Colossians : 3v12-4v1

Clothed with Christ's character, obedient in Christ's name

All of us have heard that famous Shakespearian phrase, "Clothes maketh the man". [Hamlet (Act I, scene iii)] and Mark Twain said, "A policeman in plain clothes is a man; in his uniform he is ten. Clothes . are the most potent thing [on earth]. They move the human race to willing and spontaneous respect for the judge, the general, the admiral, [and] the bishop. No great title is efficient without clothes to support it".

On a less literary note, have you ever seen Trinny and Susanna at work? On one level it is a bit uncomfortable seeing them destroy someone's wardrobe, but by the end of each programme the transformation they have worked on someone just by changing their clothes is most remarkable.

What clothes do you wear for church? I used to attend a church were all men were expected to wear suits and all women were expected to wear hats - but as long as they conformed outwardly, they didn't seem to be concerned about how they were inwardly. Yet that is exactly what today's passage is concerned about.

As we have seen last week, chapter three starts with a wonderful encouragement about the readers position in Christ in the first four verses. It then goes on to detail things which we should therefore not be like. Here in today's section we move onto those things that should be part of our character as a result of that wonderful introduction.

It is interesting that Paul addresses them in privileged titles - 'Gods chosen people', 'holy', 'dearly loved'. These are terms which in the old testament are used of Gods special people Israel , and in the new testament are used of Jesus too. It underlines the privileged position which Christians now find themselves in.

Today's passage falls naturally into two sections, and I'd like to divide it up as follows. Firstly the exhortation to be clothed with Christ's character and secondly the exhortation to be obedient in Christ's name .

Clothed with Christ' Character (v12-17)

In contrast to the five vices which are named earlier in the chapter, here we have five virtues, five graces. Each of these characteristics can be clearly seen in Jesus' own life recorded in the gospels. We are to put on, to clothe ourselves in these characteristics; taking on something of Jesus' character.

The Character of Christ Clothes us (v12-14)

Compassion: sometimes called 'love in action'. When we see someone in difficulty, someone with problems, we are called to something more than mere pity which feels sorrow for them, we are called to compassion: an active response to do good in the circumstances. As Jesus was moved by compassion when he saw the sick and so healed them, we should be clothed with Christ's character and take compassionate action - whether in the abstract like the 'make poverty history' campaign or the concrete like when we see a beggar in the street.

Kindness: I find this one easiest to understand as a complement to compassion. Where compassion wants to act to help those who are hurting, kindness wants to act just to show love to someone who doesn't necessarily have any needs at all.

Humility: this is often wrongly portrayed as thinking of yourself as being very lowly. That is a mistake. It is actually not thinking of yourself at all (there is a false humility which is actually just pride turned inside out, taking pride in ones low position). The truly humble person is just getting on with things and doesn't mind whether or not their work is noticed. A harder thing to bear than we might imagine. We like recognition for what we have done and easily feel unappreciated.

Gentleness: very closely connected with kindness, it is often translated meekness in other versions of the Bible. It is probably easiest to understand it as your internal character. The opposite of forceful, without meaning spineless.

Patience: In our day how much need is there for patience? Our world is more and more instant, and it can be so hard for us to be patient. Jo could tell you that I'm not well known for my patience, especially in queues of traffic.

A man noticed a woman in a grocery store pushing a pushchair with a 3 year old girl in it. They passed the biscuits and the girl wanted some and the mother said no. The girl threw a tantrum. Her mother patiently said, "Now Florence , we just have a few more aisles to go, don't be upset. It won't take long." They came to the sweet aisle and the little girl got upset again. She was screaming and kicking. The mother said, "There, there, Florence don't cry, only 2 more aisles to go. When they reached the check out the little brat went nuts reaching for the sweets there. The mother calmly said, " Florence , we'll be through in 5 minutes and when we get home you can have a bottle and a nap."
The man followed her out of the store and stopped her to compliment her on her patience with little Florence . The mother sighed and said, "Oh, no my little girl's name is Sarah, I'm Florence ."

I can sympathise with the small child who once prayed "God, please make me patient, and do it right now! " I'm wary of praying for patience after the experience of a friend of mine up in Yorkshire . An occupational therapist, she prayed that she would be more patient, expecting God to sort of magically give her patience. What God did was transfer her to the violently psychopathic ward for three months! She learned patience all right, but had to do it the long way round.

These characteristics are bound together into a whole by love - love for God, for Jesus and for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The admonition in v13 is so important to Christians - bear with each other. Forgive each other. Whatever grievances you may have against one another. It is so easy for churches to split over grievances, differences of opinion and so forth; so easy for individuals to fall out. But we must not do that . How are we to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ? As the Lord forgave you . Wholeheartedly. Sacrificially.

Two more things directly associated with Christ Jesus are now brought to our attention. His peace and His word.

The Peace of Christ rules us (v15)

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. This world has plenty of things to make us fretful, which would be used by the enemy to rob us of our peace which we can have in Christ. It is interesting that it says rule . Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. What does that mean?

The word 'rule' used to be used in the Olympics and other games - they were the overall umpire, the one who presided over the games and ensured that everything happened in an orderly fashion.

Letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts means that, in faith, we put such a trust in Christ, his work and our promised future in heaven with him that we decide not to live in the way outlined last week, but to live in the way we have seen today - clothed with Christ's character, not the character of this world. The assurance of our future with Christ gives us the peace to overcome those things that would make us fretful now.

The Word of Christ dwells in us (v16)

Again Paul is focussing attention on the Christ who was being disregarded by some among the Colossians. We are supposed to be teaching and admonishing one another, helping each other to grow as Christians and worship God together. But it is only possible to do this properly if the Word of Christ, the Bible, is dwelling in us.

What does that mean? It means that we read it, think about it, meditate upon it. The Holy Spirit takes the words of the Bible and uses them to speak Christ's word into our lives. If we don't read the Bible regularly, it is difficult for the Word of Christ to dwell within us.

Far too often it just dwells on the bookshelf. And what good is that to us?

Everything as Christ's representative (v17)

Everything we say, everything we do - at church, at work, at home, everything - is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. In other words, it is done remembering that we are Christ's representative. His ambassador.

International ambassadors are expected to convey the opinions and thoughts of their mother country. They are not expected to just present their own opinions because if they do that they might be misrepresenting their country.

We are ambassadors for Christ, people will judge him by what they see in us . And that can be a sobering thought.

Obedient in Christ's Name (3v18-4v1)

This second half I intend to treat more quickly This is dealt with in somewhat more detail in the parallel passage in Eph 5. In three cases we are told about behaviour in relationships, going from the most intimate to the most businesslike. In each case we start with a command to the one in the 'lower' place as it was seen at the time, but there is a corresponding command to the one with more authority or responsibility.

I have titled this section of the passage as I have because I think the key element here is not so much the commands which Paul is giving, but what underlies those commands. At least six times it refers to the Lord as the motivating factor for obedience, touching almost every verse.

As is fitting in the Lord. For this pleases the Lord. Out of reverence for the Lord.

The details have changed between then and now. When this was written the husband was the absolute authority in the household, over his wife and his children. In many cases his authority over them was to the same extent as the masters authority over his slaves. All three relationships here were very similar in character.

I don't think we would normally expect to see these relationships today exactly as they were represented then. But there are relationships between husbands and wives, between children and parents, between workers and employers today. And as we exist in one or more of those relationships, it is important that we act appropriately - As is fitting in the Lord, For this pleases the Lord, out of reverence for the Lord.

Wives allowing their husbands to lead honours Christ. Husbands loving their wives and leading as servant leaders honours Christ. Children obeying their parents honours Christ. Fathers (especially fathers) not scolding or discouraging your children honours Christ. Workers working hard whether someone is looking or not honours Christ. Employers treating their workers fairly honours Christ.

And whatever you do, do it as though Jesus himself has asked you to do it. Work at it whole-heartedly.

I remember when I first started work I wanted to try to live by this principle, and at my first appraisal my boss said to me "So Alex, what motivates you? What makes you want to do your job well? Is it the money, promotion, or what?" I thought for quite a while and took and deep breath and said "well, it is like this. The way I see it I'm employed by Kodak but I'm working for God. And if I'm working for God then I want to do the best job I can". It is strange what can happen when you take the risk of talking with someone about spiritual matters - my boss revealed that he grew up in a Brethren chapel down in Devon , and we talked a lot about his understanding of Christianity. Five years later I lived up North, I went to Spring Harvest for the first time and who should I see but my old manager! He was there with the Kodak Christian fellowship, which he had never been involved with while I was there. Maybe God used my little bit of boldness to help him find his way back onto the path? I don't know.

Whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not men.

Do you want to put that into practice? Are you prepared to be obedient to Gods word?

Then why not start by clothing yourself in Christ's Characteristics, Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, let the word of Christ dwell in your mind.

God has laid the ground work, he has prepared the way. All that is needed is for you to say "Yes Lord, I'm willing". Shall we do that now, and allow Christ to make a difference in our lives this week?

 

Alex White