Our devotional passage today, turns us toward the practical implications of what Paul has been talking about so far. What does it mean for the church in Colossae to live as people who have been raised with Christ? It’s a question every generation of Christ followers have had to answer, and indeed one every generation should be answering as they discern what it looks like to follow Jesus.
Read Colossians 3.18-4.1
As Paul turns to the practical, he turns to the most basic structure in the 1st century Roman world, the household. In the 1st century, society was incredibly male-Roman-citizen driven. In other words, if you wanted to be anything, or achieve something in life, it was almost impossible to do so unless you were a male, citizen of the Roman empire. Women, children, and slaves were out of luck.
These rules for the household, or household codes in Paul’s letters, like here and in Ephesians 5-6 sometimes get Paul in trouble in today’s world. Often, people are upset about how Paul defines the roles of husbands and wives and the language of submission. Or how he talks about masters and slaves, but doesn’t call for slavery to be abolished.
What is shocking as Paul tackles the Roman household, is that he addresses more than just the male, more than just the parent, and more than just the masters. The fact that Paul gives them advice, or agency in how they relate in the household would have been unheard of.
You’ll notice the theme throughout this passage is that no matter the relationship Paul is talking about, whether between spouses, or parents and children, masters and slaves, no matter the relationship it is grounded in our relationship with Jesus our Lord.
For any Christian we live our lives in response to the Lordship of Jesus. It doesn’t matter if we are interacting with a spouse, a child, a parent, a coworker, a friend. Our relationships are shaped by our primary relationship with Jesus. Everything else is impacted by that relationship.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ we are serving. It is Jesus who we serve when we interact with the least of these as he describes in Matthew 25. Each interaction we have is filtered through our relationship with Jesus.
What are the practical relationships Paul would write to you about? Family? Co-workers? Friends? Church community? Random people at the store?
In what relationships do you need reminded of the presence of Jesus as you interact with people? Where is God inviting you to more grace and truth, more love and service, as you interact with His dearly loved children?
Here are our hymn lyrics for the day from “Come down, O Love divine”
“Come down, O Love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing.
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming.
And let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me ‘round, the while my path illuming.
Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become mine inner clothing;
true lowliness of heart
which takes the humbler part,
and o’er its own shortcomings weep with loathing.
And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the pow’r of human telling;
for none can guess its grace,
till love creates a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
Grace and Peace to you, Amen