Anti Fragile

Good morning. So a church. Good morning. So good to be with you guys. If you’re new here, my name is dan, I’m one of the elders, so glad you’re here. Hopefully we get to connect with you at some point. Um while you guys are here, we are going to continue in colossians. So go ahead and open your bibles to the letter to the colossians Church, we’re gonna be looking at chapter one, verses 24 through 29. While you’re turning there, I just kinda wanna help set up this morning’s teaching a bit. So, As you will see in a moment in verse 24, Paul will begin this passage. Speaking of his suffering for the Gospel and then he’s gonna end in verse 29 talking about his struggle to make mature disciples of Christ and in between that, we’re gonna see paul talking about what God is doing in the church, in the church like the colossians and what God is expecting of that church. And so through all of that, from beginning to end, paul suffering to take the Gospel to the unreached regions of the world, and paul suffering to make mature gospels, through all of that, paul is warning the Colossians Church to understand that God is after something in their lives through their church. And he wants to show them this through his own suffering through his own toiling for the gospel and all of this reminds me of an author named Nassim to lead. He is a Lebanese american author who wrote the book anti fragile. He wrote this book in 2012. His main point of the book is that in order for something to be considered anti fragile, it must not only be able to endure hardship and resistance, but it must benefit from all hardship and resistance. This idea of being anti fragile sounds a lot like what paul is describing in terms of his own life and what he is after in the life of the colosseum church. And so he uses his experience to talk about how the Gospel has produced this in his life. So today the title of the sermon is anti fragile. Again, that’s not just a resilience, that’s not just not breaking, but it’s improving and becoming stronger when faced with adversity. And my goal this morning is to help you see that suffering comes from True Gospel Ministry and True Gospel Ministry produces anti fragile christians. That’s my goal this morning. So let me pray for us and then we’ll read the passage Father in Heaven, thank you, thank you for your good promises. Thank you for your faithfulness. That reminds us that those promises are indeed going to be fulfilled in christ for us. Thank you Lord, thank you for the time this morning where we got to sing your praises. Thank you Lord for turning your gaze towards us right here in Lincoln Nebraska. And so our church, I thank you that this time is not insignificant to you. And so Father, would you during this time, would you exalt your son jesus christ through the ministry of this word, would you through this time by the power of your Holy Spirit? Help us to grasp what you want us to glean from this teaching. And would you use me a lowly servant? And most importantly, would you be pleased to have this worship gathering be associated with your name this morning? I pray this in jesus name amen beginning in verse 24. Or read the passage because now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body. That is the church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the Word of God fully known the mystery hidden for ages and generations. But now revealed to his saints to them, God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery which is christ in you the hope of glory him. We proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in christ for this. I toil struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Just that is the word of the Lord Very easily. I could have continued on into Chapter two. The thought. The sentiment certainly continues on into Chapter two. But we are going to address what is covered in Chapter two next week, But I want to draw your attention back to verse 24. In the beginning of that verse, Paul says, now, I rejoice in my sufferings. That’s really strange. What a strange thing to say. I don’t think I’ve ever said that in this life, that I am rejoicing at my sufferings. Seems like paul is saying something to the natural mind. That is very contradictory. It makes no sense. Why would you, why would you rejoice in suffering, paul? Why, that makes no sense. Are you a glutton for pain, paul? And are you insinuating by saying that you rejoice in your sufferings, that we too ought to be gluttons for pain and suffering? Well, I think it is true that he wants us to rejoice in our sufferings, but he wants us to rejoice in our sufferings because Gospel obedience is full of struggle and suffering. Gospel obedience is full of struggle and suffering. And so he says, I rejoice in my sufferings. He wrote this Something similar to this to the Roman church, and we see it in Romans 53, is that we rejoice in sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance. Okay, Paul believes we should rejoice in our sufferings, Then you’re telling us that Gospel obedience is full of struggle and suffering. So what if I don’t want to suffer. But I still don’t want to suffer, or if I still want to push back on that? Well, we’re not saying that you need to go out and say we’re suffering, let me go run after it, let me go chase it down. Let me go pursue it, man, I need some suffering in my life. That’s not what he’s saying. What he’s simply saying is that as we pursue True Gospel Ministry, we should expect that somehow suffering is going to follow it and somehow that this is the normal experience for christians in this life, traveling through this world as christ’s ambassadors that we will meet resistance, that there is darkness, Brokenness, there is an enemy that opposes the truth of God and that as we pursue christ, choosing to be faithful to him, we will encounter suffering along the way. And this is normal for the christian experience, Paul has said it here to the Colosseum Church, he has said it to the church in Rome. Then we see also in James Chapter one, the younger brother of Jesus says it this way, count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds. And then Peter, an apostle of jesus said it this way, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share christ suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed, Paul James Peter, they’re saying that True Gospel Ministry is somehow surrounded with somehow the byproduct of pursuing True Gospel Ministry comes with suffering, that there is a suffering that we may encounter. And then in Acts five, we see from this historical account, peter and john after they had been whipped beaten for preaching, jesus, their response says they left the presence of the council, that being the religious jewish council, they they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Wow! So, paul isn’t saying something crazy here when he says, I rejoice in my sufferings, but he is simply reminding the colosseum Church based on his own experience. And as we now have the benefit of the experience of the early Church throughout the bible that suffering follows through Gospel Ministry. But in the end of that sentence, he says, well, it’s a long run on sentence. But the second part of that phrase is that I suffer for your sake, wow, what does he mean there? I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, with no suffering follows True Gospel Ministry. But now he’s saying I do it for your sake. What you’re saying is, in his endeavor to take the Gospel to unreached regions of the world, to take the Gospel to places where christ isn’t preached, that he has encountered all manner of resistance and darkness and pain and struggle. And yet to see someone like you, colosseum Church, someone like you. So, were church responding to this gospel was enough for him? Do it again? He said again and again, that you might see the glory of christ. That you would respond to the glory of christ being preached and proclaimed. So paul is doing what Jesus said to do if we were to follow him to pick up our crosses and deny ourselves, we understand that God accomplished his purpose through the cross of the Lord jesus christ and that God will yet again and again accomplish all of his purposes through his people bearing their crosses. For the Lord jesus christ. So paul says, I do it for your sake. Gospel obedience is full of struggle, full of suffering. But I do it for your sake. Some people will shy back from teaching you the truth and they will say it is because of love. Paul is saying he’s not shying away from declaring truth hard truth. Truth. That may not be comfortable socially acceptable. He will teach them and he does it for your sake. That is love. Now, in the second part of verse 24, admittedly, this is one of the most difficult passages to understand in all the new testament paul says in my flesh. I’m filling up what is lacking in christ affliction for the sake of his body. That is the church. That’s difficult. What do you mean, Paul? I mean? We sing songs declaring that Jesus has paid at all. And yet paul is saying, I’m filling up what is lacking in christ’s body. What could he possibly mean, paul, are you saying Jesus didn’t pay at all? No, I don’t think that’s what paul is saying, That’s not what he’s saying. Paul believes that the Gospel who wanted Jesus commissioned his apostles to take to the ends of the earth, that that Gospel must be taken to the ends of the earth and that in taking it to the ends of the earth, that there again, there’s going to be resistance, there’s going to be adversity, there’s going to be suffering. But yet each time the church experiences this suffering, this resistance, it is made stronger. It advances the Gospel advances the gates of hell will not prevent it from going forward into the darkness and prevailing and he says, in that process, I am suffering because of Gospel obedience, because of Gospel ministry. And in the process, I’m filling up what is lacking, that means what he’s saying, the body of christ that is constantly being revealed as the kingdom expands. That’s how he’s filling up what is lacking. He believes the Church is much bigger than his current location. He believes that christ’s body is still growing in the earth and so he’s willing to suffer to see that become a reality. It reminds me of a quote from two trillion or he says, the blood of the martyrs became the seed bed for the church, the more Rome persecuted the Church, the more it grew the more it spread to the outermost parts of that empire Paul himself has said elsewhere in Acts 1422 says through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God. There’s a gospel obedience, there’s a gospel call. There’s a willing to suffer to see the kingdom expand. There’s a willingness to suffer to enter into the kingdom. So paul says he does it all for their sake. He’s willing to do it for their sake. He’s willing to do it because his faith is one in which he believes jesus has a church, jesus is gathering people, he’s gathering his church to himself and he’s willing to suffer to see that become a reality. I remember being a college student at K. U. in 2000 and one when terrorists crashed their planes into the World Trade Center. I remember walking out of my classroom and there was a tv. So when it put in the middle of campus and I saw the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center And I remember following that horrible time in our nation’s history that tragic time a lot of people were asking the question like what would compel those men to to do those things? Well they were deceived. They were pursuing a lie and they thought that in sacrificing themselves for that lie that they would somehow receive selfish rewards later in life. That’s not what paul is saying paul is saying for the truth. A truth. That isn’t taking the lives of innocent people, a truth that is sent to set people free from sin and darkness. A truth that restores people back to God. A truth that isn’t simply saying that hey, christ can’t be offered to everyone. There is a free offer of christ and paul’s gospel to everyone. He’s willing to die for that truth. And it’s so different. It’s a vast contrast between Christianity just about every other faith in this world. And it takes its rhythm. It takes its example, its pattern from the Savior who did the same thing. and Paula says in verse 25, he became a steward of this ministry. He became a steward christ and trusted him with this ministry. Christ had called him forward, set him apart for and that he became a steward ford of It says the truth that he’s been called to steward the Gospel Ministry, that he’s been called to steward. It is for you this for you Again, that’s very different from what men did in 2001, killing innocent lives. They didn’t do it for you. They did it for themselves, paul is saying he is willing to suffer for you. So he says in verse 26, this mystery hidden for the ages and generations. But now revealed to his saints. This mystery is a reference to the reality that christ is savior of gentiles as well as jews, That christ has a body of believers, that is comprised of both jew and gentile, he’s saying to the glossy in church that you are a witness and a testimony of this glorious mystery when you gather in his name and you worship him and you give your lives for him when you live for him, he says, I’m willing to struggle to die, to suffer to see this reality be made known throughout the world. He says that you, when you gather colossians, you show the unfolding of this mystery that’s been hidden. Christ is the Savior of the gentiles as well. Amazing that paul says that he’s willing to rejoice in suffering to see this truth be revealed. Gospel obedience is full of struggle. It’s full of struggle. Next point I want to make is the Gospel ministry though it comes with suffering. Christ is worth it. Christ is worth it Verse 27 he says to them, God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. And then the second part of that sentence which is christ in you the hope of glory. So we have him saying the riches of the glory and then we have the hope of the glory. I don’t wanna look at this. The term riches here. It’s a favorite term of paul that he uses quite a bit in his letter to the colossians and to the Ephesians, he uses it over seven times and referencing the blessings of God. If he’s just 3, 8, which by the way, if you’re not familiar with fusions and colossians, they’re like sister letters, right? Most of the letters that paul wrote were circular letters meaning when they were read in one church, they were expected to be, there were copies expected to be made of it and it was to be read in other places, other churches. And when you look at colossians and Ephesians, they are very much similar. He’s addressing some of the same things in region wise, they’re pretty close, they’re not that far away from each other. And yet he’s addressing some of the same things. And so he uses that term riches in reference to God’s blessings so many times in addressing both churches and so in Ephesians 3, 8 we see him addressing it and it helps us to see even clearly in this passage, his meaning of riches. And he says this to me though I am the very least of all the saints. This grace was given the stewardship right to preach to the gentiles. The unser chewable riches of christ christ is worth it. The riches of christ of knowing him of being with him and all of his benefits that are given to us in him, paul says, they are uncertain. Hable, you could spend all of eternity and still not reach the end of those riches that are found in him. Football says, this is why he says christ is worth it. This is why he says that when you gather you show to the world foretaste of those riches you get a sniff of it mm that smells good. That’s what your life is supposed to look like. That’s what this gathering is supposed to be about. The glory of God being revealed, put on display in his people. So he says the riches of the glory, speaking of the present reality christ on display in the colossians and then he says the hope of glory speaking of the future reality christ return and the confirmation of his kingdom. This is so awesome. When you think about that the present reality and the future reality is saying in christ God defines who we are and what we will become, he defines who we are and what we will become. And in this present reality christ being on display in you, unfolding this glorious mystery that he is Lord and savior of not just jews but gentiles as well and the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the wisdom of God all being shown through you and that’s just the beginning. The future reality is coming as well. First peter one says it this way, blessed be the God and father of our Lord, jesus christ 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, unf aiding kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, present and future reality. You know what’s so amazing about this? When you think about what paul is saying here in the midst of this gospel struggle saying that christ is worth it. The previous verses, Mike covered him last week. Pastor Mike covered him last week. So I won’t read them all to but versus 15 or 20 of Chapter one that was a him that the early church saying it was a song was a song that declared the supremacy of christ over all else in this world. Why? Because he made all things, he sustains all things, all things exist for him and by him, the one to whom all things belong. He gave himself for the church, you and I and through his death and resurrection, he conquers the grave, showing that he is stronger than our greatest enemy. Death. He is our king and our leader. He’s worth any amount of hardship or suffering we encounter in this life. So that’s why that passage versus 2015 through 20 became a hymn was a reminder of the supremacy of Christ. All else in life. The unser chewable richness riches that we’ve been given in him. Moving on. So gospel obedience comes with struggle, but christ is worth it. And if that’s not enough encouragement for you versus 28 and 29, tell us his power will sustain us, his power will sustain us. He begins verse 28 by saying that him we proclaim. Now that is the first of three verbs indicating teaching, proclaim warning, teaching him. We proclaim warning, everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we present, everyone mature in christ. This sounds a lot like his prayer in verse nine, where he says from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. He is praying this for them. He is toiling, struggling with the power and energy of christ to teach them these truths. Parallel passage to this again in Ephesians four verse 12 and 14 says this is the reason why God has given leadership to the church. This is the reason why God has given paul the stewardship, he says to equip the Saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of christ until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ so that we may no longer be Children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine that is teaching by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes, paul says to this, and he toils, he struggles to teach us to put our confidence in christ to grow up in christ in all regards. And he says that in this toiling he is relying on the spirit’s power, empowered preaching and teaching is what paul is saying, that that is his commitment. And he’s also saying by that that christians that are to live powered lives by the spirit of God. So he says, these toils and struggles on behalf of the church, you know, the greek verb, translated his toil, it’s used to describe one who works to exhaustion, never worked so hard as soon as the work was done, you could do nothing else but fall down and sleep, lay down and rest, work that hard, putting up a fence this week. I know the feeling boy did. I sleep well last couple of nights, but actually here paul, what he’s using by way of illustration actually, it points more to an athletic image, one of a runner, a marathon runner straining with every muscle to reach the finish line. An athletic runner. Marathon runners training, resisting every temptation to give up along the way, resisting every temptation to give in to the thought that this is this isn’t worth it. Yet, fixing his gaze upon the prize and straining forward to get to the end of his race. He says, I’m toiling in that way to make mature disciples uncoiling that way in true gospel ministry and during struggle to make mature disciples who will become anti fragile christians. This reminds me of first Corinthians nine, where he says, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize so run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we an imperishable, so I do not run aimlessly. I do not boxes one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control less after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified, wow! Imagine paul from his prison cell awaiting his future fate. Whether or not he might be put to death, and eventually he was put to death by the roman emperor beheaded, reflecting on all of the scars that he bear on his back, being stoned several times. Going to shipwrecks, looking outside of his home confinement, as he’s writing this letter, watching runners run, they run for an imperishable. They run for a perishable wreath. But what we’re twirling for what we’re willing to suffer for its imperishable christ is worth it. And you know what his strength his power will sustain us in this race, wow, paul relies on the power of God to energize him to fulfill the call of God on his life and we must do the same. The Holy Spirit is able to empower you in the midst of suffering, to sustain you to comfort you, they also make you stronger as a result of it. Your faith made stronger. Your faith as Peter says though it be tested by fire comes out as pure gold. It has benefited from the testing, it has become stronger as a result of the testing and you didn’t perish in the fire because his spirit empowered you. True Gospel Ministry comes with suffering and True Gospel Ministry produces anti fragile christians. So the question we must ask ourselves in closing is what causes us, what causes us as the people of God with this gospel and a kingdom that which cannot be shaken, that is ours. What causes us to live in this life as fragile christians? What causes us to live is fragile christians in the face of adversity or when we encounter resistance from the world, I think if we look at the passage, there are some basic spiritual checkups, we ought to consider first our view of christ and his Gospel, is it a Biblical view of christ? Is it a Biblical gospel? Or is it more a sentimental gospel? One centered around how I feel, what makes me feel good? What makes me feel like I’m doing something right? How I feel. That’s a sentimental gospel. And when you no longer feel like it, you abandoned that gospel, making it temporal, but this biblical gospel, this biblical view of christ, it makes your anti fragile and it keeps you on mission, You know that your suffering isn’t in vain. You know that christ is worth it. You know that his power will sustain you. You know that your God rules and reigns and that he will have the victory and the glory secondly, your commitment to sound teaching and doctrine. Chapter Two of Colossians, we are going to look at some of the false teaching that was weakening the church in colossi and this is the same thing today in our country, in this world. There is a lot of crap junk food spirituality that weakens us, that makes us fragile. We can’t handle offense, we can’t handle something that doesn’t quite make us feel good that yet is true and biblical, we can’t handle that because we’re so used to smooth junk food Christianity, parents know this and those of you probably familiar with your parents telling you this as a kid, you can’t eat that all the time. That’s bad for you. That’s what junk food is. It’s bad for you. And there’s a junk food Christianity that strays from sound teaching and doctrine and it weakens your faith and you cannot handle adversity. You cannot handle a truth that crosses your will, paul says him, we proclaim warning everyone do I need to say this, do I need to spell it out for you when he says warning everyone, he’s not going into the shallow side of Christianity when he says warning everyone, he’s going into some of this stuff that gets down to the nitty gritty to the God’s way or the world’s way God’s way or your way. He says, I’m warning you, are we gonna be biblical or we’re gonna be cultural christians. Sound teaching and doctrine. Number three it says our identity as christians. Again, all of these are kind of layered together. But I kind of want to show you a little bit more as we unpack them, especially as we think about our identity. As christians will we be shaped more by a commitment to this word, hearing it preached, reading it, praying it trying to live according to it, trusting the power of God to help us to obey it or will we live according to the experts or what’s popular? What’s socially acceptable? Even if it is in direct contrast to clear teaching in scripture, that will make you a fragile christian. That will make you give up as soon as there is some kind of resistance, as soon as there is suffering, you will abandon it. 4thly, our struggle against sin and the draw of this world is this power at work in you? What do I mean? The the question isn’t so much, are you perfect? Are you without sin? No, that’s not the question the question is are you fighting against? Are you resisting sin? Are you trying to put to death the desires of the flesh so that you might please your Lord relations five lays out what those desires of the flesh, what those works of the flesh look like. If you’re unfamiliar with that, you can write that down in your notes or type it into your phone. These are the things I need to be fighting against in my life or you simply just laying down and taking it and just kind of embracing it and this is who I am. This, this is you know God still loves me. This passage this morning says that we are to be brought to maturity in christ. And that kind of speech where you lay down when you stop fighting, When you stop resisting christ, that’s not pursuing maturity in christ, you may need to make some adjustments in your life. You may need to unplug from some things you may need greater accountability. You may need to go to some people and say hey man I’ve been selfish and I’m sorry I need to repent to you first to God and into you whatever the case may be, but you need to struggle against sin and the draw of this world. So when you think about those questions which are these areas, are you currently encountering the most difficulty or struggle or resistance in terms of your calling to live for jesus christ? Are you find yourself wrestling with man? I wanna love jesus but they talk about jesus differently in the world and they have a different expectation on me as a christian in this world, where do I go, how do I land on the side of these two issues here? Well the bible, the word of God, maybe you’re someone that says man, you know, Astrid damn preaches very long sermons and I don’t like it kind of like it when he tells a few jokes, how do you expect to mature in christ paul says he is twirling to teach it, he’s struggling to make it known. What’s our response? I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be fine, just not doing anything. I’m just a passive christian who just you know whatever, whatever you know right? No, you need to toil in this, you need to pick up your cross and you need to toil. And in your struggle, you’re gonna find his power working in you and you’re gonna find that you are far more anti fragile than you ever expected yourself to be. Because of his power at work in you. So let me pray for us, father in heaven, Hollowed be your name? Holy revered, Exalted, be your name and may it be that way in our hearts and in our living and may that be always the desire of our being. So what do we know that in this world, Jesus said, we will have tribulation, but you give us peace, not as the world gives it, you give us a peace that surpasses all understanding you make us more than conquerors in him, You have given us your spirit. And if the same spirit that raised jesus from the dead is in us, how much more will you give life to us? God? That is the reality. As you see it, May it become ours. May it become ours today tomorrow morning and for the rest of our lives, no matter how we feel, no matter what we’re tempted with, May this be our reality, what you have promised, what you have done and what you call us to. I mean, we’d be anti fragile because of it. We pray this in jesus name. Amen.