Colossians 4:7-18 [NLTse]
7 Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.
10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!
12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.
16 After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.
17 And say to Archippus, “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”
18 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.
Remember my chains.
May God’s grace be with you.
Sermon – “Every Day Saints”
Onesimus was a slave. He belonged to the patron of the Colossian church – a man named Philemon. The Colossian-Christians gathered each Lord’s Day for Worship in Philemon’s home (and, it was to this same Philemon that the Bible’s letter Philemon is written). It seems that Onesimus had been accused of stealing from his master, and rather than face the accusations, Onesimus had fled and made his way from small city, Colosse, to big city, Ephesus, two weeks journey away.
In Ephesus the Holy Spirit drew Onesimus to the apostle Paul’s preaching and teaching. We know that Paul was a leatherworker, and as Onesimus looked for work in the markets of Ephesus it seems that he came across Paul’s ministry and influence there. He became a Christian. And suddenly Onesimus faced his first test of faith.
You see, slaves had no rights at this time in Roman society, and the typical punishment for runaway slaves was to be branded on the forehead with a Roman “FUG” (for fugitivus) and to have various joints crushed or bones broken, depending upon the value of the slave and the work the owner wanted him or her to continue being able to do. And so, Onesimus had to either trust and obey Jesus Christ and return to his master, or he had to deny the Lord and continue his life as a fugitive.
Here in Paul’s letter to the Colossians we see how Onesimus responded: He accompanied Tychicus in bringing Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and he himself delivered Paul’s letter to his master, Philemon.
Has anyone here said something or done something that the Holy Spirit is calling you to confess? Maybe you’ve lied to your parents or cheated on your taxes or stolen from a store or something much worse or something not as bad, but whatever it’s been you’ve kept it a secret, you’ve kept it to yourself, it’s eating you up inside but you’re afraid of what might happen if you were to obey the Lord and be honest and confess it and come clean…
If it has anything to do with somebody else in this room, I charge you to not leave today without admitting it, asking forgiveness, and doing everything in your power to be reconciled. If it has to do with others not a part of this church, commit right now in the presence of God to address it, admit it, to right the wrong, as soon as possible, and by week’s end at the latest…
We don’t know what Philemon did when Onesimus returned. We don’t know how he responded to Paul’s plea for mercy that fills his letter to Philemon. But history tells us that at the turn of the first century all the many house-churches of the great city of Ephesus were under the shepherding of a bishop named Onesimus. We don’t know if that bishop was the same runaway-slave-Onesimus as Paul is commending to the Colossian church here. But such a responsibility over Christ’s beloved Church would be worthy of someone who had trusted the Lord Jesus enough to face the consequences of their sins, no matter what those consequences might be.
My brothers and sisters: Come clean; face your fears; trust Jesus; humble yourself to the Lord that He might lift you up.
John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. Barnabas, the famous encourager who sold some land he owned in order to help provide for the needs of those first twelve apostles and the early church; the same Barnabas who, after Paul stopped hunting Christians and became one, took Paul under his wing when no one else would; the same Barnabas whom Paul accompanied on that first great missionary journey to plant churches in Paphos and Salamis on the island of Cyprus, and in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and Attalia in what was then called Asia (and is now called Turkey).
John Mark had accompanied Barnabas and Paul on that first missionary journey, but for some unexplained reason, when they arrived in Asia after their trials and victories on Cyprus, John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem.
Acts tells us that Barnabas and Paul continued on together without Mark (John Mark), but that when Barnabas and Paul began planning their next missionary journey, that because Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along with them again, that Barnabas and Paul separated because Paul refused to trust Mark to not leave them again.
And here we have John Mark again, included once more among Paul’s trusted co-workers. Their friendship and trust in one another has been restored, and the gospel of God’s friendship with humanity, and His entrusting us with the good news of His Son, shows its power to all who know their story. Of course, we don’t know whether Paul first approached Mark for forgiveness or whether Mark first approached Paul, but every kind word they say to each other, every expression of trust given and trust lived out, exhibits the resurrection-power of Jesus to all them.
Who are you living in broken-relationship with? Who has hurt you whom you refuse to forgive? Who have you hurt whom you refuse to ask forgiveness? Let it end today. They do not have to ask your forgiveness. You can stop holding onto the grudge today, right now, every time it comes to your mind laying the offense at the foot of the cross to be washed, covered, by Jesus’ blood there. You can tell that person who’s upset at you that you are sorry today, right now. You can lay your pride down at the foot of that same cross and prove that your relationship with them is more important to you than are your rights. Let the world see the power of the resurrection at work in your life, your relationships. “Do everything you can to live at peace with all people,” Paul wrote. It shows the power of God in you, like it did in Paul and John Mark.
John Mark went on to accompany the apostle Simon Peter on many of his preaching and teaching journeys, wrote the Gospel of Mark, and is credited with bringing Christianity to northern Africa where Coptic and Orthodox churches continue to revere him as their founder today…
Of course, there is Demas. We don’t know much about Demas, other than that he was a “fellow worker” for the gospel with Paul. But we read that Demas later rejected Christ because “he loved this world.”
It seems that Demas didn’t want to make the sacrifices that our Savior requires. He didn’t want to do the work of reconciliation and forgiveness. He didn’t want to suffer the persecutions and hostilities of being a Christian: “He loved this world.”
Demas reminds us that we either are loving the Lord or we are loving the world. And it’s easy to tell which: You can tell by how you spend your money, how you spend your time, and in what activities you invest your abilities and talents day after day. The things, teachings, and priorities of our society and culture are powerful lures away from Christ.
Look at your lives: Have the things of the world crowded out Jesus? When you hear His call in the Scriptures do you respond, “Yeah, but…”? Is the Holy Spirit calling you to repent of anything sinful, worldly, or that’s making your heart hard toward the things of God today? Well, repent! Let Demas be our warning! “He loved this world”…
Lastly, I want to lift up Aristarchus to us all. Aristarchus was from the city of Thessalonica, and all that we know about him besides that is that he was always there. When Paul’s team was seized by rioters in Ephesus, Aristarchus was among those who were seized. He accompanied Paul to Macedonia and Achaia after that. And when Paul returned to Ephesus, we see that Aristarchus returned with him. When Paul was sent to Rome to be tried by the Emperor, Aristarchus was with him. Paul writes that Aristarchus was his “fellow prisoner” and that Aristarchus was his “fellow laborer”. We don’t know if he was gifted in any kind of special way. We don’t ever see him speaking or doing anything remarkable. Faithful Aristarchus: It seems he was simply always there.
And so, I ask you: Are you always there for Christ? When Sunday comes, are you always in Worship, wherever you may be? Are you always at Bible Study, always at the Prayer Meetings, always encouraging the leaders of the ministries and the leaders of the church with your presence and support? Be here. Be there. Always. Let the church be your family. Let your family be the church. Always be there for Jesus by always being here/there, whatever is going on, be a part of it. Faithful. Always there…