Colossians 3:18-4:1. In yesterday’s reading Paul gave the Colossians a lot to think about. There were several thing that they needed to make sure they didn’t do and several that they need to do. There were both attitudes and actions involved. Some of the advise was kind of general and a little bit of it was more specific. Paul also reminded them that they were supposed to be an “image” of God to the world. Who God is and what he has to offer all of us is important. God want all men to have a renewed relationship with him. Our relationship with his was broken by our disobedience and rebellions (sin) and only Jesus can restore it. Our lives are the picture of that truth in the world. Today’s reading teaches us more about how to have a good “image” in our world.

In verses 18-19 Paul gets very personal when he tells husbands and wives how they ought to act toward one another. In verse 18 he tells wives to “be subject” to their husbands. A lot of people here in the United States and all over the world hate that kind of talk. “Where does Paul get off telling wives to be their husbands slaves?”, but that is not what Paul said. The word “subject” means to “subordinate”, the idea is like in an army where a private is subordinate to a corporal who is subordinate to a sergeant who is subject to a lieutenant and so on. In the some languages verb have “voice”, it tells us the relationship between the subject of the sentence and the action or verb. Is the subject doing the action or is the action being done on the subject. In the case of what Paul wrote here the voice tells us that the Wife is doing the action. It’s something like, “Wives, chose to put yourself under the authority of your husband.” The next part of the verse tells us the reason, the word translated “fitting” means to “arrive”. And we are told that it is “fitting” “in the Lord”.

Paul uses the title of authority for Jesus and explains that by “subordinating” herself to her husband that the wife is right where Jesus wants her. Paul’s use of the title “lord” for Jesus isn’t because he is trying to say “because Jesus said so”. Remember Paul has just been telling them how to act because of the example they were setting for the world, they were teaching the world about Jesus. In this case I think Paul wants the Colossian wives to think about who Jesus is to them, their “lord” (think boss or master). But what kind of master of the universe is he, one who demands allegiance? No, he offers restoration and an new life with God, and leaves it up to us to accept or reject the offer. It’s the same situation here the woman can willing subordinate herself to her husband, if she does the world gets to learn a little lesson about God. There is a difference though, in the God-mankind picture God is the boss but he is also God. In the wife-husband picture the husband is a boss or leader but the two are equal as persons and members of the kingdom of God (Galatians 3:28).

In verse 19 we don’t see the command for husbands to rule their wives but to love them. That word for love contains the idea of sacrificial living. Making sacrifices for someone can make someone angry or “bitter” so Paul encourages the husband not get bitter about loving his wife in this way.

Next Paul moves on to children. Children are to obey their parent. The word here is different from the word to submit used for the wife. Here the word basically means to listen and do. There is nothing voluntary here. Again we are given a reason it pleases the Lord. Again we see the master idea for Jesus. If there is a lesson to be learned here it is that as God’s children (See Romans 8:16-17) we need to obey him. Fathers on the other hand need to not “exasperate” their children. That word only occurs one other time in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 9:2 where it is translated “stir up”. The commitment of the church in Corinth to give a bunch of money to Paul for relief in Jerusalem was getting the church in another area all excited about giving too. Some Bible experts like to use the word “nag”.

In a good way the actions of the Corinthian believers were “nagging’ at those in the other area. Here though the father is warned about “nagging” the kid so much that they are completely discouraged. You know it is interesting that God has told us that we all have failed him. We also know that he sees all we do and knows all we think.   He even has records of all our actions. And we know that Jesus suffered and died because of our personal individual sins (disobedience and rebellion toward God). We also know that even after we put our future in Jesus’ hands that we still fail, regularly. But what does God call us? Children. Saints. Chosen. He tells us that he loves us an forgives us. He actually lives in us. We are sealed (that means he claims us as his). The truth is there about sin and judgment but a lot of comfort too, of the believers, even with respect to judgment believers are comforted that they aren’t a part of that anymore. Some Christian leaders like to put down other Christians who tell people, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”, but here we see that the Father (God) doesn’t want us all stirred up (in a bad way) he wants us to live for him happily.

The next part of our reading is very controversial for a lot of people. Paul deals with the slaves and masters. For us today all we can think is, “Why didn’t Paul just tell all the masters that they were wrong and to set their slaves free.” Instead Paul tells the slaves to obey their masters. They are not just to make a show of it when the masters are watching but they are to sincerely work hard showing fear for the Lord (meaning God). What?

There is more but let’s deal with this part first. First of all the word used here for obey is the same one used for the children, there is no voluntary choice suggested here. But notice that tells them to obey their “masters who are here on earth”. I think that makes you think right away about other masters you might have. We then see that their service is to be sincere. The word translated sincere has the idea of undividedness and generosity, we might say “serve them with your whole heart, not half-heartedly.” He also tells them not to just put on an external show. And them there’s the part about being afraid of God. The word for fear is the same word as our word “phobia”. This word describes the kind of thing you want to run from. In the talk to the kids it seemed like God wanted us to be encouraged but here the person might want to run from the Lord (God). I think the thing we need to see is God wants us to be “real” and not fake. Our relationship with the real “Lord” needs to be from the heart and not just a show. If we just pretend to love God he isn’t fooled and we aren’t fooled but when the world sees how we really are they might be completely misled.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke all three writers record the words of Jesus when he warned those listening that it would be better for them to have a huge grinding stone tied around their necks and be thrown into the middle of the ocean than to mislead a person about Jesus. I don’t think there would be a much bigger fear than standing on the edge of a ship with a huge stone tied to me waiting to be pushed in. How many hundreds of feet down would you be before you finally passed out in the cold and dark. God is serious about people learning the truth about him and especially about his love and forgiveness, that is why he so serious that his people be genuine and not fake. So he wanted the slaves to work hard for their earthly masters like they would for him.

We need to keep in mind that slavery then wasn’t exactly the same as slavery in our recent past. In our recent past slaves were all of one ethnic group. It was a white-black issue. In the time of Paul anyone could be a slave, slavery was based on wars and who won them. The winners would take the losers and make some of them slaves. Sometimes a person would become a slave because they were poor and had no real option. Some slaves in Paul’s day had the ability to earn money and even buy their freedom. Some slaves were given great responsibility and even respected in a way. But they were still the property of their masters and could be treated harshly. And usually they were pretty hopeless with respect to their lack of freedom, for most of them there was no way out. It would not have worked for Paul to tell them to rebel, if change was going to come it would have to come another way.

In verses 23-24 Paul continues to encourage them to be stable and faithful. When they were working for their masters on earth they should use the work as service to Jesus their real lord or master. In verse 24 he then gives them the greatest encouragement, he assures them that from their real master they are going to get an inheritance since their lord is the Christ, the chosen one who will one day rule the world. Interestingly if they were able to free themselves from their earthly master they would still be broke and homeless with no hope of an inheritance, but as believers they had an eternal home secured with all they would ever need.

In verse 25 the consequences probably are with respect to this world. Paul is probably contrasting the reality of rebellion by the slaves, death or imprisonment, with the hope of eternity with God. Some see this as a warning more to the master though. God is the one who will make sure everyone gets what is coming to them, if the masters are evil then they will pay. Paul is going to talk to the masters in the next verse and they are evidently part of the church in Colosse too. It is true that all believers will have their actions on earth tested or evaluated, not to see if we get to be in Heaven but for some other type of “reward” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15. The reward may be different levels of responsibility in the kingdom of God, see Matthew 24:42-47; 25:14-23), and certainly we suffer the consequences of sins sometimes in life, but this verse seems to be addressed to the slaves and warning them if they are considering rebellion. Remember too that a member of this very church, a slave Onesimus, had run away, all the way to Rome and the letter to his master was being delivered to the church along with this letter. In that letter Paul strongly encouraged the master, Philemon, to treat Onesimus with respect as a fellow “brother” in Christ, if not setting him free at least treating him with highest respect like a member of his own family. But for now Paul needed to keep Onesimus and others out of trouble and on track for Jesus.

In Colossians 4:1 Paul briefly speaks to the masters he tells the masters to be just and fair. The words mean to do what is right and treat them with equality (based on Philemon 16 probably treat them like they would want to be treated. See also Matthew 7:12). The masters needed to remember that they had a master in heaven who is always “just and fair”, with God there is no partiality (Romans 2:11 and Ephesians 6:9 which was also written at the same time as Colossians and delivered by Tychicus and Onesimus on their way back to Colosse). The basics of what Paul wanted to say to the masters is here in verse 1 but there was more in the letter to Philemon which would eventually be read to them as well. Certainly if Philemon either set Onesimus free entirely or kept him on but treated him with much greater respect, as one of the family, there would have been a lot of questions by the other masters in the church. Especially since Paul basically told Philemon that there should be no real consequences for Onesimus having run away. That alone would have made the other masters crazy and Philemon would almost certainly have to show them the instructions from Paul.

Encouraging rebellion would have brought the Roman authorities down on Paul and any one who listened to him. Ordering all the believers to release their slaves would have brought disaster for everyone. The best solution was to get the masters and slaves to work together and to keep the really important thing in view. This earthly kingdom is going to be in a mess until Jesus takes it over in the mean time we need to be wise about how we live and do our best to point people to God and how to have a new relationship with him. In the mean time as we all live for him our world here and now will get better and better. Love for Jesus is what finally put an end to slavery in most of the western world and it is what will set the whole world free (or at least as many as what to be free) for all eternity.

Thank you Jesus for setting me free from my sin and it’s consequences. Help me live each day as your servant showing though all the parts of my life truth about your forever family and your forever kingdom. Let me live for eternity and not today.