Text: Colossians 1:24-2:5
Title: The Glorious Tasks of Ministry
Introduction
Paul told the Colossians about his many tasks in ministry, all of which served to glorify Christ.
In our ministry, there are various tasks, all of which can serve to glorify Christ.
We are all called to ministry. Some churches include this in their core statements with something like, “every member a minister.”
We often isolate ministry to a particular task, such as fixing things, teaching a Sunday School class, or helping an aged neighbor got to and from the dcotor’s office. While these certainly can be called ministries, I would like to focus on tasks that all of us will have to do if we are truly going to minister.
1. We have the task of suffering (24-25).
Paul was in prison and uncertain of his future. By the time he had gotten to Rome, where this letter was written, he had been shipwrecked, stoned and beaten numerous times. In addition to all that had happened, he was suffering imprisonment and the (Rom. 5:3).
Nothing here takes away from the sufficiency of Christ’s suffering; Paul’s suffering didn’t save anyone, but pointed them to the One who can. Paul wasn’t in these situations by accident, but by God’s plan (25).
“The suffering of Christ’s messengers ministers to those they are trying to reach and may open them to the gospel.” John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad p. 91
In this book, Piper tells the story of an indigenous missionary in India who walked barefoot from village to village sharing the gospel. After walking a long way he finally came to a village where he was spurned for his message. Being tired and discouraged, he went out of the village and fell fast asleep under a tree. When he awoke, all the villagers were there, anxious to hear his message. The head man of the village said that they had been looking him over while he slept, and when they saw his blistered feet they concluded that he must be a holy man. They were sorry for rejecting one who had endured so much to come tell them of Jesus.
Our orientation meeds changing. Instead of seeing suffering a negative, i.e. punishment by God, see it as a positive, joining Christ in His sufferings
Suffering and setbacks can be opportunities instead of obstacles.
See your sufferings and setbacks as opportunities to witness. Don’t resist suffering, but realize that you are joining Christ when you suffer for his sake (Phil. 3:10)
2. We have the task of proclaiming (26-28).
Today, the word “mystery” conjures up images of the unknown or stories of whodunit murder dramas on television. But this word in the New Testament always refers to that which was once hidden, now is revealed and available to all. Namely, that Jesus Christ the Messiah, came to save not only Jews but Gentiles. (Rev. 7:9).
This proclamation involves delivering bad news (“warning”) and good news (“teaching”) with the goal of spiritual maturity.
People can’t hear the good news until they know there’s bad news.
Imagine if the highway department only wanted to put up highway signs that made people feel good about driving. Instead of speed limit signs with a number, they would say something like, “Whatever seems right to you.” Gone would be any signs indicating potential danger such as “bridge out,” “bump,” or “uneven pavement.” If that actually happened, who knows how many more accidents would be caused for lack of warning. In the same way, our proclamation of the gospel must include the fact that sin and everything else opposed to God will meet with severe punishment one day.
Oftentimes the “proclamation” is seen as belonging to preachers and Bible teachers. But all of us have this task given to us. We proclaim with our words as well as our actions. Even so, we must always be ready to speak on behalf of our Lord (1 Peter 3:15).
Rev. Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopal priest and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous once said, “I cannot witness by my life alone, I must include my lip. For if I witness by my life alone, I proclaim too much of me, and too little of Him.”
When you have an opportunity to talk about Christ and the faith, balance the good news with the bad news. Give the warning as well as the teaching.
3. We have the task of struggling (29-2:1).
The words “struggling” and “struggle” (1:29, 2:1) contain the root “agon,” as in agony. This was a word used to describe athletic contests, esp. wrestling.
Since Paul was removed physically and largely unknown to them, the arena of the struggle certainly included prayer. The struggle was internal as well as external.
Soldiers in battle have to struggle their own fears, the environment (weather, terrain, etc.), and an armed enemy.
Likewise, Adrian Rogers has identified three enemies of our soul: Internal (self), external (the world), and infernal (Satan and demons). As long as we’re in this world, we are engaged in the battle.
We’re always struggling against an internal enemy, an external enemy, and an infernal enemy.
Struggling is far from pleasant, but necessary. The only way to eliminate struggle is to surrender to the opposing force.
Realize that consistent prayer and service will never come naturally or easily. Identify the areas of struggle and make plans to counter them.
4. We have the task of encouraging (2-3).
Notice that the result of being encouraged is joining in with others, “hearts…knit together in love.” The source of encouragement is the “treasure” of Christ.
Godly encouragement results in people being drawn closer together as all of them are drawn closer to Christ.
The word “treasure” in the Greek sounds like our word “thesaurus.” The idea behind a thesaurus is to explore every possible way of stating an idea. In the same way, everything that really needs to be known or said is rooted in Christ. This treasure is hidden in Him, but He is not hidden. The way to have the treausure is to have the person.
Encouraging people is not telling them what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. The goal of encouragement is “to reach all the riches of…Christ.” Helping people see that they can be much more than they are, that they can be better than they are, is encouraging. But all of this requires love (1 Cor. 13:1-3).
Share Jesus with people in a way that encourages them to be more like Him.
5. We have the task of caring (4-5).
The word care has a number of meanings. The meaning in this case would be “to feel interest or concern” (Websters Collogiate Dictionary, 11th ed.).
Paul was removed from them physically, but not spiritually. He was concerned about the possibility of them getting sucked in by false teaching, and wanted to see them firm in Crist. This was all a result of his having their best interests at heart. The words for “good order” and “firmness” in verse 5 are military terms describing an army whose soldiers are all well armed and standing close together. An army in this configuration was nearly undefeatable. That’s how Paul wanted them to be as a church.
The “plausible arguments” in the Greek is pithanologia, (only here in the NT). This word was used in other writings of someone who very cleverly used words to convince someone of something that wasn’t true. One example is of a lawyer trying to convince the court that the criminal should be able to keep the property he had stolen.
Every day, people are injured or face death. Our hospitals are never empty, and the funeral homes always seem to have business. But most of us are only affected by this reality when the person is someone known to us. Most of the time, caring for people is tied to knowing and liking them.
But in doing ministry, we have to take this to another level. As we mature in Christ and ministry, we find ourselves caring about people we don’t even know or never met. This is what motivates our missionaries. This is what motivates us to pray and give to mission offerings. This is why on Wednesday nights at prayer meeting, many of the people we pray for are not known to most of us.
Our ministry matures as we learn to care about people we have never met.
Ask Jesus to give you His concern for others, even people you don’t know. When you’re listening to the news or reading the paper, cultivate the habit of praying on the spot for the people you read about who are going through any kind of distress. Pray along the lines of Paul, that they be kept from error and steered toward the truth.
Conclusion
In his book, EKG: The Heartbeat of God, Ken Hemphill says, The kingdom of God is always glorious, but it will not always be glamorous. We often hope that our ministry will be, maybe not glamourous, but at least pleasant and rewarding. Sometimes when we find it involves suffering and struggling and putting our necks out, we want to shrink back and give up.
But the God who strengthened Paul and kept him going is the God we serve. Paul had nothing available to him that you don’t have available to you. By trusting God completely with your life your plans, you can have a ministry that brings glory to Him.
