Doing Life Together

Doing Life Together.  Colossians 4.7-18

Click to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%204.7-18&...

“…that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” v.12 “The righteous should choose his friends carefully.” Proverbs 12.26

Good Day. 

Who notices when you aren’t there? Who encourages you to keep the faith when you are discouraged?  When you are sick, does anyone call to check on you?  If you moved out of the area, would you leave a void, or would no one likely notice?  Has anyone ‘been there’ for you when life tossed you about, when you did not know up from down?  Hmmm . . .

On the other hand . . . may I ask, who do you encourage?  Have you recently reached out to lend a hand, or send a note, to someone who is hurting?  When is the last time you brought a meal to someone in need?  Do you spend much time praying for the heartfelt needs of others?  Have you had the opportunity to extend the handshake of ‘welcome’ to another lately?  Have you walked alongside’ friends who have weathered the rough storms of life, and seen them through to the other side?  I mean, how often do you GIVE of yourself to others?  Hmmm . . .

Friends, one could see the last verses of Colossians as ‘throwaways’, verses that have no meaning or application for us today, since they include a lot of strange names and commendations . . . Not so.  Paul’s final thoughts written to the Colossians were about his friends and companions—the people with whom he ‘did life’.

With a little research we find out something about the people Paul mentions, and their relevance to us today—

Tychicus was to supply a firsthand report of Paul’s welfare and his heart toward the young Christians Paul has been teaching.  Paul commends Tychicus as a faithful minister alongside him, calling him a ‘beloved friend’.  Paul thought so highly of him that he would later send him to Crete and to Ephesus to represent him. 

Along with Tychicus is Onesimus, both of whom were chosen to carry this letter to the Colossians as well as the letter to the Ephesians. 

Onesimus had been a runaway slave who had come from Colosse, and Paul is sending him back to them, commending him as both faithful and beloved.  ‘Forgive him, welcome him back, as he met your same Jesus when we met here in Rome!’   

‘Aristarchus sends his greetings’ . . . Aristarchus had been with Paul for the long haul—whether it meant the Ephesian riot, or the shipwreck on the way to Rome (Acts 27), or imprisonment.  He lived out his commitment to Jesus Christ through his faithfulness to Paul and the sharing of the Gospel.  He was a friend that ‘sticks closer than a brother’.

‘Luke the beloved physician sends you his greetings’ . . . Ah Luke . . . author of the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts—(more than a quarter of the New Testament writing!)  ‘O, the places he could have gone!’  Why, his brilliant detail-oriented mind could have taken him anywhere in the Greek or Roman world, but he stayed with Paul—to the very end.  

Several others are mentioned—namely Epaphras, who devoted himelf to praying for young believers without ceasing.  Epaphras was faithful to carry those to whom Paul had ministered the gospel, those for whom Paul was so burdened, to the Lord, interceding on their behalf. Paul counted on the prayers of Epaphras.

Remarkable!  These were the men who ‘did life’ with Paul—loyal friends and laborers in the work of Paul; they were invaluable in his life, enabling him to do what he did for Jesus Christ.  They were his community. Friends, are you part of such a community?  If you are, then thank God, and remain active in it—do your part.  From the start of the Christian church, it was how Christians were meant to live together—loving one another, praying and worshipping together, and taking care of one another.  In such a community, there is accountability and support, encouragement and sharpening . . . there is LIFE!