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It’s Better Here
Colossians 1:9-12
In 1969, a 36
year old Columbus, Ohio man started out on a dream of opening a family
style restaurant. He had been adopted as a young boy but at the age of
five, his adoptive mother passed away and he would spend the remainder
of his young childhood moving around as his adoptive father looked for
employment.
Though life was not looking kindly on the young man, he did have joys in
his life. One of his biggest joys was eating at family restaurants. He
loved to see the families interacting with one another and having a good
time. And he made up his mind at a young age that he wanted to open his
own restaurant.
The restaurant was a mixture of food made to order and catchy slogans.
In 1984, the restaurant shot into the nation’s conscience when they
hired Clara Peller to ask the question “Where’s The Beef.” But it wasn’t
their best ad campaign. In 2004, trying to find a new niche in the Fast
Food world we were enticed to go to Wendy’s because they told us “It’s
Better Here.”
I believe that the idea “It’s better here” should be a calling card of
the body of Christ. In our fast food world, we are all looking for a
place that is better. We want better schools, better jobs, better
families, and I believe that the church being the body of God can offer
what the world can only suggest. We should all be able to stand up and
say without reservation that it’s better here.
Tonight I want to cast a vision for you. I want to paint a picture of
what we can be and more importantly, what we must be. If we are going to
claim that it’s better here then there are three areas that we need to
concentrate on developing. We need to know the will of God better, we
need to do more of the work of Christ, and we need to become more like
Christ.
Turn with me to Colossians 1:9-12. (Read the text)
In our text, we see that Paul makes three requests that relate to
Christian living.
First He Prayed That They Would Know More
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of
his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Colossians 1:9
Every Christian needs to increase in "the knowledge of his will." There
is always something more for us to learn about God and His will for our
lives. I hope that no Christian would ever dare to say that he has
"arrived" and there is nothing left to learn. A Christian who claims he
knows it all would only be showing his ignorance.
God wants us to know his will; he wants us to understand it. We’re to be
filled with the knowledge of his will. The word "filled" is a key word
here. In the language of the New Testament, to be "filled" means to be
"controlled by.” When we are filled with anger, we are controlled by
anger. To be "filled with the Spirit" means to be "controlled by the
Spirit.” Paul’s prayer is that these believers might be controlled by
the full knowledge of God’s will.
Paul prayed that the Colossians might grow in knowledge, and the way
they would do that was by getting deeper into God’s Word. He wanted them
to have “all wisdom” -- not that they would know everything, but that
they would have all the wisdom necessary for making decisions and living
to please God.
One of the things that sets us apart from other churches is our
recognition that the Bible is our authority in religion. Not church
manuals, not church councils, not personal opinions, not the preacher’s
views, but the Bible. It therefore follows that in order for us to be
the kind of people God wants us to be, we must be a people of the book.
But that can’t be accomplished just with the sermons. We need daily
Bible study. Like the noble Beareans, we need to “receive the word with
all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily.” Acts 17:11.
It’s not that difficult to come to worship to hear what the preacher has
to say. It’s much more difficult to get out the Bible and study on your
own.
But we need to study this book because it is our spiritual food. The
Hebrew writer said, “You need someone to teach you again the first
principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk, and
not solid food.” Hebrews 5:12. This book is our milk and our meat. It is
our food, our spiritual nourishment, and frankly, I believe that some
Christians are starving themselves to death.
Every now and then, you hear in the news about some radical who goes on
a hunger strike and refuses to eat for weeks at a time. Some of them
eventually die and others have to be hospitalized. That describes
exactly what happens to some Christians who aren’t spending any time
with God’s Word. Take a good close look at any Christian who falls away
from the Lord and becomes unfaithful, and very seldom will you find a
dedicated Bible student. 99% of the time you’ll find a Christian who has
neglected to do much personal study. There’s no food and the result is
starvation and spiritual death.
God told Hosea that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
(Hosea 4:6). What was the problem? Didn’t they have access to God’s
word? Of course they did. They simply didn’t care enough about it to
listen to it.
There are a lot of people out there in the world like that, but God’s
people can be just as guilty of that as anyone else. We need to study
God’s Word not only to find salvation, but to be able to share it with
others. We need to once again become known as a people of the book, a
people who study, know, and love the Bible, God’s Word.
Secondly He Prayed That They Might Do More
"That you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
Colossians 1:10
The false teachers at Colossi were like the Gnostics of the first
century that are so prominent in John’s first epistle. They talked a lot
about "spiritual knowledge,” but they didn’t relate that knowledge to
daily living. In the Christian life, knowledge and obedience go hand in
hand. There is no separation between learning and living. The knowledge
about which Paul prayed wasn’t just head knowledge of deep spiritual
truths. True spiritual wisdom must affect the way we live.
Look again at the two words that Paul uses to describe the Christian
life: walk and work. The order is important: first, wisdom; then
walking; then working. I can’t work for God unless I’m walking with him,
and I can’t walk with him if I’m ignorant of his will. The Christian who
spends time daily in the Word and prayer will know God’s will and be
able to walk with him and work for him.
Our purpose in life is not to please ourselves, but to please the Lord.
We ought to walk "worthy of our calling". Our lives should be lived
solely for the purpose of pleasing God. We don’t just need to know; we
need to do.
James said, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves." James 1:22.
He goes on to describe a man who reads the Bible, but he doesn’t put it
into practice. He says he is like a man who looks in the mirror. He sees
his hair is messed up, he needs to shave, he has a dirty smudge on his
cheek, but he goes his way and does nothing about it. Looking in the
mirror has not done him any good. So is the man who reads God’s Word,
but makes no effort to put what he reads into practice. But, "He who
looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in
what he does." James 1:25.
In Luke 13, Jesus told the parable of a fig tree. The fig tree was an
important tree to the people of that day. It bore fruit several times a
year. It was dense and provided shade. It was a symbol of peace and
prosperity. In this parable, we find a fig tree that was cultivated in a
vineyard. It had good soil, it was fertilized, it had everything it
needed to grow.
But, this fig tree was going to be cut down. Why? What had it done
wrong? Absolutely nothing. The problem was that it had done nothing at
all. It was barren, it was useless, much like some members of the
church. There are too many people who consider themselves to be pretty
good. After all, they don’t drink, they don’t lie, they don’t commit
adultery, they don’t swear, they don’t steal. The problem is -- they
don’t do anything at all! We call this the sin of omission, failing to
do what we ought to be doing. James said, "To him that knows to do good,
and does not do it, to him it is sin." James 4:17.
I heard one preacher describe this as mannequin Christianity. According
to some people’s idea of Christianity, the mannequin in the store window
would make a great Christian. He doesn’t do anything wrong! But it’s
obvious he doesn’t do anything at all. Christianity is something you do.
Christianity is a series of verbs, action words: visit, feed, clothe,
go, teach, encourage, give, love.
The real question is -- What are we accomplishing for the Lord? What are
we doing? The Lord doesn’t demand the unusual or the sensational, but he
does expect something. What are we doing? We’re not truly living
Christian lives unless we’re doing the work of Christ.
Finally he Prayed That They Might Become More Like Christ
"Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, for all
patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has
qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the
light." (Colossians 1:11-12).
Wisdom and conduct should always be related to moral character. One of
the great problems in the "Christian world" today is an emphasis on
"spiritual knowledge" and "Christian service" without connecting these
important matters to personal character.
For example, some teachers and preachers claim to have God’s wisdom --
yet they lack love and kindness and the other basic qualities that make
the Christian life beautiful and distinctive. Others are busy teaching
the lost and doing many good works, but are not morally what they should
be.
Knowledge, conduct, and character must always go together. We learn
God’s will so that we might obey it; and in obeying it, we serve him and
grow in Christian character. While none of us is perfectly balanced in
these three areas, we ought to strive for that balance.
You see, simply knowing the facts isn’t enough. Even doing many good
works isn’t enough. Our goal as Christians must be to grow closer and
closer to the example of Jesus Christ.
You can bully people to their knees, but you can’t make them pray. You
can coerce them into parting with their money, but you can’t force them
into the "grace of giving". You can emotionally intimidate people into
reading the Bible, but you can’t force them into a love and appreciation
for the truth of God. You can browbeat people into using words with
Christ and religious phraseology in them, but you can’t make them
joyfully talk about what Christ means to them.
Christianity is more than just knowing the right facts. It’s more than
going through the right motions. It begins in the heart; it’s what we
are. There is a continual process of growing and adding Christ-like
virtues to our lives. Peter wrote, "Add to your faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love." 2
Peter 1:5-8
Paul mentions some of those qualities here in Colossians 1. The point is
that we never stop "becoming"; it’s an ongoing process. There’s always
something positive to add to our lives, always something negative to try
to get rid of.
We have different ways of measuring growth. When Trista and I take the
boys to the doctor, the nurse would always check their height and
weight. Then that information was written onto a chart that gave us a
picture of how they were growing. When you get to be adults, we measure
our growth by whether or not we can fit into last year’s pants.
But how does a person measure his growth in Christianity? Very simply, I
think it’s just a matter of checking to see how much we are becoming
like Jesus Christ. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, "That we should
no longer be children, tossed to and fro...., but speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head -- Christ."
Ephesians 4:14-15
We need to know the will of Christ, we need to do the work of Christ,
and we need to become more like Christ. As I consider my task as your
preacher and the ability we have to make it better here, that’s my
desire for each of you.
In a larger town, the following letter appeared in the letters to the
editor section. It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important
and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending
church quite regularly for 30 years and I have probably heard 3,000 of
them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single
sermon. I wonder if a minister's time might be more profitable spent on
something else.
For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued. . . finally ended by
this letter: I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have
eaten 32,850 meals--mostly my wife's cooking. Suddenly I have discovered
I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet . . . I have the
distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death
long ago.
Sermons are like that. I may not be able to quote them, but they do make
me a better person." I hope that for the past two and a half, and for
the years ahead, that my lessons have been able to accomplish just that
-- to bring your life a bit closer to that of Jesus Christ, even if you
can’t always remember them.
As you strive to grow in your knowledge, maybe your commitment will be
to read your Bible every day and meditate on the words. Maybe a
commitment to memorize scripture, a passage every day. But, whatever you
decide, plan to grow in your knowledge of God’s Word.
As you strive to do more of the work of Christ, maybe your commitment
will be to share the gospel with 3 people before the end of this year or
5 or 10. Maybe a commitment to spend more time visiting the sick and
needy. Maybe a commitment to give more or to invite more people to
worship. But, whatever you decide, plan to grow in what you do for
Christ.
And as you strive to become more like Christ, maybe your commitment will
be to get rid of some bad habit or attitude that is un-Christlike. Maybe
a commitment to work on adding a particular positive attitude such as
patience or thankfulness or humility. Maybe a commitment to develop the
servant attitude and love that so characterized the life of Christ. But,
whatever you do, plan to grow in your efforts to become more like
Christ.
If everyone of us will make that commitment then we can truly say that
“It’s better here.”
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