The Glory That Is Too Wonderful For Words Alone
Colossians reveals the Glory of God in Christ Jesus. This glory is so all encompassing, so sublime, so overwhelming, that it breaks forth from the text and by the Spirit of God, reveals Jesus, the Hope of Glory, in the midst of His people. In other words, we don’t leave the muck and struggle of human existence to encounter God’s glory, His glory encounters us “in the midst” of our struggles, our sufferings, our earthly lives.

Writing from his prison cell to a people in a small, nowhere town, Paul proclaims the absolute Lordship of King Jesus over Colassae, the Roman empire, and the entire cosmos. Beholding King Jesus does not require mystical vision. Rather, a vision of His rule and power is unveiled whenever the gospel is proclaimed. The “word of truth” goes forth in the power of the Holy Spirit and produces the fruit of hope, faith and love.

In the mystery of God’s love, His people are “caught up” into the communion of love between Father, Son and Spirit.

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Paul uses a common convention when introducing his letter, and yet he infuses it with Trinitarian meaning. His initial greeting can be viewed in four distinct clauses:

1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
2. and Timothy our brother
3. To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae
4. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

The letter with a greeting that is from Paul (who is speaking and through Christ) to the community in Christ at Colossae. This communication is part of the flow of the Triune life of the Father, Son and Spirit. Paul is speaking by the will of the Father in Christ through the power of the Spirit to the a people who are in Christ by the power of the Spirit according to the will of the Father. When the body functions, it is functioning in and through Christ by the Spirit according to the will of the Father. We as the people of God, participate in the life of God when we gather, communicate, and share the gifts of the Spirit. We are living, breathing, and acting in Christ, by the Spirit and according the will and purposes of the Father.

1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
Paul begins most of his letters by acknowledging that he is an “apostle.” He is addressing the people from a position of authority. Yet this authority does not reside in Paul, but resides in Christ Jesus.

It might be helpful to see a little background on the term apostle. Paul appears to combine a Hebrew word and a Greek word in his use of the word “apostle.”

The Greek word “apostolos” can mean messenger, sent one or ambassador. Its ancient origins appear to have referred to sending out a fleet on a military expedition. Over time, the meaning became applied more generally to a variety of naval enterprises. Eventually the word extends beyond fighting to exploring and colonizing.

The Hebrew word “saliah” also means messenger. It indicates the legal authority a messenger carries on behalf of a person or a community. Paul brings this idea of “legal authority to deliver a message” into the idea of being “sent on a colonizing expedition.”

His authority comes from the Triune community (by the will of the Father, in the Son, and through the power of the Spirit). But Paul first receives his outward commission from the church at Antioch. In Acts chapter 11, we read that the church at Jerusalem hears about the believers in Antioch and “sends out” Barnabas to investigate. Barnabas confirms the work and calls upon Saul (Paul) in Tarsus, asking him to join them.

Barnabas and Paul serve the community in Antioch for a year. Then the prophet Agabus informs the congregation that a famine is coming to Judea. The church at Antioch sends out Paul and Barnabas to raise money for the brothers and sisters at Judea from the other emerging congregations. This “sending out” becomes Paul’s first missionary journey.

He sent out from a body of people on a specific assignment. Much like the Hebrew messenger. Yet, His calling to be an apostle of Christ Jesus has come from the Father. Even as Paul is sent out from the human community, he is sent out from the Triune community.

As he proclaims the “gospel,” the “good news” of King Jesus and his universal rule, Paul establishes colonies of heaven whom he refers to as ekklesia or “called out community.” We call these colonies, the “church.”

Paul, the “apostle” writes as a man on mission. As an authorized representative of the Triune community, he is launching missions into the enemy country while he is imprisoned in enemy territory.

Here is a picture of God’s ironic kingdom. Paul the prisoner writes under the authority of a Palestinian Jew who died at the hands of the Roman Empire from some trivial incident. He is writing to some small, has-been town. And he is writing as one who is in the midst of setting up a colony of King Jesus in the midst of this crumbling kingdom (Roman Empire).

As it turns out, the kingdom did crumble and fade. And colonies of King Jesus continue spreading from town to town and nation to nation.

And Timothy our brother
Paul writes in relationship. Just imagine Paul and Timothy discussing the churches together, praying for the churches and even weeping over the struggles of the churches. In the midst, they may talk about insights or guidance from the Spirit and decide to write down these ideas. This makes the whole engagement from a relationship (Father, Son, Spirit) through a relationship (Paul and Timothy) to a relationship (the Colossian community).

3. To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae
Paul writes to a particular community of brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Colossae. Compared with Rome or Corinth or even Ephesus, Colossae seems like a strange place for Paul to write. He didn’t actually plant the church, and the small town seems insignificant beside its neighbors Laodicea and Hierapolis. JB Lightfoot writes, “Without doubt Colossæ was the least important church to which any epistle of St Paul is addressed.”

Yet, this letter speaks out from that one small town to people across many towns and places throughout history. In this short address, we see a pattern of particularity and universality. When God the Son enters history, He enters at a specific place and time. He is born into a family of the house of David. The man Jesus of Nazareth is and always will be a Jew. Yet He is fully God. Living and acting and interceding on behalf of all races and classes men and women.

God acts in the particular. He acts in the small. The mundane. And often the obscure. Yet these actions ripple outward impacting all things. The life and challenges of a few Christians in a little city on the far side of the Roman empire had and has cosmic significance. In Christ, we begin to discover that every little details matters. Matter matters.

And specifically related to people. We matter. Our little communities. Our little families. Our squabbles and love feasts all matter. Christ dwells in the midst of His people by His Spirit. He works in the midst of our small communities and His great transformative work continues to ripple out, impacting all the world.

Paul writes to the saints and the faithful. Why the distinction? The saints is a Jewish references, focused on the Israel as the “holy ones” or the people set apart as a priestly nation. Paul uses this reference for the brothers and sisters in Christ (Jew and Gentile). He is including the Gentiles in the people of God, those set apart to reveal the kingdom of God.

At the same time, he is reminding, exhorting them to hold stedfast. What are they holding to? A set of morals? A set of beliefs? Based on the exhortations in this letter, I might suggest that they are being exhorted to rest in Christ alone. Hold stedfast to the simplicity of the gospel. Abide in Christ. Love one another.

Don’t be misled by promises of greater power and significance that go beyond the simple rest of the work of Christ Jesus. The temptation in Galatians, Corinthians and other places is to add our own additional set of methods, assurances, observances that may be rooted in racial distinctions or cultic distinctions (calendar observances, etc). While these emphasis are not necessarily bad things, our identity is in Christ alone. The simplicity of that profound work of Grace in us can be clouded by our tendency toward turning good things, ideas and practices into idolatries that become the focal point of our trust for identity, salvation, etc. Hold fast to Christ and Christ alone!

4. Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Paul offers a blessing from the Father. But we must remember the grace is not some power outside of the person of Jesus Christ. And when Paul blesses Colossae with Grace and Peace, he is exhorting and blessing in and through Jesus by the power of the Spirit. The gift is an outpouring of God’s love in and through the community.

James Dunn reminds me that peace is a Jewish greeting. Speaking to the Gentile and Jewish community who trust in Jesus, Paul offers the traditional Jewish greeting of “shalom.” Yet again, Paul reinforces through speech the ingrafting of Gentiles into the chosen people of God through Christ Jesus. Shalom is a blessing of harmony, prosperity, inward and outward peace that points in some way to the eschaton, the true peace that will finally be realized in the unveiling of Jesus Christ to all the cosmos.

Even as we read these words, we can rejoice that in Christ Jesus we’ve been adopted into the family of God and look forward expectantly to the day when the fullness of Christ will be revealed in all and through all.

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