PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

We begin our last leg of the journey.  It is a journey through Paul’s letter to the church  in Colossae as we read in vs.2.  It is a church made up primarily of gentiles, so those who would be foreigners to the long history and culture of the Jewish people which had shaped so much of the early church.  It is not a church that Paul had personally founded, but certainly his work in the area had an impact where those to whom he preached had gone to Colossae to begin this community.  We find that the primary emphasis of this letter is to address heresy that has overtaken the church and Paul’s attempt to right the ship and oppose that heresy.  He loves the church and repeatedly tells them that he is praying for them.  The letter was written probably in the mid 60’s.  

We begin with a very common statement by Paul that he is constantly lifting up the community in prayer.  This is something that he says to all of the communities, but in this case he supports these prayers by the evidence of their love for the saints and the witness of their strong faith.  He begins by encouraging them and lifting up their strong faith which many in the Christian community have commended.  Paul speaks about the beginning of their faith journey as a community by pointing to Epaphras who is considered the founding member of the church in Colossae.  Since their inception, Paul states in vs.9, they have been praying for this community without ceasing, and specifically that they would be filled with knowledge and wisdom.  

A couple of times Paul mentions the work of Jesus and refers specifically to the blood of Jesus as something that is not only efficacious, but instrumental in the saving of our souls.  Look at vs.14 and depending on your translation it should have as a trailer: “…the forgiveness of sins through his blood.”  The italicized part is not seen in all of the manuscripts, but it is present in some.  It makes sense that it reveals itself here because later on we find that same concept repeated.  Look at vs.20 and we find the phrase “…by making peace through the blood of his cross.”  There is a movement in some circles to tone down any type of violent or directly referenced terms which would lead to a theology built around death and violence.  There are some who skirt around using the term: “the blood of Jesus”, simply because they see it as too disturbing and could lead some to run from the Gospel message because of its explicit reference to blood.

I don’t see how we can avoid that reference, or why we would want to.  Paul mentions it clearly as a necessary factor in our redemption.  The blood of Jesus is what washes us clean, regardless of how uneasy it makes us.  Think about what we do at the Lord’s Supper when we eat the body and drink the blood of our Savior.  Why is it so important to maintain that image and that reference to the blood?  Because from the very beginning the cleansing of our sin through the blood of a sacrifice is what has defined both the old and the new covenant that we have with God.  We cannot run away from this reality.  If we are uncomfortable with that imagery, then maybe we are uncomfortable with the fact that someone actually had to die for us in order for us to be saved.  Jesus didn’t just come on the earth to hang out and set up a kingdom.  No, he came and died a death that was brutal, vicious, and unforgiving.  All of this was so that we could be forgiven, and yes, have our sins washed clean by his blood.  

We find Paul’s words resonate even today in a verse that is to be the operative verse for every church on this planet.  Look at vs. 28 where Paul reminds us: “It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”  He goes on to say that for this reason, and this reason alone, do we work as hard as we do.  What a great goal and what a great reason to live.  So that others would come to a maturity in Christ that is life giving.  I think you are going to love this letter.  

This chapter helps us to understand why this is the epistle of joy.  Over and over again Paul encourages the church in Philippi to rejoice.  In fact, vs.4 is such a well known verse that there is a song that was quite popular some time ago with this verse as its main lyric.  Here’s a clip of it.  Yeah, it’s a kid’s song.  But I like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzyckxqXoZ4

This chapter also contains a memory verse which every single kid who ever went to VBS at one time or another memorized.  Look at Philippians 4:13 and you will find one of my favorite memory verses.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is such a great verse to guide our lives.  Whenever we feel that we are not able to do anything, we can hear the words of Paul that remind us that we can do all things.  Each time that we might be told that we are not worthy or able to do that which we think we ought to be able to do, then we are reminded of God’s promise that we can do all things.  What a great verse.

If you go back to vs.8-9 I see this as a wonderful benediction to allow the congregation to go out into the world with a real guiding principle on how to live our lives.  We are to pursue that which is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable then it is on these things that you ought to focus on.  It is a great benediction.  These are great verses to read right before you leave your home to go out into the world.  

This marks the end of Philippians, but not of our 90 Day Challenge II.  We have one more of Paul’s letters to look at and then we will complete this series.

It is obvious that Paul is wrapping this up.  Whenever you begin a sentence with “finally”, the implication is that we are at the end of whatever was started some chapters earlier.  I’ll never forget when we were pastors in Italy and whenever we attended a regional meeting of the churches there was always one person who whenever he stood and began a sentence with: “I just want to say one thing briefly” you knew you were in for a good 30 minute monologue.  It was classic, it was predictable.  The finally was not really the finally in that case.  In this case, well we have one more chapter to cover after this.  But it is fitting that in this letter with joy as its primary theme he begins in verse 1 by telling us to (re)joy(ce).

When he talks about those who mutilate the flesh again he is on the kick of distinguishing between those who emphasize circumcision as the direct way to heaven and those who emphasize (that would be Paul and his cohorts) Jesus as the direct way to heaven.  Or in this day in age we would ask the question: When did loving Jesus stop being enough?  Why do we pile rule and regulation and guilt on such a simple concept as a relationship with Jesus?

From there Paul goes on to lay out his pedigree once again.  He was circumcised like a good Jew.  He went to the best schools, he was as zealous in his faith as anyone in his day and age, he followed every aspect of the law.  So those of you who believe that a relationship with God has to start and end with the following of the religious law, those of you who believe that legalism is the only way to a solid relationship, well, I know better.  That would be Paul’s point of view.  And his knowing better revolved around his realization that all of that could be discarded for a single, sincere and loyal relationship to Jesus.

Skip to verse 20 and you will find one of my favorite verses.  I know, I have a lot of them, but this one deserves to be underlined.  Paul states that our citizenship belongs in heaven.  The Olympics are over and we won a ton of medals.  God does not in any way bless one nation over another.  I would challenge any Christian who believes that God blesses one nation over another to look at the history of Israel.  Forever we have understood the people of Israel to be those blessed by God.  Look at the persecution and the pain and the suffering that the people of Israel have undergone.  If we were to believe that God blessed America then we should be seeing the same kind of pain and suffering as a sign that God is honing us and sharpening us to be his people.  We see quite the opposite.  Throughout Scripture the most powerful nations tend to be those nations that are opposed to God.  Think about it, Egypt, Rome, Babylon, and the list could continue.

This verse where Paul almost innocently says that our citizenship belongs in heaven ought to temper our understanding of where we feel like our earthly citizenship might find itself.  A prosperous nation does not translate into a nation blessed by God.  Actually, if you look at Scriptural history, the argument could be made that the people of God are actually those who find themselves in the minority, oppressed, trodden under foot, and persecuted by those who are in power in the world.  It should be a sobering testimony for those of us who understand our citizenship here on earth to be more important that the citizenship we have in heaven.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.  What a powerful statement.  We are to have the mind of Christ.  The mind of Christ would then give us the desires of Christ.  The desires of Christ would then give us the life of Christ.  That should be our goal.  But look at what follows the statement that we are to have the mind of Christ.  There is a lesson on humility that follows.

I would love all of you to look up the word kenosis.  When you do look it up you will see that it means literally a “self-emptying”.  Jesus empties himself for our sake.  The verses 6-11 are considered a hymn that was written to celebrate who Jesus is.  It is one of the earliest love songs to our Savior.  It describes his willingness to become humble, to become one of us.  That is the measure of his love for us.  The irony in these verses, and in the end we find also the irony of life, is that those who lower themselves, those who humble themselves will eventually be lifted up.  As Jesus says elsewhere, okay Matthew 20:16, So the last will be first and the first will be last.  Those who want to become great, must become like a child.  All of these are Jesus’ words and are wonderful words to live by.

I found a great article on the background of Philippians here at this website.  It is really helpful if you want some of the backstory to the letter that Paul wrote to his first church that he founded, the church in Philippi in Greece.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/philippians/0

Philippians is considered the Epistle, or the letter, of joy.  The reason why it is called that is almost immediately clear.  Look at vs.4 where Paul states that he is constantly praying with joy for the community.  Once again, like the church in Ephesus that we just read about, Paul loves this congregation.  I would argue that it is probably his favorite.  His tone is consistently one of celebration and an attitude of YOU ARE AWESOME!  

Vs.6 is a great verse as Paul states that he is confident that the Lord will complete in each person in that church, and really the church as a whole as well, the good work that He has started in them.  Think of that addressed to you.  I am confident that the good work that God has started in you, he will bring to completion before you leave the face of this earth.  It is another way of saying that God is not done with you yet.  This was important for the Philippian to hear, because they were right in the midst of some serious persecution.  They needed to hear that this life is worth it, that even in the mess in which we find ourselves, God is still going to finish the plan that he started with you.  Did you hear that?

When you start at vs.21 you also see some really, really encouraging Scripture.  Paul gives us a reason to live.  He says, to die would be absolutely amazing.  As I used to say in high school, I’ve somewhat matured since then, somewhat, “Life is awesome and then you go to heaven”.  That is Paul’s motto.  The advantage of living now on this earth is that, and these are Paul’s words, I get to work with amazing people like you.  The advantage of being no longer alive, is that I will be with Christ.  It is a toss up.  But for now, again Paul’s words, I’m glad that I am here with you.  

He talks about joy again in vs.25.  At the end of this chapter he speaks about persecutions and they can be assured that he understands what they are going through since he already went through it.  It sounds real similar to James 1:2 when the author states: “consider it joy whenever you face trials of any kind.”  That’s hard to do, but I think as we make our way through this chapter it might become easier.

We’ve had some interesting growth in youth group over this past month.  Last night at youth group, and for a few weeks in church at worship and Saturday at Great Adventure, we had 3 “biker boys”, who are now no longer “biker boys” but, “our boys”.  We had 5 kids at youth group who were there because they have been using our church to play Pokemon Go.  There were another 7 youth in church who didn’t come to youth group but were playing Pokemon Go, we hope they will come next week to youth group.  It is an interesting season in our youth group as we start a transition team and take on a whole bunch of new advisors.  It is a very exciting season as we see growth in areas that we did not expect.

So when Paul starts off this passage with the statement: “children obey your parents”, you know that this letter written to the church in Ephesus would have been read aloud and that the children in the audience would have blushed and the parents would have nodded approvingly.  But it goes so much further than that today.  Back in Paul’s day if a child disobeyed they could be taken out to the center square and stoned for disrespect.  They certainly were not the good old days.  On the other hand the advice Paul has for parents is that they should not lead their children to anger.  Give them a long leash, allow them to make their own mistakes, don’t be a helicopter mom or dad who never allows their child to live and so they have all this pent up anger and rage because of it.  Very practical verses here, but totally unexpected.

Also unexpected is advice for slaves and slave owners.  Yes, in the first century the Romans and even Jews had slaves.  Some poor uninformed people have tried to use these verses historically as proof that slavery is blessed by God.  It would be the same argument if we cut off the hands and tore out the eyes of those who stole and those who lusted.  It simply is not part of God’s plan.  The advice is very much for that time and that place.  It does not make Scripture any less authoritative, but it does make it a document that was written in a certain time and place and certainly in a specific context.  But the truths of Scripture are applicable to all time.

The armor or God from vs.10-20 is a classic Scripture that I have used more times than I can remember in Sunday School assembly and in other contexts where you can play dress up and teach a lesson.  The entire armor of God is to be worn, keep in mind, not just bits and pieces which suit us best.  We are to put on the entire armor.  Read it again and see which pieces of that armor are we less comfortable wearing.  

Paul ends this letter to a church that he loves.  It is a great letter and one that can be read repeatedly.  Now on to Philippians, the Epistle of Joy!

In some Christian traditions there is a hierarchy within the family structure.  The man is responsible for the decisions, with the wife’s input of course, and is the spiritual head of the household, and for all intents and purposes more than just the breadwinner.  Hierarchically he would be at the apex and the woman would be below…somewhere.  This chapter is often used as ammunition to enforce this approach to the family structure.  Let’s look at these verses and try to see what exactly Paul is saying.

Let’s start at vs.21, yes, we can’t skip that verse, but most commentators who carry a hierarchical view prefer to skip vs.21.  While those of us who embrace a mutuality view, where husband and wife work at that whole family thing together, we love this verse.  It tells us to be subject to one another.  Husband be subject to your wife, wife be subject to your husband.  Don’t allow pride to enter the picture which demands that our view be followed and that of our spouse is expendable.  When we are subject to one another then no one can lord anything over anyone else.  What a great verse to focus on, we don’t need any of the others.  Okay, there are other verses, and let’s look at them, but we can’t forget that Paul says that we should be subject to one another.

Paul goes on to give some details of what that family structure can look like.  He falls very quickly into the first century mentality that women do not have the same rights as men do, and so, as a result, men are “head” of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church.  It is hard to get around that, but we do understand that a family structure in the 1st century was not one based upon being subject to one another.  Paul already broke that glass ceiling.

Paul does speak about the husband’s responsibility to love his wife.  Does that mean that the wife does not need to love the husband?  Of course not!  But for some reason when we read that the husband is head of the wife we don’t want to say that under Paul’s approach of mutuality that the wife is the head of the husband.  Yes, she is!  This is part of being subject to one another.  We can’t understand this chapter nor Christian family dynamics without this basic principle to guide our thoughts.  

Unity is always a good thing when we are talking about churches, right?  Yes, that is right.  In fact, these verses underscore the importance of unity within a church and among churches.  Look at vs.4-5 and we find that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.  Wait, did that just say one baptism?  Yes.  That means that if you were dunked or sprinkled, it is all the same?  Yes.  That means that if you were baptized as an infant or as an adult it is still baptism and both “count”?  Yes.  Don’t ever let a Christian tell you that your baptism doesn’t count if it wasn’t done when you were an adult.  Point to this verse and say, well if it is good enough for Paul, it is good enough for me.  There ought to be unity among the churches but unfortunately some churches feel as if their way is the only way that is right.  I praise God that the Presbyterian Church has a very broad tent which gathers many people from all sorts of walks of life and embraces them in the unity of the Gospel.

If you know the Apostles’ Creed you will find a part of it in vs.9-10.  You know that part where we say “..and he descended into hell.”  In these verses it states that if he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God then it must mean that he also descended in order to fill all things.  What that means is that Jesus went into hell to introduce himself to those who were not saved so that they could experience him and have a relationship with him.  You see the same message in I Peter 3:19-20.  What a comfort to see God fulfilling the words of Psalm 139:8 where the writer states: if I make my bed in Sheol (hell), you are there.  The pursuit of God, or rather God’s pursuit of us always leaves me breathless and with a smile on my face.

Vs.26 also gives us the words to which pretty much every couple ought to subscribe: do not let the sun go down on your anger.  He says this within the context of some very basic rules for a new life, which includes, thieves, don’t steal.  That’s good to know.  

Paul begins this chapter by explaining the reason why he was in jail was because he preached a Gospel which included the gentiles in God’s plans.  Remember, the Ephesian church was a church composed of gentiles.  So basically Paul says the reason why I am in prison, and I don’t mind being in prison, is for people like you.  I am in jail so that people like you can hear about the good news of the gospel and respond to it.

It is so refreshing to hear Paul speak as if he is so glad for the people to whom he is writing.  You can just tell that he loves the people of Ephesus.  He calls himself a servant of the gospel and so he loves this message with which he has been entrusted.  Just read again vs. 14-21 as if Paul was addressing you directly.  He asks that God would (continue to) dwell in their hearts through faith.  His prayer is that we would all come to understand the completeness of Christ.  He calls it the breadth and width of all that God is.  It reminds me of Colossians 1:28, which we will get to soon, where God’s marks out our purpose as presenting everyone mature in Christ.

I’m going to get to this in Colossians but just put a sticker on this verse and recognize that this should be the purpose of all of us: present everyone mature in Christ.

This chapter should go up there as one of the most important chapters in all of Scripture.  I hope you were able to follow what Paul was saying.  Remember, he is writing to a church  that is composed of primarily gentiles who came to know Jesus.  So they did not come to Jesus through Judaism, but rather from Paul’s preaching they gave their lives to Christ.  So Paul is writing to people he knows and loves and who have a completely different background from him.  But he obviously embraces them.  

He begins this chapter by laying out the facts that all of us began this life as sinful.  We were all disobedient and lived out our lives according to the passions of the flesh.  But God chose to choose us even while we were yet dead in our sins, to make us alive in Jesus Christ.  And in case you have forgotten, look at vs.5, we have been saved by grace.  Remember it is not the following of the law, or a set of rules, or any of our actions that save us, not even living a “good” life, it is the grace of God that saves us.  Follow along from vss.8-10 which are so fundamental to our beliefs and to whom we are as Protestant Christians.  We have been saved by grace through faith.  This faith, this grace is a gift of God.  We do not deserve it.  It is not by our own doing, it is not because we have lived right that we are saved.  Because if it was a result of any of our actions, we could boast.  But no one can boast.  But it gets better.  Look at vs.10.  The reason why we are saved is not simply so we can have eternal life.  Oh, that would be nice and a simple goal.  No, the reason that we are saved, according to Paul, is because eternal life starts here and now in this life.  We were created, we were saved by Jesus, for good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

So let’s be clear.  Good works have nothing to do with our salvation, but have everything to do with our vocation.  We are made to do good works.  That is to be our joyful response to salvation.  He then goes on to explain that those who were not originally part of God’s plan, you know, the chosen people through Abraham who became the nation of Israel, if we are not in that number, do not worry.  Look at vs.13, it is such an important verse for goyim like you and me.  “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  It is by the blood of Jesus that we were brought near.  

Because of Jesus there is no longer male or female, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer rich or poor, there is no longer black or white, there is no longer good and bad, there is no longer, well, you  can fill in the blank.  Jesus has broken down whatever privilege, whatever dividing wall that society and culture has set up.  In fact, and I love this part, Jesus has created a single humanity, and this single humanity, according to Paul, should create peace.

But boy do we like our differences and boy do we harp on that which is different as opposed to how we are similar.  Jesus proclaimed peace to those who were far off, that would be us who do not have Jewish descent, and those who were near, that would be those who came from Jewish descent.  Look at vs. 17 for these verses.  We now have a new citizenship.  We are no longer Americans. Can I say this in the middle of the Olympics when we are absolutely dominating?  We are no longer Americans…we are Christians.  We have a new citizenship according to vs.19.  This was a big deal for Paul who finds himself in the middle of the Roman Empire.  But when Jesus is our cornerstone, as we find in vs.20, then we can be a unified people.