May You Be Made Strong

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior.

I would like to begin with prayer and invite the Holy Spirit to minister to each of us.

Oh God, thank You for Your love and grace.

As we gather to meditate on Your Word, would you please

guide us. Open our hearts and draw us close to Your heart.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Amen.

When I started writing my sermon, I thought of all of you, and I was praying. I know you have many experiences—highs and lows, joy and sadness—and through it all, the love of God remains a constant support and reminder that we are not alone. Today, let us reflect on how God is strengthening us and how, at the same time, we are vulnerable.

It is a verse-by-verse exegesis of the 1st chapter of the Epistle to Colossians, my prime focus would be on verses from verses 7 to 14.

It is about a small group of people from diverse backgrounds who accepted Jesus as their God and began a brand-new faith journey. They are pioneers of Faith. First church and the first generation of Christianity. The word “Christianity” was not official yet. Anachronistic term.

They did not have the Bible as we do today. They had no liturgy, order of worship, worship calendar, prayer groups, pastoral care, Zoom, or many of the conveniences that modern Christians take for granted.

Despite all these resources, we also face challenges in our faith journey. Let us learn from the successful practices they followed to overcome challenges and survive in that hostile environment.

This small group of believers at Colossae was not of a single ethnic background. Some were Jews, while others were of Roman, Greek, and Phrygian ethnicity. Epaphras brought the Good News to them. Some began believing in Jesus as a god and simply added Him to their list of gods.

The Greeks and Romans, who practiced polytheism, worshiped the moon under different names—Selene and Luna. The majority of society believed that they were surrounded by numerous invisible powers and worshiped them. They highly honored these powers and did everything possible to please them, believing that was the only way to live in peace and joy. This is a brief glimpse of the religious practices in Colossae in the late first century Common Era.

New believers in Jesus Christ do not have a well-developed system to practice their faith. They did not yet know that Jesus had not imposed any food restrictions. The Jews tried to impart the food practices they had learned from Exodus and other parts of the Old Testament. Similarly,

other religious food practices crept into this brand-new faith. The pioneers continued to adopt various religious practices into their new faith. The faith what they had heard from Epaphras.

1:7 This you heard from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant.

1:8 He made known to us your love in the Spirit Epaphras not only shared the gospel with those in Colossae but also brought back a report on his ministry at Colossae. He informed Paul about what had happened in Colossae, including the diversity of their beliefs and the polytheistic religious background of the region.

Once Paul heard about the confusion the church at Colossae was experiencing, he responded with prayer. [The best thing one can do is seek God’s intervention]

1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. He understood the situation and prayed for the people at Colossae who had zeal for God and were doing all possible things to find God’s favour, even if it is to sacrifice delicious food or any other comfort. However, they lacked knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Paul began interceding on their behalf and wrote them a letter. Interestingly, he had once pursued every possible way to be a devoutly religious person, only realising that he had been doing so without the knowledge of God’s will for gentiles till he encountered God on his way to Damascus.

Here, he wrote a letter to help these new believers, pioneers of faith in that region. He wants them to understand what is more important than observing food restrictions, setting specific days and times for worship, worshiping the moon or other visible and invisible parts of creation, or venerating angels such as Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael or any human traditions.

Strangely, monotheistic Jews started worshiping angels to counteract the influence of evil powers. This long-standing tradition was developed from their wrong understanding of a few verses in the Book of Daniel. In the 8th chapter, we notice Daniel being gentle and respectful with Gabriel, and a set of Jews made it a religious practice to call the name of the right angle as per the need or trouble they are in. This practice is elaborately written in the book called The Testament of Solomon.

A straightforward statement from Paul, as recorded in Col. 2:16, “Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matter of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.”

Col. 2:18 says, “Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on vision, puffed up without cause by human traditions.

One important thing to note here is that all these religious practices are popular in their society. As they were finding a way to live in that multi-religious society with faith in Jesus, they had two options: a narrow way not relying on these elements of the world to build their faith and a broader way doing all that comes on their with no knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Paul was helping them navigate this challenge by emphasising that these elements of the world are not essential for finding God's favour. [Application – we may try to adopt unwanted stuff into our religious practice and call it Christianity. Let’s reflect on our personal choices and understand how we rely on human practices and worldly wisdom to find strength. God is reminding us that He is the only everlasting and trustworthy source of strength to you and me.]

Once they get rid of these unnecessary practices, then … 1:11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully.

Once we rid ourselves of unnecessary burdens, God will fill that space with the strength that comes from His glorious power. Our sovereign God respects our free will; He does not impose His will upon us while we are unaware. We must make a conscious choice.

The two options before us are: first, following the elements of the world as practiced in this ultra-modern secular world, and second, seeking the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

The litmus test is enduring everything with patience and joy. Success is not the size of the crowd we attract or the material blessings we receive. It is being enabled to share in the inheritance of the saints. That is citizenship in the kingdom of God. Once we realise this, we cannot stop giving thanks to God.

As said in Col. 1:12 – giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Here is the destiny of our faith journey. Sharing the inheritance of the saints in the light. This points to the lynchpin of the epistle i.e. Col. 3:1-4 where our life is revealed in His glory.

In conclusion, I would like to tell you the summary. A small group of people from diverse backgrounds heard the gospel from Epaphras and started navigating their faith journey in a multi-religious and hostile environment. Paul’s advice is not to let anyone discourage or disqualify you for not relying on the elements of the world but to pray for the knowledge of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Let us empty ourselves from worldly practices and

pray that God strengthen us with his glorious power and enable us to share the inheritance of saints in the light. Never lose hope. God is working even when we cannot see.

In the last two verses of this pericope, there is an assurance of safety and everlasting life Col. 1:13 – He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.