The Places We Will Go - Colossians 3:17-4:1

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as

is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children,

obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children,

or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything and do it

not only when their eyes are on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and

reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord,

not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward,

it is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs,

and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair,

because you know that you also have a master in heaven. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word made available to us so easily in our language.

Thank you for your servant, Alan, for his service to us as a church family this past summer.

Thank you for the work and the preparation that has gone into this morning's message.

We pray that you would bless him by your words as he grapples with us day in and day out.

Help him to speak clearly now to us as one who is speaking your very words.

Help us to listen well and to engage and to be challenged by your word,

so that we will go out as not just hearers of your words, but as doers.

So bless us, we pray as we listen and go out and live it out. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you, Alan.

Well, good morning. It's a pleasure to be here again this morning.

We get close to wrapping up the book of Colossians here, the epistle of Colossians.

Like we said last week, we are heading into the end of the letter where Paul is just getting very practical in his teaching here.

And last week he showed us that our whole life as Christians is really a response to everything that God has done for us through Christ.

We saw that really we respond to the gospel in lives of worship, in song, in word, and in deed.

And then in verse 17, we ended there and we said that would kind of start us off today.

So verse 17 says,

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I get to verse 17,

I'm really ready to do anything that God has for me to do.

And I'm a bit adventurous.

I'm a bit of a, you give me the challenge, Lord, I'll get after it.

And so I imagine if I were sitting there listening to Paul,

he were to say, are you ready to do anything?

I'd say, yeah, I'm ready, Paul.

He'd say, okay, are you sure?

Absolutely.

And I would be thinking big thoughts.

And Paul would say, okay, here's what I want you to do.

I want you to go home, okay?

I want you to go to work, okay?

And then Paul would just stare at me.

I'd say, no, Paul, keep going.

Because here's the thing, Paul, I'm an American, so I'm a pioneer.

I'm an adventurous guy.

I'm going to go explore.

I'm going to take over the world, Paul, so tell me what to do.

And he says, yes, Alan, go home.

I can do that.

And then go to work, absolutely.

And I think Paul would say, what are you waiting for?

Go home and go to work.

And it's interesting because sometimes we read Scripture

and we get these thoughts that I'm going to go serve God

in word and deed and anything I do,

it's going to be for the Lord and He's going to call me to something

and it's going to be this big, huge thing.

And Paul says, here's the big, huge thing I want you to do.

I want you to go home and go to work

and glorify God in doing so.

Why would Paul start here?

Why would he call us as believers to respond to all that God has done

by going home and going to work?

Well, note a few things here.

These are some of the most time-consuming,

and I don't mean that in a negative sense,

but these are the most time-consuming relationships in our lives.

This is where we spend our most time,

at home and at work.

These are some of the most sensitive relationships in our lives.

And really, these are the nuts and bolts of our life

as we spend a lot of time and a lot of energy

and a lot of thought at home and at work.

And so Paul kind of says,

this is a bit of the litmus test, if you will,

of everything that he's taught so far in the book of Colossians.

The degree to which the gospel has really taken root in our lives

is seen first and foremost at home and at work.

And so here's what I want to do today.

I want to look at those two parts of our life,

and I want to look at three things.

The ideal, what it should look like according to Scripture.

And then the real, the reality of what this looks like,

and our hope for redemption, our hope for renewal.

The ideal, the real, and our hope for renewal.

So first, the ideal home.

Paul gives us verses 18 through 21.

And then he says,

It starts with wives submitting themselves to their husbands

as is fitting in the Lord.

It gets really quiet when a preacher says that.

I've noticed that.

I've preached this type of passage a few times,

and every woman's got the same look right now.

And every man's trying really hard not to grin.

But it really says right there,

wives submitting themselves to the husbands

as is fitting in the Lord.

And I'll be honest,

I don't like that word submit.

And I don't know many people that like that word submit.

The ladies, I tried hard to look for different translations.

I looked at all the different,

how else can we interpret this word?

It says, here's an option.

Willingly enter into a submissive relationship with someone.

Well, that doesn't sound any better.

Subject yourself to the authority of someone.

Or subordinate yourself.

Those are the options.

It really means submit.

Submit.

Submit yourselves to your husbands.

Now I want to point out what this does not say.

It does not say,

women, submit yourselves to men.

It doesn't say that.

You might hear that argued,

but that's not what it says.

It's talking about one wife submitting herself to one husband

as is fitting in the Lord.

It does not say,

obey.

Notice that.

It's going to say,

for children and slaves,

obey.

It doesn't say that for the wife.

It says,

to submit herself to the Lord

as is fitting,

or to her husband as is fitting in the Lord,

or proper.

And our example is Christ in the garden

on the night of His betrayal.

He says,

Father, please take this cup from me.

Speaking of the cross.

He says,

yet not my will,

or not my plan,

but yours be done.

Showing us an example of perfect submission.

And then Paul says,

this is to be coupled with perfect love by the husband.

Verse 19 says,

Husbands,

love your wives,

and do not be harsh with them.

He says,

husbands,

have a warm regard for,

take pleasure and cherish,

show affection to your wives.

And he says,

do not be harsh.

That's an interesting way of translating that actually,

because you could also say,

the translation could read,

do not make them bitter or sour.

The only other time we get this phrase in Scripture

is Revelation 10.9,

where John is given a scroll to put on his mouth,

and he's told,

at first it will taste really sweet like honey,

but then it will turn sour in your stomach.

It will make you bitter.

It will be harsh on you.

Paul says,

men,

we are not to sour our wives.

We are not to make them become bitter.

The opposite actually is what we're supposed to do.

We're supposed to love our wives and cause them to blossom.

Again,

our example is Christ himself.

In a parallel passage in Ephesians 5,

Paul says,

husbands,

love your wives as Christ loved the church.

In the same way that Christ loved the church,

men are called to love their wives.

In the way that he gave himself up for her.

Cleansing her.

To present her holy and blameless.

That's how we're called to love our wives.

And so this first relationship that Paul sets up

in this ideal sense of a man who loves his wife

the way that Christ loved the church,

and a lady who submits to her husband

in the way that the Lord Christ submitted to the Father

by going to the cross.

This, Paul says,

is the ideal Christian marriage.

This is part of responding to what God has done.

Ladies,

submitting to your husband.

Husbands,

loving your wives.

Then to that,

Paul adds

children obeying their parents.

And fathers encouraging their children.

Verses 20-21.

Children,

children obey your parents in everything.

For this pleases the Lord.

Fathers,

do not embitter your children,

or they will become discouraged.

And the opposite of discouraging a child

is to encourage them.

And Christ is our example once again

as he both obeys his earthly parents

as well as his heavenly Father.

I find it interesting that scriptures say

Jesus obeyed his earthly parents.

If any child

ever had the right

to stand up to mom and dad

and say,

I have a different idea,

it's God incarnate.

And yet he obeyed his parents.

Children,

you really are called to obey your parents.

Even adults,

we're still children,

aren't we?

We still have parents.

In the same way,

Christ,

he encourages,

you could say,

he shepherds his disciples.

He encourages them.

He trains them up.

He's so patient.

He's so loving.

You don't ever get a sense

in the Gospels

of Jesus being harsh

with his disciples.

Even though we read it

and we're going,

come on guys.

Get with the program.

Jesus is so patient with them.

He's so encouraging.

And Paul says,

this is what the Christian home

should look like.

Husbands loving their wives.

Wives submitting to their husbands.

Children obeying.

Fathers encouraging.

Well, what more

could one ask for?

Paul says,

how about,

how about once you've done that at home,

then go to work

and create the ideal work environment.

We say,

well, what does a Christ-centered

work environment look like?

He tells us,

first of all,

in verses 22 through 25,

he says,

slaves,

obey your earthly masters

in everything.

Now,

if we bring that into today's context,

we would say,

employees and employers

would be the language

which we would use.

Employees,

obey your employers

in everything.

Not only when their eye is on you.

And not just to curry their favor.

But with sincerity of heart

and reverence for the Lord.

Again,

our example is found in Christ

who in John 17

says to the Father,

I have brought you glory on earth

by finishing the work

you gave me to do.

Christ is the perfect servant

who obeys in everything.

And then it says,

employers,

do what is right and fair.

In chapter 4,

verse 1.

Masters,

provide your slaves

with what is right and fair

because you know

that you also have

a Master in heaven.

And again,

we look to Christ,

our example,

in 1 John 2.

It says that

He is our advocate

with the Father.

He is the righteous one.

The one who is right

and fair.

So Paul says,

employers,

treat your employees

like Jesus treated us.

Or maybe you're not an employer,

but you have someone

who works under you.

It says to treat that person

in a righteous way.

And so we have

the ideal home

and we have the ideal

work environment.

And Paul has brought us

all the way to this point

where he says,

everything you do

in word and in deed,

do it to the Father,

for the Son,

in the name of the Father,

giving thanks.

And we say,

okay,

tell us what that is.

And he says,

go home

and go to work

and live lives like this.

And we do have to feel

the weight of that

because that really is

the command in Scripture.

There's no linguistic gymnastics

I can do

to get us out of that.

That's really commanded

by Paul.

And yet there's a reason

why Paul has to command

these things,

isn't there?

These aren't natural to us.

This is not the reality

we live in.

And so we have to look

at the reality

of where we're at.

And we just have to be honest

with how these relationships

really are right now.

We also have to recognize

the effect

that the fall has had

on each of these relationships.

When we look at marriage,

we see in Genesis 3.16,

as part of the curse,

God says,

your desire,

ladies,

your desire will be

contrary to,

or your desire will be

to master your husbands.

And he will lord over you.

See,

part of the effects

of the fall

is that for ladies,

it's not natural

to want to submit

to your husband.

It's natural

to want to get over him

and lord over him.

And it's not natural

for him to just love you

the way Christ has loved the church.

It's more natural

for him to lord over you.

And men,

we go from Eve

being flesh of my flesh

and bone of my bone

to that woman you gave me.

And we see right away

in the fall

this fracture in marriage.

If you keep reading

into Genesis 4,

it gets worse

in verse 19

where it says,

Lamech,

he takes two wives.

I think that language

is interesting.

It goes from one man

and one woman

to now this man

who will take two wives.

If you look at their names,

it's even more interesting.

Their names mean

my ornament

and my shade.

So we've gone from

a helpmate

who God has created

to be one man

and one woman

in this beautiful relationship

to women

wanting to lord

over their husbands

or master their husbands

and men just saying,

I will take wives

and I'll make them

my ornament

and my shade.

And the marriage

relationship

is fractured deeply

by sin.

If we're honest,

we can admit

and we have to admit

that our marriages today

are built on centuries

of domination

and manipulation.

Centuries of misunderstanding

and warfare

between men and women.

Two sinners

plunged into

a lifelong struggle.

You say,

how come my spouse

is this way

because they're a sinner

just like you.

And so we have a woman

fighting her sin nature

and we have a man

fighting his sin nature

trying to glorify God

in this marriage.

What about parenting?

What does it really look like

to parent

in a fallen world?

We see right away

Cain kills Abel.

We see very soon

Noah's son

Ham

shaming him.

Even King David's son

Absalom

commits treason

against his father.

That one always blows my mind.

Your dad is King David.

How great would that be?

But Absalom

commits treason

against him.

Why do all these children

sin and obey?

Or sin and disobey?

Why do your children

sin and disobey?

Have you ever thought of that?

Sometimes I think

why would my child sin?

And then I'm reminded

because they're my child.

They've gotten the same

curse that we have on us.

The reality is

it's very difficult

to father and mother children

and it's very difficult

for children to obey

their parents

because of the fall.

The reality today

is in the U.S.

and the United States

an average of five children

per day are killed

because of child abuse.

Five children a day

because of child abuse

in the home.

That's a home

that looks nothing like

what God's called it to be

because of sin.

We say these are

the non-Christian homes.

The Christian homes

are much better.

We have to be careful there,

don't we?

I don't always agree

with the Danish philosopher

Soren Kierkegaard

but I have to agree

with him on this point.

He says

the worst thing in the world

for a child

is not that the child

should have a secular

atheist parent.

He says

that's not the worst thing.

He says

the worst thing in the world

is for a child

to have a father

and I think he's speaking

about his father here

he says

for a child

to have a father

or mother

who profess

all the orthodoxies

of Christianity

yet plainly live lives

that do not show

that they trust in God.

He says

that is far more devastating

to any child

than having a secular

atheistic parent.

God creates children

in his image

and he entrusts

his children

to our cares

as parents

and again

if we're honest

with ourselves

we fail to recognize

how sinful they are

and how hard it is

for them to obey

and we fail to recognize

how discouraging

we can be

towards our children.

And this is the reality

of our homes today

sinners

leading sinners

sinners

born to sinners

sinners wondering

why their offspring

are sinful.

what about our jobs

what is it

what is it like

to work in a fallen world?

There's a very interesting

book called

Working

by a man named

Studs Terkel

that's the greatest name

I think I've ever heard

Studs Terkel

in the introduction

he says this

I find it fascinating

he says

this book

being about work

is by its very nature

about violence

to the spirit

as well to the body.

He says

work is about

ulcers and accidents

shouting matches

and fist fights

work is about

nervous breakdowns

and kicking the dog around

it is above all

or perhaps beneath it all

about daily humiliation

for some

to survive the day

is triumph enough

for the walking wounded

among the great many of us.

He says

that's life in the work world

that's life at work

in a fallen world.

And I know that

sounds terrible

and you think

well that's probably

just the United States

we all know

Americans work way too hard

and they live to work

instead of working to live

I've heard that

so many times.

Interestingly enough

BBC News

ran an article

just last week

that said

burnout is rising

in the land of

work-life balance.

And they go to

Sweden

of all places

the place

known for promoting

the balanced lifestyle

and they show

in their article

how burnout

is just

on the rise

in Sweden.

So even the places

on planet earth

where we're most balanced

the work environment

is brutal to us.

And that's the reality

of life on planet earth.

And so we have

the ideal world

that Paul has called us to

the ideal marriage

and the ideal parenting

and the ideal work environment

and then we can look

at reality

and I don't think

we have to press

too much harder

to recognize

our marriages

aren't ideally

what they should be

our parenting

isn't what it should be

and our work life

isn't what it should be

and so then we have

to pause and ask

how are we supposed

to do this Paul?

How are we really

supposed to pull this off?

How do we go

from real

to ideal?

What is our hope

for renewal?

What Paul says

he says

the key to our hope

is found in this word

that's repeated

seven times

in this passage

and that's this word

Lord.

Turn with me again

and look at verse 17.

Whatever you do

whether in word

or deed

do it all

in the name

of the Lord

Jesus.

Wives submit

to your husbands

verse 18

as is fitting

and proper

in the Lord.

Verse 20

Children obey

your parents

and everything

for this

pleases the Lord.

verse 22

Slaves obey

your earthly masters

in everything

with sincerity

of heart

and reverence

for the Lord.

Verse 23

Whatever you do

work at it

with all your heart

as working

for the Lord.

Verse 24

Since you know

that you will receive

an inheritance

from the Lord

as reward

it is the Lord Christ

you are serving.

Seven times

he uses that word

Lord

and then he finishes

off in chapter 4

verse 1

by referring

to our master

in heaven.

And so what's

Paul's aim here?

What's he doing?

Why is he all of a sudden

just throwing this word

Lord out

seven times

so quickly?

He says

our example

is Christ

and our only hope

for renewal

is to recognize

that he is our example

and he is where

our power comes from.

Our example

and the ability

to go from real

to ideal

is found

in our Lord

Jesus Christ himself.

And you say

well how do we

actually do that?

How do we actually

live out these relationships

under Christ's lordship?

It's to look at

who he is

and what he's done.

And what Paul's doing

is he's echoing

you can make this note

Psalm 130 verse 4

Psalms 130:4

which just simply says

with God

there is forgiveness

so that we can

with reverence

serve him.

With God

there is forgiveness

so that we can

serve him

with reverence.

And so first

Paul says

first we look to

we look to the cross

and we see

both our faults

and the other person's

struggles.

We admit

and empathize.

We look to the cross

and we see

both our faults

and our spouses

children's

parents

co-workers

struggles.

Why did Christ

have to die

for each of these

people groups?

Because all have sinned

in each of these roles.

husbands

and so we need

to admit

our shortcomings

in this.

We have to own

our part.

Husbands

we have to admit

to our wives

I haven't loved you

very well

and I'm probably

really hard to submit to.

Men

I would challenge you

to say that

to your wife.

Say

I recognize

I'm probably

really hard to submit to.

And she

in grace

will try not to smile

or laugh out loud

and she'll just

you know

thank you honey

is what you'll get.

And then

ladies

you can look

at your husband

and say

you know what

I haven't submitted

to you well

I could probably

be hard to love it

sometimes.

And many say

no absolutely not

it's just all me.

But we can admit

that we haven't

done well

in these roles.

And we can empathize

with the other person

and say

why is it so hard

for my wife

to submit to me

because I'm probably

not loving her

very well.

And wives can say

why isn't he

loving me very well

maybe I'm not

submitting like I should.

And you can look

at your children

and say

why aren't they

obeying me?

And you can probably

think about

when you're a child

and go

man I was a bit

of a rascal

myself wasn't I?

And fathers

you can look

at your children

and when they

do those things

that get you

just about to get

angry you can go

I've done the same

both to my parents

and to my father

in heaven.

We can admit

how we've

fallen short

and then we can

look at our children

and we can love

and encourage them

and say you know

what don't just

obey me because

I'm perfect

because I'm not

perfect.

Obey me because

God's called you

to and he's the

one that we're

obeying.

We tell our kids

all the time

we know we're

not perfect parents.

At some point

we know that

they're going to

go hey my mom

and dad weren't

perfect.

We say yeah

we'll admit that

right now.

We'll call the ball

on that.

When you have

that thought

yes that's true

but we love you

and we're trying

but God loves you

even more.

And you don't

just obey us

for the sake

of obeying us

you obey us

because that's

what God's

called you to do.

But we look

to the cross

and we see

our shortcomings

we admit

those shortcomings

and then we can

empathize with

others.

We can look

at our boss

and say

well that person

drives me crazy

and then we can

think about our

master in heaven

and say I drove

him to the cross.

so we admit

and we empathize

and then secondly

we see where

Christ was perfect

and we admire

his sacrifice.

We see where

Christ was perfect

and we admire

his sacrifice

and this is

one of the

beauties of the

gospel

is his righteousness

is now ours

and his sacrifice

complete.

See Jesus

is the one

who perfectly

submits to the

father

and then dies

for the

unsubmissive.

He's one

who perfectly

loves

and then dies

for the

unloving husband.

Christ is one

who perfectly

obeys

and then dies

for the

disobedient child.

He's one

who perfectly

serves

and then dies

for us

the lazy

wicked

servants.

He is our

perfectly

righteous

master in

heaven

and yet

while we

were still

sinners

Christ

died for

us.

See

Christianity

says if

you truly

want to

change

then you

have to

set your

eyes on

our perfect

example

over and

over again.

You have

to have

your mind

renewed

in the

knowledge

of who

Christ

is

and what

he has

done.

And we

have to

have our

affections

stirred by

the one

who has

done

everything

we have

failed to

do

and then

credited

that

perfection

to our

account.

And that

changes a

person.

See,

men,

when you

look at

your wife,

yes,

you see

this beautiful

lady who's

created in

God's image,

but you

also recognize

how far

we've

fallen and

yet how

Christ has

died for

us,

His bride.

Wives,

when you

think of

submitting to

your husband,

you think of

your Lord

and Savior

who in

the garden

shed sweat

like blood

and yet

submitted to

the Father.

God's

who loved

perfectly,

who submitted

perfectly and

imputed that

to our

account.

And when you

get up tomorrow

morning to go

to work and

you think of

the people I

have to work

for, you can

recognize Christ

was the perfect

servant who's

imputed that

service to our

account and

who's paid the

price in full for

all of our

shortcomings.

And so we

admit and we

empathize and

we see where

Christ was

perfect and we

admire His

sacrifice and

then finally we

submit to

Christ's lordship

and we trust

His sovereignty.

We submit to

His lordship and

we trust His

sovereignty.

He will see us

through and He

will be glorified.

And this is why

Paul used that

word seven times,

Lord, and then

Master in Heaven.

See, there's a

certain amount of

faith required in

trusting that we

aren't just

submitting to our

husbands but to

Christ our Lord.

That we aren't

just obeying our

parents for their

pleasure but for

the Lord's.

We aren't just

serving our

masters on earth

but we are

serving the Lord

our Master in

Heaven who served

so perfectly for

us.

See, as we

live life under

Christ's lordship,

He will see us

through and He

will be glorified

as He continually

conforms us to

His image.

And so we

strive.

We absolutely

strive to obey

the commands in

this passage to

go from the

reality of where

our marriages and

our parenting and

our work

relationships are.

We strive to

go to the ideal

where they're

supposed to be,

where they're

commanded to be.

While we do

that, we recognize

where we fall

short.

We admit and we

empathize.

We look to the

cross.

We see the

penalty for

these failures

being paid in

full and then we

submit to Christ's

lordship all over

again, day by day,

week by week,

month by month,

year by year,

in word and in

deed, at home and

at work.

Let's pray.

Father, we come to

you people who live

in a broken,

fallen world.

We take comfort in

knowing that even as

we call out to you

in prayer that you

can relate to what

we're going through

because you've lived

life in this world.

We know that you

submitted perfectly

at great cost.

We know that you've

loved us perfectly

at great cost.

We see how you

obey your Father

in heaven and we

long to obey like

that.

We long to serve

you.

We long to be

righteous like you.

We thank you that

on one hand you

have credited your

perfect life to us

and on the other

hand we deeply

apologize that it

cost you your life.

would you help us

Lord to fulfill

these commands?

Would you help us

to live the lives

you've called us

to live?

Would you help the

ladies as they

fight their sin

nature to submit

to imperfect

husbands?

Would you help

the men as they

fight their sin

nature to love

their wives the

way you've loved

us?

Would you help

the children Lord

to obey as they

are called to obey

and please you?

Lord would you

help us as parents

as we strive to

encourage our

children in the way

they should go?

Would you help us

this afternoon at

home and would you

help us tomorrow as

we go to work?

Would you help us

to do our best for

you our master in

heaven?

Would you help us

to work hard not

just when someone's

watching but at all

times knowing that we

serve you the God

who has served us

beyond any way we

could have ever

imagined?

help us Lord as we

go from real to

ideal keep our eyes

fixed on Jesus

in his name we

pray amen

I invite you to

stand with me as

we'll sing

Jesus my all in all

as we head towards

the Lord's table

and there's just

that line you are

my strength when I

am weak

for you and just

myself or else we

can find a way to

opportunity for me and

work the same for me

to be able to have no

lunch yet

as we'll be able to

you

to be able to

who I am

to Paul Nutella