01.11.09 - Talking To God And Others

READ Colossians 4:2-6

It seems Paul is wrapping things up. There’s a few final instructions and some greetings and that’s it.

So, devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. It might be brief but that doesn’t make it any less important or any less a command from God.

Mention prayer and some of us possibly feel virtuous and some of us maybe feel guilty. Prayer does seem to be something that many of us struggle with. Best intentions fizzle out quickly. Prayer meetings are often the worst attended meetings in a church, sometimes starting with enthusiasm but soon dwindle.

What is translated here as “devote yourselves” literally means “persevere”. Persevere in prayer. That is pertinent because we do tend to give up easily. Jesus talked about persevering in prayer. He told a story about a widow who kept pestering a judge until she got mercy – Luke 18:1-8. That story is introduced like this: “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Often with parables we have to figure out the meaning ourselves but here it is explicitly stated. It is clear that Jesus was concerned that His followers pray and not give up. Giving up is a perennial problem when it comes to prayer. I guess Jesus knew that that would be the case.

After the parable He said, “Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”

God will answer. It is not that God is reluctant. He isn’t, but sometimes we have to persevere in prayer. The exciting thing is that God does answer.

Sometimes I pray and God answers and I am surprised and delighted! Then I think, “Hey! I should pray more often! Look what happens when you do!” Or, “I should be specific in my prayers more often.”

I was really encouraged last Sunday night out at Camp Columba to hear the testimonies of some of the young people. Christine Harrington whose family is in Cromwell now but who grew up as a missionary kid in Africa told of an incident when she and her siblings had been sheltering under a tree during a storm when their mother called them inside. They were 3 or 4 metres from the tree when it was hit by lightning. They were all thrown to the ground but a cow, two donkeys and four sheep (or something. I can’t remember the details) were all killed just metres away from them.
Some considerable time later they were talking about this in Australia, I think, and a woman asked exactly when it had happened. She had her prayer journal with her and when they worked out the time differences and so on they discovered that God had prompted her to pray for the Harrington children at precisely that time.

Sometimes prayers are answered straight away. But sometimes it is those who persevere who see the answers. And those who give up too soon don’t see the results they otherwise would.

When Jesus said “Ask and you will receive” the grammar shows that it means “ask and keep on asking, knock and keep on knocking... and you will receive.” Devote yourselves to prayer or persevere in prayer.

“Be watchful and thankful.” “Watchful” means “stay awake”. Now some of us might know that problem with prayer too. We intend to pray but we find we’ve fallen asleep! Jesus said to the disciples, in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41) Remaining alert. It is as if Jesus says, “Pray with your eyes open. Be alert to what is happening. Be alert to Satan’s temptations. Be fully engaged when you pray, not half asleep.”

And pray with thanksgiving. We should pray, aware of God’s goodness in the past. Giving thanks for past answers encourages us to keep on praying.

Then Paul says, “Actually, could you please pray for us too?” Paul is in prison. He says he is in chains for the sake of Jesus. What does he ask them to pray for? Open doors!

But it is not open doors for himself but open doors for the message of the gospel. Paul doesn’t ask for prayers for himself – although he must have had many personal needs. He asks for prayer for his work: that he might have opportunities to proclaim Jesus; that he might be clear and that he might speak as he should. He wants God-given opportunities. He prays for skill: the ability to be clear. Many a great message has been lost because it was conveyed in a confusing way. Paul doesn’t want the gospel lost for lack of clarity. He prays for guidance that he might speak as he should – might say the right things at the right time for the right reasons. Holy Spirit guided proclamation of Jesus.

We have Andrew Kubala coming in a couple of weeks. Let’s pray for him just like that: for opportunities, for skill to be clear, for guidance in what he should say and how he should say it.

Should we all ask our friends to pray that we might have opportunities to speak about Jesus; that we might do it clearly; that we might be guided by the Holy Spirit so as to speak as we should?

Or maybe we find that quite intimidating and actually guilt-inducing because if prayer is an area of failure, so is evangelism. I want to offer maybe some relief for those of us who now feel inadequate.

Paul had been commissioned as a missionary. That prayer was for him. But then he moves from his own ministry to everybody’s. How should we act towards outsiders? Paul has talked about living a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him and what that means within the church, in our homes and work places. Here he turns to our relationships with those outside the church.

The overarching command is “be wise in the way you act towards outsiders”. Let’s pause there for a minute. Be wise. We will never be wise without doing all we can to learn: reading, thinking, observing others, learning from our own experiences – especially our own failures and doing all of that in the light of what the Bible says. In other words, our relationships with outsiders should be something we see as sufficiently important that we think it through carefully. You should be able to ask me my philosophy on how to act towards non-Christians and I should be able to tell you.

It wouldn’t be a bad thing for each of us to spend some time nutting out our own understanding of how Christians should interact with non-Christians. In fact, small groups could do that helping each other to know what wisdom the Bible does give.

Expanding on how to be wise, Paul says, “Make the most of every opportunity.” Literally it means “redeem, or buy, every opportunity.” Grab every opportunity. If there is an opportunity, don’t waste it; buy it; grab it. Make the most of it.”

Opportunities for what? We immediately think perhaps that these are opportunities to speak about Jesus but it might be opportunities to encourage; opportunities to meet a need; opportunities to listen; opportunities to build a friendship; to give some advice. Be wise with that one. Is advice wanted? If it is, then good advice might be powerful. It might be grabbing opportunities to pray with someone or to invite them for a meal or to make a phone call. It could be anything. There are endless opportunities.

Grabbing every opportunity means that we are intentional. We look for opportunities and we pray for opportunities and when they crop up, we notice them and grab them. God will provide opportunities. Maybe we should pray that our eyes will be open to them.

Halloween is an opportunity. It is an opportunity for us to provide an alternative that is much healthier. It is an opportunity to give something for nothing and blow people away with generosity. It is an opportunity to build into the lives of children and families. It is an opportunity to meet people and show some friendship.

And so we have Angels and Heroes. We have a team of people who are keen to grab the Halloween opportunity and they put in a power of work. We had hundreds of people in here yesterday enjoying the activities Calvin people organised. And we had about 94 Calvin people (including a few ring-ins) here serving and just mixing and making conversation.

But maybe we could have had more. If all of us were looking to make the most of every opportunity, here was an opportunity on a plate. In the next little while we will have Andrew Kubala, Exo Day (now called Elevate) and Christmas. Besides individually praying for, and looking for, opportunities each day, the church provides opportunities to interact with outsiders. God says, “Make the most of every opportunity.”

Note the balance there. God requires zeal (“make the most of every opportunity”) and tact (“be wise”).

Let your conversation be full of grace. In other words: be nice. Christians should be known as the most courteous and affirming of people. People should go away thinking what a pleasure it was to have had a conversation with us. Our conversations should be characterised by positivity and warmth. Some Christians seem to think that God wants them to attack people. No, God’s way is the way of gentleness and encouragement. In particular, we might think of graciousness as reflecting the grace of God – especially the willingness to forgive. Our attitude should be one of forgiveness not condemnation. We should be just thoroughly nice people – people with whom it is a blessing to chat.

But consistent niceness might also make us very bland and insipid, so again there is a right balance. We are to be full of grace that is seasoned with salt. FULL of grace but with a seasoning of salt. In Paul’s day, in a context like this, salt meant wit or humour. That is probably not what is intended here although humour is a great thing and might help overcome what William Barclay calls Christians’ “sanctimonious dullness”. Maybe the salt adds interest to what would otherwise be bland. How do we be interesting, not boring? How do we get people’s attention? How can we hold that attention? These are things we should all know. We should be expert communicators. Paul says here that we should know how to answer. Our conversations should be seasoned with salt.

But I think the passage is saying more than humour. I think it is saying that there should be a little bit of tang in what we say. There should be a little bit of wisdom or purpose or intentionality. Maybe just a little bit of truth or challenge. Not too much. Notice that our conversations should be full of grace but seasoned with salt; overwhelmingly gracious but with a tang of truth. We should want more than just small talk.

So that we may know how to answer everyone. Paul was a missionary. He was expected to go out and make opportunities. But maybe, for most of us, we are to be ready to take opportunities. Paul asked for prayer that he might proclaim Jesus as he should. Most of us are to know how to answer. In other words, maybe we shouldn’t panic too much about making opportunities. Many of us feel pressured to somehow bring Jesus into our conversations. And sometimes it does harm when sincere Christians feel compelled to preach or testify even when the moment is not right. It goes down like a lead balloon and sincere Christians become discouraged from any further witnessing.
Maybe the better approach is not to try too hard to create opportunities but to live a lifestyle that is attractive and then to be ready to answer when we are asked questions. Live in such a God-honouring, people-honouring way that it raises questions, then be ready to answer those questions in ways that are gracious but also seasoned with salt.
1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

I want to release you from the expectation that you will somehow get Jesus into every conversation. But I want to charge you with devoting yourself to prayer; being wise in the way you act towards non-Christians which means making the most of every opportunity and speaking in a way that is full of grace but seasoned with salt so that, when opportunities do arise, you know how to answer and we are faithful witnesses to Jesus.