[I preached this sermon at the November 2008 meeting of the Presbytery of the Ascension.]
Colossians 1.21-26
One of my great desires over the years of my ministry was to have a mentor. I could have used an older, wiser Christian who could teach me how to minister to people's souls. I never enjoyed such a relationship, and that is something that I lament. On the job training, especially when it comes to ministry, is not the best way to go. I was not, however, left to my own resources. The Spirit used models of Godly men found in the Scriptures, and elsewhere, to make up for that lack. One obvious example of such a man was the Apostle Paul. In our text, Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel. So, particularly for those of us who are ministers, he becomes someone for us to imitate.
With this in mind, I want to focus your attention on one phrase of our text: 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' What a thing to say! And remember who is saying it. It's Paul. Now, remember what he suffered. He was shipwrecked, whipped, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned, hated. 'From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the brandmarks of Jesus.'It is this Paul who writes, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' This was not the comment of Paul, the apostle. No, it is Paul, the minister, who writes these things. And that's where it gets challenging. We have before us a timely word from God. And while it is not just for ministers, it is a word that is especially for ministers. Paul is a model for us. With him we need to be able to tell our congregations, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake'. Now, how do we get there?
The key to understanding Paul's attitude here is found in the next phrase of our text. '...and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...' This is such a difficult text but not an impossible one. Let's start with what is clear and easy. We know what Paul doesn't mean. Paul is not saying that Christ's suffering on the cross is somehow deficient in its power to save, and that his own suffering makes up for what is missing. That is simply impossible. Jesus' work on the cross is fully sufficient to atone for all of our sins. It is sufficient and more than sufficient. So, the lack that Paul contemplates is not the value of Christ's gift of salvation. Paul must be talking about something else.
What is helpful here is the fact that Paul uses almost identical language elsewhere. Listen to something from Philippians. 'I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. ... So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to fill up what was lacking in your service to me.' Paul uses virtually the same vocabulary both in our text in Colossians and here in Philippians. We have something that will help us understand our text. Now, what was this 'service' of the Philippians that Paul refers to? It was a gift of money that was sent from the Philippians, by Epaphroditus, to Paul. When Paul comments on how Epaphroditus filled up what was lacking in this service, he is certainly not complaining about the amount of the gift. He is not saying that it was not enough, but that Epaphroditus added to the amount and thus made it acceptable. The lack has nothing to do with the monetary value of the gift. Here you need to remember the deep affection that Paul and the Philippian Christians had for each other. The saints in Philippi yearned to express their love to Paul, and they did it by sending that gift. But just sending some money would not do. Something would be missing. And what would that something be? It would be their deep affection for Paul. It's the affection that would be lacking if it were just a matter of some money. But Epaphroditus filled up this lack by his own expression of affection on the behalf of the Philippians. A check in an envelope is a cold gift unless the person giving it to you also conveys the love and affection tied to that gift. The heart of the Philippians was missing from the envelop. But Epaphroditus took care of that. He filled up what was lacking, not the amount of the gift but the affection intended by the gift.
This is the role that Paul took upon himself when it came to delivering Jesus' gift of redemption to the lost in Asia Minor. Handing someone an envelop with some truths that they are supposed to believe is cold - unless the person delivering it also expresses the heartfelt affection tied to those truths. So, just as the Philippians sent their gift of money to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus who was able to convey their deep affection for Paul, Jesus sent His gift of redemption to the lost by the hand of Paul who was able to convey Jesus' deep affection for them. Handing someone truth is not enough. But how can anyone convey the deep love of Jesus? How can this lack be filled up? By suffering. This adds nothing to the value of Jesus' work on the cross. But it does make it more real to those people receiving the gift. What could anyone say once they saw the scars upon scars on Paul's back, scars that he bore because he was determined to bring the Gospel to them? But when these people were struck by Paul's suffering for their sake, what would he say in reply? 'You think this is suffering? Let me tell you about Jesus' and what He suffered for you.' Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real. It filled up what was lacking. What people saw in Paul helped them to grasp what they could not have seen, a savior willing to suffering unimaginable torments on a cross, and that for their sake. Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real.
Now, remember where we started, what I told you at the beginning of this sermon. I told you that Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel, and as such he becomes someone for those of us who are ministers to imitate. Paul is your example for ministry. And so, you need to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of your congregation. It's all well and good to tell them of the love of the Savior. But you must also show them His love. You need to make it more real. And you do that by suffering for them, and then letting them see that suffering. Remember that Christian suffering is the result of the conflict of evil and righteousness in a believer's life. As a saint struggles against evil, striving to honor Jesus in the face of that evil, he suffers. Fighting evil hurts. The source of the evil might be from without, like the pressure to conform to this world, or it might be from within as in the many temptations of Satan to compromise. But whatever its source it must be fought. Scripture is clear: every Christian is called to suffer for Jesus because every Christian is call to fight evil. No suffering, no glory. And all of this is especially true of ministers. Your people need to see the Gospel in your life as well as hear it from your lips.
This sermon is very incomplete. One reason for this is that I'm still working on these things myself. So, you will need to take the ball and run with it from this point on. But let me close with some thoughts that you can ponder, thoughts which, I hope, will help you as you work on these things.
First, we have a goal set before us. We are to imitate Paul, the minister. We are to work to get to the point of saying, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' That is not optional for a minister. It just isn't. The success of our ministries depends on it. And this is the kind of goal that we can achieve to a degree but never completely. It is a goal that we need to pursue continually.
Second, we will never rejoice in suffering like Paul unless Jesus is our chief treasure. We will suffer in our labors in the Gospel only when we are convinced that Jesus is worth suffering for. If something else is our chief treasure then we will suffer for that instead. And isn't that the battle we face every day?
Third, before we will be able to rejoice in our suffering for our people we must have a burning desire to see them thrive in the Gospel. Suffering is hard, and we need a very good reason for rejoicing in it. Merely seeing people become sufficiently religious is not nearly a good enough reason. Joy in suffering for them will require much more than that. But, as you know, sometimes it is so hard to keep at it, even to want to see them take great strides in the faith. And yet, what are we left with if that is not our desire?
Finally, none of this will happen unless we cry out to God for His favor. He must act to change us before we will able to bring about any change in anyone else. Paul's kind of ministry is impossible without a growing piety, a piety that shows. Piety - which is just another word for knowing Jesus well - only grows as the Spirit does His work. Fortunately for us, our God answers prayer. Prayer, especially prayer about these things, needs to be a priority in our lives.
So, let me encourage you to consider Paul, the minister, and to see in what ways the Spirit wants to change your life so that you might have a ministry that is filled with joy and with lives that are showing the power of the Gospel of Jesus.
Colossians 1.21-26
One of my great desires over the years of my ministry was to have a mentor. I could have used an older, wiser Christian who could teach me how to minister to people's souls. I never enjoyed such a relationship, and that is something that I lament. On the job training, especially when it comes to ministry, is not the best way to go. I was not, however, left to my own resources. The Spirit used models of Godly men found in the Scriptures, and elsewhere, to make up for that lack. One obvious example of such a man was the Apostle Paul. In our text, Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel. So, particularly for those of us who are ministers, he becomes someone for us to imitate.
With this in mind, I want to focus your attention on one phrase of our text: 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' What a thing to say! And remember who is saying it. It's Paul. Now, remember what he suffered. He was shipwrecked, whipped, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned, hated. 'From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the brandmarks of Jesus.'It is this Paul who writes, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' This was not the comment of Paul, the apostle. No, it is Paul, the minister, who writes these things. And that's where it gets challenging. We have before us a timely word from God. And while it is not just for ministers, it is a word that is especially for ministers. Paul is a model for us. With him we need to be able to tell our congregations, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake'. Now, how do we get there?
The key to understanding Paul's attitude here is found in the next phrase of our text. '...and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...' This is such a difficult text but not an impossible one. Let's start with what is clear and easy. We know what Paul doesn't mean. Paul is not saying that Christ's suffering on the cross is somehow deficient in its power to save, and that his own suffering makes up for what is missing. That is simply impossible. Jesus' work on the cross is fully sufficient to atone for all of our sins. It is sufficient and more than sufficient. So, the lack that Paul contemplates is not the value of Christ's gift of salvation. Paul must be talking about something else.
What is helpful here is the fact that Paul uses almost identical language elsewhere. Listen to something from Philippians. 'I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. ... So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to fill up what was lacking in your service to me.' Paul uses virtually the same vocabulary both in our text in Colossians and here in Philippians. We have something that will help us understand our text. Now, what was this 'service' of the Philippians that Paul refers to? It was a gift of money that was sent from the Philippians, by Epaphroditus, to Paul. When Paul comments on how Epaphroditus filled up what was lacking in this service, he is certainly not complaining about the amount of the gift. He is not saying that it was not enough, but that Epaphroditus added to the amount and thus made it acceptable. The lack has nothing to do with the monetary value of the gift. Here you need to remember the deep affection that Paul and the Philippian Christians had for each other. The saints in Philippi yearned to express their love to Paul, and they did it by sending that gift. But just sending some money would not do. Something would be missing. And what would that something be? It would be their deep affection for Paul. It's the affection that would be lacking if it were just a matter of some money. But Epaphroditus filled up this lack by his own expression of affection on the behalf of the Philippians. A check in an envelope is a cold gift unless the person giving it to you also conveys the love and affection tied to that gift. The heart of the Philippians was missing from the envelop. But Epaphroditus took care of that. He filled up what was lacking, not the amount of the gift but the affection intended by the gift.
This is the role that Paul took upon himself when it came to delivering Jesus' gift of redemption to the lost in Asia Minor. Handing someone an envelop with some truths that they are supposed to believe is cold - unless the person delivering it also expresses the heartfelt affection tied to those truths. So, just as the Philippians sent their gift of money to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus who was able to convey their deep affection for Paul, Jesus sent His gift of redemption to the lost by the hand of Paul who was able to convey Jesus' deep affection for them. Handing someone truth is not enough. But how can anyone convey the deep love of Jesus? How can this lack be filled up? By suffering. This adds nothing to the value of Jesus' work on the cross. But it does make it more real to those people receiving the gift. What could anyone say once they saw the scars upon scars on Paul's back, scars that he bore because he was determined to bring the Gospel to them? But when these people were struck by Paul's suffering for their sake, what would he say in reply? 'You think this is suffering? Let me tell you about Jesus' and what He suffered for you.' Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real. It filled up what was lacking. What people saw in Paul helped them to grasp what they could not have seen, a savior willing to suffering unimaginable torments on a cross, and that for their sake. Paul's suffering made Jesus' suffering more real.
Now, remember where we started, what I told you at the beginning of this sermon. I told you that Paul speaks of himself as a minister of the Gospel, and as such he becomes someone for those of us who are ministers to imitate. Paul is your example for ministry. And so, you need to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of your congregation. It's all well and good to tell them of the love of the Savior. But you must also show them His love. You need to make it more real. And you do that by suffering for them, and then letting them see that suffering. Remember that Christian suffering is the result of the conflict of evil and righteousness in a believer's life. As a saint struggles against evil, striving to honor Jesus in the face of that evil, he suffers. Fighting evil hurts. The source of the evil might be from without, like the pressure to conform to this world, or it might be from within as in the many temptations of Satan to compromise. But whatever its source it must be fought. Scripture is clear: every Christian is called to suffer for Jesus because every Christian is call to fight evil. No suffering, no glory. And all of this is especially true of ministers. Your people need to see the Gospel in your life as well as hear it from your lips.
This sermon is very incomplete. One reason for this is that I'm still working on these things myself. So, you will need to take the ball and run with it from this point on. But let me close with some thoughts that you can ponder, thoughts which, I hope, will help you as you work on these things.
First, we have a goal set before us. We are to imitate Paul, the minister. We are to work to get to the point of saying, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...' That is not optional for a minister. It just isn't. The success of our ministries depends on it. And this is the kind of goal that we can achieve to a degree but never completely. It is a goal that we need to pursue continually.
Second, we will never rejoice in suffering like Paul unless Jesus is our chief treasure. We will suffer in our labors in the Gospel only when we are convinced that Jesus is worth suffering for. If something else is our chief treasure then we will suffer for that instead. And isn't that the battle we face every day?
Third, before we will be able to rejoice in our suffering for our people we must have a burning desire to see them thrive in the Gospel. Suffering is hard, and we need a very good reason for rejoicing in it. Merely seeing people become sufficiently religious is not nearly a good enough reason. Joy in suffering for them will require much more than that. But, as you know, sometimes it is so hard to keep at it, even to want to see them take great strides in the faith. And yet, what are we left with if that is not our desire?
Finally, none of this will happen unless we cry out to God for His favor. He must act to change us before we will able to bring about any change in anyone else. Paul's kind of ministry is impossible without a growing piety, a piety that shows. Piety - which is just another word for knowing Jesus well - only grows as the Spirit does His work. Fortunately for us, our God answers prayer. Prayer, especially prayer about these things, needs to be a priority in our lives.
So, let me encourage you to consider Paul, the minister, and to see in what ways the Spirit wants to change your life so that you might have a ministry that is filled with joy and with lives that are showing the power of the Gospel of Jesus.
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