The Secret Boss

Series on Colossians

II The Man in Christ

B Conduct

3 Function

Text: 3:22-4:1

Introduction

Living in the southern United States after many years in the north we have become better acquainted with the bitterness that characterized the war between the states in the nineteenth century. Since Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the issue of slavery has been outwardly settled, but the history of that period following the war, the Reconstruction, was exceedingly turbulent. Congress rejected the Reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson, and enacted laws empowering the federal government to enforce the principle of equal rights, giving former slaves the right to vote and hold office. Their was violent opposition and when Reconstruction came to an end, white supremacy was restored throughout the South, and remained so for about a hundred years. Even today in backwater places the emotions run high and prejudice still exists. In the Roman Empire, by contrast, slavery was accepted as a social reality. Moses gave compassionate instructions with regard to slavery in his law code. The New Testament does not change that. Neither Jesus or Paul condemns the practice but use it as a teaching tool employing it as a motif for spiritual instruction, by likening the believer, one who belongs to Christ and serves Him, to a slave. In one of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 18:25 he says, But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. One third of the people living in the Roman empire were slaves. Slaves comprised a significant part of Christian congregations in the first century. Paul mentions the institution in I Corinthians, I Timothy, Galatians, and gives more extensive instructions in Ephesians, Philemon and Colossians. We should not equate slavery in the Roman empire with slavery in the antebellum United States, but we are certainly happy that the possession of other human beings has been outlawed in our land. The bottom line of the New Testament is that in Christ there is neither slave nor free. In the Church of Christ all are equal. So how does this Scripture apply to us and how may we use it? In our day, this relationship can largely be compared to that of employer and employee whether in the home, or the office, or industry. Slaves, and workers or employees and masters as well are to obey pervasively, passionately, and profitably.

I Pervasive Obedience

Paul commences in verse 22 with an exhortation that immediately reminds us that the Lord is watching and judging our motives and actions, Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Furthermore it is characteristic of all the exhortations in this section of the letter that their are no exceptions to the rule. In everything the Lord is watching. He is watching at what is said and done in secret even though nobody else can see it. In the workplace it is a common thing for employees goofing off to check and see if the boss is coming. If the boss is away it’s a holiday. It is also rather common for employees to obey simply “to catch the eye” of their master for selfish purposes such as advancement in status or pay. We have a lot of jokes about slacking employees and the poet Robert Frost wrote, “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get to the office.” Paul’s counsel is simple: obey all the rules as if God was watching, because He is. When the Apostles says everything he means everything lawful including matters unpleasant and disagreeable. No subordinate is expected to do that which is unlawful and contrary to the will of God for a superior. If a master or a boss ass for sexual favors the inferior should say no and disobey. When they do obey they should do it with “singleness” of heart according to our translation, literally with an undivided heart and with sincerity, not grudgingly or of necessity. This kind of obedience is rare at work, at home, or in the church, but it is what pleases God, and nothing short of it will.

II Passionate Obedience

The obedience of servants is to b e not only extensive, but intensive. The Apostle writes in verses 23 and 24, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. The life of a slave consisted in almost nothing but work. Sometimes you may think that about your job too. Jiminy Cricket’s advice in Pinocchio was “Whistle while you work.” Poor advice for a slave, but Jesus promises an inheritance. Alexander Maclaren wrote, “The juxtaposition of the two ideas of the slave and the inheritance evidently hints at the unspoken thought, that they are heirs because they are sons—a thought which might well lift up bowed backs and brighten dull faces.” I have visited a southern plantation and seen the gloom and squalor of the hovels in which the slaves lived. The circumstances of Roman slaves were much better, but the bitterness of slavery was the same. Essentially they had nothing and now the slaves in the Christian congregations are being told that they have wealth beyond measure awaiting them. I Peter 1:3-5 describes it, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. This is the reward not only for slaves, but for submissive wives, obedient children, faithful loving fathers, and citizens and workers who obey the rules. It only makes sense that you would strive to please the one who is in the position to reward your behavior. If we labour for man’s appreciation or gratitude, we shall certainly receive a man’s reward which is a poor substitute for the the munificence of our inheritance in Christ. This inheritance will make us more ashamed of our unworthy service than anything else could do. Christ remains in no man’s debt as we read in Isaiah 65:10, And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

III Profitable Obedience

There is a recompense as we read in verses 3:25 and 4:1, Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism… Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. Even as masters are commanded to be fair and just, so must slaves, servants, and employees be just. Much evil has been done in the name of oppressed people as if it were justified by their suffering. Maclaren writes, “Herein lies the condemnation of all the crimes which enslaved nations and classes have done, of many a deed which has been honored and sung, of the sanguinary cruelties of servile revolts, as well as of the questionable means to which labour often resorts in modern industrial warfare. The homely, plain principle, that a man does not receive the right to break God’s laws because he is ill-treated, would clear away much fog from some people’s notions of how to advance the cause of the oppressed.” Perhaps we need to be reminded that slaves received no wages. We have developed the pattern of asserting that those who are underpaid are ”slave labor.” That is an oxymoron. If you are a slave, you are not paid at all. God is for fair and just wages, but he is against doing harm in order to extort them. He is also against those who misuse resources and neglect human need. Abuses do exist and continue to proliferate and those that are guilty will have to answer for it. On the other hand what would God think of people on welfare going on strike and rioting as they have done? Because there is no favoritism with God in the end not only will those who do wrong be repaid for those wrongs, but those who do right will be paid for doing right. There is an interesting parable of Jesus that all masters and employees should ponder in Matthew 20:1-16, For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, `You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, `Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, `Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, `You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, `These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. If everyone had this attitude, we wouldn’t have riots and rebellions or sweat shops.