Serving the Lord Christ

If you have a Bible, please open with me to Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Let's just bow our heads again and pray for the Word.

Holy Spirit, we look to you to give sight to the blind,

to enable us to see the beauty that has been revealed to the person of Jesus.

And we pray that what we see would change us from the inside to the outside,

and that we would look a lot more like Him.

So the world could know Him through us.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, we're going to look at Colossians 3, and really we're going to focus on this evening.

If you look down to verse 24, I've got the ESV in front of me.

This sentence, you are serving the Lord Christ.

I don't know your experience of work.

My experience is that on a given Monday or Tuesday,

most of what I do is very tedious.

The kind of work that fills our days, it's often washing dishes,

filling out paperwork, just listening to another conversation.

And if you think about your typical work week,

honestly, most of what you're doing, I would guess, is probably invisible.

It's not the kind of stuff that people are recording for the annals of history,

or so that people can write your biography.

You're just getting through another day.

And honestly, I would guess that often your tasks, they feel somewhat meaningless.

You know, it's not just teachers that give students busy work.

How many people in the last year have had managers just set up Zoom meetings

just to make sure that the manager's schedule is busy during COVID?

If we just look at our work life, often it fills us with frustration.

We don't have the kind of deep purpose and passion that we read about in airport bestsellers

that we should have.

Again, there's a sense of lack of fulfillment.

Sometimes we look at our peers and we think,

that person has a great life.

Why am I stuck with this job?

You know, underlying all of this is this problem,

because as you listen to podcasts,

the message is that, you know, you can change your life,

that you can discover this purpose,

that there's a passion that you can unfold.

But honestly, as we look at our lives,

often we're kind of stuck with where we are.

Isn't it frustrating that you spend your young life

trying to figure out what you really want to do,

and then often by the time you discover that,

the train's already left the station.

And you're just thinking about trying to pay the bills.

Now again, if we listen to the world,

basically the secular advice is,

okay, well, if you want to be happy with your work,

adjust your circumstances.

You've got to change them so, again,

they're in alignment with your passion.

And maybe there's a few of you tonight

that you can pursue that path and that's open for you,

and by all means do.

But actually the message of the gospel

is so much more radical than this.

Because if you're paying attention to what Paul

is saying in chapter 3 to these bond servants in particular,

these are people that have no capacity

to change the circumstances of their lives.

And so he says something much more revolutionary,

that we don't have to adjust our circumstances,

that rather what we need to do as Christians

is to frame the circumstances.

That if you can just understand who Jesus is

and what he's done,

and if that's the backdrop of your life,

then all of a sudden it doesn't really matter

so much what you're doing.

How you do it can be fundamentally changed.

And so what I want us to do,

I want us to take up this simple sentence

that you serve the Lord Christ

and just ask what would happen

if we actually believe this?

Well, here's one thing that would happen.

Is our lives would all of a sudden

have an unbelievable sense of dignity and worth.

You know, there's something about Roman slavery

that we probably don't think in terms of.

You see, for the Roman slave,

their sense of dignity or worth

was basically determined by two things.

Who they belonged to

and what their role was in that person's house.

Not every slave was treated equally in that society.

You know, if you were just a slave of Joe Bloggs

who was some sort of farmer on a croft

outside in a rural district outside of Rome,

well then, if you're just cleaning up the barn,

that's one thing.

However, if you're a slave

and you happen to belong to someone like Julius Caesar

or Pompey the Great or Cicero,

and let's just say that maybe you manage his accounts,

that you're in charge of his properties,

well you actually could have a dignity

that surpasses that of a lot of free people

in that society.

Now I would guess that in this church

that Paul's writing to,

there were probably bond servants

doing all kinds of things.

But when you read this letter,

one thing you have to pay attention to

is the way from the outset

Paul is trying to expand

what these Christians know about Jesus.

So if you have a Bible,

go back to chapter 1,

look at verses 15 to 18.

What is Paul telling them about Jesus?

He's telling them that Jesus,

he's the image of the invisible God,

that he's the firstborn over all of creation,

that he is the Lord of lords,

he's the King of kings,

that actually he is above everything

in heaven on earth,

visible and invisible,

that these things were actually created

through him,

and they belong for him.

You've got to connect all that

to what he's saying in chapter 3.

Because what Paul is saying

is something that's actually so radical.

It can change our lives.

He's telling this bond servant,

I don't care who you belong to.

I don't care what your occupation is.

I don't care what your role is

in that person's house.

None of that defines your worth.

Because you're a servant of the Lord Christ.

I mean, he just blows the ceiling off

every notion of status

you could possibly think in terms of.

This is why Paul was so free

of all anxiety

about what people thought about him.

If you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4,

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

what does he say?

He says that he's a servant of Christ.

And then he goes on to say,

you know, I don't care if you judge me,

and I don't care if human courts judge me.

I don't even judge myself.

Because he knows that the only one

that matters is Jesus,

and it's who he is in relation to him

that determines his identity.

And so this is a radical message

that we have here.

It's a message that could have convinced

a slave who was just scrubbing

the bathrooms,

that actually that's not what defines them.

that their worth is determined

by their relationship with the Lord Christ

and the fact that they belong to his household

as a brother or a sister of the Lord.

This can change us too.

I love Francis of Assisi

for the reason that he so grasped this sense

that his identity was in Christ.

There's a famous story

where a bunch of bandits,

they come across Francis on a road in Italy,

and they say,

Who are you?

Francis, he's dressed in rags.

He looks like a beggar.

You know what he says?

I am the herald of a great king.

They think he's mad.

They think he's crazy,

but he wasn't.

He just grasped that,

Hey, my worth's not determined

by my clothing or my occupation.

You see, I know this guy, Jesus.

He's the high king,

and I'm a herald of him.

So Francis, in a sense,

that was not without humility,

but he walked the streets

with a sense of security

with who he was.

That's exactly what can happen to us

if we grasp this simple phrase

that we serve the Lord Christ.

Now, let's flip it around.

Let's think about it from another angle.

This truth of serving the Lord Christ,

this can be a source of unbelievable joy.

Now, wouldn't you agree

that most tasks are joyless?

That most of what you do in your day

is not that exciting?

I love how Elizabeth Elliot,

you know, she's the widow of Jim Elliot,

the famous martyr, missionary.

You know, she served on mission

after her husband Jim was dead.

I love how Elizabeth talks about

the life of a missionary.

She says, you know,

your day as a missionary

is not filled with these big campaigns

and seeing thousands of people saved

or, you know, doing,

seeing miracles happen before your eyes.

The typical day of a missionary,

it's washing dishes,

it's scrubbing floors,

it's making meals,

it's visiting the sick.

It's so ordinary,

just like us.

And so how do you actually find joy

in the midst of tasks

that in and of themselves,

they're just monotonous?

Well, Paul gives us an answer.

Look again at verse 24.

He's telling them to serve the Lord Christ,

but look at what he says first,

knowing that from the Lord,

you will receive the inheritance

as your reward.

Think about how it changes

to have great expectations.

Right now I'm reading that old novel

by Charles Dickens.

You've got this character, Pip.

He's poor.

He would love to be a gentleman.

He's got no chance to be a gentleman.

He's training to be a blacksmith.

He has no future.

And then there's this surprise.

He finds out that actually

there's this legacy

that he's inheriting.

And just imagine

if you're just this boy, Pip,

and you're in the forge,

how your attitude changes

when you realize

that just in a week

or just in a month

or just in a year,

there's this incredible inheritance

that's going to be given to you.

It's not the same mindset

that Paul's committing

to these bond servants and slaves.

Okay, yeah,

your day job

might just be digging ditches.

It might be tilling fields

that nobody's ever

going to take note of.

But just around the corner,

there's this inheritance

that the Lord Jesus

is going to give you.

He's going to give you

eternal life.

He's going to give you

a place within his family.

He's going to resurrect you

with a new body.

He's going to give you

a place in his heavens

and earth

where you're going to reign

with him.

And Paul would have them know

these bond servants and slaves

realize he's positioned you

where you are.

And so can you hang on

just a little bit longer,

digging the ditch,

plowing the field,

filling out the Excel spreadsheet,

going on another Zoom meeting,

knowing that this isn't your future.

But there's an inheritance

that he's going to give you.

Knowing that that's the case,

how does it change your attitude?

Especially if you connect the dots

and realize that the one

that you're serving today

is the one that's going to give you

that inheritance.

In other words,

you're not doing the spreadsheet

for your boss.

You're doing it for Jesus.

If Jesus, who's given you

forgiveness for your sin,

and who's going to give you

eternal life,

if he asked you,

would you till that field over there?

Would you be reluctant?

If he said,

would you just make another lunch

for your kids

and do the laundry?

Would you do it for him?

That's the mentality.

That the monotonous

can be filled with joy

when we realize

we're serving

the Lord Christ.

Now let's flip it again.

Let's look at it

from yet another angle.

How we can be changed

simply by seeing this truth

that you're serving

the Lord Christ.

That this can be a source

of deep integrity

in our lives.

I would guess that you're tempted

in the same way I'm tempted.

If somebody's looking

over my shoulder,

watching me,

I've got a very high standard.

At the moment,

I feel like nobody's watching

and the task is meaningless.

All of a sudden,

I start to settle

for something that's really

of kind of subpar

mediocre work.

Now part of what Paul

is committing to us here

is what we see

through the whole

of the New Testament,

that we are called

to an exceeding righteousness.

See, the way that the world

operates is it always

settles for less.

I mean, just think of

the Sermon on the Mount.

What does Jesus talk about

in the Sermon on the Mount?

Don't be like those people.

They do their charitable deeds

to be seen by men.

They've got their reward.

When you do a charitable reward,

don't let your left hand

know what your right hand

is doing.

Why?

Because your Father

who sees in secret.

You see,

you're not doing it

for the eyes of men.

You're doing it for God.

And He's watching.

He's there.

Jesus says the same thing.

When you pray,

you know,

don't stand on the street corner.

Don't blast a trumpet.

You know,

don't go position yourself

into the church

where everybody can see you.

You go into your room.

You close the door

and you pray to your Father

in secret.

And your Father

who sees in secret,

He'll reward you openly.

Part of what's so stunning

about the Christian life

is we're not just concerned

about the exterior.

We're not just trying

to do it for the praise of men.

And look,

this is exactly what Paul

says in verse 22.

He's telling these bond servants

something very difficult.

Obey in everything

those who are

your earthly masters.

But how?

Not by way of eye service.

Don't do it as people pleasers.

But do it with sincerity

of heart,

fearing the Lord.

It's a beautiful psalm.

You probably know it's

Psalm 136 or 139.

You know,

that reminds us,

first of all,

just of the presence of God

that wherever we go

in our rising,

in our sleeping,

no matter where we travel,

that God is always there.

And as soon as you grasp

hold of this truth

that He's always present

and that He's watching,

that can't but change

your attitude

concerning how you're

going to do things.

Because as Paul says here,

it's ultimately out of reverence

for Him.

You know,

you're digging that ditch

in the field.

Your supervisor's probably

never going to look.

You're never going to get evaluated.

Why on earth would you care

about this ditch?

Only one reason.

Because the Father sees

and it delights Him

when you pour your heart

into this simple task.

And if you do this heartily

unto the Lord

and not to men,

it's not just the angels

that rejoice.

So does Jesus.

So does the Father.

And so you do see the way

in which when you realize

that you're serving

the Lord Christ.

That's why you're doing

the laundry.

That's why you're doing

the dishes.

That's why you're cutting

the grass.

That's why you're doing

the spreadsheet.

That all of a sudden,

again, it matters

even if

no one's going to ever see it.

And one of the most

interesting features

of the medieval cathedrals

are how if you would go

on top

and look from above,

a vantage that

no one will see,

you'll see craftsmanship

and you'll see carving.

Why on earth

did they do that?

Certainly wasn't for men.

They were doing it

unto the Lord.

And that's the kind

of work ethic

we're called to here.

Now let's flip it again.

Let's see it from yet

another angle.

The way in which this

serving the Lord Christ,

that this is a source

of long suffering.

It's a source

of patience.

Look at verse 25.

Paul says something

that might sound

a little bit scary

at first.

It's hard to understand

it in its context

but it's worth understanding.

He tells us

that the wrongdoer

will be paid back

for the wrong he has done

for there is

no partiality.

Why is he saying this?

I would guess

that you've probably seen

injustice before

in the workplace.

It wasn't just

the ancient world

that struggled with this.

no matter how hard

we try,

there's still prejudice,

there's still biases

in the workplace.

You know,

people don't get positions,

somebody who's more

attractive,

somebody who's got

a more dynamic personality,

somebody who's younger,

someone with a different

set of beliefs.

All of these things

bring in all kinds

of injustice

in the workplace.

The question comes in,

what do you do

if you find yourself

under somebody's authority

and you've got

no legal remedy?

Well,

think about these

bond servers.

Think about these

slaves.

What would they do

if they're being mistreated

by their master?

You might say,

well,

go to the courts,

go to the magistrate.

Well,

what if the magistrate

is a friend

of the friend

of your master

so that you know

you're not going

to get a fair hearing?

What do you do

if deep down

there's a real

sense of injustice,

but there's nothing

you can do

to remedy

your circumstance?

That's why Paul

writes this

in verse 25.

He wants us to know

that there is a seat

that's impartial.

That Jesus is not

a respecter of persons

in the sense

that he treats

billionaires

different from the poor.

That he treats

one person

with one skin color

different than

another person

with a different skin color.

that that's not

how he operates.

That when he comes,

he will bring

real justice.

And that's why

when we're in positions

where we can't

establish justice

for ourselves,

we can do

what Jesus told us

to do.

Blessed are the meek

or the patient,

for they will

inherit the earth.

And we wait

on Christ

to bring the

righteous judgment

that only he

can bring.

Friends,

this is an important

verse to remember

in a time like this

where we think

of Christians,

say,

in a place like

Afghanistan.

What do you do

when you're surrounded

with injustice?

When you're surrounded

with oppression?

And there's no place

you can go for help.

Well, you can cling

to this verse.

It's not bad news

for the Christian.

It's good news

that one day

the wrongdoer,

that that wrong

will be righted,

that Jesus will turn

the world right side up

in that he won't

be partial

to any particular

government regime

or to any person,

but it will be

a perfect justice.

And that can create

great patience

when you're in a hard

place

and you're just

having to persevere.

And there's one more

way that we can

think about this.

Again,

the same sentence,

that we're serving

the Lord Christ.

Christ,

this truth is also

a source

of great humility.

Really,

we see this

if you look at

verse 1 of chapter 4.

Masters,

treat your bondservants

justly and fairly,

knowing that you also

have a master

in heaven.

Power is dangerous.

There's that old adage,

power corrupts,

absolute power corrupts,

absolutely.

There's a lot of truth

in that statement.

There's a reason why

when we read through

verse 18 on

in chapter 3

that we get a little

bit fidgety.

It scares us

a little bit to hear

that wives are told

to submit to their husbands

because we know

how easy it is

for a husband

in a position of authority

to abuse that authority.

Again,

we're a little bit

put off by that statement

that children obey

their parents

and then this statement

really about to fathers

in verse 21

because again,

fatherhood

is something

that has been used

so damagingly

to so many children.

Of course,

you've got this situation

with masters as well.

And so what do we do?

What is the truth

that protects us

from abusing power

because we find ourselves

in positions of authority?

It's exactly what Paul says

in verse 1 of chapter 4

that we've got to remember

that we are always

a servant

before we're in a position

of authority.

I know this sounds

kind of strange

but if you really think

through this passage,

how should husbands operate?

Husbands should remember

that even before

they're a husband,

they're a wife

because every Christian

is the bride of Jesus

which means you can't have

any kind of authority

in the home

unless you are coming under

and submitting

and yielding yourself

to Christ.

What's your greatest protection

as a father?

It's knowing that you're

actually a child.

That you can't exercise

that role

with any goodness

unless you realize

that you are absolutely

dependent

and under

a heavenly father

and that you've got

to look to him

to discover the character

that then you've got

to reflect

to whoever's

under your care.

What does Paul say

to masters

which although

we may not have

this really role

in our society

you could say it

equally of employers

that if you are going

to be the kind

of employer

if you're going

to be in any position

where you've got

some sort of mastery

over others

that you've got

to begin by recognizing

no that you are

actually a bondservant

and that your first rule

is to seek to honor

your master

before you exercise

any authority

over anyone else.

I want to pull out

to end just one difficulty

that I think as we read

through this passage

you know it arises

there'd be other ones

but this is one

that I think is important

to pick out.

You know if you're thinking

deeply about this passage

and you're thinking

about you know

verse 22

of not doing things

according to eye service

as people pleasers

but with sincerity

fearing the Lord

you're looking at

verse 23

whatever you do

work heartily

as to the Lord

and not to men

this could easily

land you in a place

of great anxiety.

How on earth

is this not

a recipe

to feel like

you are under

a relentless

taskmaster

that there's

constant surveillance

there's constant

measurement

so that you can

never do enough

and you can

never rest.

How does it not

result there?

There's two things

I'd say.

The first is

that we've got

to recognize

the incredible

freedom

that comes

from only

having

one

audience

to please.

If you were

to look

in your life

I guarantee

you've probably

got a hundred

people you're

trying to

please all

the time.

You've got

some memory

of your father

or your mother

or your grandparents

you're trying

to please

maybe some

friends

and some

colleagues

you've got

that boss

or that line

manager

you've got

all those

expectations

they're kind

of it's

anonymous crowd

but just

living in a

society

or living

in a neighborhood

makes you feel

like you have

to conform

to people's

expectation

and it goes

on and

on and

on and

on.

How wonderful

would it be

if somebody

said actually

there's only

one set

of eyes

that matter

and if you

please him

everything else

is going

to fall

into place.

Now that's

one piece

of the puzzle

but we've

got to add

a second

and the

second is

this

it's the

heart

of the one

that you

have to

please.

It's when

you realize

that the

only one

you have

to please

is the

person who

said come

to me

all you

who are

weary

and heavy

laden

and I

will give

you rest

take my

yoke upon

you learn

from me

for I am

gentle

and lowly

in spirit

and you

will find

rest

for your

soul.

When you

realize the

only one

you have

to please

is the

one who

gave himself

absolutely

for you

and the

one who

is constantly

working

for you

to encourage

to sustain

to hold

you up

when you

realize that

he's working

his strength

in you

that he's a

kind and

gracious

and merciful

shepherd

that's what

removes that

surveillance

that endless

taskmaster

and all of a

sudden you can

rest before him

and say

okay Jesus

what does

it look

like for

me to

live this

day for

you

and that's

the only

question

that you have

to answer

in the

morning

what relief

what peace

could that

bring to

us

and so let's

pray that this

week that God

will enable us

not just to

think in these

terms

but to live

this out

that incredible

truth

that no matter

what we're

doing

that we

serve the

Lord

Christ

let's pray

father we

just rejoice

in the

gospel

it's so

incredible

it's so much

better than the

advice of the

world

we don't have

to do anything

radical

we don't have

to abandon

our families

we don't have

to change

our career

we can just

frame our

lives against

the backdrop

of truth

Jesus is

king

he's going

to reward

us with the

inheritance

that the only

question

that we have

to think

about

is how

do we

live

and abide

and serve

him

help us

to simplify

the confusion

of our

lives

and help

us to

accept

that invitation

that's there

today

come to

me all

you who

are weary

and heavy

laden

and I

will give

you rest

show us

how to

take his

yoke

upon us

we ask

this

in his

name

amen

let's

you

as

you