Scriptures: Colossians 4:17
Introduction
The Europeans have a saying they use to compare themselves to Americans. They say, "We work to live but Americans live to work." How true it sometimes seem that people in our culture are workaholics. There are many different things which feed this need in the lives of so many Americans. Some are addicted to work because they are materialistic and they are greedy for all the money they can accumulate. Others view work as a way to climb the ladder of self-esteem and are ever seeking to find meaning in their life through their work. Others love to be at the office because their family life is miserable and they cannot bear to be at home.
While there are those who certainly have found a balance in their work, all of us need to be reminded of why we work, or to what end God would have us work.
I invite your attention this morning to a seemingly obscure passage, almost an appendage at the end of the book of Colossians.
After all of the wonderful truths Paul has explained to the Colossians, truths about the nature of Christ, warnings against false doctrines, and truths about our salvation. Here at the end of this rich epistle we find a passage which, because of its seemingly obscure placement, at the very end of the book, where Paul is making somewhat personal remarks, it is often overlooked and rarely preached.
And yet, we are reminded that every word of scripture is God breathed, and this verse is no different. Colossians 4:17, nestled in the midst of these. Remembering that each verse must always be interpreted in light of every verse, there are four things we can say with respect to this admonition, four things which speak about fulfilling our ministry.
I. The obligation to minister
Take Heed - The Greek word means to see, to be aware of, look towards, be perceptive of. When the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek, this word was employed to convey the meaning of turning and facing something. It means be intent upon something, in other words, in this context it communicates a command to be intentional about your ministry, to look to it and look after it.
But the word is much richer. The word carries with it the understanding of having insight into spiritual things, to perceive what God is doing and where He is leading in the Spiritual realm. It is the same word employed in Hebrews 11:1 where the scripture says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What Paul is saying is that Archippus is to be intentional about seeing what God is doing and where God is leading in reference to the ministry God has given him. In contemporary language we could say, "Archippus, pay attention and be sensitive to see what God is doing and wants to do in the ministry He has given you. Get with it and see to it that you finish your God appointed task."
Archippus is mentioned only two times in the New Testament, here and once in Philemon 1:2 where Paul calls him a fellow soldier. We do not know if he was a pastor or a layman. All we know is that, like you and me, he was a believer in Jesus Christ, and was called to serve the Lord through the use of the gifts God had given him.
While the message is directed specifically at Archippus, the emphasis is clearly upon the ministry to which he was called.
The word translated "ministry" can also be translated "service," and comes from the same word from which we get the English word "deacon." Which we know means servant, more specifically household servant. What this specific ministry was we are not told and in His providence God did not see it as necessary to our edification. He was simply encouraged to look to, to be intentional about the specific area of responsibility within the church that had been entrusted to him.
At its heart, the gospel calls every disciple to ministry, to service to God. Throughout the scripture we see this general call to ministry to service to God.
Exodus 23:25 says, "But you shall serve the Lord your God . . ."
Deut. 10:12 says, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
Hebrews 12:28 says, "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe."
In fact, when we find spiritual gifts mentioned, in I Corinthians 12 or in Ephesians 4 they are always given with the specific purpose of using them in service or ministry. Since every believer has been given spiritual gifts, every believer is expected to use those spiritual gifts in ministry.
Ephesians 4:12 tells us that the pastor/teachers job is to equip, or prepare the saints, that's the believers, for the work of ministry.
The way God intended the church to operate is for every member to do his/her part, exercising his/her gift within the body and that under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, and under the Leadership of the Pastors the body would function in harmony.
Thus, this admonition, this imperative command given to Archippus is applicable to each of us. You see, it mattered not whether Archippus was a deacon, or a pastor or a layperson, the responsibility to God to fulfill his ministry was the same. And that means the responsibility each of us have to fulfill our ministry is the same.
Somehow, somewhere along the way we have been sold a bill of goods about ministry. We have been led to believe that there is a hierarchy of holiness in ministry. You can see it clearly in the Roman Catholic church: the Pope is the most holy, then the Cardinals, then the Bishops, then the Priests, and then the Nuns, and then somewhere down the line are the lowly people in the pew. And while we, as evangelicals know this has no biblical foundation, we have somehow bought into it and adapted it into our own ecclesiology, or doctrine of the church.
In Baptist life it is Missionaries who are the most holy. Then Pastors and then Music ministers and so forth and so on. And noticeably left out of this equation is the person in the pew. But in God's economy things are different. While there are different gifts and with those gifts come different roles within the church, each born again believer has a God given responsibility to do the specific ministry for which God has uniquely gifted them. Our job vocation, whatever it may be, whether we are construction workers, lawyers, bankers or teachers is a ministry God has given us. We are to use these ministries to further the kingdom of God.
This could be by reaching people for Jesus in the workplace; it could be by using the money we receive from our secular job to support us while we are about the work of the kingdom, or it could be both. What we have to see is that our job, whatever it is, is a gift God has given us to enable us to be about the work of His kingdom. Each of have an obligation to do ministry to be servants to our Lord.
But not only is there an obligation I want you to see that the ministry we have is not something we have a choice in, it is something God has ordained.
The ordination of ministry - "Which you have received in the Lord."
This ministry is ordained by God, in other words, it is something God has decided, it is something you have received from Him, it is something He has conferred upon you and predestined that you should do.
If you have been saved by God's grace, if God has put His Spirit in you, and you know what it means to have a transformed heart, a transformed life, then He has given you a spiritual gift. Notice that Paul says, "say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord. . . ." The word translated "received" means to take along side and refers to something you received from another person. In other words, Paul is saying to Archippus, this ministry you have taken alongside of you on your earthly pilgrimage, this ministry you have received has not been given to you by the will of man, but you have received it from the Lord. It is something He prepared especially for you.
A couple of practical words are in order here:
First of all, since the ministry is from God, you will never bring that ministry to fruition as long as you are self-centered, or egocentric. Jesus, living His life through you will never be self-centered. He always has been and always will be others oriented. So in order to find and fulfill that ministry you cannot worry about how much it will cost you, or how it will affect your schedule or your personal wants. If it is of God, it will be selfless and not selfish.
Secondly, Once you understand that it is about service and not selfishness, you need to come to see that God has preordained this ministry for you, Ephesians 2:10 says, "for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Before you were born, before you were born again, before you joined the church, before all of that, God had prepared a ministry for you, a ministry that He intends to use your particular and specific gift mix and personality to accomplish. God does nothing by accident. Just because we have not discovered it does not mean God has not had it there waiting for us all along.
So many people are unfulfilled as Christians because they are living with unfinished eternal business. They have never come to understand that the reason they were saved was not so they could simply escape the penalty of their sins, not so they could simply enjoy fellowship with God and with the saints, but God has saved you so you can serve him and thereby bring glory to Him. And until you find that thing which He wants you to do, you will never know the fullness of joy that comes through serving Christ.
Third, you have to come to realize that this ministry is not something you can do in your own strength but something God will do through you by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit living in you and working through you will accomplish this ministry. What you and I must do is surrender ourselves to His Spirit and to His will, to His working in us. I Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You see, God has promised that if we will surrender ourselves to Him and His Spirit that He will accomplish this ministry through us.
This ministry that God has for you, whatever it is, whether it is teaching Sunday School, working in the kitchen, helping with the youth on Wednesday nights, going on a bus route, holding a Bible Study during your lunch hour at your place of work, or any of a thousand other things, it has been preordained by God that you should do it, He has ordained it for you and He will accomplish it through you.
Now you might ask, if this is something God has preordained, something He will accomplish through each of us, why are there so many people who never do anything but warm a pew?
That brings me to my next observation.
II. The obstacles to ministry
There are those things which keep us from fulfilling our ministry, there are those things which keep us
Seven things that keep people from fulfilling their ministry:
A. Slothfulness
The temptation to do nothing
It is interesting that the word translated, "fulfill," here in our text, can literally be translated "Continually fulfill." In other words, don't just do it sometimes, be constant, be faithful, be consistent to continually fulfill it.
Paul, admonishing the church at Thessalonica, in 2 Thessalonians 3:11, "For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies."
You see, the old adage that says, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop," is ever so true. The devil does not have to get you involved in some gross immorality, all he has to do is to get you to do nothing and he has accomplished his task.
If he can keep you from praying, from fellowship, from service, from witnessing, from giving, from teaching, from encouraging, from being useful in the Kingdom of God, he has marginalized you and according to scripture you might as well be working against the kingdom of God.
Proverbs 18:9 says, He who also is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.
James 4:17 says, "To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."
B. Selfishness
Your plans are different from God's plans.
All of us are familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and to preach to the Assyrians. Jonah says, no thanks and he boards a ship headed in the opposite direction. But God has a way of getting Jonah's attention. God sends a storm and the ship Jonah is in distress. When Jonah realizes that it is God trying to get his attention he has his shipmates throw him overboard. Meanwhile, God has prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and to save his life. Jonah spends three days in the belly of a whale before he is spit up on shore, at which time he goes and does what God wants him to do.
You see, Jonah knew that God was going to use the Assyrians as an instrument of Judgment against the Jews and being selfish, he did not want to see that happen.
When your plans supersede God's plans . . .that is nothing but selfishness. Many Christians never realize their ministry because they are too busy pursuing their own agenda, their own pursuits, their own plans instead of God's will for their life.
While many Christians never fulfill their ministry because of selfishness, others never realize their ministry because of the person they marry
C. Your spouse
When your spouse won't accept God's will for your life
I've known many people who were never able to accomplish their ministry, their service to God because they married someone who would not accept God's will for their lives.
I'll never forget one of the young men with whom I attended Seminary. He was a fine young man, eager and willing to serve the Lord. He had a sweet spirit and as the final days of our Masters work were upon us, I noticed that he was no longer coming to class. I asked about him, only to find out that his wife, who had been working along side him in a local church, had run off with another man in the church, effectively ruining my friend's ministry before it ever had a chance to really begin.
The reality is that if you marry someone who cannot accept God's will for your life, you will either have to live with the reality that your decision has cost you the opportunity to fulfill your ministry or you are going to have to pray that God changes the heart of your spouse.
Some people never fulfill their ministry because of their spouse. Others never fulfill their God appointed ministry because they have settled for temporal earthly riches instead of being rich toward God.
D. Success
Neglecting spiritual riches for earthly wealth.
The rich young ruler was just such a man. He had a desire to do something for God, he had a longing to be used by God, to be right with God, but in the end his earthly riches were more valuable to him than doing what Jesus asked him to do.
Many Christians today have traded the temporal for the eternal. They have lost sight of the eternal life that is to come and instead, focusing on building an empire for themselves here on earth, they have forsaken their role in the Kingdom of God.
The world defines success in terms of finances; God defines success in terms of faithfulness. The question is, in the end, whose opinion have you lived for, who were you trying to please?
E. Satisfaction
Satisfied with less than God's best.
A mediocre Christianity is never what Jesus intended for His disciples. His standards were high, his call was costly and the demands upon the disciple were given in terms of taking up one's cross and following Jesus to Calvary.
And yet we have become comfortable, at ease in Zion, complacent and willing to allow someone else to do the work, or even willing that the work should not get done.
Look across the face of Christianity today and you will see that it is a mile wide and an inch deep, it is full of pomp and circumstance but lacking in depth and commitment. My word, most Christians cannot even find it within their schedules to attend church at least once a week.
Many people claiming to be Christians are not really committed to Christ. They have just enough of the gospel to ease their conscience and to give them a good feeling about themselves, but they really haven't time for the kind of discipleship Jesus calls us to. They have become satisfied with less than God's best for their life. The good is ever the enemy of the best.
Henry Blackaby notes that, Moderate success in ministry is a spiritual hazard. It can make us content to live without the manifest presence of God.
F. Scholarship
Poor doctrinal understanding of ministry.
Some people have been led to believe that ministry is only for the professionals and they should never attempt it.
For centuries the mindset was that ministry was for the clergy and that laypeople were not to get involved. This mindset comes to us from the Roman Catholic tradition where instead of preachers and pastors they have priests. A priest is someone who makes intercession, who goes between God and man. But as evangelicals we believe in the priesthood of each believer. Peter tells us that we are a kingdom of priests. Paul says we can boldly approach the throne of God, because Jesus makes intercession for us.
And the scripture is clear, in passages like I Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, that each of us are given spiritual gifts and those gifts are to be used for service. Anyone who reads the Bible can clearly see that each of us is called to a ministry. Good scholarship inevitably leads to the reality that each of us has a ministry God wants us to fulfill.
G. Sin
The trap that disqualifies.
Many people never fulfill their ministry because they have crossed the line, walking in sin, and have thus disqualified themselves for the kind of service God intended for them to perform. God had intended for king David to build the Temple, but David's sin with Bathsheba kept him from completing all God had for him. The stories of preachers who have fallen and are no longer qualified to fulfill their God given assignment are plastered all over the newspapers. But what about the deacon, the layman who because of adultery, because of pornography, or because of some other sin has disqualified themselves from being used by God?
I would remind you that one of the saddest realities in all of eternity is to know you have been created for a specific purpose, but because of your actions, you have disqualified yourself from ever accomplishing it. ( The greatest personal defeat suffered by any human being is constituted by the difference between what he has become and what he could have been.)
Paul says in I Corinthians 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
This brings me to my final observation . . .
III. The object of our ministry
To finish well, to complete that which God has assigned us to do.
Jesus says in Mark 13:34, "it is like a man, away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded to the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning, lest he suddenly come and find you asleep."
The object of our ministry is to hear our Lord Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many, enter into the joy of thy Lord."
In our service to God, as we seek to fulfill our God given ministry, it's not how we start that matters, but how we finish.
When the Master returns what will He find? Will you be in the midst of your ministry or will He find you pursuing the temporal things of this earth while your eternal business remains unfinished.
What has God instructed us to do? - To be intentional and attentive to the Ministry God has given you.
Why? - Because you received if from the Lord, not from man.
How are we to do this? - With Faithfulness, God wants you to be faithful, even when you don't feel like it, even when others do not notice, you must be faithful.
Where are we to fulfill our ministry? - Where you are, God wants you to bloom where you are planted. Wherever He leads you, that's where He wants you to serve.
When should we start? - Now
Who is God talking to? - You
Call to recommit yourself to fulfill that which God has called you to do.