians 3:20-21= 20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. 4 II. Parents and Children 3 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (1 Co 13:4 5). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 4 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Col 3:20 21). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
4 Did you see what Paul did there again? He said that Children need to OBEY their Parents Why? BECAUSE this PLEASES the LORD! Just like SUBMITTING and LOVING is PLEASING to the Lord, so is OBEDIENCE by CHILDREN! I think Paul is trying to get across throughout this Letter to the Colossians that LIFE IS NOT ABOUT US IT S ABOUT JESUS! Why? Because JESUS is ABSOLUTE!! Children = DO what your parents SAY to DO! I know BUT STAN, you don t know MY Parents! You re right. If what your parents are telling you to do is ILLEGAL; contact the authorities! BUT, I don t feel like it is not a reason to DISOBEY your parents! Arguing with them every time they ask you to do something is NOT being OBEDIENT! That is not pleasing to the Lord! Fathers / Parents = Do not AGGRAVATE your children BE WORTH, in God s Eyes, being OBEDIENT TO! A definition of Aggravate is to annoy somebody or to make something worse. Now, I understand that one of the joys of being a parent is to annoy our Children and I figure it s just getting them back, right?!? Oh yeah, I m probably not going to be doing a parenting seminar anytime soon, BUT, when we talk about AGGRAVATING our children, that has nothing to do with picking on them and playing with them. The way we truly AGGRAVATE our children is by being INCONSISTENT. Parents, we have to be on the same page with each other as Moms and Dads OR, we will AGGRAVATE our Children. They won t know what is REALLY EXPECTED of them and they will start playing us against each other to get what they want! Do you know why they do that?!? Because they ve figured out that they can! Adult Children you may not need to OBEY your parents anymore, but HONOR THEM with your words and ACTIONS. Do you know why?? Because that will be PLEASING to the LORD! Not for any other reason Children, OBEY your parents because IT S NOT ABOUT YOU! Parents, be consistent and don t aggravate your children But, it s hard work to be consistent YEP! BUT, it s NOT ABOUT YOU! Paul goes on and includes others in the Colossian Culture in the whole It s Not About You! thing Colossians 3:22-25 = 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.(repeat) 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites. 5 III. Masters and Slaves I know what some of you are wondering. Why would Paul tell SLAVES to be GOOD SLAVES?!? Why wouldn t Paul tell them to RUN AWAY or at least start fighting the system to change the laws of slavery. Let me say this briefly in 1 st Century Middle East, slavery was a well-established institution of the culture. 60 million people were slaves and many of them were highly educated. Many were high-ranking officials in their master s homes. They often were in charge of educating the master s children as well. 5 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Col 3:22 25). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
5 Please understand that the 1 st priority of the Early Church was not Social Justice. It was to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ! Think about it Jesus is offering ETERNITY Slavery is/was NOT RIGHT, BUT, it s temporary. What s more important?!? So, Paul told them to WORK HARD not to impress your earthly master or try and get a raise, but to HONOR the LORD. Even when no one else is watching you, work hard. Why? Because you are not just working for your human master; you are working for THE Kingdom! Here s the thing: Do you think any slave would convince anyone that they should follow Jesus if they were lazy bums!? NO! Everything we DO and SAY is part of our EXAMPLE of what it s like to FOLLOW JESUS! If following Jesus means to be lazy, their fellow slaves won t want to follow Jesus and neither will their master! Let me ask: IS IT ABOUT US?!? This actually transfers very well into our 21 st Century American culture. Not many slaves, but a lot of workers who have bosses. In your job, WORK as if you are working for the LORD whether anyone is watching or not work hard! Your REWARD and inheritance is held by JESUS! One of the by-products of working hard might mean that you gain a raise or gain a promotion or gain in influence in the company where you work; but, the ultimate is that Jesus is honored by how you work! No matter where we are or what circumstance we find ourselves in; it s really not about us! The FIRST PRIORITY of Followers of Jesus is still to SPREAD the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Forgiveness is available to all a relationship with God is available to all deep joy is available to all eternity in heaven is available to all. God cares way more about your future than your past is GOOD NEWS for ALL! If you are a slouch in your job you will not be able to invite anyone to FOLLOW JESUS! If you WORK HARD at whatever you do you have a chance to WITNESS about your faith to your co-workers AND your bosses! BUT, I don t like my job and I don t FEEL LIKE working hard. Let me remind you of something It s Not About You!! Then, Paul goes on to address the Slave Owners Colossians 4:1 = Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master in heaven. 6 Paul says that even if you think you are big stuff because you own slaves and they have to do whatever you tell them It s not about you either! It s all about JESUS! If Jesus is YOUR LORD; then, ACT LIKE IT!! Today, if you are a BOSS to anyone be JUST and FAIR and KIND and CARING and live out your job as a BOSS with INTEGRITY! Act as a MASTER like your MASTER in HEAVEN! Remember how Jesus is?? FAIR and JUST and FORGIVING and LOVING (patient and kind and not jealous or conceited or proud does not hold grudges, etc.)! As a BOSS, you have many responsibilities and the greatest one is to YOUR LORD and MASTER! Guess what?!? Paul has more to say about it not being about us! He goes on to talk more about being WITNESSES for JESUS. Colossians 4:2-6 = 2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.(repeat) 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive* so that you will have the right response for everyone. 7 6 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Col 4:1). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 7 Tyndale House Publishers. (2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (3rd ed.) (Col 4:2 6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
6 So, Paul has addressed FAMILIES (husbands and wives and parents and children), he s addressed our WORK (slaves and masters) and finally, he kind of lays a blanket over the whole thing IT S NOT ABOUT YOU by using himself as an example. Paul is not asking anyone to do anything that he is not already doing He says that we have to LIVE WISELY AMONG NON-BELIEVERS. IV. Live Wisely Among Non-Believers Paul addresses three (3) ways that can live wisely among non-believers again, using himself as the example. The first way that Paul mentions for us to live wisely is to PRAY! Prayer (2-3a) Listen to how Paul addresses prayer. He starts with, Don t do it haphazardly! Be intentional when you pray. Specifically, he says pray with an ALERT MIND. That means mumbling a few words to God as you re falling asleep at night is probably not what Paul is talking about. Paul says that we need to be ALERT alert to the things that God is alert to. If you don t know what those things are ask God! Read your Bible! Ask, God what is important to you in my life right now? Make me ALERT as I ask you for Your Power in my life Paul says to BE THANKFUL as we pray. BE SPECIFIC in your prayer about what you are THANKFUL FOR! As we think about those things, it makes us more aware of how much God has done for us and in us and through us. BE THANKFUL for your family and job and food and blessings and opportunities and church and your eternity that is in God s hands. Pray with a thankful heart! Then, Paul talks about prayer in a very UNSELFISH WAY! Paul asks the people of Colossae to pray for him to have opportunities to SPEAK about Jesus and the message of the Good News. Do you know why Paul is in prison in Rome waiting to find out if he is going to be executed?!? Paul is in prison because he was PREACHING the GOOD NEWS about JESUS and that the GOOD NEWS is for EVERYBODY not just Jews (Acts 21-22). That s why Paul is in prison and do you know what he is asking the Colossians to do?!? PRAY FOR HIM TO HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO TEACH ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS! Paul is THE living example of IT S NOT ABOUT ME! Do you know what happened because that was Paul s prayer?!? Paul DIED at the hands of ROME, BUT; not too many years later, the ROMAN EMPIRE adopted CHRISTIANITY as its official FAITH! They messed it up later, but many ROMANS BECAME CHRISTIANS BECAUSE IT WASN T ABOUT PAUL! The second way we can live wisely among non-believers has to do with what we believe about Jesus! It has to do with the Good News (3b-4) Paul s talking about prayer for him to have more opportunities to preach and teach the Good News about Jesus! It s not about Paul We need to know WHAT we believe and WHY so that we can share with other people what we believe and why! To live wisely among non-believers is not about arguing with them about what THEY believe, but being able to CLEARLY say what WE believe and why! But Stan, that is such hard work! I can t say what I believe and why I believe it clearly. That would take hours of time in my Bible and probably a lot of practice telling my story and YEP! Isn t it great that your life is NOT ABOUT YOU! If you are not yet comfortable sharing what you believe, please don t wait until you have all of the answers (you really never will). Our Bibles show us many places where Jesus and his disciples used a different tactic they just said, I can t really explain it just come and see!
7 Jesus simply said to Levi/Matthew the tax collector Come on. Follow Me. In other words, Matthew, I cannot explain what you are about to get yourself into, but, I don t want you to miss it either. So, just come with me and you ll see Philip went and found Nathaniel We ve found the Messiah and he s from NAZARETH! Can anything good come from Nazareth? I shouldn t have said that just, COME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF! One part of us sharing the GOOD NEWS about JESUS is a willingness to invite people to COME AND SEE! Invite people to worship with you if they come here, Pastor Eileen and I promise that they will be introduced to WHO JESUS IS! If Jesus is ABSOLUTE then we ACT LIKE IT and INVITE people to COME AND SEE! Please pick up an INVEST and INVITE CARD; fill it out; pray and invite! Witness (5-6) Paul finishes this section with what I remember my Mom saying a lot while I was growing up MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY! If this life is NOT ABOUT YOU and it IS ABOUT JESUS; then, for the sake of Jesus, live wisely be alert to how you are living and what that might say to the neighbors live wisely AMONG nonbelievers. You cannot escape them! This doesn t say anything about creating a COMMUNE where just CHRISTIANS LIVE. I know that might be EASIER BUT, it s not about you! LIVE WISELY means that you stand for what you believe without hammering anyone with what you believe. It means submitting and loving in your marriages. It means obeying your parents (did you know that helps people understand what it s like to be in a relationship with Jesus?!?) and not AGGRAVATING your kids (did you know that helps non-believers understand what it s like to follow Jesus?)! It means that we work hard as workers and we work to be fair and kind as bosses (those actions speak volumes about what we believe)! In your conversation, be GRACIOUS! That means that whoever we are talking to; treat them in conversation how JESUS treats YOU! Jesus offers you eternity and joy and LIFE even with YOUR PAST! In conversation, talk to people in a way that shows that you hold nothing against them you don t think less of them you don t hold any past against them offer grace and kindness! Do you know what that will do? They will want to be in conversation with you again! Then you build relationship then you build TRUST then you build INFLUENCE! Then you get to offer them an eternal LIFE CHANGE either by INVITING them to WORSHIP with you or INVITING them to FAITH and then connecting with a Church! Get it?!? The next conversation that you are in (and every conversation you are in) it s really not about you! Be INTENTIONAL about SERVING CHRIST in every conversation you are in! How? Be GRACIOUS! Don t make every conversation about you We are trying to give opportunities around BMZ to APPLY the INFORMATION you are learning from your Bibles to LIVE IT OUT! Build relationship with non-believers and then INVEST AND INVITE!! If you BELIEVE let it affect your CONDUCT!! Take your notes home drop off your MERGE CARD! Next Week: Have you ever wished you could change some people? We will be starting a new series called, EXPONENTIAL. Let s Pray
8 Next Steps: Memorize Colossians 3:23 and 4:5 Read Ephesians Chapters 5-6 I will fill out an Invest and Invite card and LIVE WISELY among them! Start a Bible Reading Program off of www.bmzchurch.org Truth without Grace is Fundamentalism (Brutality). Grace without Truth is Sentimentalism (Hypocrisy). Special thanks to Andy Stanley, Nelson Searcy, R.A. Pegram, Mike Slaughter and Perry Noble for outlines and ideas for this worship series.