Colossians 4(02–18)

Introduction

We’ve been learning from Paul that believers have taken off Adam’s old humanity which has been corrupted because of sin; and we’ve put on Christ’s new humanity; and we’re being renewed throughout by his Spirit. Since our old sins still linger on and make an appearance in our lives, we need the help of the Spirit to get rid of those old sins which divide us; and we need his help to put on the virtues and qualities which are appropriate for those who belong to Christ’s new humanity. And so, we’re to take off things like sexual immorality and lust and greed and anger and rage and malice and so on; and we’re to put on compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience. We’re to bear with one another and we’re to forgive each other just as the Lord forgave us. And we’re to put on love, which binds us together in perfect unity; and we’re to let peace rule our hearts, because when sin rules our hearts, we’re divided; but when peace rules our hearts, we’re able to live peacefully with one another. And we’re to teach one another and we’re to do all things in Christ’s name and we’re to be thankful to God for his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

And then, over the last three weeks we’ve been thinking about living as Christ’s people in the home and in the workplace. So, he calls on wives to submit to their husbands; and he calls on husbands to love their wives. And we thought about how a happy marriage on earth is a foreshadowing of eternal life, where Christ and his bride, the church, will live together in everlasting happiness. And he calls on children to obey their parents; and he calls on fathers not to embitter their children. We’re on the way to eternal life in God’s presence, and parents are to lead their children in the right direction; and they’re to hold on to their children to keep them from falling away from Christ and salvation. But, for this to work, children must also be willing to let their parents lead them. And then, he calls on workers to do what their bosses says and to do their work wholeheartedly; and he calls on bosses to treat their workers fairly. Workers are to be obedient and to work wholeheartedly, because ultimately they’re serving the Lord; and bosses are to remember that God is their master and they’re answerable to him for how they treat their workers.

Today we come to the final part of Paul’s letter which can be divided into three main parts. The first part is about praying for the preaching of God’s word. The second part is about knowing how to answer people. The third part is where Paul sends greeting from people who are with him to people in Colosse. So, that’s what we’re studying this evening.

Strikes

But before we get to that, I need to say something more about work. Someone asked me during the week about strike action. What are the ethics of strike action? Can Christians strike? Can we take part in industrial action? Is it permitted for Christians or should we refuse to take part in such action? We’re meant to listen to our bosses, aren’t we? We’re meant to do our work wholeheartedly. We’re meant to be humble and submissive. We’re not meant to be greedy or demanding. If that’s the case, are we not being disobedient to God when we strike, because we’re not listening to our boss and we’re not doing our work, and we’re not being humble or submissive and perhaps we’re just being greedy and demanding? So, can we strike or not?

Perhaps the first thing to say is to repeat what I’ve said before that Paul is dealing with ordinary situations and not exceptional cases. Yes, ordinarily wives should submit to their husbands. But when a wife is married to an abusive husband, that’s an exceptional case which requires exceptional measures. Yes, ordinarily children should obey their parents, but when parents are abusive, that’s an exceptional case which requires exceptional measures. And I said that when Paul tells fathers not to embitter their children, he’s probably referring to obedient children. Some children are ungrateful and rebellious and they resent everything their parents do. Again, those are exceptional cases and they require exceptional measures. And ordinarily workers have good and kind bosses. In that case, workers should listen to their bosses and work with all their heart. But when an employer is unfair and demanding, then exceptional measures are required.

But then the question becomes: Is strike action permissible in exceptional cases? To help me answer that question, I looked at the books and articles I have at home about work. And though I have several books and articles about work, none of them said very much about strikes. I searched the internet and found only a few, very brief articles. So, that wasn’t much help. And it occurred to me that the books and articles I looked up don’t say much about strikes because the Bible itself doesn’t say anything directly on the subject. While I’ve tried to show the similarities between slavery in the ancient world and work in the modern world, the fact is that slaves in the ancient world were not allowed to strike. And since that’s the case, it’s no surprise that Paul and the other New Testament writers don’t write about it. They weren’t going to write about something that was impossible for their original readers.

However, there were some things which I read which throw some light on the topic. In a book I have on public theology — public theology is thinking theologically about public issues such as work — one of the chapters was about workers’ rights in China (Agnes Chiu, ‘Workers’ Rights in China: A Reformed Case for Labor Unions’ in Matthew Kaemingk (ed.) Reformed Public Theology). The author began by saying that China is a global leader in coal mining production. However, China is also a global leader in coal mining accidents, injuries and deaths. And one of the reasons for this is because, while China has a strong national trade union, the trade union’s loyalty lies with the country and not with the workers. It’s not there to protect the workers, but to protect the overall interests of the country and to support the company. And therefore the workers suffer, because there’s no-one to stand up for them and to ensure safe working conditions for them.

The author of this chapter then went on to explain the ideas of Abraham Kuyper, who was a Dutch theologian, and one-time Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who died in 1905. Kuyper began with the truth that God is sovereign. He is the Great King over all who made all things and who rules over all things. And he rules over all things on earth by delegating his authority to us. But he doesn’t give full authority to any one person. He doesn’t concentrate all his power in one person or in one institution. He distributes his power throughout societies: to different people and institutions. And the authority he gives to people and institutions is always limited. It’s always restricted.

So, as Paul tells us in Romans 13, God gives authority to the leaders of the nations. But there’s not one leader who rules over all the nations. And, as Paul tells us in Colossians, God gives authority to parents and especially to fathers in the home. But there’s not one father who rules over all families. God has also given authority in the church to the elders. But there’s not one elder or group of elders who are over all the churches in the world. And God also gives authority to other institutions. For instance, he gives authority to the boards of governors in schools. However, there’s not one board which is over all the schools. And I could go on, but you get the point. God is the Great King who rules over all. And one of the ways he rules the world is by delegating his authority to us. But he doesn’t give all authority to one person or one institution. He distributes it through every society.

And when it comes to the workplace, God has given authority to the people who run the company. And that means that he says to workers that they must obey their bosses. It is God’s will for you to submit to your boss, who was appointed over you by God.

However, because we’re all sinners who sin against the Lord continually, we’re prone to abuse the authority which we have received from God. While God gives a person or institution authority so that they will use it for good, they are liable to use his good gift for evil. And when those who run the company do that, then it will lead to the workers being unhappy and dissatisfied and even angry. And they may even rise up in rebellion and they may even overturn the whole social order.

And that means that the authority of those who run a company needs to be restricted in some way. It needs to be restricted, and even opposed, in some way so that they will not abuse their authority.

And that role has been given to trade unions. While workers are individually weak, they are collectively strong and the trade union, acting on behalf of the workers, can oppose those who run the company when necessary. The trade unions can negotiate on behalf of the workers to ensure that they’re treated with dignity and that they receive certain rights and that working conditions are safe and that the workers receive fair pay for their labour. And, in many countries, workers have the right to strike, because that’s one of the ways they can resist the authority of their employers whenever the employers are abusing their authority and threatening the stability of society.

Of course, since the workers are also sinners, they might use their authority for evil. Instead of asking for a fair wage, they might demand a wage which is unfairly high. In other words, they might be motivated by selfishness instead of by justice. And some people just hate society, because they blame it for their misery; and they want to overthrow it. And one way to do that is to stir up the anger of workers who are suffering. And so, when it comes to industrial action, Christian workers need wisdom from above to discern whether they’re using their authority for good or for evil. And they need to remember that, when people are asking us to do what’s evil, we must always obey God and not men.

God distributes his authority to both employers and workers. Since employers are sinners, workers need to have power and authority to stand up to them when necessary. But since workers are also sinners, they need to guard their hearts and minds carefully so that their opposition is not motivated by sinful desires.

Workers, when they act together, can restrain the sinful tendency of employers to take advantage of their workers. Industrial action can therefore be one of the ways the Lord restrains the wickedness in the world. However, as I said last week, God has something better in mind than mere restraint. While he’s able through various means to restrain our natural inclination to do evil, he also calls a people to himself and he renews them by his Spirit. And that takes us back to Colossians 4 and to the need for believers to pray and to keep praying for the preaching of the gospel, because when sinners are convinced by the gospel and converted to faith in Christ, they take off Adam’s old humanity, which has been corrupted by sin; and they put on Christ’s new humanity; and the Holy Spirit begins to renew them in God’s image so that they get rid of the sins which divide employers and workers and everyone else; and they put on the virtues and qualities which unite us in perfect unity: things like compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience. With the help of the Spirit, we learn to bear with one another and to forgive one another. And we put on love which binds us together. And peace rules our hearts so that we live in peace with one another. And so, the best way to ensure that there’s no need for industrial action is for more and more employers and employees is to be convinced and converted to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Verses 2 to 4

And so, Paul says in verse 2 of Colossians 4 that you’re to devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

When Paul says that you’re to be watchful, it’s possible that he means you’re to be watchful for Christ’s return. So, Christ is coming again; and you need to be ready for his coming. And elsewhere in the New Testament, we discover that the way to be ready for Christ’s coming is by believing in him for salvation and by loving and serving the people around you. So, be watchful for his return. Get ready for it.

But perhaps Paul also means that you’re to watch out for temptation, so that you’re ready to stand up to it and to resist it. And one of the temptations believers always face is to forget that we’re dependent on God for everything. He is the source of every good thing we have. But when we forget that we depend on God for everything, then, of course, we will neglect prayer. When we’re tempted to think that we don’t need God, and that we can manage without him, then we will not pray. But once we realise that we depend on God for everything, when we realise that we live and move and have our being in him, then we will pray to him. We’ll go to him in prayer to ask him for what we need and to give thanks to him for what we have already received from him. And so, Paul tells us not only to be watchful, but also to be thankful. Everyday we should go to God in prayer to give thanks to him for his kindness to us.

But then Paul asks his readers to pray for something in particular. He asks his readers to pray that God will open a door for their message so that Paul and his companions will proclaim the mystery of Christ or the mystery which is Christ. And he also asks them to pray that he will proclaim it clearly.

When he asks for prayer for an open door, he’s asking for an opportunity to preach. He wants his readers to pray that the Lord will create opportunities for him and his companions to preach the good news of the gospel. When Paul wrote these words, he was in chains. He was under house arrest. But he believed that God was able to create opportunities for him even when he was in chains.

Christians often worry about how to create opportunities for evangelism. But by asking his readers to pray for him, Paul makes clear that it is the Lord who creates the opportunities for his preachers. He’s the one who presents his preachers with open doors. Sometimes he did it for Paul in extra-ordinary ways. For instance, in Acts 16 we read of a vision he received from the Lord to come over to Macedonia for the first time to preach the gospel. And sometimes the Lord did it for Paul in surprising ways. For instance, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from prison. Surely in prison he would have no opportunities to preach the gospel? But in his letter he wrote that being in prison served to advance the gospel, because he was able to speak to the guards about why he was in prison.

God is the one who creates opportunities for his preachers. He opens the door for them. And those in the church who are not preachers are given the great responsibility of praying to God and asking him to open the door to his word so that many will hear about Christ.

And I should add that praying for an open door also means praying for God to make the preaching of his word effective. That’s how Paul uses the same phrase in 1 Corinthians 16, where he tells his readers that a door for effective work had been opened to him. So, you should pray, not only for an open door, but for an open door for effective work. Pray that God will make the preaching of his word effective, so that sinners will be convinced and converted to faith in Christ and added to the church.

That’s what we do on Wednesday evenings, isn’t it? We pray for the preaching of God’s word here and around the world, asking that God will help preachers to make the gospel known; and asking God to enable sinners to believe.

And as well as asking his readers to pray for an open door for the gospel, he also asked them to pray that he will proclaim the message clearly.

You’re to ask the Lord to help preachers around the world to set forth Christ plainly and to make clear who he is and what he has done for sinners: to make clear that the Lord Jesus is none other than God’s Eternally Begotten Son, who came to earth as one of us to give up his life on the cross to pay for our sins before rising again on the third day to give eternal life to all who believe in his name. It’s a marvellous message, which doesn’t need to be changed in any way. And we don’t need to add to it. And we don’t need to take away from it. Sometimes, before a painting becomes great, the artist must add a little to it. Sometimes the artist must take a little from it. But the gospel message about Christ is already great. It’s the best news ever. All the preacher needs to do is to preach it clearly.

And so, there’s something for you to pray for in your daily prayers and at the prayer meetings of the church. Pray not only for an open door for the message, but that preachers will preach the message clearly.

Verses 5 and 6

Paul wants believers to pray for the preaching of God’s word. And how desperately we need people to pray for that! We live in a divided world, which is only becoming more divided. People want heaven on earth; and they don’t understand why they can’t have it and why their lives are miserable. And so, they blame society. They blame the government. They blame their employers. They blame the people around them. They fight with one another, because they can’t have what they want. But they don’t realise that our lives are full of misery because our lives are full of sin. And the only salvation from our sin and misery is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, you must pray that the message of Christ is proclaimed clearly and that God will make it effective.

And Paul goes on in verses 5 and 6 to instruct his readers on how to live their lives among outsiders. When he refers to outsiders, he means those who are outside the church. He means unbelievers. And he tells us to be wise in the way we act towards them. More literally, he says we’re to walk in wisdom towards them. And then he tells us to make the most of every opportunity. More literally, he tells us to redeem, or to buy back, the time. And he tells us that our conversation should be full of grace, or gracious, and seasoned with salt.

So, we’re to be wise, not foolish. And, in the Bible, the wise person is the person who knows and does God’s will. So, we’re to live wisely. And we mustn’t waste time. We mustn’t squander it. We’re to make the most of every opportunity. And our speech should be gracious and seasoned with salt. It’s not clear what Paul means by ‘seasoned with salt’, but other ancient writers used the same expression to refer to speech that was interesting or attractive. Food without salt is bland, but food with salt is interesting. And our speech should be interesting.

So, we’re to live wisely; and we’re not to waste time; and we’re to let our conversation be gracious and interesting. And right at the end, Paul says we’re to do this so that we may know how to answer everyone. Often believers try to think up ways to talk to their friends and colleagues about faith in Christ. They ask: How can I introduce Christ into every conversation? And there are books on that very subject. But Paul expects people to come to us with their questions for us to answer. So, it’s not about us trying to talk to them about Christ; but it’s about them coming to us with a question about what we believe. The Apostle Peter says something similar in 1 Peter, where he tells us to be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks us for the hope we have. So, they see by the way that we live that we have hope for the future. And they come to us and ask us about it. Or, here in Colossians, unbelievers see the way that we live and how we’re able to lively wisely and not foolishly, because the Holy Spirit is helping us to do God’s will. And they come and ask us about our faith. And on those occasions, when they ask us about what we believe, don’t waste that opportunity, but tell them graciously and winsomely about Christ.

And here’s the thing: when people hear and believe the good news about Christ, they take off Adam’s old humanity and they get rid of the sins that divide us; and they put on Christ’s new humanity and the virtues and qualities which unite us. The Holy Spirt works in their hearts and lives to renew them in God’s image. And when people are renewed like that, then they will love and serve one another and they’ll honour one another and there will be no need for things like industrial action, because employers and employees will love one another.

Verses 7 to 18

And in the remainder of today’s passage, Paul sends greetings from the people with him to the church in Colosse. And what’s interesting is that some of the names are Greek names and some are Jewish names. For instance, the three names in verses 10 and 11 are Jewish names; and the three names in verses 12 to 14 are Greeks names. In other words, they’re Gentiles. Most of the names are male, but Nympha in verse 15 is probably a female name. Mark, in verse 10, is John Mark, whom we read about in the book of Acts 15. He was related to Barnabas and he deserted Paul in Pamphylia. Paul was reluctant to bring him along on his next missionary journey. In fact, Paul fell out with Barnabas because of Mark. But when this letter was written, he was back with Paul.

So, we have a list of people: some are Jews, some are Gentiles, most are men, but one is a woman; one once disappointed Paul, but now he’s forgiven. Each of them has taken off Adam’s old humanity and the sins which divide; and they have put on Christ’s new humanity. And they have put on the virtues which unite us together.

And we live in a divided world. Families are divided. Workplaces are divided. Communities are divided. Countries are divided. We’re divided because of sin. But through faith in Christ, we are united together in love. And so, we should devote ourselves to praying for the preaching of the gospel around the world. And when anyone asks us about our faith, we should make the most of that opportunity to tell them about Christ. We should do this, because the only thing that is able to overcome a divided world is faith in Christ.