Chapters 16, 17, and 18 in Lucas
The verses just prior to this next series dealt with family relationships and now Paul moves to our work relationships. We need to read “slaves” as employees and “masters” and employers.
Colossians 3:22-25
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
For some it may be natural to associate the word “slave” with “employee” but for the rest of us … just read employee instead of slave. Slaves were not slaves in the sense that we often think of. The arrangement in biblical times tended to be more contractual and therefore, in principal, works for instruction in a capitalist society in which most are employed or employers in a contractual arrangement. Think of how these instructions apply to you in your employment. Even if you are self employed you generally have a customer and these commands would then apply with regard to your work for the customer. The work ethic developed here draws our attention to God and away from ourselves and away from falsehood. Our love and reverence for God causes our motivation (even in our secular pursuits) to be directed for His glory and not ours. Consequently, since we live “coram Deo” (before the face of God) our performance doesn’t depend on whether a human is watching or not. We know that God is watching and we know our rewards will come from Him. Our work is for Christ.
These instructions set bounds on the way we approach our work. We can’t simply say that our work for God is in one class of behavior and our secular work is in another class. Paul didn’t do a poor job of making tents (his secular employment). Paul made tents as if he was serving Christ because he was serving Christ when he made tents.
It is possible you may feel this is a burden in that Christ claims authority and Lordship over your secular work and perhaps you have thought of this as something separate from service to God. When I was in High School I once thought that perhaps I should tithe my time. I first thought of giving God 2.4 hours a day. Well that was obviously too much so then I thought maybe I would subtract 8 hours for sleep. That got me down to 1.6 hours but even then I decided that was just too much of my time. To be fair, I was thinking of nothing but “religious” pursuits in my 1.6 hours. Later I found that God wanted all 24 hours but that he also wanted what I considered to be time lost from “religious” pursuits. I now find it a real blessing that all my time should be spent in service to God. Dividing our lives into “time serving God” and “time serving me” is a source of confusion and frustration as well as contrary to Scripture. God will work with you and through you. He makes life a great adventure.
Colossians 4:1
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
This is a reminder as an employer that your behavior is to be an example of God’s righteousness and fairness. God’s mercy and blessing place some of us for a portion of our lives in the position of employer or supervisor. This responsibility should be taken as an opportunity to represent your Master in heaven.
Colossians 4:2-4
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
In our prayer life we are urged to be devoted, watchful, and thankful. These are tremendous foundations for an effective intercessory prayer ministry. The fervent or devoted prayer life will be blessed and our watchfulness in prayer with thanksgiving can be used by God to build the kingdom.
The additional command to pray for evangelism is also a great reminder of how we can participate in the clear and effectual presentation of the Gospel. I think we can also use this Scripture to remind us to prayer for our brothers and sisters who are in jail or under threat of legal action as a result of their faith.
Colossians 4:5-6
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
I don’t suppose we should need to be told this but apparently it is something we need to hear. We shouldn’t isolate ourselves within our community. The Christian community should be outward looking in the sense that we think about how we interact with the unsaved and take opportunities to share the Gospel. We should expect to have opportunities and to provide answers for the unsaved as the Holy Spirit moves.
I think what is implicit here is that the Church is having an impact on “outsiders”. We would not be inclined to seek a community in isolation from the rest of the world. We would expect our community to interact with the those outside the Church. However, even a community that is considered somewhat isolated like the Dutch Amish are able obey this Scripture.
Colossians 4:7-9
Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
While we aren’t supposed to be a closed community we are clearly supposed to be a community. These verses are setting the stage for brothers who love each other to communication further with each other. These guys obviously love each other and care about what is going on in each other’s lives.
Tychicus was a mailman. He was obviously trusted by Paul and is mentioned in the following Scriptures; Eph 6:21-22, Acts 20:4, 2 Tim 4:12, Titus 3:12.
Colossians 4:10-11
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.) 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.
Aristarchus was also part of Paul’s work in many places (Acts 19:29, Acts 20:4, and Acts 27:2) and Mark was part of a controversy earlier (author of Gospel and Acts 13:13; 15:37-40) but God had healed the disagreement and reconciled them.
I’ve wondered from time to time how Paul handled leaving his home. The strangeness of the places he went to and the relatively few Jews who came to Christ would seem to make Paul miss his culture and home. These verses show us that God was merciful and provided some Jews for fellowship and encouragement for Paul (Romans 9:1-5).
Colossians 4:12-13
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. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
Remember that it seems Epaphras was the one who reported on the struggles of the church and the false teaching that was being spread in Colossae that resulted in Paul writing this epistle.
Colossians 4:14-15
Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
Luke (author of book of Luke) was there with Paul. It makes me think of Luke taking notes and writing the book of Acts. Then Paul mentions the Church at Laodicea. These letters were Scripture from the time they were written. They were circulated and read over and over again as the Holy Spirit built and instructed the Church.
Demas left Paul when he was imprisoned the second time in Rome and is mentioned in Philemon (2 Timothy 4:10, Philemon 24).
Colossians 4:16
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.
The hand of God put Scripture together. It wasn’t a magical event in which scrolls floated through the air from all over the Holy Land and collected in a room. It was history with real people and real arguments but our sovereign God is able to work in the real world. We aren’t missing a portion of our Bible. We don’t need to worry about a lost book of the Bible called Laodiceans. Some folks argue that this was a reference to the book we call Ephesians. It is possible but seems unlikely.
Colossians 4:17
Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”
It is possible that Archippus was a leader of the church in Colossae. If so he is fortunate to have someone like Epaphras whose love for the brothers and sisters and concern about the false teaching present resulted in this epistle. In any case, this is a pretty direct order from Paul.
Colossians 4:18
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
Paul would dictate his epistles and then sign the epistle at the end. He also mentions his personal prayer request (his chains) and then adds his blessing of “Grace be with you”. Grace is when God blesses us without our deserving it. It is the beginning and end of our salvation. We are saved by Grace and God keeps us by His Grace. We need to seek God’s Grace in our lives and intercede for each other that God’s Grace would be poured out.
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