A message about the importance of people in God’s purposes
“7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9 He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 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.) 11 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. 12 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. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
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.
17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. ”
Throughout our time in Colossians, we’ve been starting with names. We’ve thought about people in situations like ours. Well, this morning we have two full lists of names—the graduates and the list in Colossians 4.
My guess is that you are very interested in this list of graduates and rightly so. My hope is that by the end of this sermon, you are interested in this list in Colossians 4 because these lists are the church—the graduates and this list in chapter 4. That’s church. The church is the people. The people are the church, and the church is the people. That’s the claim of this sermon: the people are the church, and the church is the people.
We will study this in four points. First: the messengers. Second: from all of us. Third: to all of you. Fourth: signing off. First, in verses 7-9, we see the messengers who brought this letter. Second, in verses 10-14, we hear about all who sent their greetings. Third, in verses 15-17, we hear some instructions for those in Colossae. Fourth and finally, in verse 18 we see Paul signing off.
First: the messengers. This is our final study in Colossians. One of the advantages of working through a book of the Bible the way we have is that we don’t get to pick and choose. You don’t get less Bible working through a book, you get more. Have you ever heard a sermon on this passage? It’s part of God’s word and therefore it’s useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
Here we learn about Tychicus and Onesimus. Paul told the Colossians, “Tychicus will tell you all the news about me… He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you.” These two delivered this letter as well as the letter to Philemon in Colossae. Tychicus and Onesimus were Paul’s partners in ministry. Paul called both these men faithful and dear, and that’s what you want in partners in ministry. You want people who are faithful to God and dear to you. That’s what makes for a delightful Cadet leadership or GEMS leadership or deacon board—people who are faithful to God and dear to you.
Tychicus had accompanied Paul on many of his missionary journeys. Onesimus was more recently converted to Christ. He had been a slave and now Paul was sending him back to his master to make things right. Paul puts both the long time partner and the slave on equal footing. He meant it when he said, “there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Do we have that same mindset? Do we think that we are all equal in Christ or are some more equal than others?
Tychicus and Onesimus not only brought this letter we’ve been studying; they also explained it. They worked through it like we have. Paul wrote about these two to urge the church to receive them and their teaching. Reheated worldly ideas with a dash of religion were more popular in Colossae than sound teaching. They often are. That’s why Paul urges these two on the church. As Calvin put it, such recommendations are “necessary at the present day both because good teachers are coldly received and because credulous and foolish men lay themselves too open to be deceived by imposters.”
Tychicus and Onesimus carried and explained this letter. They also told the Colossians all about how Paul was doing; verse 8, “I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.”
The Colossians wanted to know about Paul because he was in prison. They wanted to know about Paul for the same reason we wanted to know about Jake Zomer—he’s in trouble and we care about him.
Paul trusted these men to offer a reliable picture of how he was doing. He trusted them to offer a reliable explanation of everything in this letter. Who would we send from this church for that same purpose? Let’s say that we wanted to send two people from this church to the Mathers in Romania to encourage them to stand firm in the good news of Jesus as they keep caring for the refugees coming from Ukraine. Who would we send? What would it take to create a church culture in which ten names would readily come to mind?
Paul sent this letter by way of two men, but he sent it with other names attached. We see that in our second point: from all of us. Some of the following names might be known to you—like Mark and Luke. Others—like Aristarchus or Demas—might be unknowns. By nature, we tend to assume that the knowns are more important than the unknowns. Take the Clooneys for example. George Clooney is known and so we, as a culture, are interested in his life. His sister Adelia, an accountant in Kentucky, is an unknown and so the public eye isn’t interested. We tend to assume that the knowns are more important than the unknowns.
That’s not how it works in God’s kingdom. Jesus told his disciples that many who are first in this life will be last in the kingdom and many who are last today will be first in the kingdom. CS Lewis imagined a giant parade in heaven thrown in honor of a mom. None of us would ever have heard of her but she took an interest in each and every neighborhood child. In this life, she was forgotten. In heaven, she is one of the greats. Someone like Aristarchus might be one of the greats. The fact that you’ve never heard of him doesn’t prove otherwise. A man from Fairview, Minnesota be one of the greats. The fact that we’ve never heard of him doesn’t prove otherwise.
This list of names in verses 10-14 includes three Jews—Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus who is called Justus—and three Gentiles—Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. Now Paul wasn’t into diversity for diversity’s sake the way our culture is. He wasn’t into quotas. This diversity simply happened. It happened because Jews who grew up hearing about Moses and Daniel and Abraham needed Jesus just as much as Gentiles who had never read any of the Old Testament. This diversity happened because, as we’ve seen, Jesus is the only fullness that fills anyone. That’s why he unites churches across dividing lines of ethnicity and economics? Is following him overcoming our differences in this church?
The three Jews sent their greetings. Aristarchus had been with Paul through more than a few scrapes. When the Ephesian mob couldn’t find Paul, they grabbed Aristarchus. The situation was dicey until the city clerk calmed the crowd two hours later. This second Jew—Jesus—was now called Justus. The name Jesus was a popular Jewish one until the church and the Jews came into conflict. The third Jew, Mark, was the author of the gospel of Mark. He had had a falling out with Paul. Paul thought Mark had some maturing to do before he was ready for ministry. Barnabas took Mark under his wing and by the time Paul wrote this letter, the relationship between Paul and Mark was so strong that Paul told the Colossians, “You have received instructions about Mark; if he comes to you, welcome him.” There’s always more happening in any list of names than meets the eye. That goes for the names on that list of graduates too. Just because you might not know about every one of them doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to know.
Now for the three Greeks. We’ve seen the first one before. Epaphras planted this church in Colossae. His report to Paul was the catalyst for this whole letter. He was afraid that the Colossians would look for satisfaction somewhere other than Jesus and so we have this letter. Epaphras was praying that this letter would do its work. As Paul told the church, Epaphras, “is always wrestling in prayer for you that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” Did those prayers and this letter have an effect in Colossae? A more measurable question would be, “has this letter had any effect on you? Are you more convinced that the fullness you need is in Jesus?” It was written for that purpose.
The second Greek, Luke, wrote two New Testament books—the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts. Luke had accompanied Paul on many of his missionary journeys, which is why he was with him when he wrote this letter and why he was able to include so much eyewitness testimony in the book of Acts. He was just a guy following Paul around. It’s easy for us to hallow these men as if they were more than men. They weren’t. God works through people like Luke and like you.
The final Greek, Demas, shows up in the last chapter of the last letter Paul ever wrote. There Paul told Timothy, “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me.” Here in Colossians Demas sends his greetings. By the time we get to 2 Timothy, Demas has deserted Paul and seemingly the gospel because he’s in love with the world. That’s a very likely read of, “in love with this present world.” Something happened in Demas in those years. Thinking about that other list of names—the list of graduates—pray that none of them falls in love with the world. Having once been involved in a church isn’t what saves. Having once sent a letter with Paul isn’t what saves.
So that’s the people who were with Paul. Now let’s think about the recipients of the letter. That’s our third point: to all of you. Colossae was a place. Inwood is a place near Canton and Larchwood. Colossae was a place near other towns. That’s what’s behind verse 15, “Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea,” and verse 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.” If you could pull up the map, you can see the geography.
Laodicea was a nearby church and Paul assumed that these churches would have a close relationship. He assumed the same about this church that met in Nympha’s house. You can tell that something has gone seriously awry in American Christianity because churches seem to be in competition with one another rather than individually pursuing what Paul urged in this letter. One is a sign of health. The other isn’t.
Paul wanted this letter to the Colossians shared. That means we as a church have been doing precisely what God’s servant Paul wanted the churches to do by studying it to know how to live it out. The Colossians were to study the letter that the Laodiceans had to live that one out too. We don’t know for certain what this letter to Laodicea was. Some think that it was what we call Ephesians and that Ephesians was actually a letter that just would go from town to town. Others think it was a letter we’ve lost. Either way, Paul wanted them doing what we’ve been doing. He wanted them studying this letter as if every word of it was from God and is therefore necessary because it is.
Paul had a general word to this church in Colossae and he had a specific one. We’ve seen the general one—it had to do with the church in Laodicea and the church that met in Nympha’s house. That’s the general word. This specific word had to do with Archippus. Paul wanted the whole church to hear what he had to say to Archippus; verse 17, ‘Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”’ We don’t know what this work was. What we do know is that Paul felt the need to tell him to get at it. Maybe you need that push this morning—get at it. You received a work from the Lord to be an elder, to be a deacon, to pray for your elders, deacons, and pastor, to help with VBS, get at it. This word to Archippus is also an arm around the shoulder, which says, “keep at it.” You’ve received a call from the Lord to write letters to prisoners, to drive for Justice for All, to help out at the Alpha Center; “keep at it.”
So that’s this list of names. These were the people of God. Paul recognized what they did. You can do that too. The hospitality you show people in this church matters just like the hospitality Nympha showed to that church matters. That’s what these thank you cards are about. It’s a way for us to put Colossians 4 into practice. If someone’s work in this church does something Christ-like, acknowledge it. If someone’s obedience to God’s word makes your life better, thank them. The council bought these thank you cards. They are yours to use to thank the people of this church. They’ll make their home on the table by the mailboxes and hopefully each of our homes.
Now we come to the final name and our final point in Colossians: signing off. Paul didn’t write this letter with his own hand. He dictated it. That’s often how it was done with important letters. The author would dictate to a scribe and together the author and scribe would work out the best way to communicate the idea. At the end of a letter, the author would sign his own name to show that it really was from him; that’s verse 18, “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand,” and that’s our final name.
Paul’s name is our final name. He ends this letter with a request for himself: “Remember my chains.” Paul began this letter by saying that he remembered the Colossians, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.” Paul ended this letter by asking them to remember him. Would they remember that what he was doing for them was what landed him in prison? How much do we value the pains others take on our behalf? How much do we appreciate the pains the Lord has taken on our behalf? How much do we as Christians value the cross in action? That’s another reason for those thank you cards.
Now after all God’s words in Colossians have been studied, we come to the final one, which is grace; “Grace be with you.” Grace started this letter—“Grace to you and peace from God our Father…” Grace ends this letter—“Grace be with you.” That’s not a mistake. This whole letter has been explaining the grace that has come to us. It’s been showing how to live in light of that grace. It’s been showing us how to live full lives—lives full of Christ.
We’ve thought about that with Marcy who wants everyone to have what she has—fullness in Christ. We’ve thought about it with Bobby is a welder for a trailer company. We thought about ignoring that fullness with Shane who has his doubts about his daughter’s boyfriend because he says “trespasses” instead of ‘debts.” We’ve seen what overflowing with Christ looks like and doesn’t look like with all these names.
Now here at the end, we’ve got all these names in chapter 4 and we’ve got the names of our graduates. Tychicus was full of Christ. He did something for Christ with that. Think about those high school graduates. Are each of them full of Christ? What will they do with it? Demas fell in love with the world and took off. Will any of our graduates? Will you or I? Archippus needed an arm around him and a gentle push to work for God. Does anyone here need that? These aren’t just names. These are people. This is us. This is the church. It is the people. It is us. Amen.