5.8K
Downloads
725
Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
Tuesday Oct 06, 2020
We began this study with a reminder again that what we are hearing in Colossians is the ideal, the goal for us, in our marriages and families and relationships. We also live by the comfort and help and forgiveness we have in Christ, with all the problems we have in this sinful world in living up to these high standards. This passage also does not speak about those who have never been married and do not have children. Other Scriptures address that situation and make it clear that single people are not inferior or superior and that the Lord cares for them just as much, too. They may even have some privileges, as Paul says about himself, in having less direct responsibility for a spouse and family and more time to focus on the Lord and serving others.
Paul then moves on, in Colossians 3:22-4:1, to address another great challenge of the sinful world of his day - the widespread reality of slavery. It was very common. There were continual wars and battles, with people conquering others and often making some or many of them their slaves. You see this often in the Old Testament.
Joseph and Daniel and many others were taken as slaves. In the Roman Empire, it is estimated that 30-40 percent of the people living in Italy were slaves. There were big slave rebellions, as with Spartacus and his followers, and eventually 6,000 slaves being crucified outside Rome, as a warning and example. Both slaves and masters were becoming Christians in the early Christian church, too.
Beginning with verse 22, Paul emphasizes the Christian qualities of humility and submissiveness that we have heard about with other relationships. There is also balance, in that Paul speaks both to slaves and masters and calls upon all to live in a Christ-like manner with each other. These are only “earthly” (literally, only “in the flesh”) masters and servants. The higher reality is that all believers are brothers and sisters in Christ and headed for an eternal inheritance together in heaven, through Christ and His mercy and payment of all sins. Slaves and servants are to obey and work with sincerity of heart and literally “from the soul” (this is a spiritual matter!), as if they were serving the Lord Christ and not just their earthly masters. They are not to work well only when someone is watching them. Likewise, masters are to treat their servants fairly and justly, especially since Christian masters know that they have a heavenly Lord and Master to whom they are also accountable, as His servants.
Both servants and masters are warned, too, that they carry with themselves any wrongdoing that they do, if they are ignoring Christ and avoiding His will and His help in trying do the right things. They have a Master Who sees all things and shows no partiality and is not swayed by bribes or how people’s faces look. (See verse 25 and Deuteronomy 10:17 and Acts 10:34, for example.)
Paul does not encourage rebellion by slaves. Neither does he approve of slavery. (See 1 Timothy 1:10, where “enslavers” are condemned.) Paul is advocating change that comes from within people, through Christ and His Word and love at work in them. (Paul mentions more than 20 fellow believers in Romans 16, quite a number of whom were likely still slaves, yet free in Christ. Some of them may have been serving the Roman Emperor himself, scholars say, because of names mentioned.)
In Colossians 4:9, Paul speaks of Onesimus, a “faithful and beloved brother.” Onesimus is actually a runaway slave, who came to faith in Christ, through the help of Paul and others in Rome. With his letter to the Colossians, Paul also sends a letter to Philemon, who was a slave owner and now has become a Christian and part of the church at Colossae. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon, too, for he had been his slave. Read the Letter to Philemon to see how Paul encourages Philemon to treat Onesimus as a brother in Christ and to forgive him and even set him free, so that he can now serve the church and Paul and others. It is the kind of change in the hearts of people through Christ that brought abolitionists, most of whom were Christians, to push for ending slavery in the United States. It is why Christians still push today for helping enslaved people in some countries, and to fight the exploitation of children and women and others in our own country still today, too.
Finally, we can apply the thoughts of Colossians 3:22-4:1 to the relationship of employers and employees, even now. We are to be serving employers and leaders, as if we were serving the Lord, and remembering that we need some order and authority in the work world for all of this to go well. Leaders are to be servant leaders, who really care for their employers and want the best for them, in justice and fairness. (If you have a Lutheran Study Bible, ESV version, see the full page, page 101, for more comments about slavery, as discussed in the Bible, too.) As always, everything is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to Him and the heavenly Father (Colossians 3:17). That changes everything, even our work attitudes and relationships, with the Holy Spirit’s help and the love and peace and Word of Christ dwelling within us (Colossians 3:14-16).
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered October 2, 2011
Monday Sep 28, 2020
Monday Sep 28, 2020
We began this study by looking again at Colossians 3:18, which says “Wives, submit (be submissive) to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” We spent a lot of time talking about what submissiveness is. It is not about who is superior and inferior. It is about order and authority that is necessary in any institution in this sinful world, including in the family. We cannot each just do what we want, or there will be chaos. Someone must have the ultimate responsibility, and God is consistent in saying that the husband is to be the head of the family. See last week’s study for a list of some of those Scriptures.
We spent a lot of time also looking at the fact that all of us are called to be submissive in various ways and situations, for the sake of living in an orderly and caring way with each other in this world:
- We are all called to be submissive to our governmental authorities. See Romans 13:1-2 and 1 Peter 2:13-14. Without such authority, there can be riots and destruction, as we have seen recently in our own country.
- In the church, God wants all things to be “decent and in order.” That includes having only males as pastors. See 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-40, for example. This does not mean that some are better than others. See what Peter says about “elders,” another term for “pastors,” in 1 Peter 5:1-4. Pastors are to serve, not to be domineering over others. God and His Word are superior, above all.
- Also note in 1 Peter 5:5-6 that younger people are to be “submissive” and respectful of older people, and all of us are to be humble toward one another. See also Ephesians 5:17-21, where we are all called to “be submissive to one another out of reverence for Christ,” and the qualities we all need as Christians in Colossians 3:12: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. These are not qualities suggesting superiority over others, but humble care and concern for others.
- Children are simply called to obey their parents, because parents are hopefully wiser and more experienced and can guide and protect their children. See Colossians 3:20. (Note also that Jesus also was submissive to His parents in Luke 2:51. He was obviously not inferior to His parents; but this was his orderly role as a child, at this time.)
There is also always a balance in any of the roles and responsibilities that God gives to different people, in His wisdom.
- Husbands are to love their wives in a sacrificial way, being willing even to die for their wives and families if needed - and not to make life miserable and bitter for them. See Colossians 3:19 and Ephesians 5:25.
- Husbands (and wives) are not to provoke and irritate and embitter their children or they can become discouraged and lose heart. See Colossians 3:21 and Ephesians 6:4, for example.
- Being the head of a family also does not mean that a husband cannot talk things over with his wife and children and make decisions together and allow the unique talents of each person to be at work. A good leader seeks to bring out the best in everyone, because everyone is important in God’s eyes, and all can try to work together.
These Scripture verses give the ideal situation, if all could work together as God wishes. The reality is very different - with everyone being sinful and with tragic situations in a fallen, broken world. Sin can break up marriages. Death can come in unexpected ways and divide families, with great losses. Children do not always obey and they make bad choices, with great sorrows that follow. Even in the best of situations, all is far from perfect. But there really is also the forgiveness of sins. We finally live by God’s grace and forgiveness and love, which help restore us and keep us going; and we live by His Word, which gives us the best path to follow for the future. There is always hope in our Lord and His strength and promises!
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered September 25, 2011
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Our study begins with a summary of last week’s study, where we heard of the importance of forgiveness for ourselves and for others, and of sacrificial love for each other, which binds us together and gives us wholeness and peace with God and others, through Jesus (Colossians 3:13-14). It is the peace of Christ and the Word of Christ living in us that enable all this. The peace of Christ brings us peace with God, and we share that peace in the “one body” which is the the church, and with one another and with our family and marriage, too (Colossians 3:15).
The Word of God gives us the wisdom we can only receive from God, through the “teaching and admonishing” (Law and Gospel) we hear in worship. The Word can also be living and working in us at home, or in Bible studies like this, or in reading devotions, and in other ways, as we imitate Christ and Paul and others (see 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 and 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9), hearing and speaking to ourselves that Word within our family and marriage (Colossians 3:16).
Paul also encourages the use of music and singing in “Psalms,” a rich treasury of the 150 Old Testament Psalms, which can be read and studied, or sung, as they were in Old Testament days. There is much comfort and learning from these Psalms. We can also use “hymns” - new hymns being written in early church days. From their style and wording, scholars think that passages like Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 5:14, Philippians 2:6-11, and 1 Timothy 3:16 may be quotations by Paul of some of these new hymns of the early church. Our own hymnals are full of such hymns, too, from various parts of the history of the church. There are also “spiritual songs” (literally, spiritual “odes”) too. That term is used for the songs being sung in heaven by the angels and people there. See Revelation 5:14, 14:3, and 15:3 for examples of these songs called “odes." We can learn much from these words, set to music in various ways, as long as they accurately teach God’s Word to us and we sing them “with grace” (a better translation than “with thanksgiving” in this verse, Colossians 3:16). See also Mark 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:26, Acts 16:25, and Hebrews 2:12, as examples of early Christians doing exactly what is encouraged here.
In Colossians 3:17, Paul reminds us that there is no neat division between sacred and secular things. As believers, everything we do in word and deed, in church, but also at home or wherever we are, can be done for the glory of God and as a blessing to those around us. That is a good test for us. Can what we are saying and doing truly be “in the Name of Jesus” or are we sometimes contradicting the Word and will of God? Living with thanksgiving each day can help us, too, as we count the blessings we do have in Christ day after day, not just on Thanksgiving. See also 1 Corinthians 10:31-33, 11:1, and Ephesians 5:18-21.
Then Paul goes on to give more practical advice for those very places we live each day - in family and marriage and with children, and at work, etc., in Colossians 3:18-4:1. (See Ephesians 5:22-6:9 and 1 Peter 2:13-3:15, for other examples of similar practical concerns being discussed.)
Paul begins simply, with what is considered by many to be a controversial and even wrong statement, “Wives, be submissive to your husbands.” The Greek words clearly refer to a female and male in marriage. There is no gender confusion, and this is clearly not a same-sex marriage of any kind - but based on this and other Scriptures, one woman and one man in marriage. The idea of being “in submission” is controversial, too. Being submissive does not have the idea of an inferior person being way beneath a superior person. See the discussion of Eve being a helper fit for Adam in Genesis 2:18,20. The word simply means someone who can help another in time of need. The word used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, is the same word in Genesis that is used in the New Testament, for example, in describing Jesus in 2 Corinthians 6:2: “In a day of salvation I have helped you.” Jesus humbled Himself and helped us, but in no way does that make Him actually inferior to us.
After the fall into sin, we do hear God telling Eve that Adam would “rule” over her. In the reality of a fallen world, there must be order and authority or there would be chaos, with everyone doing what he or she wants. There must be order and authority in a business or a sports team or an orchestra or in a marriage and family, etc. In God’s plan, revealed in Scripture, the husband is consistently called to be the “head” of the family, as Christ is Head of the church. (See 1 Corinthians 11:3, but also verse 11; Ephesians 5:22-24, Titus 2:4-5, and 1 Peter 3:1-2, for example.)
In some ways, we are all called to be submissive to others, also, depending on the order and authority involved. We will talk more about all of this next week, but you could look at submissiveness to government (Romans 13:1-2); in the church and in worship (1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-35,40); between young and old (1 Peter 5:3-5); in general attitudes and humility toward others (Ephesians 5:17-21 and Colossians 3:12); between parents and children (Colossians 3:20), etc. None of this has to do with who is better or superior in the eyes of God, but with how we can best get along with one another in a fallen, sinful world. There are also balances for all in these situations, as we will see next week, and we need to seek to keep living with love and forgiveness for each other, as imperfect sinners in a sinful world.
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered September 18, 2011
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Our study begins with a review of Colossians 3:12-13, where we heard of qualities our Lord wants to help us to have in a stronger way in our lives - qualities that build relationships with others. Those of you at St. James heard Sunday’s Epistle lesson, too, from Galatians 5:16-24, which is very similar to Colossians 3:5-14. The good qualities are called in Galatians “the fruit of the Spirit,” which the Holy Spirit also helps to grow in us.
We also talked about “bearing with” one another, putting up with one another in hard times, and being willing to forgive, even as the Lord has been willing to forgive us, again and again. We looked at Ephesians 4:1-3 and 30-32, as parallels to Colossians 3:13. This is very different from the current “Cancel Culture” that we see in our own country, where some people self-righteously want to point out the faults of others and only condemn them and cancel their existence out, without even the thought or possibility of forgiveness for them. If God treated us this way, we would all be wiped out, because we are all struggling, sinful people. How wonderful that John 3:17 tells us that “God did not send His Son into the world to to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
In Colossians 3:14, Paul then talks about the importance of love, sacrificial love for others, which binds us together in the most perfect and complete way. See Romans 13:8-10 and 1 Corinthians 13, especially. This whole chapter reminds that we may be able to do many things, but they are “nothing” without the motivation of love for others. Paul describes what love is and is not and that its primary focus is not on erotic or emotional feelings or self-centeredness, but on genuine care for others, as God has first loved and cared and sacrificed for us, in Christ. Only Jesus has lived up to this standard of love. But we pray for more of such love in our hearts toward others, as Colossians 3:14 says.
Such love and others spiritual qualities, “fruit of the Spirit,” come only through God’s work in us now in the new life that is ours in Jesus. Paul calls upon us then to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. That spiritual health and wholeness and soundness come only through the saving, reconciling work of Jesus for us. See Romans 5:1-2 and Philippians 4:7. As we have peace with God, through Jesus, we pray that God’s peace would rule and be a kind of “umpire“ in our lives. Peace does not mean an absence of conflict or trouble, but strength to carry on in God’s power, whatever our troubles. We do not use the world’s flawed standards, which could easily “disqualify” us (Colossians 2:18), but the “Word of Christ” which now lives and works in us and can both instruct and admonish us (Colossians 3:16). See John 14:23-27, as the Word of Christ and the peace of Christ work together for us.
That is precisely why we are listening to the Word of God and studying it together today as people “called into one body” of believers in Jesus (Colossians 3:15). See Romans 12:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 and 12:27, and all the verses in between. We need each other and can encourage and pray for one another, too. What Paul did (see Colossians 1:28-29), we can do in our own small ways, as “imitators” of him and of God’s love. See Ephesians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 4:16-17, and Philippians 3:17, for example. We will hear more about all of this next week and the value of worship and singing and the Word of Christ in our churches and in everyday life.
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered September 11, 2011
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
We begin this study with a reminder, again, of who we are as believers in Christ. Colossians 3:12 says that we are God’s chosen people, counted as holy, as saints, in the eyes of God, and dearly loved by God - and all of this comes to us through Jesus Christ, Who is all and in all of us (v.11).
Knowing God’s love for us then brings us to seek to put on in our lives qualities that help us live in love also with one another. This process is described in 1 John 4:13-21. We see and are brought to believe in Christ’s sacrificial love for us, coming from God, Who is love. As Jesus lives and works in us, our thoughts turn from fear to gratitude for what God has already done for us. We love because He first loved us; and we can show our love for God by loving our neighbor, too. (If you want more detail on this 1 John passage, I preached a sermon on it on June 14, which you can listen to here: https://lutheransermons.podbean.com/e/sermon-for-the-first-sunday-after-trinity-june-14-2020/
Jesus summarizes the 10 Commandments as love first for God (Commandments 1-3) and then love for our neighbor (Commandments 4-10). See Mark 12:28-34, for example. In his explanation of the Commandments, in the Catechism, Luther speaks not only of what we are forbidden to do, but also of what we can do in a positive way to love and care for our neighbor.
Notice the sharp contrast, then, in Colossians 3, between what we are to get rid of and put to death, in verses 5ff., and what we are to put on, in verses 12ff., to help us in showing love to others around us. The qualities of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience are qualities that can build relationships with others. I use a quotation from R.C.H. Lenski to describe how Greek/Roman culture despised these qualities as qualities of weakness, where we will only be run over and taken advantage of by others. As Christians, though, we know our own sins and weaknesses. We cannot act toward others with superiority over them, but only, as Luther said, as fellow “beggars” who all need the mercy of God.
I then go into a description of what each of these qualities means and why there are variations in the translation of some of them. For example, see why the King James Version of the first has “bowels of mercy” where the ESV has “compassionate hearts." The KJV is actually more literal and accurate, but the ESV may make clearer sense for us today. I also use a quotation from Martin Franzmann about “meekness” or “gentleness." It really is trusting not in ourselves and our power, but in God and His care for us, even in very difficult situations in life. We do not have to be “macho” people, pushing others around. We trust God to take care of us, as Jesus did, when He went humbly to the cross, as a suffering servant, to save us. See Psalm 37 as an example of such meekness and Scriptures like Philippians 2:1-4, Matthew 11:29, Galatians 6:1, 2 TImothy 2:24-26, and Titus 3:2.
In Colossians 3:13, we are called to “bear with," to endure and put up with one another in troubled times, and to be ready to forgive, as the Lord first has forgiven us. No relationship can survive without repentance and forgiveness, as we are all such imperfect people. Christ’s willingness to forgive us is our example, always. See how Jesus answers Peter’s question in Matthew 18:21-22, and following. See also Matthew 6:12, Ephesians 4:32, and 2 Corinthians 2:3-11, etc. I also make some comments on how all this applies to relationships in the church and in families and marriage and in our current situation in our country.
None of this is easy. Only Jesus perfectly lived out these verses. Next week, we will see how Paul points out gifts of God, love and the peace of Christ and the Word of Christ, and God’s own continuing forgiveness for us, to help us.
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Our study of Colossians 3:11-12 begins with a quick summary of previous verses, in Colossians 3:8-10. These verses begin the transition from the “qualities” of the old life, apart from Christ, qualities which we are to seek to battle and put to death in our lives, with God’s help and grace. Then Paul focuses on the new self, the new person we now are, in Christ, as we have been brought to faith in Jesus through the Word of God and our baptism. We are now being continually renewed in this new life, as our Lord seeks to bring us a little closer to the perfect “image of God” that was lost by the fall into sin. We receive more “knowledge” through the Word of God of what God wishes for our new life and strength from our Lord to try to follow that new life.
In verse 11, then, Paul reminds us that Christ is the key for our new life. Many old barriers and distinctions are broken down, in connection with Christ. Our national origin and culture and background do not matter. The Greek culture and language were predominant in Paul’s time because of the influence of Alexander the Great and his conquests. That is why the New Testament was written in Greek, even though the Roman empire was now in control. Anyone who could not speak Greek could be called a barbarian. The most savage barbarians were from Scythia, in what is today a part of Russia. There were still the divisions over circumcision, as we have heard, and slavery was widespread, too. (Paul will deal with some of these issues, which were real, later in Colossians 3, and what they still mean for us.) But as far as eternal life and the promises of God are concerned, God wished for everyone to hear of and come to faith in Christ Jesus, no matter who they were. See what Paul says about his mission in Romans 1:11-15 and his desire to reach as many people as possible with the Good News of Jesus.
“Christ is all and in all,” Paul says (Colossians 3:11). Everything centers in Him, for Christians. See how similar the passages in Galatians 3:26-29 and Ephesians 1:20-23 are, no matter what the original divisions among people were. See also 1 Corinthians 15:28. The fact that God is all in all, and so is Christ, is an indication that Jesus is God, equal with the Father (and with the Holy Spirit), though we cannot understand all the mysteries of the One, true, Triune God. How good it is to know that Jesus came for us all, no matter who we are or have been.
In verse 12, then, Paul reminds us again of who we are as Christians with the new life we have in Christ. We are “God’s chosen ones, holy (saints) and beloved (dearly loved by Him).” This is what we in fact are. See passages like 1 Peter 2:9-10, Ephesians 1:4-10, John 15:16, and Ephesians 5:1, which affirm exactly what we are and Whose we are, in Christ. False teachers at Colossae, false teachers still today, and Satan himself try to point out our weaknesses and that we cannot be Christians, because we are not doing what they say we need to do. We do not meet their standards or the human opinions and standards of so many. We certainly do not even meet God’s standards on our own. But in Christ, we are forgiven. We are now God’s chosen ones, counted holy and loved by God by the perfect work of Jesus, already done for us. It is work in the past, but with ongoing results for us, in Christ.
Starting next week, we will look at what being chosen, holy, and beloved by God means for us also in our relationships with fellow believers and with others around us now in our new life in Christ. We will also see the qualities God enables us to “put on” as we live in Christ and for God and others. How different this list is compared with the lists from our old life apart from God! But above all, keep remembering what God already says and promises about you, in Christ, because of His saving action on your behalf and your being connected to Him by the gift of faith.