Preacher: Pastor Tim Redfield
Date: July 31, 2022
Text: Colossians 1:1-14
Theme: Worship Gives You the Strength You Need
I have noticed a trend during my ministry. It probably started before my first year as a pastor but I have noticed it more and more in the last few years. There are many more groups doing mission trips. Lakeside Lutheran High School has Operation Go. Luther Prep School has Project Timothy. Many churches have their own mission trips. I have even started looking into the possibility of a mission trip for our church. I have also heard some pastors say that they would rather take a group of teens on a mission trip than to the Youth Rally. It just made me ponder, is one better than the other? Is a Mission Trip better than a Youth Rally? Ultimately I would say that they both serve a purpose and they are both good. This text before us made me think of the specific purposes of a mission trip or a Youth Rally. Mission Trips and Youth Rallies seem more fun than our regular lives of faith but they mirror what we should be doing throughout our lives. We’ll come back to those ideas as we see that Worship Gives us the Strength we Need.
Part 1: You are not here to serve
As Paul begins this letter to the Colossians, you can clearly see the joy he has about this congregation. Beginning in verse 3, he has a long sentence about their faith. He says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you” (Colossians 1:3-6).
He is thankful for their faith and he can see their love springing forth. He praises them for the faith that the Holy Spirit has produced in them. Having just come back from the Youth Rally in Tennessee, I echo some of Paul’s thoughts. I am very thankful for the faith that I saw in all the people who attended the Rally and especially in the teenagers. It is a great joy to see their Christian love being displayed in many ways. I pray for all of them that God continue to bless them and keep them strong in their faith.
Because of all the details that Paul packs into this section, each sentence gives us a lot to think about. This section is full of Gospel encouragement. Starting in verse 9, it says, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:9-12).
There are many things we could look at in those words. For our meditation this morning I will only mention a few. Paul mentioned that he wanted the Colossians to be “filled with knowledge.” He also wants them to “live a life worthy of the Lord” and part of that is “bearing fruit in every good work.” Those do tie together with the Mission Trips and Youth Rallies that I brought up. There is definitely overlap but a Youth Rally is probably a little more focused on being filled with knowledge through worship, workshops and other events. The Mission Trip has more of a hands on service emphasis so there is more of a focus on bearing fruits of faith.
Those are two key aspects of our faith. We are supposed to be growing in biblical knowledge and we should be serving others as a fruit of faith. Those activities are not just for Youth Rallies or Mission Trips. We are all to do those things. But at the same time, it is easy to have a misplaced focus on those activities. If we look at them in the wrong way, we can lose our gospel focus. That happened to Martha when Jesus came to visit.
Jesus coming to visit the home of Mary and Martha is a well-known account. Martha was stressed out because Jesus was visiting and she was keeping herself busy getting things ready for a meal for Jesus. She got frustrated that she was doing all the work and her sister wasn’t helping her. But that wasn’t the time for her service. Jesus was there to serve Mary and Martha. Jesus was there to give them the gospel. While it is not wrong for Martha to serve others, this was not the time for her to serve. When Jesus wants to serve us, it is good for us to let him serve us with his gospel.
When we think about growing in knowledge, we need to remember that our faith is more than just knowledge. Sometimes people are mistaken and think that they know about Jesus and they know about the cross, therefore they know enough and they don’t need to worship more to hear the same old message. But that isn’t a knowledge that is growing. That is a knowledge that is standing still. It is a form of arrogance to think that we know enough. I am a pastor and I still grow in my biblical knowledge every day.
Another mistake we can make is thinking that our service to Jesus is somehow superior to our time here in worship. It is kind of like saying, “I already know this, now let me get out there and do something to help people.” In a way that is like what Martha was doing. While I want every one of you to have an interest in serving others, you also need your time here in worship. It is not that we have to pick one or the other. We value both worship and service. We need our time to be built up by Jesus. When we are built up by Jesus, we are able to serve others in the best way.
Part 2: You are here to be served by Jesus
It really is about the cliché of “Not putting the cart before the horse.” It is good to follow the proper order. It is good to be strengthened by the gospel so that we serve as a fruit of faith. If we put our service before the gospel, it has the danger of becoming a religion of works and we do not want that. There can be a danger of spending too much time growing in knowledge before serving. We don’t want to spend so much time growing in knowledge and then never actually get around to serving others. It is good that we have a very comprehensive system for growing in our knowledge. I went to 22 years of Lutheran Biblical education before I became a pastor. That is a lot of knowledge. And like I already mentioned, I still grow in my knowledge. But there also comes a time to use that knowledge to live our faith and serve others. It is a cycle. We grow and then we serve. After we serve, we need to grow again through worship. This helps us to serve. It keeps going round and round.
I think about how I need that sweet message of the gospel. When I am downtrodden because of the problems in my life and the sins I have committed, I need to return again to the gospel. When I am worn out because I have served many people, I need to listen to Jesus and hear his encouragement. When I serve and serve and serve, I sometimes feel like my fuel tank is running on empty. I need that time in devotion and worship so that Jesus can fill me up with gospel energy. The last two verses of this section are wonderful gospel. “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
Jesus redemption gives us strength. He saved us even though we didn’t deserve it. I love those mountain top experiences of worship. I find them to be rejuvenating. For me that is one of the main benefits of a Youth Rally. You are worshipping with 2000 fellow Christians. You are hearing about the love of Jesus and you are shoulder to shoulder with many people who believe the same thing. It is uplifting and encouraging. Coming back from a Youth Rally makes me feel ready to serve. God has blessed me with the gospel.
Mary and Martha had the chance to sit at the feet of Jesus. Did they realize the significance of it right away or did it sink in more after the resurrection? It seems like Mary might have thought about it right away. And yet, I would have to think that it took on greater significance after the resurrection. They sat at the feet of Jesus. They sat face to face with the creator of the universe. We have to wait until eternal life to see Jesus face to face.
When we come to worship, we are with Jesus. He is here to serve us. I would say that it is different for me when I am leading worship compared to when I am sitting in the pew. The reason I say that is because at this moment I have an active role in serving God’s People. I pray that God is using me to help you to be strengthened. After serving others through worship, I am tired. I love Sunday afternoon naps. The only downside to football season is that I sometimes don’t get a Sunday afternoon nap. After serving others, I understand how Jesus could fall asleep in a boat. So as a pastor, I need to find personal time to be strengthened by Jesus. I need my personal devotion and my bible reading so that Jesus can give me encouragement.
God blesses your time here. It is not about what you are doing. It is not about your singing or your praying. While God wants you to participate in those activities, God mainly wants to serve you. He wants to strengthen you through his law and gospel. In worship we receive blessings from Jesus in many ways. We are reminded over and over of our forgiveness and the love that Jesus has for us. The wonderful thing about worship at the youth rally is that the messages are powerful and very applicable to the teens. The songs are uplifting and help us think about the purpose that God has given us through Christ. Because we are redeemed children of God, we have a purpose. Our purpose is to share Jesus.
Conclusion
I think Youth Rallies and Mission Trips both serve a good purpose. Youth Rallies are probably more similar to worship and Mission Trips are more about service but there can certainly be overlap. I think these activities are great for those who have the opportunity to attend. We need our time with gospel encouragement so that we can live a life of Christian service. In worship God gives us gospel strength so that we can endure in this life. If we are worn out by everything we experience in this world, God comes to us through his gospel and comforts us with our forgives and eternal life that Jesus won for us. May God continue to build us up with this wonderful gospel.