INTRODUCTION: THE SUBTLE DISAPPEARING OF THE WORD MASTER
If you look through real estate listings these days, you’ll notice that many real estate firms refer to the home’s largest bedroom in a variety of ways. It might be the primary bedroom, bedroom #1, or perhaps the owners’ retreat. These terms are replacing the once accepted description of master bedroom. The phrase has been renounced by a number of U.S. real estate associations. Hmmm.
Word Master is slowly being dropped as well in some university settings. Harvard housemasters – faculty who live in dorms and advise students – voted unanimously to change their title, in response to student complaints and their own discomfort with the term.
Think about it for a moment though, the word still is used as a positive title: It’s an achievement to obtain a master’s degree, and rewarding to master a new skill; we admire old master paintings or the way a maestro (Italian for master) conducts an orchestra. Maybe those will be under scrutiny as well someday.
Master comes from the Latin adverb magis (meaning more). It first appeared in English over a thousand years ago, referring to people who had authority over others: whether as rulers, employers, teachers, or fathers. Maybe the rub here is that people struggle with an authority over others or over something.
Is it any wonder than that people would be put off by Colossians 4:1. Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven. Who is YOU TOO?
THE WORD MASTER IS EQUIVALENT TO THE WORD LORD
Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth.
Maybe Peter T. Forsythe has it right when he wrote,
The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.
WHAT MASTER SHAPES OUR MINDSET? Colossians 4:2-6
- NO POWER, PURPOSE, OR POINT WITHOUT PRAYER, COL 4:2-4
- THE POSTURE, POSITION OF PRAYER
Whatever posture and/or position of prayer, the idea is to create a hallowing of God’s name at the outset. Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Ten words that immediately create perspective, attitude and approach. These words provide a strategic, intentional focus spiritually on a day to day basis. They prevent us from going to the left or right, they prevent us from succumbing to a lesser, inferior master.
- THE DISCIPLINE (D E V O T I O N) OF PRAYER : proskartereó (Greek word meaning intense effort, persist even with the implication that there could be in- tense difficulty.
Author and lecturer John Erskine (1879–1951) declared that he learned the most valuable lesson of his life when he was 14 years old. His piano teacher asked him how much he practiced. He replied that he usually sat at the instrument for an hour or more at a time.
His teacher warned, Don’t do that! When you grow up, time won’t come to you in long stretches like that. Practice in minutes wherever you can find them—5 or 10 before school, a few after lunch. Sandwich them in between chores. Spread the practice throughout the day, and music will become a part of your life. Perhaps as well prayer can become a large part of our life.
The Chunks of our lives are somewhat taken up. Maybe the trick is being better stewards of our minutes, the gaps of our lives. Maybe that’s where prayer fills the gaps. It’s estimated the average person now takes over more than 2,600 swipes, taps and/or touches on their phone in a day. We’re fighting for the gaps.
- A.W. Tozer wrote, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move to- ward our mental image of God. In other words, our personalities will inevitably conform to our gods. Having God as your Master will determine and direct your life’s purpose and create a healthy accountability. vs 3,4 indicate on piece.
- ALERT WITH AN ATTITUDE OF THANKSGIVING = OPEN A DOOR. The world will fill the gaps if we don’t. Alertness to see the door open and then the awareness to walk through it. PRAYER SHOULD CREATE ACTION
- SALT AND LIGHT = CONDUCT AND SPEECH, COL 4:5,6
- The gospel partners with our relational threads with people, the world. How will they know unless someone tells them, shows them. Sometimes we don’t realize the importance of the gaps, the moments where doors open and influence makes its imprint. There are always two conflicting influences: the stuff of earth and the things of heaven.
Whenever we occupy space with other humans beings, we are literally bringing contrast to those moments. Just occupying the space is not enough because the world will speak and the world will act. It’s not enough to be salt and light, they have to sprinkled and shone.
- WORD RESPOND: You will know. Most of the time, I don’t. Vs 6 won’t happen without the reality of vs 1,2. Christianity is the understanding of the right princi- ples that can produce right outcomes. MASTER PRAYER = GREATEST IMPACT
OUR SPIRITUAL ANCESTRY, Colossians 4:7-17
- ANCESTRY.COM SHARES THIS
There’s no better way to find generations of your family and their stories. I wonder if the Bible’s the best way?
- Ever wonder about your, my connection to the names/people of scripture? Our spiritual ancestry?
NAMES: Tychicus, Onesimus (Philemon), Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus/Justus, Epaphras, Luke, Demas, Nympha, Archippus. We don’t know any of these people. So why are they important. Think about a biblical example and our inability or unwillingness to pause with passages regarding lists.
Book of Nehemah, he takes on the rebuilding of the ruined wall. In the account we’re able to witness his tireless, heroic work as a contingency seeks to kill him. Nehemiah fights through it all and he completes the task, the wall is rebuilt. Nehemiah records the return of exiled Jews back to their beloved city Jerusalem. There follows a huge celebration filled with worship and praise to God. Seems like this would be a great place for the book to end. But it doesn’t. For most of us we treat the rest of the book like the credits to a movie.
There awaits us another long list of names to glance at and gloss over. But here’s the thing. That tireless, heroic work Nehemiah did for the glory of God. These are the names of the people impacted by Nehemiah’s work, whose lives were changed by the risks, faith, sacrifices he made for the people to be restored.
Maybe, just maybe through our risks, faith and sacrifices, we can create a similar list in our season of life, the here and now of faith. Names, lives changed of real people that were able to celebrate a life with God.
TAKE NEHEMIAH OUT OF THE PICTURE: YOU TAKE, PRAYER, ACTION OUT OF THE STORY YOU DON’T HAVE A STORY. NO STORY, NO NAMES.
THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF FAITH AND THEIR STORIES
- PLACES: Laodicea, Hierapolis (Colossae) Modern day Turkey (SHOW PICTURE)
These places are the torch bearers of the Church. They saw the supremacy of Christ, they embraced His message and ministry. They became salt and light. The essence of their lives became grace and peace. They were the body of Christ then as hopefully we are now.
- OUR TIME, OUR SEASON
Our prayers, Our actions.
All the people around us, all the cities and towns around us.
Each of us, we’re creating stories this time in our history.
What lists are being made because of our prayers and actions, what stories are we cre- ating.
Are we adding to the list of the names written in the book of life?
Are we influencing cities and towns as salt and light.
C O N C L U S I O N
V S 1 8 , P A U L ‘ S H A N D
- I, PAUL, WRITE WITH MY OWN HAND
An authentication of the value of this letter. It’s an exclamation point. Do our lives leave more exclamation points or more question marks?
The full circle of grace and peace. These two pieces again that create brotherhood. They are the essence of our heart for other people; SALVATION and the PEACE that results from arriving in your journey upon the earth into a relationship with Christ.
- GRACE BE WITH YOU. . .
I wasn’t a great athlete, but I had the ability, aptitude to participate in some good mo- ments. I played for a coach that brought life lessons to athletics. Over the door of our locker room was the phrase, It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. You’d slap the sign on the way out.
This coach added a broad brush stroke over that phrase, LEAVE NO DOUBT. Leave no doubt with your defense; harass them, hound them, make it miserable for them to move, have the ball, shoot, pass. Create doubt in the ability. Leave not doubt about our ability to be in shape, about our desire to win. Don’t ever back down, don’t ever give up or give in. Play every moment of every game.
We didn’t win every game, but we did win. We did have fun. Only time in my athletic career where our team walked into a gym and the opposing team would have that look, Oh no, there they are again. LEAVE NO DOUBT.
AS WE END COLOSSIANS, PERHAPS PAUL WOULD HAVE US GATHER AROUND AND SHARE WITH US, LEAVE NO DOUBT.
Leave no doubt about who Christ is. Leave no doubt about you’re the kind of people who really love people. Leave no doubt about what the fact that we teach, preach and live truth. Leave no doubt about what serving others looks like. Leave no doubt about what it means to remain faithful. Leave no doubt about worship, and praise and joy and hope. Leave no doubt about grace and peace.
LEAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT HOW YOUR MASTER IS. Leave no doubt that when you die, the Master knows you are His.
I’D SAY WHO YOUR MASTER IS, IS PRETTY IMPORTANT.
A young man once studied violin under a world-renowned master. Eventually the time came for the student’s first recital. Following each selection, despite the cheers of the crowd, the performer seemed dissatisfied.
Even after the last number, with the shouts louder than ever, the talented violinist stood watching an old man in the balcony. Finally the elderly one smiled, stood and nodded in approval. Immediately the young man relaxed and beamed with joy.
You see, the man in the balcony was his teacher, and thus the applause of the crowd had meant nothing to him until he had first won the hearty approval of his master.