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I want you to imagine that in this bottle I am holding, that I have the one thing that will keep me alive...but, not only that...
...what I have in this bottle will also guarantee that I will not ever die...
...that as long as I drink this...and nothing else...I will never have to worry about my life!
And even more...it is guaranteed to never run dry for as long as you drink it! Pretty amazing stuff!
And even more amazing...I want to give this to you...free of charge...
...with only this one caution: to drink always this and nothing else...never add anything to it...never tire of it and set it aside...and your life like mine will be transformed beyond compare...forever!
Oh, and one more thing...give it away to as many people as you can...with the same instructions: take it...drink all you can of it...but remember...
...as long as you drink this...and nothing else...your life, like mine, will be transformed beyond compare...forever!
Pretty amazing! Right?
Well, that’s what the Apostle Paul had experienced in his own life. He had received something so precious and life changing...that the course, the purpose and all his ambitions were changed forever...for all eternity! What changed Paul’s life? Jesus!
How big a change? Listen to his own words, written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...of whom I am the worst!” 1 Tim. 1:15
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal 2:20
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!” Phil. 1:21
In other words...
...death has no real impact in my life...I a set free from the fear of death, because Jesus lives in me...and I in him.
“If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
“...Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Rom 8:311-35
Though he would endure many hardships because he held on to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, the Apostle Paul would describe this life hardship and loss due to being persecuted for Christ to the Corinthians as “having nothing, and yet, possessing everything.” 2 Cor 6:10
Compelled by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul goes everywhere he can...endures all kinds of hardships one can imagine...because he has this precious possession...Jesus...and he desires to share Him with everyone he can.
So this life-giving, life-changing, eternity-with-God-as-his-sons-and-daughter-providing-Jesus...Paul is giving away...
Don’t change it...don’t add anything to it...and don’t let anyone take Jesus away from you... and substitute anything else for Him!
So, Paul is doing this in Ephesus...and there is a man named Epaphras...who receives this gift of Jesus by grace through faith.
...his life, like Paul’s, is changed...
...he takes the message of Jesus, Son of God, Savior from sin and eternal death, source of new life as sons and daughters of God...free to serve and live for Him with thanksgiving and joy...He takes it over to a town called Colossae. And gives it away by preaching and teaching the Word of God as he received it from the Apostle Paul! And people’s lives are also changed.
Not only are their lives changed, but they are having a life-changing effect upon those around them in their community and spreading all over the world.
So, when the Apostle Paul writes to them he can say with all joy,
“3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” (Col 1:3-8)
But Paul also has to write to them for another reason. Epaphras comes to Paul for advice about a problem that has developed in the church at Colossae. Some are saying that this message of “Jesus, only Jesus” is not enough. “You can’t rely on Jesus alone. Because there are all these things in the Old Testament that you need to do as well! There’s circumcision, for example...can’t please God without that. And...then there’s these things that you just can’t eat, or touch...there are rules that have to be observed, as well. You just can’t say that Jesus and His righteousness is all you need. If you really want to be spiritual, you have to rise to a higher level.”
So, he writes,
“16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Col 2:16-19)
And then, there were some who were saying, “This Jesus thing is too much...there is some great wisdom among the great philosophers and social commentators. Limiting yourself to just living this Jesus-life...it keeps you from enjoying the really good things this world. There are pleasures to be had and your faith in Jesus shouldn’t rob you of that! Don’t get carried away with this Jesus only. Live a little!”
So Paul has to also write,
“8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Col 2:8)
And, again...
“20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Col 2:20-23)
Jesus - it’s not enough...too simplistic...the critics claim!
Jesus - too much...too restricting...others would say with scorn.
To both of those arguments, God’s Word is clear and decisive: Anyone who believes this, “He has lost connection with the Head” (Col 2:19) When you add human wisdom to the message of Jesus and his work of salvation for us...you have no real Jesus at all! When you marginalize the work of Jesus and His life as being too limiting for real life...you have no Jesus at all!
And the rest of Paul letter to the Colossians lays out all the trials and troubles that come into human hearts, homes and relationships when Jesus, and only Jesus, is no longer honored and worshiped, when sinful, selfish feelings and human reason are allowed to challenge the very Word of God and the Word-made-Flesh, our Lord and Savior!
It was true in Paul’s day...and it is true in our day.
How else can we describe what is happening in the lives of so many Christians, along with the temptations and troubles that come into our own lives.
Clear teachings of God’s Word are compromised or rationalized when we hear comments like:
...It doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you are sincere
...Jesus wants us to love, so I can be in any kind of relationship as long as I have love.
...If you love women, you have to let each do whatever she wants with her body.
...How narrow to believe that only Christians are going to heaven!
...I have a right to be angry with my family; my counselor told me so.
...I’m a Christian, but the Bible doesn’t apply to the world as it is today, we’ve learned so much more.
...God and I have our own arrangement. I don’t need to be part of a church.
And the list could go on and on.
Not only do we hear such things among Christian individuals, but also from entire Christian denominations and their pastors and teachers!
God forbid that anyone should hear it from our own lips and in our own churches!
And the results today, as it was in Paul’s day, are really the same:
Broken and hopeless lives
Sin and lawlessness in our communities
Homes and families in crises
Devaluation of the God-given gifts of life, marriage, and his Church, the Body of Christ.
So the word written by the Apostle Paul to the Colossians so many years ago is the same word which needs to be proclaimed among Christians today:
Colossians 2:1-5
“I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”
And again at the beginning of Chapter 3, verses 1-4:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
What a richness we have when we remember who Jesus is, what he has done for us, and what he is doing even now for all believers.
In my ministry with Hospice of East Texas, I have the wonderful privilege of reminding Christians of the rich treasure we have in Jesus, and even sharing this wonderful message of God saving grace in and through our Lord Jesus Christ with those who have never heard...or, who may have allowed their own self-will or neglect of God’s Word...or the secular drumbeat...to drown out of their hearts and minds.
We had a man in our hospice care who was dying with cancer. His body was filled with pain. But even more, he was very anxious and even combative with his sister, who was his care giver. As I remember, his language was even pretty rugged and foul. When he had come into our care, he like every other patient was asked if he would like a chaplain to visit him at least once or on a regular basis. His sister wanted him to have a chaplain, but he adamantly refused.
Regardless of what our medical team prescribed for his pain and anxiety, nothing seemed to work for very long. Even as he grew weaker, he became more anxious and combative.
One day our medical director made a home visit to assess this man’s situation. After reviewing all his medical charts and medications, he said to the man, “I believe that we have done everything we can do medically to bring you relief from your pain and restlessness. There has to be something else going on . I think you need to talk to one of our chaplains.”
Reluctantly he agreed and I was called to the home. As I arrived, his sister pointed me to his room, but said that she could not go in because he was having a very bad day. And, furthermore, she wanted to apologize in advance for any foul language he might use in my presence. I asked her if she and her brother were Christians. She assured me that she was a Christian and was active in her church, but that her brother has fallen away. So I asked her to pray with me as we acknowledged Jesus’ presence in this home, trusting in his promise, “that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” We prayed for the Holy Spirit to go ahead of me into her brother’s room. Furthermore, I asked her to keep praying for the Holy Spirit to open up her brother to hear what I had to share with him during our visit, and especially that he would allow me to come back again.
After praying together in the kitchen, she gingerly opened the door to his bedroom to let him know that the chaplain was here to see him. As I entered the room, he barely looked at me. I could almost see a big black cloud hanging over him. Thinking of something to talk about to break the ice, I made some comment about the chickens that were running about in the yard outside, and wondered how he was able to keep them without the coyotes getting them. Wow! Did I ever hit on a tender subject, because he launched into a 10 minute tirade about all the he and his sisters had to do to keep those chickens from getting eaten up...just so they could have a few eggs to eat!
We never got much farther in our discussion that day than the chickens, coyotes, cleaning the chicken shed (which was my most dreaded chore as a young boy). His language didn’t improve much as we visited and when I could see that he was getting tired, I asked if I he would like for me to have a prayer with him and come back again before too long. “Not really,” he said, “I’m not much into prayer. But, you can come back again, if you want.”
As I left his room, his sister looked apologetically toward me. “I was listening outside the door. He wasn’t very nice,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s OK,” I said. “At least I know how much he hates the coyotes killing his chickens! So, I’ll be back. Maybe we can get rid of the coyotes.”
To make a long story a little shorter, I did come back a couple more times...and we talked about his chickens and coyotes...and slowly on to other things. About the third time I visited he did let me pray with him.
About the fourth time I visited, he let me read some Scripture. I prayed Psalm 84. The fifth time I visited, I read to him Romans 8:31-35, 37...
“If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship...
“37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
When I finished reading the scriptures, he looked at me as if to say something...and I just remained silent, waiting for him to get out whatever he wanted to say. Finally, he simply said, “How can I have what you have? I want to have the peace you have.”
I smiled at him and simply said, “I think you have to get rid of the coyotes!”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You have to get rid of the coyotes, but not the ones killing your chickens. The ones killing your heart and soul. You think more of them than you do of Jesus. Do you want a change?”
“I do,” he said. “What do I have to do?”
All I had to do now was to do what the Apostle Paul did for the Colossians.
I could share with him, in a good ole East Texas parable fashion, how the three coyotes, the devil, the world and his sinful flesh had consumed his heart and mind, blinding him so that he could not remember his Lord and Savior, the Good Shepherd and Guardian of his life and soul.
I could assure him that he needed to do nothing but remember what Jesus had done for him in his suffering, death and resurrection.
That in his baptism, he like me, had been united with Jesus in His suffering, death and resurrection to a new and different life.
I am at peace because I know that my Jesus has gone ahead of me through every trial, suffering, and even death, itself, and is interceding for me at my Heavenly Father’s side.
That peace is also available to him...by grace through faith in Jesus who died for him and rose again...and is now also interceding at God’s right hand for him at this very moment.
But, those coyotes...how do I get rid of them?
“By confessing your sin of putting self and the devil’s distractions...and the ways of this sinful world...ahead of Jesus, and what He has done for you,” I responded.
And in a prayer of confession...and word of forgiveness, I reminded him once again that...
...grace and mercy
...forgiveness and comfort
...peace and hope
...come from Jesus...nothing more...and certainly, nothing less!
I closed that visit with the Lord’s Prayer...which he prayed with me...for the first time in a long, long time. Then, I announced the benediction:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
With tears in our eyes, we parted that day. As I said goodbye to the sister, I simply said, “I believe the coyotes are gone!”
And she, too, began to cry.
When I came for my next visit, she met me at the door with a smile and a simple message,
“He’s a changed man!”
That’s the message of God’s Word to the Colossians...and to you and me today.
Go in peace. Live in peace. For it is in Jesus...nothing more, nothing less...you have all that you and I need.
Amen.
Now, may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus...nothing more...nothing less!