Colossians 2:1-5 –

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ²that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Introduction

In our passage for this morning, Paul continues to describe how hard he worked to bring the Word of God to bear in the lives of others. He did so because he loved them and because he believed with all he had that God’s Word is so precious and powerful and transformative that sharing it with the world is worth every ounce of energy he had.

He also did so because he knew that where God’s Word is taught in truth and received in faith, there is the treasure of encouragement, love, assurance, joy, and unity. Conversely, he did so because he also knew that wherever competing claims have taken hold, there is the misery of discouragement, division, doubt, corrosion, ignorance, and death.

The big idea of the sermon is that hard work for the things of God is a feature, not a flaw of a godly life. Predictably, the main takeaway is to learn to understand and love God and His Word such that we’re compelled to work hard at living it out for the sake of the world.

Moms, this isn’t anything like an ordinary Mother’s Day message, but I think you’ll find a good deal of clarity and hope for the hard work of your mothering in this passage and message.

Paul Greatly Struggled on Behalf of Others (1)

I wonder, what is the hardest you’ve ever worked? Have you ever felt like you were truly at the end of yourself on a physical level; like you worked so hard, you were on the verge of collapse?

Similarly, what’s the longest you’ve worked the hardest for? Have you ever worked really hard for days, months, or years for something?

And probably most importantly, what kinds of things have you determined are worth working your hardest for? What have you found to be valuable enough to work at with significant sacrifice and to the point of exhaustion?

For the most part, our current cultural mindset seems to be that the main things worth working hard at are avoiding hard work and worldliness. But that’s a different sermon for a different day. My point here is to draw your attention to the Apostle Paul’s hard work, and especially what he worked hard for.

Previously, we saw that Paul toiled and struggled to bring the gospel to everyone (1:29). In our passage, he picks up where he left off. You may remember that the Greek word translated “toil” indicates working to near exhaustion. And if you remember that, you probably also remember that the Greek word for “struggle” is even more severe still. To struggle in that sense is to work past exhaustion to the point of agony.

Consider then Paul’s new modifier, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have…”. He worked past the point of exhaustion, past the point of agony, to the point of great/excruciating agony.

As I mentioned last week, that included ~10,000 miles of foot and water travel, preaching, teaching, debating, counseling, negotiating, rebuking, disciplining, encouraging, writing, tentmaking (he was bi-vocational), and all without a home base, without much sleep, often without food and water, with constant persecution and regular imprisonments, and all of that continually for ~30 years.

We know from this letter (beginning right at the beginning and all the way to the end) that his primary work for others was prayer. His great struggle took the form of nearly constant prayer for his readers.

Twice already, Paul has made it clear that God strengthened him for that work, but that wasn’t apart from Paul’s great struggle.

We’ll come back to who and what it was that Paul greatly struggled for in a bit, but for now, two things…

First, not everything is worth working this hard for, but there most certainly are things that are. We all need to have a category for things worth working towards until we have nothing left. As long as we live in this fallen, broken, cursed, and largely disordered world, and as long as we live under the dominion mandate, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission, there will be things we need to pour ourselves out for (“as a drink offering” (Philippians 2:17)), both physically and spiritually.

In this world, God’s design is leisure for work, not work for leisure. The rhythm of creation is 6 days of labor and one day of rest. And while we aim at “bearing [good, gospel, God-prescribed] fruit in every good work,” the expectation is inefficiency, difficulty, and injustice, no matter our work (Genesis 3:17-19). In other words, most of us would do well to do a bit of recalibrating concerning our understanding of the role of hard work in the life of a Christian. It is a feature, not a flaw of a godly life.

Moms, on this Mother’s Day, you know this better than most. Good mothering is among the hardest work there is. There are few things more demanding, more constant, and with more at stake. But know this as well, there are few things more worthy of your best efforts and hardest work. If you are working hard as a mom, according to God’s design, you are working hard at one of the most important and significant tasks available to mankind. Do not let the world or your own inner voice tell you otherwise.

That leads to the second thing I want you to notice from the beginning of v.1. For Paul, greatly struggling toward his God-given charge was both success and reward. This will become clearer as we make our way through the passage and letter, but a well-lived life works hard at the things of God and rejoices in the certainty of God’s pleasure in us as we do.

As you all know, moms, your best efforts and hardest work can often feel like two steps forward and three steps back. And that can feel like failure. But the results are up to God, not you. You cannot save or sanctify your kids no matter how many prayers you pray, passages you read over them, verses you have them memorize, or how consistently you disciple and discipline them.

Again, moms, learn from Paul that your task and your success is faithfulness in giving to your kids that which God has called you to. Work hard at those things (repent of not doing so if need be and rest in the forgiveness that is already yours in Christ). But as you do so, in the strength God provides, rest and rejoice in the knowledge that you do so in God’s pleasure.

What’s true of motherhood is true of every aspect of a godly life. Our job and success, Grace, is working hard to live lives of faithfulness to God’s design, not to produce a particular result. Like Paul, work hard—really hard—for the gospel-good of others. And then rest well—really well—in the mighty hand and sweet pleasure of God in Christ.

Paul Wanted Them to Know How Great his Struggle Was for Them (1)

Paul greatly struggled on behalf of a group of people, and he wanted them to know it. I find that fascinating and not a little counter-intuitive.

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have…”.

The first thought that comes to my mind when I read that is Matthew 6:1-4.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. ²Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Jesus told his followers to do good for others “in secret.” But in our passage, Paul was announcing his good work. He even went beyond simply telling his readers that he was struggling for them. He also told them how great the struggle was.

Why was that and why is it not a violation of Jesus’ charge?

Simply and encouragingly, Jesus’ prohibition was not against talking about our good works. It was about doing so for self-glory; for the...