Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien
July 24, 2022
INTRO (SLIDE 1)
We’ve been working our way through Paul’s Prayers in the New Testament, and this has been a wonderful opportunity to elevate the importance of prayer, to see God’s character and attributes described through prayer, and to observe Paul’s priorities in prayer.
To introduce our theme today, I want to teach you a term that Christians have used for almost 2,000 years to describe the big picture of God’s work in the world. This term is called “missio Dei.” (SLIDE 2a) It is a Latin phrase that means “mission of God.”
This word “mission” is really the word “sent.” God is a missionary God. He sent Abraham to a new land to form a new people, he sent Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, he sent prophets and messengers to call Israel to repentance, and he ultimately sent his Son Jesus to achieve his redemptive purposes in history. And now the church is sent in the power of the Holy Spirit to advance God’s mission of redemption through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus said to his disciples in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
ILLUST — This kind of missionary theology of the church has had a renaissance in the last few generations. It all began in 1962 when a groundbreaking book was published by a Dutch missionary leader named Johannes Blauw. This book was called The Missionary Nature of the Church. What Blauw wrote crystallized a biblical vision for how to define the church in the big picture. This is what he said: (SLIDE 2b) The church is “the people of God called out of the world, placed in the world, and sent to the world.”
In other words, the church is God’s primary instrument to bear witness to the gospel and to be a foretaste of the kingdom of God in how we live together as a community.
This is what we mean when we talk about disciple making. We are a new people who are born again and have crossed over from death to life as new creations and we experience transformation as disciples. Now we part of a new family and citizens of a different kingdom who are sent to be ambassadors for Christ within every sphere of influence God has placed us.
This is a tall order! To join in the missio Dei as a church family is not something that is dependent on our own skill, or our human tactics and strategies, or on our own wisdom or strength. You see, because we participate in the “mission of God,” the work of disciple making is fundamentally about God’s own power, wisdom, and plan!
And so, this is what we are going to talk about this morning: (SLIDE 2c) the mission of the church requires us to pray. If we are going to surrender to God’s work in our own lives, and if we are going to participate in God’s work in the world, then we need to pray because it is an expression of our humble dependence and an acknowledgment of our need for God to do the work only he can do through us.
This is really an expression of faith. The reformer John Calvin once wrote that “prayer is the chief exercise of faith.”
In other words, prayer is the proving grounds for whether your trust in God is real. Without prayer, it’s like we are living as though God isn’t real or doesn’t exist. An author I read recently put it this way: “Prayerlessness is practical atheism.”
Wow. Friends, we have the distinct privilege of approaching the throne of God directly because Jesus made a way to enter the presence of God. He taught us how to pray. He invites us to pray as the chief exercise of our faith as we join in his mission to spread the gospel and make disciples.
So, this morning we are going to look at how the Apostle Paul encourages us to pray with a missionary mindset. Open with me to Colossians 4:2-6. (SLIDE 2d)
If you were with us last week, we looked at Colossians 1 and we learned that Paul was writing this letter to combat false teaching in the church in the ancient Greek city of Colossae. Our passage this morning comes right on the heels of Paul explaining the kind of gospel transformation that happens within you and in the various relationships within the church. Now he turns his attention to evangelism and outreach to non-believers.
ORG SENT — As we read this short passage, we are going to see Paul call us to two things: Evangelistic Prayer (vv. 2-4) and to Evangelistic Relationships (vv. 5-6).
Let’s read our passage. READ Colossians 4:2-6.
MAIN 1 — Evangelistic Prayer (vv. 2-4). (SLIDE 3a)
Paul begins with a general call to prayer in verse 2. And there are three key words here that describe the characteristics of evangelistic prayer (SLIDE 3b) that Paul would like these believers to practice:
Persistent Prayer (SLIDE 3c) — The root of the word “devote” (NIV) or “steadfastly” (ESV) is the word for “strength.” So Paul’s emphasis here is that these early Christians would resolutely persevere in prayer. He wants them to strengthen their commitment to prayer, to persist especially when times get tough.
Watchful Prayer (SLIDE 3d) — The concept of being “watchful” is a military word. Just like in Ezekiel 3 and 33, a watchman would sit on the top of the city wall and vigilantly peer out into the night to keep an eye out for the enemy. In order to do this, you need to stay awake! Watchfulness is all about enduring, opening your eyes to things around you, and being vigilant to continuing praying for people who don’t know Jesus.
Thankful Prayer (SLIDE 3e) — The last characteristic of prayer is thankfulness, which is fascinating considering Paul’s situation. He wants these believers to have gratitude in every situation, as no doubt he was thankful when he prayed. But Paul was not in a good circumstance at this time!
You see, verses 3-4 are a personal plea for prayer that springs out of this general call to prayer. And what I love about these verses is that they give us an example of what an evangelistic or missionary prayer looks like. So, let me take Paul’s request here and summarize his way of thinking about evangelistic prayer. (SLIDE 4a) Let me make three observations:
God can use any circumstance (SLIDE 4b) — Did you notice the context within which Paul asks for prayer? He is in chains! Paul had an exceptional opportunity to share the gospel at the heart of the Roman Empire as he went to stand before Caesar! But the manner in which he went to this lofty place of witness was as a prisoner!
But it is exactly these kind of circumstances that God uses to teach us to pray with desperation for him to act!
KEY — (SLIDE 4c) God will use desperate situations to teach you desperate prayer.
So, your opportunities for the gospel may be lofty or commonplace, or you may be in a position of influence or persecution; God can use every situation to advance his missio Dei through you!
God must open the opportunity (SLIDE 4d) — In our world, just as in Paul’s day, there are walls to the gospel everywhere. We need a door to be opened. Who is supposed to do that? What does the text say? Look at verse 3. GOD is the door opener! He cuts holes in the walls in this world that are erected against the gospel, he opens a doorway and creates opportunities for his people to spread the good news about Jesus Christ!
KEY — (SLIDE 4e) The work of evangelism is a WORK OF GOD!
God will help you proclaim it clearly (SLIDE 4f) — Paul trusted that the door would be opened to share the gospel. And when it opened, he wanted his words to be clear.
We know that Paul admitted that he wasn’t the most elegant speaker. Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul says this, “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
This is Paul’s heart: That his words would be simple and clear, straight to the point about Christ crucified, and persuasive only because they are spoken through a demonstration of the Spirit’s power!
This is what Stephen did, the first martyr in the church, in Acts 6 when he faced opposition from the Jewish religious leaders. The text says that “they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
KEY — (SLIDE 4g) We need God to give us the words to say.
These three priorities give us a framework for evangelistic prayer. This is how a missionary thinks! God can use any circumstance, he will open the opportunities, and he will help me know what to say.
Now, Paul shifts gear to move from evangelistic prayer to describing how we are to speak and act in evangelistic relationships.
MAIN 2 — Evangelistic Relationships (vv. 5-6). (SLIDE 5a)
Background: It was likely that there were slanderous rumors circulating about these early Christians that were literally a threat to their safety and to the message of the gospel. So Paul encourages them to be careful with their actions and words so as not to give the lies credibility.
APPLY — The same applies today. There has been a concerted effort in our culture to discredit the Christian faith.
In a large sense, our culture has experienced “secularization” where faith has been privatized. Religious beliefs are tolerated as long as they remain private and do not enter the public square. Once beliefs are privatized, they are easily dismissed as personal preference or irrelevant myths.
In a personal sense, many people in our culture view Christians as narrow-minded, or self-righteous Pharisees, or politically-motivated hypocrites, or compassionless materialists. These are the most popular caricatures, and can be true more often than we’d like to admit!
IMPORTANT — Paul’s prayer emphasis is critical for us today. He desires that we take advantage of every opportunity to display a wise, redemptive, and Christ-like way of living and speaking, so that we proclaim the gospel in word and deed.
(SLIDE 5b) You see, he gives two appeals for how Christians relate to non-believers:
FIRST (v. 5) — (SLIDE 5c) Act wisely toward non-believers by making the most out of every opportunity.
The word “make the most of” is a marketplace word. It literally refers to “buying out” or “purchasing completely.” (SLIDE 5d) In the Bible, this word refers to Jesus’ work to redeem us, or to purchase us.
In other words, we need to look at every opportunity with a redemptive eye. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, to follow in his steps. Every relationship, every task, every activity, every resource, every job, every tantrum, every success, and every new day is an opportunity that can be redeemed for the glory of God, to represent Christ, and to display the gospel.
APPLY — I love the concept of being an “ambassador.” We belong to a different sovereign kingdom, and we bring the representative presence and delegated authority of our King Jesus to bear in every situation in this world!
This is really at the heart of our disciple making vision at New Life. We want to be a church that makes disciples, not only with an inward focus on ourselves (as important as that is!), but with a sense that we are on mission together to reach our surrounding community for Christ.
So, this first appeal for how we relate to non-believers is all about our perspective on the time, relationships, and opportunities that are before us every day.
SECOND (v. 6) — (SLIDE 5e) Speak with grace, seasoned with salt, so that we will now how to answer everyone.
The word “grace” emphasizes a “winsomeness” and “favor” with people (SLIDE 5f). We need to embody a grace-filled manner of speaking to others, with genuine concern for them, and with the margin and time to spend with them as a gift.
The phrase “seasoned with salt” is fascinating. It simply means “adding flavor.” But remember, Paul is writing to a Greek city where rhetoric and public debate were central to their culture. In public speaking exhibitions, it was common that salty words were understood as “witty” and “creative.” (SLIDE 5g)
This is literally the metaphor Paul is using, that the believers in Colossae would speak in evangelistic conversations with wit, and with flavor, and in ways that made their words dance on the tongue!
ILLUST — Missionaries and martyrs throughout history have spoken words with a lot of flavor!
Justin Martyr said while being persecuted in Rome in 165 AD — “You can kill us, but you cannot harm us.”
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand who was imprisoned and tortured by Communist soldiers for fourteen years in Romania following WWII said — “I learned from the communist guards that they allowed no place for Jesus in their hearts, so I decided I would not leave the smallest place for Satan in mine.”
Elizabeth Elliot, whose husband Jim was killed while trying to reach a remote tribal group in Ecuador in 1956, later wrote, “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.”
Or maybe we can learn from Charles Spurgeon who once said in a sermon, “By perseverance even the snail reached the ark before the flood!”
APPLY — Now, not all of us feel comfortable or have the skill to be witty or creative or novel with our words, but Paul is making an important point here: It matters how we talk about the gospel.
ASK: What does it say about us if our witness to the gospel is dull and passionless?
That makes no sense! This is the gospel we are talking about! This is the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus we are talking about! This is the defeat of sin and death and evil, the reality of the resurrection, and the promise of a coming new heavens and new earth!
If we’re going to share the gospel with others, let’s spice it up! Let’s get excited about it! Let’s show that we actually believe it, and that it really is our only hope!
APPLY
(SLIDE 6, blank) You see, I really want our church to view our disciple making vision through the big picture of the missio Dei — that we are a local expression of God’s work to bring the gospel to bear in transforming our lives and transforming this community.
All the efforts of evangelism, preaching the gospel, spiritual formation, of on-going spiritual growth through Training Classes, Growth Groups, Kids Ministry, Student Ministry, our support of local and global missions, and all the other new and creative learning-by-doing things we want to develop…all of this is our obedience to the Great Commission to make disciples. This is the mission of the church throughout history and across the globe.
And as our passage reminds us, (SLIDE 7a) the mission of the church requires us to pray. We need to pray with a missionary mindset, realizing God can use any circumstance, he will open opportunities, and he will give us everything we need to achieve the mission he has called us to.
So, here’s what I want to do this morning: I want us to practice praying for the mission of God here in our church, across our nation, and around the global.
I’d like you to get into small groups of 5 or 6 people. (SLIDE 7b) Following Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, I’d like you to pick 3 people in your group to pray, one for the spread of the gospel locally (especially our church), one for the spread of the gospel nationally, and one for the spread of the gospel globally.
We’ll pray for about 5 minutes and then I’ll wrap it up with a closing prayer before we sing. Go ahead and get into groups and pray.