Today we complete our study of the book of Colossians. Paul wrote this letter and three others (Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon) while in prison awaiting trial. Paul is the consummate leader. He is always trying to spread the gospel even while battling outside forces. In Paul’s writing of this scripture to the Colossians and the Lacodians, he is battling real threats to the new churches in these areas. He has trouble with Judaizers, legalist, Mystics and Gnostics. All of which are claiming to know more than Paul about the faith. By sending this letter, Paul is hoping to put an end to the debate within these ministry outposts. As you will recall, Paul began this letter by sharing his prayer and hope for them. He went on to clarify the centrality of Jesus to the faith while helping them to see faith is not about rules but relationships. With this as the basis for Christian life, Last week we reviewed how as Christians we must choose to live out our faith by clothing ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and forgiveness. In this last chapter, we are encouraged to live lives Holy and pleasing to the Lord by not only speaking about Christ but acting it out in our daily lives.
Today’s scripture is from the final chapter of Colossians. At first glance, you might say, as a friend of mine did when I invited him to Wednesday night bible discussion group, “Are you kidding me? Two lines of scripture? It’s going to be a short meeting.” For the record, it wasn’t. It was lively. We spent an hour and a half discussing the following scripture. Paul said in Colossians 4:5-6, “Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.”
Remember, Paul is encouraging the new believers and leaders in the Colossian and Lacodian house churches to reclaim their church which has fallen into some bad practices and theology. As such, the message is timeless. So timeless in fact, he could be standing here in this sanctuary. He is encouraging and setting an expectation that as Christians, our words and actions need to coincide.
Words are powerful. They can be used for evil or good. They can lead nations astray. It’s been said that for every word in Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf that 125 people died in World War II. The spoken word can induce relatively sane people to do insane acts. For example, the demonizations of the Hutus by the Tutsis lead to few hundred thousand people being hacked to death. Words can even be used to convince a person its best if they kill themselves. I just read of a mom who convinced a young neighbor girl to kill herself by sending message to her over a social networking site.
Paul knew the power of words. He watched a Roman empire, who valued philosophy, use words to convince the empire that the killing of and the enslavement of other people groups was normal behavior. Paul wrote in verse 6 that Christians are to be gracious which means we are to be kind and courteous when approaching those outside the faith. He also suggested we use salt in these discussions. Salt was a recognizable symbol during this time in human history. Salt was used as a natural preservative and food enhancer. As such, the term is used here to signify a conversation that is interesting, invites interaction, contains depth and is wholesome.
Obviously, we can all reflect on plenty of Christ’s conversations where he demonstrated this type of conversation: The woman at the well, the blind beggar, the woman caught in adultery. In each case, Christ demonstrated grace and mercy through his words. I was listening to a pastor in my travels around town this week who spoke of the power of personal face to face confession. In the CD, he highlighted the book of James where it states in Chapter 5 verse 16, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” In his talk, he spoke of a healing conversation with a young man in his congregation. The young man was a former football player who had been dating a young woman for a little while when she became pregnant. He sat before the priest and sobbed. He couldn’t even speak. He was remorseful and ashamed. You see, instead of accepting his responsibility, he badgered and persuaded the young woman into an abortion. He claimed he was murderer. He killed his child and he could see if had killed his girlfriends spirit. He was a wreck. He couldn’t see how God would forgive him. As he confessed the sin, the pastor put his arm around the man, spoke to him about his guilt, his need to make it right with the young woman, God’s forgiveness for sins repented of and the grace and mercy God provides. After a long conversation, the man left the church released from the burden. At the end of the night, the man returned with his girlfriend in tow. The young man looked like God touched him and she looked white as a ghost. The same story repeated itself. The words of God’s forgiveness freed them. God loves us that much.
Words are powerful. However, words usually only demonstrate our thoughts but our actions demonstrate our beliefs. It is in our actions we live our faith. Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” Now some of you are thinking, well I’m not a preacher but oh you are. You preach every time you come into contact with other people especially when you claim to be a Christian publically: Your friends, relatives, co-workers and family are all gauging your commitment. They do so by your actions. That’s why this set of God’s word to us is so powerful. God via Paul’s letter is commanding us to make sure our words and actions meet. This really hits home with me. As some of you, I won’t put a fish on my car because I’m worried about how Christ might be perceived in my driving. You see, I’m a lot like that old rock star, Sammy Hagar, who sang a screamed the song entitled, “I can’t drive 55!” It’s hard. I am working on my driving, planning my trips to be more enjoyable and productive by adding more CD’s and podcasts to my drive. But when I look down on the expressways around Chicago, I’m not driving 55! I have to get my intentions and actions to meet. It’s not because I want to drive 55 but because of how it reflects on Jesus Christ.
How about you? Do your actions bring people closer to the love of Christ or move them away?
