Colossians 4:14 - On Samwise Gamgee and cotton candy...

"Luke is greeting you, the physician beloved, and Demas."

-Luke is mentioned elsewhere (2Timothy 4.11, Philemon 24), but it is only here that we learn of his occupation as a Physician.  Paul calls Luke, "beloved."  He is not overly sparing in describing people this way (27x in his letters), nevertheless the word does convey a depth of gratitude and connection and relationship that Paul has with Luke.  To his credit (but sadly) there will come a point when Luke will be the only one of these companions still remaining with Paul.  Whatever the circumstances surrounding the departure of the others, faithfulness is a precious commodity indeed.  Loyalty.  Firm allegiance.  Steadfast devotion.  Newlyweds promise it.  Businesses covet it.  Leaders insist on it.  Dogs are loyal, devoted to one master their entire lives.  This kind of devotion is in rather short supply these days.  Samwise Gamgee was faithful.  Reepicheep was faithful.  Old Faithful is faithful.  But folks today are more fickle than faithful it seems, fair-weather fans, far more subject to winds of whim and caprice, easily offended, ready to find fault and complain and leave for greener pastures, better opportunities, better results, a better show, more flash and panache (or less, depending on your tastes).  

-And then there’s Demas.  Oh, Demas.  He is also mentioned in the companion letter to Philemon (Philemon 24) and in Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy (2Timothy 4.10), but it is there where we learn that eventually Demas will desert Paul.  He will abandon Paul and the work of the Good News over love of ‘the world’.  He got what he thought was a better offer apparently - disloyalty at its finest.  He had harbored or cultivated a taste and an appetite for something the world offered, a nice tuft of cotton candy, a tasty morsel of manure, something temporal, something less inconvenient and less uncomfortable no doubt, and he chose that instead.  Oh, may the Lord grant me the grace to avoid a similar fate, to choose the eternal over the temporal, to steadfastly pursue what He wants and to be found faithful till the end when i will see Him face to face, to hear Him say, ‘well done’...

Colossians 4:12-13 - O, to be...a slave?

"Epaphras is greeting you, the [one] out of you, a slave of Christ [Jesus], always agonizing on behalf of you in the prayers, in order that you should stand complete and having been fully brought in every want of God...For I am witnessing to him that he is having much pain on behalf of you and the [ones] in Laodicea and the [ones] in Hierapolis.’

-We already know that God used Epaphras to plant this church.   Paul tells us several other things about Epaphras now.  

-First, we learn that Epaphras IS a Colossian himself.  He would most likely have trusted Christ through the preaching of Paul, presumably while Paul was in Ephesus at one point (that three year stay in Acts 20.31 and Acts 19.9-10), and had returned to his hometown with the Good News about Jesus.  And apparently he helped to plant at least three assemblies, not only this one in Colossae but also one in Hierapolis and one in Laodicea (who also receive a letter from Paul at this time - cf Colossians 4.16 - and who get a direct warning from Jesus about being lukewarm in Revelation 3.14-19).  How these assemblies were birthed we don’t know exactly, yet we do get an idea of Epaphras’ faithfulness with the Message and how it had changed his life.

-Paul adds that Epaphras is a slave of Jesus.  Paul uses this phrase sparingly in his letters, even in this one.  He actually mentions eight people who are with him, but only two are described as slaves of Jesus.  A rare and significant compliment, this.  Not a slave who serves out of obligation, but willingly, freely, because they want nothing more, nothing else than what Jesus wants.  Their life is His.  Their time is His.  Their freetime, all their stuff, all His.  Their kids, spouse, career - His.  What they want most is to be with Him and do what He is doing and to do whatever it takes to show off how breathtakingly good He really is.  A slave of Jesus.  Oh to find the grace to truly live into that, to be able to call Him Lord and live a life that truly and fully reflects that reality.

-The other thing we learn about Epaphras flows from his heart for Jesus, and it is his heart for these assemblies which he helped to plant.  He is praying for them, and not just a little-dab’ll-do-ya.  He is described as literally and always agonizing for them.  Does this sound like an apt description of our own prayer lives?  Is there anyone or anything over whom we are always agonizing in prayer, constantly wrestling with God and against the forces of darkness on behalf of someone else or on behalf of an assembly or even a nation or an unreached people group perhaps?

-And note what he is asking God to do: to cause these believers to stand complete and having been fully brought in everything He wants.  Fully set, fully assured.    Remember, this is precisely what Paul is praying for these believers (Colossians 1.9).  Imagine being at the place where you are completely confident of everything that God wants for you.  Imagine what your relationship with the Lord would be like in that place?  Of course there’s still the doing part that you would need to address, but isn’t the knowing part half the battle?  Much of the time it seems we are unsure of what God wants, we don’t know what He wants.  Surely we would do well to be praying thus...!

Colossians 4:10-11 - Leaders need encouragement too!

"Aristarchus is greeting you, the fellow prisoner of me, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions, if he should come to you, welcome him)...and Jesus the [one] being called Justus, the [ones] being out of circumcision, these only co-workers unto the kingdom of God, who came to be to me an encouragement.’ 

-So three guys mentioned here.  All jews.  And all working with Paul.  He says they are the only co-workers, but we know there are other workers - he mentions three more in the next verses.  These must then have been his only Jewish co-workers (which is why most versions translate it that way).

-Aristarchus is from Thessalonica (Acts 20.4).  We meet him in Acts 19.29, where he and Gaius are almost beaten in Ephesus.  Mark we know - yes, he is the same one who prompted the infamous split between Paul and Barnabas back in Acts 15.36-41.  We actually meet John Mark back in Acts 12.12, but we learn here that Mark is Barnabas’ cousin, which could help to explain why Barnabas was so remiss to leave him behind on their second missionary journey.  But the good news is that while Barnabas in now nowhere to be seen, Mark is now a welcomed and valued member of Paul’s entourage (cf 2Timothy 4.11).  Jesus Justus for his part is mentioned nowhere else in the NT. 

-But Paul tells us how these guys had become a source of encouragement to him.  The word means to comfort or sooth or exhort in such a way as to help someone keep on going.  Everybody needs encouragement.  Even leaders.  We don’t often think in those terms.  Our tendency is to put people like Paul (leaders, celebrities, etc) up on a pedestal.  We idealize them, and we forget that they are regular folks with real needs just like us.  We view our leaders in terms of our own needs, of what they can do for us.  But even folks like Paul have needs.  They have struggle.  They can be prone to discouragement.  Especially when and if they get thrown into prison like paul.  And these three guys who understand and share Paul’s cultural background have ministered to him somehow.  They have helped him to keep going.  It’s lonely at the top.  Be at the ready to let the Lord use you to help someone who leads you keep going...

Colossians 4:9 - Exceedingly unimaginable

"...with Onesimus the faithful and beloved brother, who is out of you.  All to you they will make known the [things] here."

-Wonderful backstory here.  Onesimus had been a slave, belonging to a member of the Colossian assembly named Philemon (yes, the same one to whom Paul sent a letter which is now the epistle which bears his name. That letter actually accompanied this one).  Onesimus ran away, which would never look good on any resumé, but is making good on it now because 1) he has since begun following Christ and 2) gotten connected with Paul (the two are related - Philemon 10).  We learn from that other letter that Paul is primarily responsible for sending Onesimus back to Colossae - he wants to keep Onesimus with him (which says volumes about Onesimus), but he needs to clear it with Philemon first.  Turn out that Onesimus, this former runaway, has been transformed into one who is both faithful and beloved (like Tychicus) and is part of this trusted delegation Paul sent to Colossae.  He is a prime example of how no life is so far gone that God cannot redeem it.  Nothing is too difficult for this One Who made all things and defeated death and daily does that which is exceedingly unimaginable.  Trust Him to do it, whatever your it may be, keep trusting Him, and watch out...!

Colossians 4:7-8 - Best disciple you've never heard of...

"All the [things] according to me he will make known to you, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow slave in [the] Lord...who I sent to you unto this same, in order that you should know the [things] about me and that he should encourage the hearts of you..."

-Tychicus (TY-ki-kus) is mentioned 5 times throughout the New Testament (here, and in Acts 20.4, Ephesians 6.21, 2Timothy 4.12, Titus 3.12).  We never mention him today, so he no doubt slots in as one of the more undervalued members of paul’s inner circle, but we can see that Paul valued him highly.  He is Paul’s deputy, entrusted with three letters, this one and its companion letter to Laodicea as well as the letter to the Ephesians.  He is also charged with conveying to these assemblies all that is going on with Paul, and he must do so in a way that encourages them rather than discourages them.  Which is a tall order, since as you recall, Paul is in prison.

-But Paul was confident (and so can we be) that Tychicus was up to the task.  Look at how Paul describes him.  He is not just a brother - He is a beloved brother.  There is a close connection between these two, and part of that probably stems from the fact that Tychicus served Paul, not only alongside him but actually ministered to the man who was ministering to so many (cf Acts 19.22) - Tychicus was a faithful servant, one of a handful of guys who not only learned from Paul but ones he counted on to take care of his needs and really facilitate his ministry.  These were true deacons, waiters, waiting on Paul and serving Christ as they looked after Paul’s needs.  And Paul calls him a fellow slave of Jesus Christ.  There was no questioning the level of his commitment to the Lord and to His cause.  Tychicus was all in for Jesus, all surrendered, all His, which meant that he was not at all stuck in me-first mode.  This would thus enable him to serve others-first, and that is precisely what this particular mission required.  Beloved brother.  Faithful servant.  Fellow slave.  Few like this one...

Colossians 4:6 - Tasty Truth

"The word of you always in grace, having been seasoned with salt, to have known how it is necessary for you to each one to be answering."

-Grace.  This is the core of the Message, the Truth we must communicate to others.  Grace, God’s amazing wonderful underserved favor, infinitely rich and free but not cheap, not without cost.  We talk about grace in a way that manifests grace - it is to be both the content and the context of our communication.

-Salt.  Seasoned with salt.  As in making something not only palatable but tasty.  Salt enhances and brings out the flavor.  And in our communication with those outside, if we leave out any mention of grace, we make the Message tasteless, more likely to be spat out than swallowed.  The plain truth is that there IS no Message without grace.  We are not conveying a bunch of rules that people have broken, for which they must be punished, and which they must now obey if they hope to have any chance of being accepted by God.  The Message is that God punished His Son in our place, a punishment we did indeed deserve but instead now are offered a secure relationship and right standing with God, a permanent place in His family!  This we do not and will not ever deserve - it is offered as a free gift.  That is grace.  That is our Message, and it must permeate our conversation with those who are on the outside of Christ.  

-Paul adds that this knowledge is something we actually learned in the past, prior to sharing it in some kairos moment with one who is not following Christ.  If you have not understood and received grace, you will not be able to unpack it for someone else.  Grace is an other-worldly concept - the world is just not wired to work or relate this way.  But it is imperative that anyone on the outside hears about grace - this is the core of the Good News.

-And again, it is necessary.  We need to answer.  We must give an answer for the hope that is in us.  The question is how.  How to do that.  We need to know how.  It becomes quite simple, I believe.  Our hope of eternal life is based solely on God’s grace.  It does not derive from attendance or tithing or membership or service or rituals.  These tokens of devotion can be helpful and good, but they earn us not even a pinch of favor with the Almighty.  All we are and might hope to be in God’s eyes is found in His unmerited favor so generously poured out at the cross of Jesus Christ.  We approach only up the blood-washed slopes of Calvary.  By God’s grace we are what we are, and we must steep our hearts and minds in a deepening understanding and awareness of how bankrupt and broken we are on our own and how desperately in need of grace we are, not only at the moment of repentance but in each and every moment ever after.  We must cultivate this knowledge and live into it every day.  For by grace we are saved, and it is not from ourselves, it is a gift of God (Romans 3.24, 5.2, 5.17; Ephesians 1.6-7, 2.8-9).  We are not under law but under grace, the grace of God (Romans 6.14, Galatians 5.4).  It is the Word of grace, this Word Which became flesh and showed us the glory of God, full of grace, of Whose fulness we have indeed received, and grace upon grace (John 1.14-16).  What we tell those outside, that on which we must focus, is this message of grace.  That is what the world needs to hear, and frankly is longing to hear.  Unfortunately the message they tend to get from us is be good, go to church, do more, try harder, watch what you say, obey the rules and don’t have too much fun, don’t drink smoke or chew and don’t go with girls who do.  Stop doing the things you most like to do and start doing the things you least like to do.  It’s all about works.  When in fact it should be all about grace.  God’s free gift, and altho it’s not cheap, it is really free, and who wouldn’t want that?  In all our dealings with those outside, we gotta be clear about grace. 

Colossians 4:5 - Time to fish or cut bait!

"In wisdom be walking towards the ones outside, the time (kairos) redeeming."

-Wisdom.  The ability to apply what you know.  Wisdom comes from above, from God Who gives it generously to anyone who asks in faith.  It also comes from experience.  And the tragic truth is that many believers have very little wisdom when it comes to relating to the ones outside because they have very little experience doing so and they pretty much never ask God for any.

-Those outside of course are the ones who are not (yet) following Christ, who have yet to trust in Him for the forgiveness of their sins.  This reality should crash upon the shores of my comfortable every-duck-in-a-row life every day.  Paul is talking about kairos time, special moments and seasons of time, God-ordained-and-appointed opportunities that He gives us with folks outside.  And he says, redeem this time, buy up these times and make the most of them.  So we desperately need the Lord to help us recognize these unique opportunities.  But the truth is, my entire life is a kairos moment, a season of great opportunity!  It's fishing season, and it began to moment I began following Christ (Matthew 4.19) - it's time for me to either fish or cut bait.  God has a plan and a purpose and He has left me here for a season for a reason, and it is not about me.  It is not for my sake that He has left me here.  He has not left me here so that I can spend "my" time (which He technically has entrusted to me) simply gathering stuff and pursuing personal paradise on earth while it is perishing.  Glimpses of paradise are glorious indeed, but there will more than enough time for that when we are finally and forever in the Real Thing.  Our job now is to make the most of this season God has given us to help reach those outside of Christ and bring them INTO the Kingdom, which is the one significant thing we cannot do once we finally enter it in eternity.

-This is the parable of the talents (Matthew 25.14-30).  Sure, not everyone will be able to lay thousands of souls (or even five) at the feet of Jesus.  Not everyone is a Billy Graham.  But the Lord of the Harvest is not interested in quantity.  He is looking for compassion and faithfulness (Mathew 9.36-38).  “What on earth did you do with the faith and gifts that I DID give you?  Did you use them at all?  Did you buy up even one soul?”  Note that Jesus says the slave who received only one talent and reproduced nothing with it basically never had it to begin with (Matthew 25.29).  Real genuine faith reproduces itself.

Colossians 4:4 - Like crane technique...

"...in order that I should make it known as it is necessary for me to speak."

-Paul desires to make this mystery of Christ manifest, visible, clear, plain, where the root idea is that of shining the light on something, something that was dark or hidden but now is revealed in plain sight and clear for everyone to see and apprehend.  Paul knows full well that this Message, the truth about Jesus Christ, is powerful - it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe (Romans 1.16).  He doesn’t need to make people believe.  All he needs to do is present the Message clearly.  Once clear, the Message takes over.  Energized by the Spirit of God and borne on the wings of prayer, the Word of the Cross will convict of sin and righteousness and judgment to come and will bring people to Jesus, to the One Who would be their Savior.  It’s like crane technique - if do right, no can defense (channel Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid when saying that).  And so the second thing Paul is asking people to pray for is for God to enable him to present this Message clearly, for him to be able to clarify the Mystery.

-The sad truth is that for many people the Good News of God’s favor and free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ is about as clear as mud, being obscured by layer upon layer of brokenness and guilt and insecurity and pride and false teaching and negative stereotypes, not to mention a predisposition towards trying to earn God’s favor with good works.  There are certainly folks who have never even come close to hearing this Message, living at a considerable cultural and geographic distance from a credible witness about Jesus, and this is definitely where Paul aspired to go, the first of millenia of cross-cultural missionaries going and seeking to penetrate the darkness and set captives free from their bondage to evil spirits and works-based religion.  But often times it is the ones who live right next door to the Gospel who are most blinded against understanding it.  They had a bad experience or have bought into the negative stereotypes about Christ-followers that can be so prevalent once these are propagated by opponents of the truth.  Or perhaps folks have been baptized with just enough Christianity to have been innoculated against understanding and embracing the real thing.  They know about Jesus and heaven and maybe they have participated in some religious ritual(s) and figure they can be good enough to get into heaven.  They mistakenly assume that they can easily be as acceptable to God as the nominal churchgoer living next to them, who has likewise misunderstood all the life-altering ramifications of the Mystery.  Paul understood that this all-important Message needs to be presented as clearly as it possibly can. 

-Yes, the Message needs to be presented clearly, but let’s not miss this - it needs to be presented.  Paul says it is necessary.  He is proceeding on the assumption that the Good News, this greatest News of news, must be presented.  For him this was a no-brainer - he tells us quite clearly that he is compelled and obligated (and eager!) to speak it (Romans 1.14-16, 1Corinthians 9.16, 2Corinthians 5.11-15).  Paul did all things for the sake of the Gospel (1Corinthians 9.23), and he expected that all believers would similarly exert themselves for the forward progress of the Gospel in the lives of others (Philippians 1.27).  This is what he addresses in the next two verses... 

Colossians 4:3 - Of fools and chains and what pwns us...

"...praying at the same time also about us, in order that God should [will] open to us a door of the Word to speak the mystery of Christ, because of which also i have been bound..."

-So, what is an open door exactly?  What does one look like?  Paul is asking prayers for God to open a door, which once opened will give him an opportunity to talk about Jesus, right?  Wrong.  He uses the same phrase in 1Corinthians 16.9 and 2Corinthians 2.12 - note that it does not mean what we Americans think it means.  An open door describes not an evangelistic opportunity but rather an evangelistic response.  It describes people responding to the Message by believing it, by putting their trust in Jesus.  There is no comma in the Greek.  We insert the comma because we think Paul needed some kind of sign in order for him to speak up about Jesus.  But there was no question of Paul talking about Jesus.  There was no chance that he would NOT be sharing this better-than-good News of news with others.  He did not need to wait for some ideal opportunity or some open door of permission, someone asking him about Jesus or some other such sign that it was ok to speak about his faith.  You could fairly say that he was in fact in chains to this obligation - woe to him if in fact he DOESN’T speak, he says (1Corinthians 9.16).  So, he was GOING to be speaking (How ‘bout me?  How ‘bout you?).  What he wants is people to RESPOND to the speaking.  He wants God to open their hearts to believe and grant them repentance.  God opening a door would look like numbers of people responding to the Message.  So he is asking people to pray for this, and for one other thing (since we are talking about a mystery...). 

-What utter foolishness, this! (at least in the eyes of the world).  Paul is in chains because of speaking about Christ, and he is exhorting people in their praying to ask God to give greater responsiveness to the Word cuz he plans to keep right on speaking.  Thank you, sir, may I have another!  Is he out of his mind?  Actually, yes.  Yes he is.  He is out of his mind for Christ, a bonafide Jesus-freak.  He says so himself (2Corinthians 5.13-14, 2Corinthians 12.11).  He is a fool in the eyes of the world.  Would that I might be so foolish...

-Note how the language here reflects Paul’s confidence that if God’s people ask Him to open a door of response to the Word, He WILL do it.  God is faithful.  He does what He says, He is reliable, and He comes thru for His people.  He does exacly what needs to be done, when it needs to be done.  Knock, and the door will be opened, Jesus promised (Matthew 7.7) - do you believe this?  I wonder tho - would He call me faithful (cf Matthew 24.45)?  Do I do what He needs me to do when it needs to be done?  When is the last time the Lord opened a door of response to me when I spoke a word about Christ to another?  When was the last time I even spoke to somebody else about Jesus?  Am I open to speaking about Christ?  Am I ready to embrace open doors of response?  Remember, we’re not talking about opportunity - our days are full of chances to give others a word about Jesus - we’re just not taking advantage of them.  Our faithfulness in this as in any area is an indicator of our faithfulness in all areas (Luke 16.10), yet when I am faithful in small things I will surely be entrusted with more (cf Matthew 25.23, 1Timothy 1.12).  Can the Lord trust me with souls, with responses to the Good News?  Can He even trust me with this precious message, to faithfully communicate it to others regardless of what it may cost me?  That’s what we’re talking about.  No doubt one reason I do not see God open a door of response is because I am not asking Him to do so (but is it not also because I am unfaithful with the Word?).  If I am not faithful even in this one area, how can he entrust true riches to me (Luke 16.11)?  Paul had been faithful, he made the most of the open doors fo response God gave him - this is part of the reason he was confident that God would give him more.

-Part of my hesitancy vis a vis speaking about Christ to others is the threat of prison, is it not?  Maybe not your typical prison with bars and locks and chains - Paul of course endured these (nor was he at all hesitant).  Christ-followers throughout the centuries and throughout the world today endure these, and worse.  Prison for us consists of bonds of comfort and image, of labels and stereotypes and cold-shoulders.  And compromise.  We have so much and have so much to lose, so much stuff to be concerned about - and all this stuff pwns us.  The truth is I am way too concerned about what other people think about me and not enough about what God thinks of me.  May God Himself give us the grace to aspire to please Him above else, to be found by Him faithful to Him in all things.  Including this area of speaking the Word.

-And when Paul is talking about speaking the Word, he is not talking about giftedness.  Yes, it is true generally speaking that there are speaking gifts and there are serving gifts (1Pet 4.11).  Some folks are indeed more wired naturally or spiritually for engaging with others verbally.  But the call to speak about the mystery of Christ is given to all who follow Christ, regardless of their spiritual gifts.  I do not need to be an evangelist to be able to share the Evangel (Good News) with others.  The fact is that all those who trust in the Good News receive the same gift - the gift of eternal life - and it is meant to be shared rather than hoarded.  More about this in the next couple of verses...