The Freedom From Empire (Colossians 1:9-12)

At the risk of over-patternizing the Bible, I am going to create a flow of thought Paul seems to have at the beginning of the book of Colossians:

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s^* will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled^* you^* to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins¹⁴. -Colossians 1:9-12¹⁰¹¹¹²

1. Prayer: Paul begins by praying for the Colossian church “without ceasing.”
2. Filling: The church should be filled with those people who understand “God’s will,” with the motive clause so that we can live lives “worthy of the Lord.” Notice the connection between knowledge and action.  The primary reason for knowing is to act out on that knowledge in the very sphere of our lives.  The filling should lead to doing.
3. Strength: After the filling should come strength which we receive from the Lord, but notice again the motive clause: so that we may endure.

Notes on God’s Will
Readers of the text may need to move away from the idea that knowing God’s will means knowing all the right answers or having all the right “stuff” as a Christian. Wes wrote yesterday on the dangers of trying to act like we know everything. Understanding the will of God is rather like a child bowling. His form will be imperfect, he will throw a lot of gutterballs, and he will improve with time. Learning the techniques needed will take years for a child simply because they grow in strength as they grow in age and they grow in skill as their motor skills improve.

There are so many books out there on deciphering God’s will that it almost makes it seem like a formula, but there is no formula because God is not a Coke machine where you put in the right stuff and a coke comes down the tubes for us to drink. It is something that really only comes with age and experience. This is the importance of an inter-generational church and having contact outside of age-specific church events.

The Hebrew Conception of Knowledge
I wrote quite an extensive paper for my undergrad Senior Seminar paper on the connection between knowledge and action (and how this is often absent in the educational sphere).  It is difficult in a western context to understand the importance of “living out” our knowledge.  We tend to hide in ivory towers, but the call to serve the poor is not something to just be opined on Sunday mornings, it is something that takes place within the context of the least of these (where we join in and find our identity with them).

Strength of the Lord
At the time a book like Colossians was written it is important to understand the idea of “strength” as a kind of strength in opposition to empire (specifically in this sense the Roman Empire). The kind of strength he is talking about is an enduring strength in order to “endure with patience” until Jesus brings the end of oppressive empire.  The strength we find in Colossians then is a kind of paradoxically strength that actually pulls against the strength of Empire.  Christians are called to reject, in every sense, the Empire and its pull towards worship of making the Empire bigger and stronger.  It is not an easy battle.

Thus, in coordination with this strength, which will surely take up all our energies, we are called to the joy of the Lord.  The joy which comes from the transference from a kingdom of darkness and oppression, to one of light and freedom.  No longer do we have to worry about making sure we are in all the “right” social circles, but we are called to be free among the least of these (indeed, it is nothing less than becoming the least of these, as the rich young ruler refused to do).  It is in this new kingdom, when we have bodily died as Jesus died, and we are raised again into a new life with a new lifeforce of the spirit, that we are truly “redeemed” and forgiven.  For the old has past away, all things have become new.