The Team

Three weeks ago, we finished looking at Colossians. Today we will really finish looking at Colossians. We didn’t give any attention to the last 12 verses, which might not sound very inspiring because they are essentially people sending greetings to each other. However, maybe there is more to it.

READ Colossians 4:7-18 (stop on slide with vv.16-18)

Paul named 11 people. We might not be at all familiar with most of them. We do know Mark, Luke, Barnabas, maybe Onesimus, but who are the others? We are going to have to do a little detective work. We will have to track down clues and join the dots. And what did Paul say about them?

Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus (also called Justus), Epaphras, Luke, and Demas were with Paul (probably while Paul was in prison in Rome, later in his life). They sent greetings. Nympha and Archippus were in Colossae and were specifically greeted. Barnabas was mentioned only as the cousin of Mark.

The Bible also contains a letter from Paul to Philemon. Philemon lived in Colossae. Note the people who sent greetings to Philemon: Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke! That letter to Philemon was about Onesimus. It is almost exactly the same list. That suggests that these two letters were written about the same time – when that particular group of people was with Paul.

Colossae and Ephesus were both in what is now Turkey, not too far from each other. Paul wrote similar letters to both places – lots of the same topics and similar thoughts. For example…

Colossians 4:7-9

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

Ephesians 6:21-22

So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.

It seems that Tychicus was to deliver both letters as well as encourage the recipients with news about Paul and the spread of the gospel. Onesimus would be travelling with Tychicus, and Onesimus was described as “one of you” that is, a Colossian. Let’s join the dots. Possibly, Tychicus and Onesimus had been sent from Rome carrying all three letters - the letter to Philemon (in Colossae), the letter to the Colossians and the letter to the Ephesians. And Onesimus was being returned to Philemon.

In 2 Timothy 4:12, Paul said that he had sent Tychicus to Ephesus. That would make sense. In Titus 3:12, Paul said that he planned to send Tychicus to Titus in Crete. It seems that Tychicus was like Paul’s postman, an envoy sent to carry letters and carry news to churches in scattered places.

More importantly, what did Paul say about Tychicus? He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord (Col 4:7). Paul’s comments reveal what he saw as important.

Let’s consider five phrases in that sentence.

• Brother. Tychicus was not Paul’s natural brother. He was a spiritual brother. Tychicus was a believer, a follower of Jesus. That was important.

• A dear brother. Clearly Paul loved and valued Tychicus.

• A minister and servant. The two words used there mean a servant and slave. I do not know why Paul used two different words that mean essentially the same thing but clearly he valued the fact the Tychicus was not just a believer but had given himself to serving Jesus and serving Jesus’ church. Everything we know about Tychicus says that he was a tireless servant of the gospel.

• But notice the words used alongside minister and servant: faithful and fellow. A faithful minister and a fellow servant.

  • • Faithful means trustworthy. He will do what he has been asked to do. He can be relied upon. He will do it!

    • Fellow implies Paul and Tychicus were partners. Paul greatly valued companions and teamwork. He cherished those relationship and those people. The fact that he mentioned 11 people shows how important the team was to him. Paul was not a one-man band. He brought lots of people onto the team and he truly appreciated those people.

      • • • In vv.10, 11, Paul listed Aristarchus, Mark, and Justus, and said, “These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.” He calls them fellow workers just as he called Tychicus a fellow servant. There is some sadness in the comment that those three were the only Jews who were fellow workers, but, they had proved a comfort to him. They ministered alongside Paul but they also ministered to Paul and Paul needed them.

          • Just out of interest, Acts 20:4 says that Tychicus was an Asian. He was not a Jew; he was from Asia Minor, modern Turkey.

• The fifth phrase Paul used of Tychicus was “in the Lord”. Tychicus was a dear brother, faithful minister, fellow servant in the Lord. It was as a Christian and as someone who was now in Christ.

So, that is Tychicus and a glimpse into Paul’s priorities. Let’s move to Aristarchus. Aristarchus is mentioned in four other places plus this one. In other words, we run across him quite frequently. Who can remember anything about him?

Acts 27:2 says that Aristarchus was a Macedonian from Thessalonica. Macedonia was the province (part of Greece); Thessalonica was the city. He had been with Paul when the residents of Ephesus rioted and dragged them off to the theatre and had sailed with Paul when he had been shipped to Rome to stand trial. Paul made no comment about him in these verses except to say that he was a fellow prisoner. Even that tells us quite a lot, doesn’t it? Aristarchus had not abandoned Paul and was willing to suffer for his faith.

Contrast that with Demas. All Paul said here was that Demas sent his greetings. But if we look in 2 Timothy 4:10, we see that Demas fell in love with this world and deserted Paul. Tychicus was described as faithful. Onesimus was described as faithful. Epaphras, earlier in the letter, had been described as faithful. Jesus said that those who endure to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13). But some people turn back or fall away. Demas had fallen in love with this world. He put greater value on possessions than he did on his own salvation, or he considered popularity or enjoyment to be more important than Jesus.

All of these little comments that Paul made tell us quite a lot about what God considers important. God values faithfulness and perseverance – finishing the race, putting Jesus above everything else. God values it; our salvation depends on it. If Paul was summing us up in one sentence, what would he say about us? Would it be our faithfulness?

Epaphras had been mentioned already, in chapter 1:7 of this letter. The Colossians had heard the gospel from Epaphras. You might remember that Paul had not started the church in Colossae; he hadn’t even visited the Colossians. Epaphras, who was a Colossian himself, must have been converted, maybe by Paul somewhere else, and had returned to his hometown to share it with his own people. He had then reported to Paul how the church as going. 1:8 says that he “also told us of your love in the Spirit”. In chapter 1, Paul had described Epaphras as “our dear fellow servant” and “a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf”. In chapter 4 Paul calls him “a servant of Jesus Christ”, but he gives more information. Epaphras was always wrestling in prayer for the Colossians. That is faithfulness. I wonder how many relatively unknown people have changed the course of history because they have been pray-ers, they have wrestled in prayer. I wonder how many high-profile ministries have been successful not because of the famous person but because of the person behind the scenes praying. That was Epaphras and it can be us.

Paul tells us what Epaphras prayed for: “that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured”. Last year we looked at some New Testament prayers and asked what would happen if we prayed those prayers. What would happen if we consistently prayed Epaphras’ prayer for our family and friends and our church? Stand firm relates again to faithfulness – being unmovable. But it is stand firm in all the will of God. Imagine if everybody in our church was unshakable in living the will of God every day – living exactly was God wants us to live, being absolutely obedient, every day.

Secondly, he prayed that they would be mature. The biblical objective is not baby Christians but Christians who have grown to be like Jesus. Again, what would happen if we prayed for maturity?

Thirdly, he prayed that they would be fully assured. They would be absolutely confident in the love and grace of God for them; they would be absolutely confident in Christ’s death and resurrection able to change their lives and give eternal life. They would trust the character and the promises of God even when circumstances were tough. They would be fully assured.

We are also told that Epaphras worked hard for the Colossians. Epaphras loved the people of his hometown (as well as those of Laodicea and Hierapolis) and had dedicated his life to serving them.

There are others in the list but let’s just stop with having thought about Tychicus, Aristarchus, Demas, and Epaphras, other than perhaps to note that Nympha was a woman who hosted (perhaps led) a church. The full list is a snapshot of a small part of Paul’s team. Why do you think Paul made those comments about those individuals? Why include those little snippets in his letter?

• To honour those people. It was public affirmation of people who were faithfully serving God and serving other people.

• To inspire his readers. You too can be like this. Imitate these people. Let them be examples. Even if no one else knows what you do, God sees. Be someone God sees as a faithful servant.

• To warn his readers. Demas had preferred the world to Jesus. Do not be similarly trapped.

On the one hand, we have quality individuals, but this is also a snapshot of a team. We get an insight into an international team. There are people listed here who were from Israel, Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), Greece, and almost certainly Rome since that was where Paul was. It is extraordinary that Paul had put together this team from across two continents and multiple nations.

But perhaps even more remarkable is their love for one another. He called them “beloved”. They were sending greetings to each other. It appears that they knew each other – they knew who Paul was meaning.

They were united. They were partners working alongside each other, all with the same vision – all serving Jesus, all spreading the gospel.

They served one another. They were praying for one another; they welcomed one another in their travel; they passed on messages and carried letters to one another.

This is only a small part of Paul’s team. Paul mentions more than 80 individuals, by name, in his letters. Paul delegated ministry left, right and centre. He did not try to be the superstar or pretend that he was the only one capable, or the only one gifted by God, for this. He constantly sent out people to minister in various places. We see here that he celebrated things that God was doing, not through him, but through other people. Epaphras had converted the Colossians. Yay! And, by bringing people onto his team and delegating ministry to them, he was growing faithful, mature disciples of Jesus.

This is a picture of the church. In their case they were separated by hundreds of kilometres. How much easier should it be for us to be that sort of team: maybe very diverse but loving one another, serving one another, united around a common purpose, nurturing people into ministry and celebrating what God is doing through each part of the team – each member of the body. May even these greetings inspire us!

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