The Joy of Glory

Philemon (click here)
I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints…

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.

I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother… (Philemon 4-5, 10, 12, and 15-16a)

Reflection
Philemon’s love for the Lord Jesus overflowed in love for all the saints… and now it is about to break bonds with brotherhood.

Onesimus was a bondservant of Philemon’s and for one reason or another he had run away and found Paul. While spending time with the apostle, he became a believer in the Lord and now the time has come for Paul to send him back. Why?

Is Paul sending Onesimus back into the bonds of slavery? Does Paul not love Onesimus? Is Paul just conforming to the culture of his day instead of countering it with the Gospel?

In short… no.

It is because of the Gospel that Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon… it is for the very purpose of putting the power of the Gospel on display! By sending Onesimus back, the bonds of slavery will not merely be escaped, but broken! It is Paul’s love for Onesimus, Philemon, their church in Colossae, and the Gospel that compels him to take such action! Paul is not conforming to the culture around him, but putting on display how the Gospel transforms the culture!

Philemon, whose love overflows to ALL the saints, will have love overflowing to this new saint… Onesimus! He will receive him back no longer as a bondservant, but as a brother!

Philemon will sacrifice his “economic rights,” he will sacrifice his “social position,” he will sacrifice his “normal” way of life to embrace his new brother in Christ! He and all of Colossae will put on display the very love of Jesus as they count a slave as their brother! The old Christmas song couldn’t be more true when it declares of Christ, “Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother!”

That truth of the Gospel can only be put on display if Onesimus returns to Philemon and the Colossian church. Paul sends Onesimus back so that Philemon and this church might experience the joy of being a cruciform community.

Who has God sent back into your life? Is there anyone with whom there has previously been a difficult relationship… perhaps even one in which they wronged you… or maybe one in which you wronged them? Yet, they are a brother and sister in the Lord and now your paths are crossing again.

Why would God have them come back into your world? Does God not love you? Oh nothing could be further from the truth! Perhaps this is the very love of God on display for you as you have the opportunity to experience the joy of being a cruciform community.

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

2 Timothy 1:1-2:2 (click here)
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God…

…what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 1:5, 8 and 2:2)

Reflection
Who shared the Gospel with you? A relative? A friend? A co-worker? A stranger?

The point is not really who it was, but that it was a “who.” In other words, somebody shared the Gospel with you. That’s how it works in this community called the Church. God works through the community to grow the community (Acts 2:42-47).

Young Timothy’s grandmother passed the faith to Timothy’s mother and it was passed on to him. Thus, his heart was prepared to hear the Gospel when Paul first shared it with him. In view of such a history of faithfulness, Paul calls Timothy to likewise not be ashamed of the Gospel, but to pass it on!

What he’s heard he is to speak so that others may hear and be equipped to speak.

The fact that you are a Christian means that you have heard the Gospel from someone. Therefore, in light of that faithfulness God calls you to likewise not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord! He calls you to speak the Gospel just as it was spoken to you.

Take what was entrusted to you and entrust it to others.

We can all likely name the person or persons who shared the Gospel with us, but can we name the people we are sharing the Gospel with now? I’m not just talking about evangelism with non-believers (though that is included), but also discipling younger believers so that they will be able to speak the faith to others.

Who are you discipling?

This is not about guilt… oh no! Guilt is not the motivating factor Paul uses with Timothy and it is not the motivating factor I want for us! Paul aims to motivate Timothy by telling him that God will provide all the power he needs to make disciples. If Timothy should remain silent, he will miss out on an incredible experience of the power of God that results in his own joy! Paul is motivating Timothy with joy… and I aim to do the same!

There is a joy in not just knowing Jesus, but making him known. Don’t miss out on the joy of sacrificing yourself, your desires, your reputation, your time, etc. to make Christ known.

I’m not trying to guilt you into this, but to joy you into it!

Don’t miss out on the joy of God working through the community to grow the community… the joy of us sacrificing ourselves for the next generation of Christians… the joy of being a cruciform community.

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Colossians 3 (click here)
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:9-11)

Reflection
Have you ever been guilty of thinking that you are better than someone else? I think all of us have done that before… whether we would admit it or not. There is something in our sin-soaked hearts that immediately likes to size people up and tear them down to ensure that we outrank them.

The ancient world was no different.

In Colossae, people considered certain ethnic backgrounds superior to others… Jews boasted in their closeness to God through observing the law… others saw their freedom as proof that they were better than all who belonged to that powerless class known as “slaves.”

This was a culture in which you leveraged every possible advantage you could to get ahead… doesn’t really sound too unfamiliar does it?

Apparently, Christians in Colossae were having a tough time leaving this mindset behind and so Paul reminds them that this is simply not who they are anymore. The primarily thing that defines their identity is not race or social class, but Christ!

They’ve become part of a new community and they are being renewed, recreated into the image of Jesus! It’s not that all their differences disappear, but in Christ their differences are not advantages or disadvantages, but simply a multi-faceted display of the glory of God as he unites all sorts of people into one people… his people!

Christ is all, and in all!

Therefore, they are to no longer lie to one another, use one another, take advantage of one another in order to elevate themselves. No… now they look to Christ who did not even use his deity for his own advantage, but humbled himself to the point of death on a cross for God’s glory and the good of the Church.

That Christ is our all! That Christ is in us all! That Christ empowers us to be a cruciform community… a people who no longer try to use our differences as advantages, but as ways to serve each other. We humble ourselves for the glory of God and the good of the church… and in doing so, we are being formed into the very image of Christ… we are being a cruciform community.

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.