If you have a Bible, please open with me to Colossians chapter 3.
Let's just bow our heads again and pray for the Word.
Holy Spirit, we look to you to give sight to the blind,
to enable us to see the beauty that has been revealed to the person of Jesus.
And we pray that what we see would change us from the inside to the outside,
and that we would look a lot more like Him.
So the world could know Him through us.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, we're going to look at Colossians 3, and really we're going to focus on this evening.
If you look down to verse 24, I've got the ESV in front of me.
This sentence, you are serving the Lord Christ.
I don't know your experience of work.
My experience is that on a given Monday or Tuesday,
most of what I do is very tedious.
The kind of work that fills our days, it's often washing dishes,
filling out paperwork, just listening to another conversation.
And if you think about your typical work week,
honestly, most of what you're doing, I would guess, is probably invisible.
It's not the kind of stuff that people are recording for the annals of history,
or so that people can write your biography.
You're just getting through another day.
And honestly, I would guess that often your tasks, they feel somewhat meaningless.
You know, it's not just teachers that give students busy work.
How many people in the last year have had managers just set up Zoom meetings
just to make sure that the manager's schedule is busy during COVID?
If we just look at our work life, often it fills us with frustration.
We don't have the kind of deep purpose and passion that we read about in airport bestsellers
that we should have.
Again, there's a sense of lack of fulfillment.
Sometimes we look at our peers and we think,
that person has a great life.
Why am I stuck with this job?
You know, underlying all of this is this problem,
because as you listen to podcasts,
the message is that, you know, you can change your life,
that you can discover this purpose,
that there's a passion that you can unfold.
But honestly, as we look at our lives,
often we're kind of stuck with where we are.
Isn't it frustrating that you spend your young life
trying to figure out what you really want to do,
and then often by the time you discover that,
the train's already left the station.
And you're just thinking about trying to pay the bills.
Now again, if we listen to the world,
basically the secular advice is,
okay, well, if you want to be happy with your work,
adjust your circumstances.
You've got to change them so, again,
they're in alignment with your passion.
And maybe there's a few of you tonight
that you can pursue that path and that's open for you,
and by all means do.
But actually the message of the gospel
is so much more radical than this.
Because if you're paying attention to what Paul
is saying in chapter 3 to these bond servants in particular,
these are people that have no capacity
to change the circumstances of their lives.
And so he says something much more revolutionary,
that we don't have to adjust our circumstances,
that rather what we need to do as Christians
is to frame the circumstances.
That if you can just understand who Jesus is
and what he's done,
and if that's the backdrop of your life,
then all of a sudden it doesn't really matter
so much what you're doing.
How you do it can be fundamentally changed.
And so what I want us to do,
I want us to take up this simple sentence
that you serve the Lord Christ
and just ask what would happen
if we actually believe this?
Well, here's one thing that would happen.
Is our lives would all of a sudden
have an unbelievable sense of dignity and worth.
You know, there's something about Roman slavery
that we probably don't think in terms of.
You see, for the Roman slave,
their sense of dignity or worth
was basically determined by two things.
Who they belonged to
and what their role was in that person's house.
Not every slave was treated equally in that society.
You know, if you were just a slave of Joe Bloggs
who was some sort of farmer on a croft
outside in a rural district outside of Rome,
well then, if you're just cleaning up the barn,
that's one thing.
However, if you're a slave
and you happen to belong to someone like Julius Caesar
or Pompey the Great or Cicero,
and let's just say that maybe you manage his accounts,
that you're in charge of his properties,
well you actually could have a dignity
that surpasses that of a lot of free people
in that society.
Now I would guess that in this church
that Paul's writing to,
there were probably bond servants
doing all kinds of things.
But when you read this letter,
one thing you have to pay attention to
is the way from the outset
Paul is trying to expand
what these Christians know about Jesus.
So if you have a Bible,
go back to chapter 1,
look at verses 15 to 18.
What is Paul telling them about Jesus?
He's telling them that Jesus,
he's the image of the invisible God,
that he's the firstborn over all of creation,
that he is the Lord of lords,
he's the King of kings,
that actually he is above everything
in heaven on earth,
visible and invisible,
that these things were actually created
through him,
and they belong for him.
You've got to connect all that
to what he's saying in chapter 3.
Because what Paul is saying
is something that's actually so radical.
It can change our lives.
He's telling this bond servant,
I don't care who you belong to.
I don't care what your occupation is.
I don't care what your role is
in that person's house.
None of that defines your worth.
Because you're a servant of the Lord Christ.
I mean, he just blows the ceiling off
every notion of status
you could possibly think in terms of.
This is why Paul was so free
of all anxiety
about what people thought about him.
If you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4,
what does he say?
He says that he's a servant of Christ.
And then he goes on to say,
you know, I don't care if you judge me,
and I don't care if human courts judge me.
I don't even judge myself.
Because he knows that the only one
that matters is Jesus,
and it's who he is in relation to him
that determines his identity.
And so this is a radical message
that we have here.
It's a message that could have convinced
a slave who was just scrubbing
the bathrooms,
that actually that's not what defines them.
that their worth is determined
by their relationship with the Lord Christ
and the fact that they belong to his household
as a brother or a sister of the Lord.
This can change us too.
I love Francis of Assisi
for the reason that he so grasped this sense
that his identity was in Christ.
There's a famous story
where a bunch of bandits,
they come across Francis on a road in Italy,
and they say,
Who are you?
Francis, he's dressed in rags.
He looks like a beggar.
You know what he says?
I am the herald of a great king.
They think he's mad.
They think he's crazy,
but he wasn't.
He just grasped that,
Hey, my worth's not determined
by my clothing or my occupation.
You see, I know this guy, Jesus.
He's the high king,
and I'm a herald of him.
So Francis, in a sense,
that was not without humility,
but he walked the streets
with a sense of security
with who he was.
That's exactly what can happen to us
if we grasp this simple phrase
that we serve the Lord Christ.
Now, let's flip it around.
Let's think about it from another angle.
This truth of serving the Lord Christ,
this can be a source of unbelievable joy.
Now, wouldn't you agree
that most tasks are joyless?
That most of what you do in your day
is not that exciting?
I love how Elizabeth Elliot,
you know, she's the widow of Jim Elliot,
the famous martyr, missionary.
You know, she served on mission
after her husband Jim was dead.
I love how Elizabeth talks about
the life of a missionary.
She says, you know,
your day as a missionary
is not filled with these big campaigns
and seeing thousands of people saved
or, you know, doing,
seeing miracles happen before your eyes.
The typical day of a missionary,
it's washing dishes,
it's scrubbing floors,
it's making meals,
it's visiting the sick.
It's so ordinary,
just like us.
And so how do you actually find joy
in the midst of tasks
that in and of themselves,
they're just monotonous?
Well, Paul gives us an answer.
Look again at verse 24.
He's telling them to serve the Lord Christ,
but look at what he says first,
knowing that from the Lord,
you will receive the inheritance
as your reward.
Think about how it changes
to have great expectations.
Right now I'm reading that old novel
by Charles Dickens.
You've got this character, Pip.
He's poor.
He would love to be a gentleman.
He's got no chance to be a gentleman.
He's training to be a blacksmith.
He has no future.
And then there's this surprise.
He finds out that actually
there's this legacy
that he's inheriting.
And just imagine
if you're just this boy, Pip,
and you're in the forge,
how your attitude changes
when you realize
that just in a week
or just in a month
or just in a year,
there's this incredible inheritance
that's going to be given to you.
It's not the same mindset
that Paul's committing
to these bond servants and slaves.
Okay, yeah,
your day job
might just be digging ditches.
It might be tilling fields
that nobody's ever
going to take note of.
But just around the corner,
there's this inheritance
that the Lord Jesus
is going to give you.
He's going to give you
eternal life.
He's going to give you
a place within his family.
He's going to resurrect you
with a new body.
He's going to give you
a place in his heavens
and earth
where you're going to reign
with him.
And Paul would have them know
these bond servants and slaves
realize he's positioned you
where you are.
And so can you hang on
just a little bit longer,
digging the ditch,
plowing the field,
filling out the Excel spreadsheet,
going on another Zoom meeting,
knowing that this isn't your future.
But there's an inheritance
that he's going to give you.
Knowing that that's the case,
how does it change your attitude?
Especially if you connect the dots
and realize that the one
that you're serving today
is the one that's going to give you
that inheritance.
In other words,
you're not doing the spreadsheet
for your boss.
You're doing it for Jesus.
If Jesus, who's given you
forgiveness for your sin,
and who's going to give you
eternal life,
if he asked you,
would you till that field over there?
Would you be reluctant?
If he said,
would you just make another lunch
for your kids
and do the laundry?
Would you do it for him?
That's the mentality.
That the monotonous
can be filled with joy
when we realize
we're serving
the Lord Christ.
Now let's flip it again.
Let's look at it
from yet another angle.
How we can be changed
simply by seeing this truth
that you're serving
the Lord Christ.
That this can be a source
of deep integrity
in our lives.
I would guess that you're tempted
in the same way I'm tempted.
If somebody's looking
over my shoulder,
watching me,
I've got a very high standard.
At the moment,
I feel like nobody's watching
and the task is meaningless.
All of a sudden,
I start to settle
for something that's really
of kind of subpar
mediocre work.
Now part of what Paul
is committing to us here
is what we see
through the whole
of the New Testament,
that we are called
to an exceeding righteousness.
See, the way that the world
operates is it always
settles for less.
I mean, just think of
the Sermon on the Mount.
What does Jesus talk about
in the Sermon on the Mount?
Don't be like those people.
They do their charitable deeds
to be seen by men.
They've got their reward.
When you do a charitable reward,
don't let your left hand
know what your right hand
is doing.
Why?
Because your Father
who sees in secret.
You see,
you're not doing it
for the eyes of men.
You're doing it for God.
And He's watching.
He's there.
Jesus says the same thing.
When you pray,
you know,
don't stand on the street corner.
Don't blast a trumpet.
You know,
don't go position yourself
into the church
where everybody can see you.
You go into your room.
You close the door
and you pray to your Father
in secret.
And your Father
who sees in secret,
He'll reward you openly.
Part of what's so stunning
about the Christian life
is we're not just concerned
about the exterior.
We're not just trying
to do it for the praise of men.
And look,
this is exactly what Paul
says in verse 22.
He's telling these bond servants
something very difficult.
Obey in everything
those who are
your earthly masters.
But how?
Not by way of eye service.
Don't do it as people pleasers.
But do it with sincerity
of heart,
fearing the Lord.
It's a beautiful psalm.
You probably know it's
Psalm 136 or 139.
You know,
that reminds us,
first of all,
just of the presence of God
that wherever we go
in our rising,
in our sleeping,
no matter where we travel,
that God is always there.
And as soon as you grasp
hold of this truth
that He's always present
and that He's watching,
that can't but change
your attitude
concerning how you're
going to do things.
Because as Paul says here,
it's ultimately out of reverence
for Him.
You know,
you're digging that ditch
in the field.
Your supervisor's probably
never going to look.
You're never going to get evaluated.
Why on earth would you care
about this ditch?
Only one reason.
Because the Father sees
and it delights Him
when you pour your heart
into this simple task.
And if you do this heartily
unto the Lord
and not to men,
it's not just the angels
that rejoice.
So does Jesus.
So does the Father.
And so you do see the way
in which when you realize
that you're serving
the Lord Christ.
That's why you're doing
the laundry.
That's why you're doing
the dishes.
That's why you're cutting
the grass.
That's why you're doing
the spreadsheet.
That all of a sudden,
again, it matters
even if
no one's going to ever see it.
And one of the most
interesting features
of the medieval cathedrals
are how if you would go
on top
and look from above,
a vantage that
no one will see,
you'll see craftsmanship
and you'll see carving.
Why on earth
did they do that?
Certainly wasn't for men.
They were doing it
unto the Lord.
And that's the kind
of work ethic
we're called to here.
Now let's flip it again.
Let's see it from yet
another angle.
The way in which this
serving the Lord Christ,
that this is a source
of long suffering.
It's a source
of patience.
Look at verse 25.
Paul says something
that might sound
a little bit scary
at first.
It's hard to understand
it in its context
but it's worth understanding.
He tells us
that the wrongdoer
will be paid back
for the wrong he has done
for there is
no partiality.
Why is he saying this?
I would guess
that you've probably seen
injustice before
in the workplace.
It wasn't just
the ancient world
that struggled with this.
no matter how hard
we try,
there's still prejudice,
there's still biases
in the workplace.
You know,
people don't get positions,
somebody who's more
attractive,
somebody who's got
a more dynamic personality,
somebody who's younger,
someone with a different
set of beliefs.
All of these things
bring in all kinds
of injustice
in the workplace.
The question comes in,
what do you do
if you find yourself
under somebody's authority
and you've got
no legal remedy?
Well,
think about these
bond servers.
Think about these
slaves.
What would they do
if they're being mistreated
by their master?
You might say,
well,
go to the courts,
go to the magistrate.
Well,
what if the magistrate
is a friend
of the friend
of your master
so that you know
you're not going
to get a fair hearing?
What do you do
if deep down
there's a real
sense of injustice,
but there's nothing
you can do
to remedy
your circumstance?
That's why Paul
writes this
in verse 25.
He wants us to know
that there is a seat
that's impartial.
That Jesus is not
a respecter of persons
in the sense
that he treats
billionaires
different from the poor.
That he treats
one person
with one skin color
different than
another person
with a different skin color.
that that's not
how he operates.
That when he comes,
he will bring
real justice.
And that's why
when we're in positions
where we can't
establish justice
for ourselves,
we can do
what Jesus told us
to do.
Blessed are the meek
or the patient,
for they will
inherit the earth.
And we wait
on Christ
to bring the
righteous judgment
that only he
can bring.
Friends,
this is an important
verse to remember
in a time like this
where we think
of Christians,
say,
in a place like
Afghanistan.
What do you do
when you're surrounded
with injustice?
When you're surrounded
with oppression?
And there's no place
you can go for help.
Well, you can cling
to this verse.
It's not bad news
for the Christian.
It's good news
that one day
the wrongdoer,
that that wrong
will be righted,
that Jesus will turn
the world right side up
in that he won't
be partial
to any particular
government regime
or to any person,
but it will be
a perfect justice.
And that can create
great patience
when you're in a hard
place
and you're just
having to persevere.
And there's one more
way that we can
think about this.
Again,
the same sentence,
that we're serving
the Lord Christ.
Christ,
this truth is also
a source
of great humility.
Really,
we see this
if you look at
verse 1 of chapter 4.
Masters,
treat your bondservants
justly and fairly,
knowing that you also
have a master
in heaven.
Power is dangerous.
There's that old adage,
power corrupts,
absolute power corrupts,
absolutely.
There's a lot of truth
in that statement.
There's a reason why
when we read through
verse 18 on
in chapter 3
that we get a little
bit fidgety.
It scares us
a little bit to hear
that wives are told
to submit to their husbands
because we know
how easy it is
for a husband
in a position of authority
to abuse that authority.
Again,
we're a little bit
put off by that statement
that children obey
their parents
and then this statement
really about to fathers
in verse 21
because again,
fatherhood
is something
that has been used
so damagingly
to so many children.
Of course,
you've got this situation
with masters as well.
And so what do we do?
What is the truth
that protects us
from abusing power
because we find ourselves
in positions of authority?
It's exactly what Paul says
in verse 1 of chapter 4
that we've got to remember
that we are always
a servant
before we're in a position
of authority.
I know this sounds
kind of strange
but if you really think
through this passage,
how should husbands operate?
Husbands should remember
that even before
they're a husband,
they're a wife
because every Christian
is the bride of Jesus
which means you can't have
any kind of authority
in the home
unless you are coming under
and submitting
and yielding yourself
to Christ.
What's your greatest protection
as a father?
It's knowing that you're
actually a child.
That you can't exercise
that role
with any goodness
unless you realize
that you are absolutely
dependent
and under
a heavenly father
and that you've got
to look to him
to discover the character
that then you've got
to reflect
to whoever's
under your care.
What does Paul say
to masters
which although
we may not have
this really role
in our society
you could say it
equally of employers
that if you are going
to be the kind
of employer
if you're going
to be in any position
where you've got
some sort of mastery
over others
that you've got
to begin by recognizing
no that you are
actually a bondservant
and that your first rule
is to seek to honor
your master
before you exercise
any authority
over anyone else.
I want to pull out
to end just one difficulty
that I think as we read
through this passage
you know it arises
there'd be other ones
but this is one
that I think is important
to pick out.
You know if you're thinking
deeply about this passage
and you're thinking
about you know
verse 22
of not doing things
according to eye service
as people pleasers
but with sincerity
fearing the Lord
you're looking at
verse 23
whatever you do
work heartily
as to the Lord
and not to men
this could easily
land you in a place
of great anxiety.
How on earth
is this not
a recipe
to feel like
you are under
a relentless
taskmaster
that there's
constant surveillance
there's constant
measurement
so that you can
never do enough
and you can
never rest.
How does it not
result there?
There's two things
I'd say.
The first is
that we've got
to recognize
the incredible
freedom
that comes
from only
having
one
audience
to please.
If you were
to look
in your life
I guarantee
you've probably
got a hundred
people you're
trying to
please all
the time.
You've got
some memory
of your father
or your mother
or your grandparents
you're trying
to please
maybe some
friends
and some
colleagues
you've got
that boss
or that line
manager
you've got
all those
expectations
they're kind
of it's
anonymous crowd
but just
living in a
society
or living
in a neighborhood
makes you feel
like you have
to conform
to people's
expectation
and it goes
on and
on.
How wonderful
would it be
if somebody
said actually
there's only
one set
of eyes
that matter
and if you
please him
everything else
is going
to fall
into place.
Now that's
one piece
of the puzzle
but we've
got to add
a second
and the
second is
this
it's the
heart
of the one
that you
have to
please.
It's when
you realize
that the
only one
you have
to please
is the
person who
said come
to me
all you
who are
weary
and heavy
laden
and I
will give
you rest
take my
yoke upon
you learn
from me
for I am
gentle
and lowly
in spirit
and you
will find
rest
for your
soul.
When you
realize the
only one
you have
to please
is the
one who
gave himself
absolutely
for you
and the
one who
is constantly
working
for you
to encourage
to sustain
to hold
you up
when you
realize that
he's working
his strength
in you
that he's a
kind and
gracious
and merciful
shepherd
that's what
removes that
surveillance
that endless
taskmaster
and all of a
sudden you can
rest before him
and say
okay Jesus
what does
it look
like for
me to
live this
day for
you
and that's
the only
question
that you have
to answer
in the
morning
what relief
what peace
could that
bring to
us
and so let's
pray that this
week that God
will enable us
not just to
think in these
terms
but to live
this out
that incredible
truth
that no matter
what we're
doing
that we
serve the
Lord
Christ
let's pray
father we
just rejoice
in the
gospel
it's so
incredible
it's so much
better than the
advice of the
world
we don't have
to do anything
radical
we don't have
to abandon
our families
we don't have
to change
our career
we can just
frame our
lives against
the backdrop
of truth
Jesus is
king
he's going
to reward
us with the
inheritance
that the only
question
that we have
to think
about
is how
do we
live
and abide
and serve
him
help us
to simplify
the confusion
of our
lives
and help
us to
accept
that invitation
that's there
today
come to
me all
you who
are weary
and heavy
laden
and I
will give
you rest
show us
how to
take his
yoke
upon us
we ask
this
in his
name
amen
let's
you
as
you