Colossians 3:22-4:1 | Work Unto the Lord

Let’s open the Bible now to Colossians 3. Today, we’re looking at 3:22-4:1. What we have here is a theology of work. Let’s read it now.

22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

1 Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

We’ve seen the past couple of weeks how Paul takes us inside the Christian home with instructions to husbands, wives, parents, and children. But there is another group in that ancient household Paul also addressed: bondservants. Other translations say “slaves” or “servants.” It’s the same word. There were about 60 million slaves in Paul’s day, about one-half of the entire population. Slaves did most of the work in those days. That was their entire purpose. They were viewed as tools—animate ones, but nothing more. So what Paul said to them addressed the very heart of their existence.

This is a passage, first and foremost, about work, but we can’t ignore that these words are directed toward slaves and slave masters, which makes this difficult. So before we look at what Paul has to say about work, I want first to say something about slavery.

A WORD ABOUT SLAVERY

Paul’s address to husbands, wives, parents, and children addresses God-ordained and God-blessed social structures. In this address to slaves, Paul is stepping into a social construction of oppression that God does not condone. Some wonder why Paul didn’t attack the institution of slavery head-on. Why give instructions rather than condemnation? Because radical social change never happens in an instant, and in the meantime, the gospel has something to say to everyone in any situation. Paul is applying the gospel to this reality, showing how the fullness of Christ makes a difference today amid everything going on.

It’s important, I think, to point out that this passage should never be viewed as the Bible’s approval of slavery. Like anything, to understand what the Bible says about a topic, we have to take the Bible as a whole. If we take the totality of what the Bible says, we could never conclude God is pro-slavery. In fact, the Bible is the very reason we have any anti-slavery ideas at all. Passages like ours today introduced a new idea to the world. No one else was saying anything remotely close to this. It was the idea that slaves were inherently equal to their masters, just as wives were to husbands and children to parents. Paul destroyed the normative social constructs as he brought the fullness of Christ to bear upon their lives. This was a radical new idea. Paul turned his modern world’s view of humanity on its head. If we do away with the Bible because we believe its views of human equality are too backward, we are cutting off the branch we’re sitting on. The only reason we have those ideas of human equality at all is because the Bible quite literally gave them to us. No one in the ancient world talked to slaves as inherent equals to masters. Only Christians did that. Luc Ferry is a French philosopher. He is not a Christian. Some years ago, he wrote a book called A Brief History of Thought. Here’s what he said about Christianity.

“Christianity was to introduce the notion that humanity was fundamentally identical, that men were equal in dignity - an unprecedented idea at the time….This idea may seem self-evident, but it was literally unheard of at the time, and it turned an entire world-order upside down.” (Pp. 72-73)

Without Christianity’s idea of human equality found in the gospel of Christ, we would never have our modern ideas of social equality. The Civil Rights Movement would never have happened without Jesus breaking into the world with this new vision of humanity. Christianity changed the social game. So, just because Paul addressed slaves doesn’t mean he’s falling in line with the social norm. By addressing slaves as human beings with moral agency and being on the same level as masters was quite literally a new thing. God is the first abolitionist. He’s the originator of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the world.

The Bible has some amazing verses about this. One we’ve already seen in Colossians 3:11. “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” Pauls said almost the same thing in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the Christian church, there is no room for sexism or racism, or any other social separation into upper and lower classes. We are all one in Christ Jesus. We are used to that idea today, but that’s only because the Bible gave us that idea. Every person who has ever fought for social equality has done so because the Bible gave them the framework of understanding. The moral ground for every civil rights movement is the Bible. God gave us these ideas. This is just one of a million ways Christianity changed the world.

We see this play out early in the Church’s history. Inside the Colossian church sat at least one slave that we know of. His name was Onesimus. The house in which the Colossian church met was likely owned by a man named Philemon. Philemon also owned Onesimus. One day, Onesimus escaped and ran to Rome. He apparently stole something from Philemon on the way out and was hoping to hide in the big city. But by God’s providence, he came into contact with Paul, heard the gospel, and was saved. Later, Paul wrote a letter to Philemon. We have it in our Bible. In it, he appealed to Philemon in Christ to receive Onesimus back not as a bondservant but as a beloved brother (16). He asked Philemon to receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul and promised to repay any debts Onesimus owed. It was a radical thing to ask. No one else in the ancient world would ask such a thing. It’s the kind of thing only the gospel makes possible.

The Christian gospel speaks to all people in every situation all the time. You cannot get any socially lower than a slave. But Jesus doesn’t ignore the lowly. He speaks directly to them. This is nothing new for God. Remember in Exodus when Israel was in slavery? God heard their groanings. Fast forward thousands of years, and here is a slave in the Colossian church wondering how what Paul is saying applies to his life in bondage. He was seen as equal to a tool with no rights or dignity, and then he hears this: “Bondservants….” Jesus is speaking to him. That’s glorious. In the hands of our Savior, even the lowliness of slavery can be a glorious calling in Christ. I don’t say that flippantly. I say it because the Bible says it. Slaves are not nobodies to Jesus. They are somebodies on the same level as the richest man.

So that’s my brief word on slavery.

Now, what does this passage have to say to us today?

LISTENING TO THIS TODAY

Looking at just about any commentary on this passage, past or present, it jumps into how this applies to the workplace. What Paul says to slaves can be applied to employees, and what Paul says to slave masters can be applied to employers. This is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Our modern workplace and slavery are not the same situations. But what Paul says about how one is to work and the attitude one is to take toward his or her workers should be applied to our modern workplace. He’s not so much talking about slavery as he is talking about work itself.

This is more amazing than I think we might see at first glance. Just as Jesus cares about the husband-wife relationship and the parent-child relationship, he cares also about our work relationships. That’s amazing. Our lives are split basically into thirds. We spend a third sleeping, a third working, and a third doing everything else, and most of that is filled with other types of work. Isn’t it comforting to know that Jesus cares about all of our life? He doesn’t only care about the “sacred” parts. It’s all sacred to him. He is deeply involved in the entirety of our life.

We can get so bogged down in the day-to-day details, but Paul lifts us up and shows us what Jesus thinks about our work. So let’s look at three truths Jesus wants us to know as we work.

1. There is a higher master (22-23)

2. There is a great inheritance (24)

3. There is a just reward (25-1)

THERE IS A HIGHER MASTER (22-23)

Look at verse 22. “Bondservants.” Let’s stop there. We might expect Paul to start a different way. Why address the slaves before the masters? But this is how Paul arranged the entire section. Why not the husbands before the wives? Why not the fathers before the children? Paul started with the powerless because the powerful are always first. He started where there is the least natural hope. There is grace and mercy in even the arrangement of the verses. God’s word is amazing.

Paul tells the bondservants to “obey in everything those who are your earthly masters.” This is similar to his command to children. Of course, as Dustin has said previously, Paul is not condoning sinful behavior. Bondservants are not to be disobedient to their masters, but if their masters ask them to do something sinful, they have a higher master. They are to obey their earthly masters, but they are to fear the Lord. Jesus not only limits the slave master’s authority but also frees the slave to disobey when morally necessary. Their earthly master is only earthly. Jesus is the big boss.

We all have an earthly boss. Someone demands our time and attention. How are we to obey? How are we to work? “Not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” There are two things here—a positive and a negative. Negatively, we can’t slack off when no one’s looking. Jesus’s eye is ever upon us. Positively, we don’t have to hope someone notices our hard work. Jesus’s eye is ever upon us. Both of these are good news. There isn’t a meaningless moment. The King of the Universe is right there with you. When the King notices you, you can’t slack off. You don’t want to. When the King notices you, you need no other praise. His is enough.  Someone once asked G.K. Chesterton, “If the risen Christ suddenly appeared at this very moment and stood behind you, what would you do?” Chesterton looked them squarely in the eye and said, “He is.”

So when you’re sitting at your desk, tempted to slack off, remember Jesus is watching. Your work matters to him. How you work matters to him. He wants you to work hard because that is how his people work. It’s like the Patriot way or the Yankee way. There is a certain way Christians go about their work. It looks like Jesus—always about his Father’s business. And when you’re sitting at your desk, wishing someone noticed the care you put into every task, remember Jesus is watching. He sees the effort, and he rejoices in it. That care you put into your work is putting the glory of Jesus on display as you devote yourself and your work to him.

This changes our Mondays, doesn’t it? As we serve our earthly masters, we are serving the Lord himself. We are working, most truly, for him. Verse 23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” This is the fullness of Christ for the worker. Some of us work joyless jobs. All of us have some joyless tasks in our jobs. But Jesus is saying it doesn’t matter what you do. “Whatever you do.” Our work, no matter how small, isn’t too small for Jesus. Our work matters because it matters to him. He is that involved with us. Our little work life isn’t so little. Even the slave’s work is cherished by Jesus and received by him as unto him. That’s amazing.

We all have earthly masters. Some of them are good bosses. Some are not. But we all have a higher master who is good and does good, and he is who ultimately matters. What kind of boss is Jesus? He’s a good one, I promise you. He’s forgiving. He’s gracious. He’s merciful. He’s kind. He expects a lot. He doesn’t coddle us. But he cares for us. He asks us to work hard. Working as unto the Lord means the work actually gets harder—no eye-service, no people-pleasing—but it’s far more rewarding. Jesus makes even the most menial task an important one—not because of what we’re doing but because of who we’re doing it for. We won’t slack off because his eye is always upon us. And he will send his help by the power of his Spirit to give us energy for the task. He will give us rest at night after a hard day. He will give us peace during the tough parts. He will be all we need anyone to be for us and far more. He may ask us to do hard things, but he won’t be hard on us. No matter our current situation, the deepest truth about our work is that Jesus is over it and in it all. His gospel goes everywhere.

And on top of all that, there is another truth to remember in our work: there is a great inheritance.

THERE IS A GREAT INHERITANCE (24)

Look at verse 24. We are to work hard, “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Here is a truth we know and a promise we receive. Because we are in Christ, who is all in all, who is the firstborn of all creation, we know that from him, we will receive something: an inheritance. Paul calls this the reward. Then, he connects that with another truth. You are serving the Lord Christ. You may serve your boss, but if you are a Christian, you serve Jesus first and foremost. Nothing in your life is outside your relationship with him. He’s all in. He wants you to know that, and he seals it with a blood-bought promise of a heavenly inheritance.

I can’t help but think of the slave’s situation here. Think of the suffering at work. Every task reminds them of their status. 1 Peter 1:3-4 comes to mind. “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” There is gospel hope! A slave has no hope of an inheritance in this world. He has only to work and then die. Then Jesus comes along and says, “No, dear one. There is a reward for you in me. You can work hard here because this life isn’t all there is. One day you will be with me in my glory and share in all I have. You are a co-heir with me, the Son of the living God. All I ask is that you trust me now. Follow me. I will lead you to paradise. And I will show you that your work was not in vain.”

How do you think that changes the way we spend our days? And because our days are made up of so much work, mustn’t it also change how we work? We don’t need to scratch for a dollar hoping to build a life of ease and comfort and security in this world. Let me let you in on a little secret: no amount of money is ever enough to secure you from your greatest fears. Work must be about more than money. So what about status? Our work is important. It can define who we are. But let me let you in on a little secret: no status is greater than the one we are given freely in Christ—child of God. You receive the heavenly inheritance not by merit but by grace. And that changes everything. All you need work to do for you is already given freely by the grace of Christ. If you rest in that, then you’ll start doing your work as he intended all along. It will suddenly satisfy you in a way it never could before. Only when you receive the grace of Christ for your work will you ever be able to find contentment in work. Jesus has already given you all the riches of heaven, all the status of a child of God, all the comfort of abundant life, all the security of eternity.

When you realize what you’ve been given by Christ, you actually are then free to do your best work. You can serve without fear. You can work hard knowing rest is coming. You can accomplish tasks you deem beneath you because Jesus asked you to do them, and how can you say no to him? Who knows what he might do with even the smallest task done unto him? He can change the world through that. He has many times before. Our work is not a wilderness where we go looking for God. It is a garden God gives us to cultivate for his sake. He comes walking in it with us. You need to know that.

J.R.R Tolkien feared he would never finish The Lord of the Rings. In that despair, he wrote a short story called Leaf by Niggle. Niggle, whose name means “to work in a fiddling or ineffective way,” was a painter commissioned to paint a grand tree. He never could get it out on the canvas. All he could manage was to paint a single leaf. He comes to the end of his life with nothing more than that leaf. It’s hung in a museum as Leaf: by Niggle. A few people see it. Was it all a waste?

Niggle then goes to the afterlife. On his journey, he hears two voices. One is the voice of Justice that reprimands him for wasting so much time. The other is the voice of Mercy, who is much kinder, promising a reward. As he nears the destination, he notices something. “Before him stood the Tree, his Tree, finished; its leaves opening, its branches growing and bending in the wind that Niggle had so often felt or guessed, and yet had so often failed to catch. He gazed at the Tree, and slowly he lifted his arms and opened them wide. ‘It is a gift!’ he said.”

Here’s the point. The leaf wasn’t a waste of time. It was a request not from his earthly boss but from Jesus himself. Part of Niggle’s reward was the completion of the task. His life’s work was but a leaf on Jesus’s great tree. Your work is like that too, and one day you will see the fullness of it. One day, you will enter God’s rest. One day, you will receive the inheritance because you are serving the Lord Christ.

Now, one more thing to see in verse 25 and extending into chapter 4, verse 1. There is a just reward for our work.

THERE IS A JUST REWARD (25-1)

All we’ve seen so far has been directed at the workers. In 4:1, the attention is turned to the masters. But verse 25 is a bit ambiguous. Look at it. “For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.” Is it directed at workers or masters? I think it’s directed at both. Both parties can do wrong, and the wrongdoer will be repaid for his wrong. In God, there is no partiality. It doesn’t matter if you are powerful and can get away with something. It doesn’t matter if you are so lowly no one will notice you not working as you ought. God sees and knows everything, and he doesn’t care who you are in this world. Everyone is below him. And he is just. He’s the perfect Judge. Home plate umpire Pat Hoberg had a perfect game in the World Series the other night. He called every pitch perfectly. All true strikes were strikes. All true balls were balls. That’s the kind of judge God is. It doesn’t matter if it’s the clean-up hitter in the box or the ace on the mound. He calls it as it is.

That’s actually really comforting, isn’t it? No one is getting away with anything. This truth gives hope to the servant as it gives a warning to the master. You might feel taken advantage of, but if you are, God knows about that. You might think something is unfair, but if it is, God sees it. No one is getting away with anything. All that is wrong will come to light and be made right in the end because God’s eye is perfect. From heaven’s perspective, earthly masters and slaves are in the same boat: all under God.

Now, chapter 4, verse 1, is clearly written to masters. “Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” Notice how Paul connects the logic of who God is to who masters ought to be. God is a Master, and he’s a certain kind of Master. He goes about his business justly and fairly. He expects his under-masters to do the same. Masters may be masters, but they have a Master too. As masters expect their workers to obey, Jesus expects masters to obey.

This means masters cannot be harsh with their servants. Bosses can’t be harsh with their employees. They are to be fair and just. This sounds easier than it is. When someone works for us, it is far too easy to think too lowly of them, to assume the worst rather than the best, to pass the work you are supposed to do down to those who have other, more important tasks, and to over-burden and under-resource and discourage the worker. The boss has a lot of responsibility, but none greater than to treat those under him or her well. Jesus is watching how we treat those under our supervision.

Of course, Jesus is our model here, just as he is our power to live it out. He is our Lord. What kind of Master is he? How do we need to change in light of who he is? He will forgive us for our failures, and he will empower us to do it his way.

We will all one day fall under the judgment of God for how we lived our lives. If we are in Christ, even our greatest and most damning sins will be wholly forgiven. If we are not, even our greatest deeds will be condemned. Our only hope is to find ourselves hidden in Christ. And when we are, as the author of Hebrews says, “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name” (Heb. 6:10). On that great and final day, we want to hear that we did well with what he had given us.

Alongside that, our work displays the glory of Jesus in this world. Think of what the Roman world would have seen in the master-slave relationship inside the Christian church! How different it was from the world’s way. How honoring to Jesus. Their work was bound up in his work. The world was seeing a different way to live—a gospel way.

CONCLUSION

I’ll close with this.

Jesus is saying to us today that the motivation for our good, hard work is not to be noticed by him but comes from already being noticed by him. We are under his kind watch. He is not only infusing our work with his grace to honor and glorify him and provide goods and services to others that help them flourish, but he is also receiving all our work unto himself as service to him. No task is meaningless. How could it be? Jesus is in it.

Isn’t that amazing? Is there an area of life that the gospel does not change? There isn’t. That’s the point. Even slaves have meaning now. Even tasks no one else notices are holy moments of service to the King of the Universe. He sees it. He honors it. He rewards it.

So, let’s go and do it, looking to Jesus and trusting him moment by moment.

Let’s pray.