Tag Archives: brother

Grace And Peace

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GRACE AND PEACE

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” Colossians 1:1, 2.

Quite a mouthful in the opening sentence! Unlike our modern communication, ancient letters said it all in the first sentence; writer, recipients, and who they were. Who were Paul and Timothy?

Paul described himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. He was not a self-appointed or self-proclaimed apostle. We have many of those today. Why do spiritual leaders love titles? Does it elevate them above the rest or give them an edge on spirituality? On what authority do they claim those titles? Those who call themselves Apostle So-and-so or Prophet So-and-so – can they honestly say that they were given that title and office by the will of God?

With a title comes a task – to lead people by example as Paul did. Because he was a God-appointed and Spirit-anointed apostle, he could say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” How often do those who carry official-sounding titles betray them by espousing people to themselves! They are the only ones who are right and not to recognise that is to dishonour their title.

Who was Timothy? A brother! Timothy was Paul’s young trainee. When Paul found him, he realised that he had found gold – a young believer who had the makings of a fine leader. Paul did not give him the title of apostle. It was not his right to give, but he trained and mentored him to understudy him as a faithful and fully equipped leader. He was able to leave him in Ephesus to care for the church there while Paul went on with his mission to make Christ known where He was not known.

Paul regarded Timothy as his son in the faith. He often accompanied Paul on his journeys and acted as messenger and support during Paul’s imprisonments. He was a comfort to Paul in his suffering and in his old age, a true son upon whom Paul could rely to continue his work when he was no longer there

Who were the Colossians? The ancient city of Colossae was built on a major trade route which ran through the Lycus River valley in the province of Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey. It was famous for its dark red wool cloth called colossinum from where the city got its name. The city lost its importance when the nearby city of Laodicea overtook it as a business centre.

Paul spent two years in the nearby city of Ephesus from where the gospel spread to other centres, carried by converts from Ephesus. It is likely that one of Paul’s converts, Epaphras, was responsible for carrying the message to Colossae. Philemon was a member of that church, to whom Paul wrote a short letter about his slave Onesimus.

Although Paul did not know the people in the church at Colossae personally, he could still address them as “holy people” and “faithful brothers and sisters.” Why? Because, like his Master, he could view them as already complete in Christ. As long as they were in Christ, from God’s perspective, they had already been perfected. “In Christ” is, of course the operative word.

Grace and peace! Grace – a prayer for his readers to experience the ongoing grace of God in their lives, and peace – a normal Jewish greeting – “shalom” but for Paul the result of all God’s mercy to us – His peace that guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Infused into this greeting is all the richness of God’s work in the lives of those who are “in Christ”.

This was much more than just a nicety, a polite greeting like we would say when we say “hello” and “goodbye” but, to Paul, it was the expression of his heart and his love for God’s children, even if he did not know them personally.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

A Peek Inside

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A PEEK INSIDE

“But I think it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.” Philippians 2:25-27.

Paul peppered his letters with little cameos of his life and his interaction with fellow believers. This is one of them.

He had a very special relationship with the people of the Philippian church. From what he wrote, we learn that they had taken care of his needs more than once, sending money to him and one of their members, possibly even a leader or elder to see to his needs in prison.

Epaphroditus could not hop on a plane from Philippi and land in Rome in an hour or two. He had to endure a long and hazardous overland journey to get to Paul. He may have contracted malaria or some other infectious disease on the way, causing him a serious and almost fatal illness. No doubt Paul and his fellow-believers in Rome must have prayed earnestly for his recovery. God was merciful and spared his life and Paul the sorrow of losing a beloved friend and companion in the gospel.

Look how Paul described Epaphroditus – brother, co-worker and fellow-soldier. He was a brother in the love that bound them together. Paul was not only the evangelist, teacher and mentor of these people. He was also their brother and they were his brothers and sisters in the bond of God’s family. Their Christian lives would have been sterile without the love that warmed them and drew them together to care for one another.

Epaphroditus was also a co-worker and fellow soldier. He was no spectator sitting in the grandstand cheering Paul on. He was right in the game with Paul, facing the dangers of the Christian life in the arena of misunderstanding, hatred and persecution at the hands of Jews and Romans. He soldiered with Paul in spreading the gospel and caring for the flock of God. Paul was not slack in giving him the honour he deserved for his willingness to labour with him.

I see in this little cameo something very precious in this church and something that is not always evident in many church fellowships. These people were held together by a deep love for Paul and for one another. Without that love they would have believed Paul’s message, come to Christ and formed a group of believers that met together and stuck together simply because they were hated by the world. It was their love for each other and for their beloved apostle which motivated them to give of their resources and themselves.

They gave their money to take care of Paul’s needs. They sent a representative to help Paul in prison. They were concerned for the wellbeing of Paul and Epaphroditus in Rome. They were certainly not indifferent to the circumstances of their “father” in the faith when he was far away. They cared and they showed their care by doing something about it.

Imagine what an impact the church would make on a world of selfish and greedy people if we truly loved and cared for one another as the Philippians did! The world largely treats the church with indifference because in many ways the church is no better than a religious “club”. There are power struggles, infightings, factions, competition among leaders, and all the sins off the world blatantly evident in the church as well.

Where is this alternative society made up of true followers of Jesus who have died to themselves and are reflecting the Master they serve as “stars in the universe”? Where are these companies of people scattered throughout the world whose love for Jesus and for one another convinces the world that they are really following Him?

How tragic that many of the big name leaders in the church are living in multi-million dollar mansions and driving the most expensive of cars with the excuse that their wealth is God’s blessing, while those who are desperately trying to reach the masses with the gospel are crying out for the funds to do so!

Come on, church! Let’s get real. Our treasure is not on this earth. It is laid up for us in heaven.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:17, 18.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Each One For Himself

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EACH ONE FOR HIMSELF

“You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

“As it is written:

‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me: every tongue will acknowledge God.’

“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” Romans 14:10-12.

Who can answer that question? It’s like asking a little child who has just been caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar, “Why did you do it?” Of course he doesn’t know why. He wanted the cookie in spite of a warning! Like the silly answer my 44-year-old son sometimes gives me, “Because I can!”

The real reason why we judge a brother or sister, or treat them with contempt is that we can’t keep our hands “out of the cookie jar”. We don’t have the courage to own up to our own guilt, so we take it out on someone else. Underneath that is another problem. We are insecure. We are not fully convinced of who we are so we need to control someone else.

It all started in the Garden of Eden. Adam was caught red-handed. God instructed him not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or there would be consequences but, just like a little child, he didn’t believe his Father. He had to try it out for himself. When it all went wrong, just like a child, he blamed his wife and, to make matters worse, he blamed God for giving her to him! And she blamed the serpent and, unfortunately for the serpent, he had no-one else to blame!

We have an inbuilt capacity to dodge responsibility by pinning it on someone else. We might even acknowledge guilt but to be honest enough to admit, “I did it and I take full responsibility for my action,” is another story. But how does that fit in with judging someone else or treating him with contempt because he doesn’t believe or behave the way I do?

There is perhaps more than one reason why we do it. Pride sets us up above others and prompts us to think that we can set the standard for them.  We do this when we are so sure that we are right that we try to force others to believe as we do. Religion does this to the extreme, even killing people when force does not work. The Pharisees killed Jesus because they were convinced that they were right.

Underneath pride lies a more sinister reason for inflexibility – a sinful lifestyle that does not want to be exposed. The Pharisees hated Jesus because He read them like a book. In response, they both judged Him and treated Him with contempt – calling Him a glutton and a drunkard and even Beelzebub, and having Him executed as a blasphemer.

But why do believers sometimes resort to treating a brother or sister in that way? We may not be guilty of blatant sin, and yet we can’t keep our hands off our fellow-believers. I believe that it comes from insecurity – we need others in our camp to bolster us up because we are afraid to stand alone on our convictions. We need approval and, when we don’t get it, we turn on them.

We need to take our cue from Jesus. He was the Son of God and He knew it. At His baptism He had received His Father’s approval and He lived in that security through every experience of His earthly life. He had no need to prove Himself by gathering supporters around Him. He lived under His Father’s approval and left it to them to make up their own minds about Him by examining the evidence.

“But,” you may say, “God has never audibly told me that I am His son.” True, but it is written very clearly in His Word.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” 1 John 3:1.

If you are not convinced, what about this one? “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12.

Only when we are secure in the awareness of our Father’s approval can we allow others to follow their convictions without interference. God does not hold us responsible for what others believe and do, but we will give an account before Him for ourselves. Each of us will be judged according to the truth we have received.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

If You Believe

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IF YOU BELIEVE 

“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died…'” John 11:21 NIV.

“‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’ John 11:27 NIV.

How important these moments were with Martha before Jesus went to the tomb! He knew what He was doing. His delay and Lazarus’ death were part of a much bigger plan but…He needed to re-establish the bond of trust between Him and the sisters before He could give them their miracle.

“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” John 11:32 NIV

They were disillusioned and disappointed because He had failed them in their crisis. The first words they uttered when they saw Him revealed their heart attitude. Betrayal! He had betrayed their trust and they let Him know it.

He was straight with Martha. She was the practical one, the tough one, the vocal one, the one who took the lead. No words of rebuke in response! He made a simple, straightforward statement: ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha had a general appreciation of that fact but it did not ease the pain of losing her brother. Jesus knew that.

He took her on, one step at a time from acknowledging her belief in the resurrection to centring it on the one who stood before her. ‘I AM…’ Jesus assured her. Did she get the impact of that statement? No-one could claim to be I AM except the God who revealed His name to Moses in the desert. She answered Jesus’ challenge with an affirmation of her conviction that He was who He had revealed Himself to be…God’s Son and Messiah.

“…Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ He said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’

“Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that, if you believe you will see the glory of God?'” John 11:38-40 NIV.

No, the impact of Jesus’ statement had not yet hit Martha. She did not connect the I AM with the rotting corpse in the tomb. Jesus was about to show her just how real resurrection was. This was not the final resurrection when bodies long decayed and returned to dust would come out of the graves, refashioned into the likeness of His glorious body, yet to be revealed after He too, like Lazarus, had tasted death; but God’s power, nevertheless, was displayed in bringing a decomposing body back to flesh-and-blood life!

Martha’s embryo faith had not yet reached that level of trust but, from Jesus’ point of view it was faith enough, although it was as minute as a grain of mustard seed. There was a flutter of hope; the connection had been made and He could reverse the process of death and show the grieving sisters and all who were there to sympathise with them the mercy and compassion of God.

What lesson did the sisters learn from this painful experience? What can we take for ourselves from the story? Is it worth trusting God when He seems silent and unmoved by our plea for help? If He says nothing, does nothing, never give in to the devil’s lie, ‘God does not care.’ He is preparing for a much bigger miracle, one that will put His glory on display and leave no doubt of His love and His power.

“God will not answer your prayers until He had put all the structures in place to maintain that answer.” His only answer is, “Will you trust me?”