Dissident disciples…

Colossians 1:1-14

At the height of the Cold War, when two superpowers faced off against each other, a small group of people arose in the Soviet Union who said ‘enough is enough’. People like the physicist Andre Sakharov and especially the author Alexandr Solzhenitsyn became known as dissidents, standing against both the Soviet and US empires in the name of an alternative story, a different way of seeing the world. Paul too offered a fresh reading of the world, a different story about the use of power and how a good world is created, a story rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures as fulfilled in Jesus. And in this letter, he lays out that the Christian’s calling is to live as dissident disciples in the face of alternative claims.

1) Faint blip

Colossae was something of a nothing place; it gave its name to wool colour but is remembered for very little else! It was almost destroyed by an earthquake around 62-64AD – about four years after this letter was written – and no one bothered to rebuild it. But the city and its people came and went in a world very like ours:

i) single superpower: Rome dominated; Caesar was god, all powerful; legions were undefeated and held sway over pretty much the whole known world.

ii) supermarket of religions – the Imperial cult was very popular in Anatolia (the region Colossae was in) – mystery religions were rife; there were lots of Jewish communities in the area; and stoic, epicurean and platonic philosophies were popular for those who felt gods were bit passé.

iii) social division – the gap between rich and poor was huge. A tiny minority enjoyed fabulous wealth, but most were barely able to make ends meet. All the Roman achievements – good roads, seas free of pirates, efficient administration, lavish art and architecture – were all to ensure that Rome’s elite was supplied with all it needed to maintain its position.

iv) sacred/secular divide: pagan religion was a cultic activity not lifestyle. What you did/believed/practiced in private was your own affair. Only real public religion through the empire was the emperor cult – & all were expected to join in its public rituals at least once year.

2) fruitful living

The point of the empire was to ensure the good life for those who ran it. The term used in the literature was ‘fruitfulness’ and the claim was that fruitfulness, prosperity and even fertility was due to the beneficent reign of Caesar.

Writing to this tiny group in Colossae – maybe 50 people in total – Paul twice uses the term ‘fruit’ (6, 10). And he stresses that they are not alone in being fruitful because of their trust in the good news about Jesus. All over the world – that is, all around the empire – there were similar small communities of people whose lives were being shaped by the gospel of Christ (6; 3:11). These communities lived in a way different from their neighbours; indeed so radical was the difference that Paul terms it as a contrast between night & day (12-13). Let’s see how Paul makes his case:

i) truth: the empire taught that peace and prosperity (fruitfulness) came through Caesar. Paul disagrees: the truth about how the world works, who God is and what our destiny is (hope 5, 12) – all these are found in the gospel: 12-14. Through the gospel, people become part of a new community, a new Kingdom where we share the inheritance of all God’s people. The imperial echoes of this language are inescapable. And membership of this Kingdom means that we enjoy redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

The Colossians learned all this from Epaphras (7) not Paul. Epaphras was probably a member of Paul’s team sent inland during the apostle’s long stay in Ephesus (on the coast about 100 miles East of Colossae). Paul didn’t mind who people learned the gospel from – his passion was to ensure that people have learned it: so have we?

ii) trust: for Paul the fruit picture also comes from the Old Testament and especially Isaiah 5:1-7; 58 especially v10-12: these good things happen, God’s people are fruitful when they believe what he says and do it: hence Paul’s stress on ‘faith’ (4, 5) that leads to endurance and patience (11) and brings God’s power that enables us to be fruitful into our lives (11).

iii) together: we can only be fruitful in a community committed to living in a different way from the surrounding culture. It is always essential to remember that Paul wrote to groups not individuals; all the verbs are plural here. This is why Paul talks about ‘love’ (4, 5) and the ‘good works’ (10) which are the fruit of our faith. In many ways this is Jeremiah 29:7 in action, a text that urges God’s people in exile, in difficult conditions to live lives that bless those around them and show their captors and enemies that there is a different way of achieving peace and prosperity.

It’s interesting to note here that it’s as we do good works to and among one another and in the wider world that we get to know God better (10): he meets and blesses us as we get stuck into the business of living the fruitful life we’re called to.

This is our call: to be dissident disciples – like Solzhenitsyn; modelling the life of God – as we’re remade in its image (3:11) – to the surrounding empire: are we up for this? We’ll learn how as we read this letter…

If you want to get further into the message of Colossians, here are a couple of books that you’ll find helpful:

Brian J Walsh and Sylvia C Keesmaat Colossians Remixed: subverting the empire (IVP 2004)

Clinton E Arnold, Frank S Thielman and S M Baugh Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Zondervan 2002)

Tom Wright Paul for Everyone: the prison letters – Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon (SPCK 2002)