Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Context of Christian Community*

*Colossians 4:7-18                   February 18, 2001*

 

*Introduction:*

 

          It is only a week since Founders Week at MBI and I trust that many of those messages remain richly with you.

Indeed, that theme of community must remain richly with us if we are to be the church God wants us to be.

We should not so quickly forget the Word of God.

It often seems we get inundated with the blessing of so many excellent messages that at times we can seem to just space them off.

Many times it is a challenge just to remember what last week's message was about in church.

Do you remember?

We went through the last passage in Acts where Paul finally reached Rome, and although imprisoned, he continued to freely preach and teach the gospel.

And Acts ended abruptly there as if to say to us that we must finish what the apostles started.

As usual, Paul had gone to the Jews first, and since they largely rejected the gospel like they did in almost every other city Paul went to, he then concentrated on the Gentiles.

We talked about the tragedy of unbelief and the priority of evangelism because of it.

I told you about the rich experiences I had at Founders Week regarding the beautiful sense of community I discovered from those I talked to, like Robin (who was blind).

And we made the transition that the Jews who rejected the community of faith in Christ were to be greatly pitied for their tragic refusal to see and hear the truth that they had waited so long for.

They could have had what I, and you, experienced at Founders Week and what we all experience here in our own church each week.

Indeed, they are still rejecting the gospel since there is a bill that seems very close to passing the Israeli Parliament that has received preliminary approval and would outlaw all evangelistic communications in Israel (including fax or e-mail).

The bill would virtually outlaw freedom of religion within the borders of Israel - - even threatening imprisonment for Christian missionary activity!

This action would make them no different and no better than their Moslem Arab neighbors.

This information came yesterday by e-mail from Mitch Glaser, President of Chosen People Ministries.

This would be a tragic move by a people that desperately need our friendship in a world at war with them in light of present sentiments and violence.

This action would slam the door in America's face – and God's – since he has risen us up to be their ally.

It is bad enough when we are rejected by friends or family.

EXAMPLES: Stepfather, Aunt, Daughter (you perhaps have your own examples)

          But it is even worse when we reject the legitimate opportunity to be a part of a family – and God's own family at that!

And so I want to continue the theme of community for one more week.

I want us to take a look at the last passage in Colossians, Col. 4:7-18, found on page 1835 of your pew Bible.

This logically follows from where we left off in Acts since Paul wrote this letter to the Colossian church from his imprisonment in Rome.

And this last passage in his letter is a rich reminder of the blessed context of community that we possess in Christ.

You see, at the end of his letter, Paul gives the credits.

You know what I mean by the credits, don't you?

That is the part of the movie at the end where everyone starts to walk out to go home.

It is the part that we want to dismiss as being uninteresting.

But the credits are the story behind the story.

It is the movie about the making of the movie.

I remember when I saw the Stephen Spielberg movie "The Green Mile" that I was greatly touched by the story I just saw unfold before me.

But I was even more touched by the performance of that huge black inmate that played the central character.

I think everyone else had the same idea, because hardly anyone got up right away to leave the movie theater.

They stayed to watch the credits.

They wondered just who that man really was.

It’s the same thing in your life.

No one is a self-made person.

/          (1 Corinthians 4:7)  For who makes you different from anyone else?

What do you have that you did not receive?

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?/

If anyone ever wanted to give me credit, I'd have to turn much of it over to my wife.

I would also have to include my parents and some other family members in that list of credits.

There are also a number of friends, mostly Christian and even a few non-Christian who deserve honorable mention.

Teachers and college professors have made a profound impact.

And the church itself could not be left out.

At the top of that list would be all that Jesus Christ has done for me because he has orchestrated it all.

I am not a self-made man.

Neither is Paul, and he realizes the same for everyone in the Christian community.

So he ends his letter to the Colossians with a list of credits.

It shows us the importance of context in Christian community.

I have learned in many of my graduate classes at MBI that the context of any particular Bible passage must be taken into serious consideration if we are to even begin to understand the meaning and application of the passage.

The Word of God is written in context and must be understood in context.

And this is the way that we must understand Paul as he brings Colossians to a close with the credits.

It is an "added value" feature at the end.

It is brief, and there are many unanswered questions regarding the gaps in the information we would like to have.

But our understanding of Paul and what he has written is aided greatly by staying for the credits.

The letter to the Colossians all along has been lending itself in progression to this idea of Christian community.

Col.

2:20-3:4        Exhortation to stay connected to each other through Christ in worship.

Col. 3:5-11           Exhortation to stay connected to each other through Christ in purity.

Col. 3:12-17         Exhortation to stay connected to each other through Christ in fellowship.

Col. 3:18-4:1        Application regarding fellowship in the truth of relationships.

Col. 4:2-6             Application regarding fellowship in the spirit of prayer.

Col. 4:7-18           The importance of context in Christian community.

It all has to do with being connected to each other in Christ, and this is the point about what we learn regarding Paul's credits:

                   --- that his ministry was a team effort

                   --- that he inspired love, loyalty, and commitment on the part of others

                   --- that early Christians relied heavily on a network of friends

 

          So how do we learn this from Paul's list of credits in Col. 4:7-18?

How can we outline this passage?

[1.

p. 271]

 

          A.

Paul introduces the bearers of the letter, Tychicus and Onesimus.

(vv.

7-9)

          B.

Paul sends greetings to the Colossian church from his associates.

(vv.

10-14)

C.      Paul asks the Colossians to send his regards to the Laodicean church and to exchange letters with them.

(vv.

15-17)

D.      Paul concludes by writing the salutation with his own hand and asking them to remember his chains.

(v.

18)

 

*A.

Paul introduces the bearers of the letter, Tychicus and Onesimus.

*

*(vv.

7-9)*

         

          We first notice Tychicus in Acts 20:4 where he is listed as one of the seven men who had accompanied Paul on his third missionary journey.

The text says that Tychicus was from the province of Asia.

He is listed by Paul in Eph.

6:21-22 as a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord whom he is sending to them to tell them how he is doing and to encourage them.

In 2 Tim.

4:12, Paul says that he had sent him to Ephesus (but this is later).

The language about Tychicus in Ephesians 6:21 is very similar to that in Colossians 4:7, namely that he is a dear brother, a faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord.

This may indicate to us that these two letters were written at nearly the same time.

Something we notice in Ephesians however is that Tychicus is the only person listed in those "credits" which may indicate that Ephesians is circular letter, whereas this letter to the Colossians was more specific to the particular need of their church and so it included more "credits".

Some commentators believe that Tychicus has come from Paul's Roman imprisonment bearing not only this letter to the Colossians, but also the circular letter to the Ephesians.

This may indeed be the letter "from Laodicea" mentioned in 4:16 where Tychicus may have been instructed to stop first, since Laodicea is in between Ephesus and Colosse.