We opened the service with a hymn sing, so I knew we were going to be pushed for time. I tried to keep the sermon short and to the point. Not sure I achieved either!
“Praying for You” July 28, 2019; SAPC, Denton; Colossians 1:1-8; 1: 9-14 Richard B. Culp
Moving on to Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. Argument as to whether it was actually written by Paul or not. If written by Paul, it was probably written while he was imprisoned in Rome, or some argue imprisoned in Ephesus (See Anatomy of the New Testament: A Guide to Its Structure and Meaning, by Dr. Robert A. Spivey and D. Moody Smith, 347; or google author of Colossians to see current discussion).
Whether Paul wrote the letter or not, it comes to us as God’s Word. Listen, as we hear God’s word.
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 the knowledge of God’s[d] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 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 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled[e] you[f] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
introduction: Once again, Paul is writing a letter (he attributes the letter to Timothy as well) to people trying to figure out how to be the church.
Paul finds himself arguing against others who suggest that Christians must do more
Paul will argue that what Christ has done is enough. Some scholars argue that this letter to the Colossians is the best summary in the NT of who Christ is.
Before getting to his argument, Paul has an elongated introduction in which he tries to establish his credibility.
Why should the Colossians trust him?
He prays for them.
Move 1: Paul commits to prayer.
a. HIs commitment to prayer reflects his real concern for them
1. Easy enough to see the faults in others.
2. Does not take much to point out flaws or offer critiques.
3. Most of us probably do not feel the need to add one more person to the list of those who feel they have the right, the need to correct us.
4. Paul wants the Colossians to listen to him, to pay attention to what he tells them - not because he is a brilliant theologian; not because he is correct in his analysis; not because he is a leader in the early church.
5. No, Paul wants them to know that they should pay attention to him because he prays for them.
b. Listen to what he prays.
1. He gives thanks to God for them.
2. He prays that they may be filled with the knowledge of God and be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding.
3. he prays for them to lead worthy live and bear fruit.
4. he prays for them to have patience.
5. he prays that they may joyfully give thanks to God.
c. Notice what Paul does not pray for them.
1. he does not pray that they be changed to see the truth of what Paul is telling them.
2. He does not that they have everything work out perfectly in their lives.
3. He does not pray that they encounter difficulties and challenges unless they follow what he tells them.
4. He just prays a prayer of thanksgiving for them and lifts them up to the power of God to be at work in their lives.
d. And he prays every day for them.
Move 2: Power of prayer?
a. Prayer works is a lot of different ways.
1. Prayer is suggestive to the person for whom someone is praying.
2. paul is a good communicator.
3. He understands how his prayers have power when he tells the Colossians that he prays for them and what he prays.
4. Helps them to consider the possibilities for how God might be at work in their lives.
5. Internship - woman came into my office. She said she was going to pray for me every day. She also gave me an index card with her prayer. She did not know me well enough to make the prayer very personal, but she knew I was trying to learn to be a minister and she knew she wanted God to teach me and use me.
6. I still have that index card in my desk drawer.
b. Prayer also changes the person praying.
1. When Paul prays every day for the Colossians, it seems to me those prayers change Paul as well.
2. As he prays for the Colossians, it helps him imagine what God might be doing in their lives and opens him up to see them in a new light.
3. As you have heard in previous sermons this summer, as I have been reading Paul’s letters this summer, I have been reflecting on how Paul might speak to the divisiveness we see in our world.
3. Not realistic, I suppose, but I wonder what people might say about each other if they had to pray for one another for a month before they could speak about the person publicly.
4. No FB posts, no tweets, no public announcements until you have prayed for the other person for thirty days.
c. Prayer opens us up to the possibilities for what God might be doing.
1. The act of prayer changes us and the people for whom we pray, but pray also invites God to act and opens us up to the possibilities of what God might do.
2. Paul will spend the rest of this letter discussing how God has acted in Christ so that we do not have to do other things to earn what Christ has given us.
3. Paul is praying for the Colossians because he wants them to be changed by this gift from God.
Conclusion: The Spirituality of Imperfection (42): a Greek monk has been in a monastery for 38 years and bitterly tells another monk that in 38 years he has not been able to learn to pray a “pure prayer.” The colleague notes that this is sad, to which another replies that “it is a sad story that after 38 years of prayer the monk is still interested in pure prayer.”
I do not know if Paul prayed a pure prayer. I just know he prayed for others.
Go and do the same.
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