Colossians 3:18 – 4:1 (NRSV) Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, 24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality. 4:1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
If you look at the topics discussed in this section of Colossians, you will notice that there are three main areas of discussion: husbands and wives, parents and children, slaves and masters. You will also notice very quickly that the section on slaves and masters takes up the most of the material.
Paul recognizes that the Christian faith has its most immediate impact in the daily events of our lives. These lives involve marriages, parenting, and work. Obviously we do not live in a society where slaves are the possession of their masters, nor are wives possessions of their husbands. But Paul certainly gives us advice about how to interact in these three most important areas of our life.
Family Matters! Family Matters! Family is important and our interaction is the chief place in which we are going to see both our own selfishness and our own sin, and the possibility that God can work to help us love and care for one another. You have probably heard me mention that if I do a wedding at Emmaus I ask the couple to be married to participate in the Life with God class. This is not only so that they can see eye-to-eye and have a common view about the Christian faith, but also because marriage is healthy when it is lived out by the forgiveness that Christ has given us. If either of the partners in marriage are harsh toward one another, demanding that life be lived up to a level of perfection and that all needs must be met, certainly there will be grief and anguish. We live by forgiveness. We live by love.
In our relationship with parents and children, notice that children are called to live out their new life by recognizing the love their parents have for them and that they must say no at times as well as yes. But fathers are also admonished to be gentle with their children, just as the husbands are admonished to love their wives and not treat them harshly.
Finally, even in our work life, we are reminded that we work as to the Lord and not just to please the boss. We are given the opportunity, though often in difficult circumstances, to serve our Lord by using our gifts. May God give us His grace and mercy as we live out these important relationships, one with another.
Pastor Tom Trapp, Mission Pastor
Walking the Emmaus Road with the Risen Lord
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XVII, Number 2, September 2015)