A message on why we do gospel ministry
“28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”
The years after high school can be trying for parents and children. Young people are rightly spreading their wings and the parents are rightly letting go, but it’s not always easy. It’s not easy in the best of situations but there are currents at work in our culture that can turn young people against their parents.
This morning we are going to imagine a daughter and father in the midst of that trouble. A college student, let’s call her Posey, has become increasingly convinced that most of her problems stem from her father, Clyde. Not coincidentally, Posey has been taking some classes at college that push her in that direction. Now Clyde knows he’s got his faults as a father. He was too busy with work when his kids were little, but he made it a point to slow down and even did so before Posey entered elementary school. Clyde can lose his temper, but he always makes it a point to apologize.
When Posey calls home she only talks to her dad if he happens to answer the phone. Either way, she rarely calls home anymore. When she is home for the holidays and summer break she stays cooped up in her room. She used to joke around with her dad. He and her used to watch a movie and go out for ice cream on the first Friday of every month—just the two of them. All that is gone. She is becoming a rather self-absorbed young lady.
One day Posey receives a letter at school. It’s from her dad. Inside is a picture of her as a little girl. She’s in his arms and the look on his eyes is pure adoration and delight. Attached is a note that says, “in case you ever wonder if I love you, I do.”
Now Clyde wants his little girl back but that’s not why he sent that picture. He sent that picture because it seems to him that Posey is starting down a path that will leave her empty. That happens all too regularly. Young people exchange love for lies all too regularly. Clyde is trying to stop it from happening to his daughter. That’s why he sent that picture. Paul was trying to stop something similar from happening with the Colossians. That’s why he pressed them towards maturity. That’s why he struggled for their encouragement, unity, and wisdom. Posey needs to take that picture of her and her dad as a token of love. Churches need to take urgings toward maturity, encouragement, unity, and wisdom as tokens of love. That’s the claim of this sermon: churches are to take urgings towards maturity, encouragement, unity, and wisdom as tokens of love.
We will study this in three points. First: working toward maturity. Second: working toward encouragement, unity, and wisdom. Third: working to keep them on the path. We see Paul working toward the Colossians’ maturity in verses 28-29. We see him working toward their encouragement, unity, and wisdom in verses 1-3 of chapter 2. We seem him working to keep the Colossians on the path in verses 4-5.
First: working toward maturity. Last week we saw the Colossians’ growth had everything to do with Jesus. We continue to see that in verse 28, “We proclaim him.” Christ is the message. The gospel message is not about how to be a good person. The message is not about how to fix your life. The message is not even just about Christ. It is Christ. “We proclaim him,” because Jesus is what’s needed.
Jesus is what everyone needs. Our translation only shows the word “everyone” twice in verse 28 but it occurs three times—“we proclaim him, admonishing [everyone] and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” The message is that everyone needs Christ. The good news of Jesus changes people whose sin currently centers in greed. The good news of Jesus changes people whose sin currently centers in sexuality. The good news of Jesus changes people whose sin currently centers in pride that their sin isn’t currently centered in greed or sexuality. Everyone needs Christ.
Everyone needs Christ. He is put offered by way of admonishment; verse 28, “We proclaim him, admonishing…” Admonishing is warning. This letter was written, in part, to warn the Colossians from falling away from Christ. Admonishment is born out of love. Parents warn children not to cross busy roads by themselves. No matter how old we are, we all need warnings about the busy roads of the spiritual life.
So proclaiming Christ involves admonishment. Proclaiming Christ also involves teaching; verse 28, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom.” To teach with all wisdom simply means to present the word of God in all its fullness as we saw last week. “There is no part of Christian teaching that is to be reserved for a spiritual elite,” as FF Bruce put it. “All the truth of God is for all the people of God.” To follow Jesus is to become a lifelong learner.
So, Paul admonished and taught, and he did so with a goal in mind; “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Paul’s goal was to present everyone perfect or mature or whole in Christ. Now this phrase, “present everyone perfect in Christ,” can lead to a spiritual perfectionism in which nothing imperfect can be tolerated. That’s highly dangerous because we and our efforts will always be shot through with sin in this life. The goal here is not perfectionism but increasing maturity. We mature as we become more like Christ.
We work toward people’s maturity. That’s what Imitating Christ is all about in our mission statement because he is the picture of maturity. We don’t want to invite others into the church to become more like us. We want to invite others into the church to become more like Jesus. Imagine a young girl learning to trust God in a difficult situation at school because of a GEMS lesson. That’s her becoming more like Jesus. That’s maturing. That’s what we are after.
Paul was working toward maturity because he knew that there was a test coming; that’s the end of verse 28, “so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” This is about judgment day. Paul saw himself as preparing people for judgment day. Judgment day is report card day for any ministry leader and that report card will have to do with what was admonished and what was taught. The trick is trying to keep those metrics before us before judgment day. Remember that in whatever ministry you lead. Are we preparing the people in our care for judgment day? Are we preparing them to come before God? That’s what pastors are to keep in mind. That’s what elders are to keep in mind. That’s what parents are to keep in mind. We need the longer view.
Now we can’t get people ready for judgment day on our own. Paul couldn’t do it on his own. You see that in verse 29, “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Doing ministry in Jesus’ way will require Jesus’ energy. We can avoid warning people about the dangers of sin without Jesus’ energy. We do—or don’t do—that fine on our own. Putting ourselves out there for the sake of people who can’t pay us back will require more love than we’ve got in our shrunken hearts. Loving like Jesus will require Jesus’ love. We can’t do it Jesus’ way without Jesus’ help. That’s why he told his first disciples, “apart from me, you can do nothing.” Pray for God’s power to do God’s work.
Paul spent himself for the Colossians’ good. He reminded them of that love so that they would listen to him and stay with Christ. Paul knew that the Colossians, like all of us, trust the people that we know to love us. That’s why Clyde sent that picture to Posey. That’s why Paul reminded the Colossians about his struggling to push them to maturity. That’s why he reminded them about his struggling to push them toward encouragement, unity, and wisdom. That’s our second point: working toward encouragement, unity, and wisdom.
Paul had never met the Colossians, but he was working for their good; verse 1, “I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.” Paul was pushing the Colossians and the Laodiceans and the other churches toward maturity for their good. Paul was pushing maturity all over the place because he was getting people ready for judgment day all over the place.
Paul was pushing people toward encouragement; verse 2, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart…” Paul knew that for people to persevere to judgment day, they would need encouragement. For you to persevere to judgment day, you will need encouragement. You will need that “encouragement that touches the deepest part of our being and that affects every aspect of our persons,” as Doug Moo put it. That encouragement is nothing less than Christ himself. “We proclaim him.” People who have Christ in them, the hope of glory, are encouraged by being exposed to Christ. That’s what’s behind the old spiritual Give Me Jesus, “in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. When I am alone, give me Jesus. When I come to die, give me Jesus. You can have all the world but give me Jesus.” That’s what you need today. That’s what you need right now. Christ is the encouragement of the Christian heart.
Paul was pushing the Colossians toward that encouragement. He was pushing them toward unity; as verse 2 puts it, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love…” Being united in love is nothing less than carrying out the commandments of God toward one another—united in love. Being united in love is not a vague, dreamlike trance that papers over differences and disagreements because isn’t differences or disagreements that stand in the way of church unity. It is sin that stands in the way of church unity. That’s why keeping the commandments—love—is the way of unity. Holding hands and singing kumbaya has never been the way of unity. People putting themselves before God and treating those around them in His ways is the way of unity. That means you always have a role to play in the unity of your family, your business, and your church.
Paul was pushing people toward unity. He was also pushing people toward wisdom; verse 2 again, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This last one is a mouthful, but we’ve already laid the groundwork for it. We’ve seen that Christ is the mystery, meaning that he is the formerly hidden but now revealed plan of God to bring everything that was separated back together. All of life fits together in him and so if you have him, you have it all. There’s an old story that points this out. ‘A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When war broke out, the son went to fight. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a year later there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him. He had often talked about you, and your love for art.” The young man held out this package. “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.” The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son. The father’s eyes welled up with tears; he thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.” The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The old man died. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?” There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “we want to see the famous paintings; skip this one,” but the auctioneer persisted, “what will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?” Another voice angrily said, “we didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts!” But still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?” Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. “We have $10, who will bid $20?” “Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the good ones.” “$10 is the bid, $20? $20?” The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, sold for $10!” A man sitting on the second row shouted, “now let's get on with the collection!” The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I’m sorry. The auction is over.” The crowd went quiet. The auctioneer continued. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including all the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!’” That’s, “the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” as verse 3 puts it. Make sure you have the son. Everything hangs together in him. He is the mystery. He’s the wisdom of God. The one who has him gets everything..
We would be foolish to leave him. That’s our final point: working to keep them on the path. Paul didn’t write the letter to the Colossians for the sake of writing a letter to the Colossians. No part of Scripture was written simply so that it might exist. They all have their purpose. The purpose of this section is given us in verse 4, “I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.”
“We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts!” is a fine-sounding argument. “Let’s see the good ones,” is a fine-sounding argument. “Grow up and leave what you learned in church behind,” is a fine-sounding argument. “Don’t be a sheep,” is a fine-sounding argument; it’s also a way to lose the Lord as your shepherd. There has never been a shortage of fine-sounding arguments pushing the church away from Jesus. There will never a shortage of fine-sounding arguments pushing the church away from Jesus until he returns. The beast has always had a great advertising campaign. Paul urged maturity, encouragement, unity, and wisdom, proclaiming Christ by way of admonishment and teaching—so that the church wouldn’t fall for these fine-sounding arguments.
Paul didn’t want the Colossians to wander. That’s why he wrote this letter. The arrival of this letter is most likely what Paul has in mind when he speaks about being with them in spirit; verse 5, “For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.” Through this letter was Paul pushing them toward maturity, encouragement, unity, and wisdom. Since the Holy Spirit used this letter in Colossae, the Spirit can use it Inwood. That’s the whole point of preaching it. We’re not doing it to fill a Sunday morning slot. We are doing it to be pushed in the same direction as the Colossians. You need to keep maturing. You the encouragement in Christ. We need unity in love. We need wisdom.
Paul wrote this letter to push the Colossians in that direction. He thought they were already going in the right direction—that’s verse 5, I “delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.” He wanted to keep the moving in the right direction. He reminded them of his love for them and his sufferings on their behalf so that they might believe what he said about Jesus and keep moving in the right direction. Clyde sent that picture to Posey in hopes of putting her back in a good direction. Both Paul and Clyde showed tokens of their love to urge movement in the right direction.
That picture from Clyde makes a statement and poses a question to Posey—“this is love. How are you going to respond to your dad?” Whenever you receive an admonishment or teaching, an encouragement, a call to unity, or a call to wisdom a statement is made and a question is posed to you—“this is love. How are you going to respond to Christ?” Amen.