Mentioning the idea of the church to individuals can bring about diverse reactions. For some, it’s a reminder of something gone wrong. Whether it was a pastor who sinned in some manner, a person who gossiped or slandered, or poor stewardship of money given, there is some reason why mentioning the church to some is like pulling a scab off a wound. Something happened and perhaps led someone to say that he or she would never be part of the church again. For others, the mention of church is a reminder of something they’re committed to but find no joy in. The mere meeting of the church together often gets in the way of certain sporting events, leads us to fill up a day in our weekend, or the like. And yet, for some reason these individuals are committed. For the most part, they gather with believers on Sundays, and yet the mention of church does not elicit great joy. It’s like brushing one’s teeth – a necessary thing to which many are committed yet no one jumps up and down overjoyed about doing. Yet, for others, the mention of the church is like the mentioning of a treat to a dog. It’s a reminder of what – and more importantly, who – they love. They’re willing to alter their lives to adjust to being a part of this believing community, whether it means passing up a job opportunity in another town or being away from family. The church, for them, is one of their greatest delights. The thought of going through life apart from these people with whom they’ve linked arms and walked through joys and trials is almost too much to bear.
When I was growing up, I don’t know that I would have been able to describe that last category. It wasn’t until I was a part of this church for a few years that I began to realize what a church community could be, and it’s altered my life. I am now at a place that if for some reason I could no longer serve as your pastor, then I’d seek some non-church related vocation so that I could provide for my family and still be a part of this church as a member. And I know that I’m not the only one who thinks this way. I’ve watched as some of you have made great sacrifices to be a part of this body and continually make sacrifices in order to fellowship with this group of believers. The Lord has simply lavished his grace upon us as a people, and I cannot thank him enough for bringing this church into my life.
Yet, I also realize that there are no doubt people who would have thought of the church the same way I do now and for some reason moved into the category of despising the church, of thinking of the church as something that simply reminds them of heartache. There are local churches that at one time epitomized everything good and beautiful about the bride of Christ that are now simply gone. There are people who at one time sacrificed much just to be a part of a certain believing community who later voluntarily walked out the door never to come back.
Perhaps it is this reality that leads Paul (and the other biblical authors) to spend so much time instructing us on how to relate to one another as part of a local church. It is because on the one hand we desperately need one another, can become a portrait of something beautiful and delightful together, and can shine brightly together in this world and, on the other hand, can so quickly end up on the other end of the scale, bearing hatred in our hearts toward one another, picturing disunity and malice, and can provide a false witness to the glory of Jesus Christ.
So, it should not be surprising to us that as Paul turns his attention to exhorting the Colossians in day-to-day practice that he focuses specifically on the Colossians laboring and living together as a community of believers in 3:12-17. And as we pay attention and heed Paul’s exhortations in these verses, it will aid us in growing as a delightful community of believers and in preventing and fighting against those things that stand to destroy such a community.
If you wanted to sum up Paul’s picture of what makes a thriving church community, I think it’s found in verse 17 of our text. Paul closes this section of exhortations by noting in verse 17, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” The idea of doing everything we do “in the name of the Lord Jesus” in light of the rest of this text and the rest of this book seems to be the idea of always acting in accord with the nature and character of Christ. That is, in everything we say or do, let’s make sure that we’re demonstrating the nature and character of Christ. That is our goal. But, how do we do that? I think the answer is by walking according to the exhortations we find in verses 12-16.
How do we live as a Christ-honoring community of believers? First . . .
The exhortation to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts doesn’t come until the first half of verse 15, but I think this is where these first few verses are heading. I think this for a couple of reasons. First, in the book of Ephesians (which has a number of parallel texts with Colossians), Paul begins his exhortations in that book by writing, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love [this all sounds like what we read in Colossians 3:12-17, but why? Paul continues . . . ] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:1-3). So, the goal of similar commands in the book of Ephesians – which very much parallels Colossians – is so that they might maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Second, the nature of the commands that Paul gives in verses 12-15a, if obeyed, would indeed bring about peace amidst a community of believers. That is, where these commands are obeyed, peace will be the result. And, considering the prominence given to peace by Jesus and even at the beginning of this letter (see 1:2), I think that Paul’s aim is for the Colossian community to be one characterized as a community of peace where the gathering of believers together is like that of a haven of peace.
But how do they get there? Paul exhorts them first to “put on” those qualities that characterize the nature of Christ. He writes in verse 12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” I don’t think it’s by mistake that Paul lists five of these qualities after listing five vices in 3:5 and in 3:8. He is countering those things which we must put away and put to death with five characteristics that we must “put on,” as if putting on clothing.
Therefore, the kind of person that Paul envisions each of us being is a person characterized by these qualities. As those who have been called out of the world by God and then together as his church, we must exercise first, compassion. That is, a willingness to demonstrate tenderness and mercy toward others. We must be kind. We must be humble, ridding ourselves of arrogance and thinking of ourselves above others. We must have meekness, not wanting to exalt ourselves above others. And we must have patience. This is what a covenant community of believers should look like.
And, I would dare say that any of us would not want to be part of such a community. Yet, that means that each one of us must labor to ensure that we ourselves are characterized by such qualities, when we know that often we are not.
Yet, on that note, Paul is realistic as well. He knows that he’s writing to people who are now linking arms together who apart from Christ would not spend time together. So, there is a sense in which we must bear with others. Thus, Paul writes in verse 13, “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Paul knows that not only will we need to bear with one another as we may be greatly different, and he also knows that there will be times when we have legitimate grievances against one another. What do we do when someone actually does us wrong? Well, Paul says that we are to forgive. And, we are to forgive, even as we have been forgiven.
You see, I’ll get to this more clearly in our last point, but this kind of living is always and at every point undergirded with the gospel. The only reason we will be able to live like this is because we recognize that we are not doing these things so that we can be right with God. We’re living this way because we’ve already been declared right with God. And the only reason we’ll find strength to forgive others when we’ve been wronged by them is because we’ll recognize and remember that we’ve been forgiven for so much more and greater evil than anyone has committed against us.
So, Paul sets for us a vision of a covenant community. We are a people characterized by compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, who are willing to bear with and forgive one another. This is what unity and peace among a believing community requires. Where it is present, we delight and love the church. Where it is absent, we are simply mirroring those around us who have not died and been raised with Christ.
Yet, Paul continues. In addition to laboring for the peace of Christ to rule in our midst, Paul reminds us that
After mentioning these virtues and characteristics that we must put on, Paul says in verse 14, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” The greatest thing that must characterize those of us in this covenant community of believers is love.
You see, if we demonstrate kindness, patience, humility, patience, and compassion and yet do not have love, it is worthless. If we say that we forgive one another and yet do not love one another, then everything is but a façade. Paul tells us as much as he writes to the Corinthians in 13:3, saying, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Now, imagine that. If you had a church full of people giving to each other what was theirs and some even laying down their lives for others, we would say, “This church is amazing.” Yet, Paul says that those things can all be pointless if they are not driven by love. You can actually give away all you have and give your body to be burned and not be driven by love but perhaps by something like pride.
That is not the drive of genuine Christian community. Rather, everything we do is bound together in harmony by our love for one another. What this means is that we do not make it our aim to serve others in this body, though we need to serve one another. We do not make it our aim not to sin against others in this body, though we need to fight sinning against one another. We do not make it our aim to meet others’ needs, though we want to do that as well. Rather, we make it our aim to genuinely love one another. We make it our aim to have hearts that are turned to one another in warmth and affection. That is our goal. And that is why Paul tells the Corinthians after chapter 13, “Pursue love.”
This means, among other things, that we take opportunities to spend time together, hear one another joys and burdens, and see one another’s hearts. After all, our love for one another will grow as we see each other’s love for Christ. As each of us loves and treasures Christ, it will bond us more together in love, and that must be our goal.
Third, Paul reminds us that . . .
Now, perhaps among some of us gratitude has gotten a bad name. Soon after we got married, Lili and I were reading together a book by John Piper called Future Grace. That corporate reading project really didn’t last that long. Lili and I read at different rates, etc. It was just easier to read separately, and so we stopped reading together shortly into the book. But we did read far enough for me to realize that Piper was making some great points.
One of those points he made was in chapter two of that book, called “When gratitude malfunctions.” What Piper noted in that chapter is that we do not do things in the Christian life driven by gratitude in the sense of trying to pay someone back. So, for example, someone buys you lunch and from that point forward you walk around under the weight of feeling like you need to pay them back and buy them lunch. It’s as if you are in debt because of their kindness.
With that, Piper made a great point, but for a few months it left me wanting to throw out the notion of doing anything out of gratitude. However, if you get rid of gratitude, you have to get rid of much of the Bible. Look at the prominence gratitude holds in our text together. First, Paul ends verse 15 saying, “And be thankful.” It’s out there, just there by itself, and it has the feel of something he forgot to put in earlier.
During my entrance exams for seminary, I had to answer some questions in a room, armed only with a pen and paper. So, a number of us sat down in a room together, opened an envelope that had a few questions inside, and we started writing. The problem was, as I’ve mentioned, that I just had paper and a pen. This wasn’t a “bring your laptop” kind of test. Well, the problem with writing out your answer (besides that your hand starts to cramping) is that if you forget something, you cannot just go back and insert it. And, it was only after I’d finished answering the first question that I realized I’d forgot to write in an important detail.
I thought to myself, “What am I going to do?” I couldn’t just put in some kind of footnote, the point was too important. I couldn’t do one of those top of a triangle things and write it in small, there was too much to write. So, I just decided to make my closing paragraph say, “But one of the most important things about this council that I’ve not mentioned until now is . . .” And I just hoped that it didn’t read like I’d forgotten it until then.
Well, you might think that Paul did the same thing as you read the text. It’s as if he looked over at his outline and saw that he’d left out “Be thankful” in verse 12, so he wrote it in real quick at the end of verse 15. However, that notion is soon dispelled as you read on and realize that Paul is ending every section with an exhortation to giving thanks. If verses 12-15 provide the first set of exhortations, then Paul ends by saying, “Be thankful.” Verse 16 then turns their attention specifically to the gospel and Paul ends saying that they are to do these things “with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Then, verse 17 summarizes everything, and it too ends, “Giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Clearly, Paul is not just tacking on the idea of giving thanks. Rather, he sees it as crucial to being a covenant community of believers who honors God in how they live.
But why? Well, I think that Doug Moo has it right when he says, “Believers who are full of gratitude to God for his gracious calling . . . will find it easier to extend to fellow believers the grace of love and forgiveness and to put aside petty issues that might inhibit the expression of peace in the community.”1 That is, if we are people who recognize that we are only who we are because (according to verse 12) we have been chosen by God and loved by him, have been called out of the world and to other believers by God, have been forgiven by God, then we will be the kind of people who love deeply, forgive quickly, endure others with patience for a long time, and walk in humility. That is, recognizing that we are who we are only by the grace of God and overflowing in thanksgiving because of that fuels our holy living together as a community.
And this brings us to our last and extremely crucial point.
Paul writes in verse 16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Now, when Paul mentions the “word of Christ,” I think he means the gospel. Most commentators seem to agree on this point as well, but let me show you one reason why I think this is the case. Earlier in this letter, Paul mentions the “word of truth” in 1:5, and then immediately he defines it as “the gospel.” So, for Paul, in Colossians, “word of truth” is his way of referring to the gospel. Similarly, then, I think when Paul says “word of Christ” in 3:16, he means “the gospel.”
So, what Paul is envisioning here, then is a community of believers saturating themselves in the gospel. That is, a community of believers lives in peace with one another only as each of us is reminding ourselves of the gospel – that apart from Christ we were sinners condemned under the wrath of a holy God, yet Christ came and lived a perfect life for us, died to pay the penalty for our sins, and was raised from the dead on the third day so that if we place our faith in him, then we will be forgiven of our sins and declared righteous on the basis of Jesus Christ and his work for us. We must meditate on that message again and again. It must be something we consciously apply to our minds and hearts on a daily basis and multiple times throughout the day. We must be a people obsessed with this message.
And it’s important and crucial that we do this individually. However, in this section that focuses on living together as a community, I want us to see how Paul envisions us being saturated with the gospel, allowing it to dwell within us richly. He writes, “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Do you see? Paul envisions us hearing and delighting in the gospel as we are together and are taught and admonished. This is why in every sermon we want to explicitly declare the gospel and remind ourselves of it so that we might allow that word to dwell in us richly. But, Paul doesn’t just envision the person who may handle the teaching load as the congregation gathers applying the gospel. Rather, he envisions every member together lavishing the gospel of grace upon others in song.
What this means is that you carry a responsibility as you gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ to sing the gospel to them. Our singing is not just something we’re doing because we’ve always done it. It’s something that we do because Christ has commanded it, and one reason he’s commanded it is because singing is a means by which the whole of the church can proclaim the gospel to one another – through song.
And, if we’re still back thinking about how to cultivate love in our hearts for others and love in others’ hearts for us, I think the greatest way we cultivate love among a people is by making a habit of holding up the gospel before others. As we remind one another of what Christ has done for them and the forgiveness they have in him, it powerfully draws our hearts together in love.
So, as a community, everything we do is undergirded by the gospel. It is why we are grateful and walk in thanksgiving. It is how we can love, and it is why we’re even able to put on the characteristics that characterize our Lord. Therefore, this morning, as those whose faith is in the crucified and risen Christ and who have been justified by faith, let us remember the gospel, sing of it, and strive to live lives that are characterized by our Lord himself. Standing on the gospel, let us “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” And let us begin now, even as we come to the table. Amen.