Order of Operations
Messenger Dox
Call to worship:
Gen 2.15-25
Historical Reading:
Danvers Statement Articles 1-7
Song:
Come praise & glorify
Confession & Pardon
Song:
Doxology
Song:
CHRIST the sure & steady anchor
Sermon: “Order of Operations” (Col 3.18-4.1)
Introduction
PEMDAS. Bethany has been teaching our kids the mathematical order of operations, PEMDAS. If it’s been a minute since your 4th grade math class this is the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division (from left to right), and then addition and subtraction (from left to right). If you don’t follow the correct order of operations, you’re not going to get the right answer. The same is true in your home and work.
In this passage Scripture reminds us that God has created an order of authority within the home. When the home operates as God created it to, the home fosters human flourishing. If the home does not operate the way God created it to, it is not human flourishing that follows but human floundering. And if we are to faithfully follow Christ in our homes, we must follow the divinely appointed order of operations. Here Paul applies Christ-centered living to the most important things in our lives: our marriages, our parenting, and our work.
Christ-Centered Marriage
First, this text commands us to be Christ-centered in our marriages. You might be sitting there thinking, “Ok, I can see that this passage is about marriage, parenting, etc. but where are you getting this Christ-centered label?” That’s a fair question. Remember, the book of Colossians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to be read in one sitting to the church at Colossae. When they heard this letter the first time, they would’ve heard it all in one sitting, not divided up week-by-week as we’re studying it.
So let’s remind ourselves of the context of this pericope. In Colossians 2.20 Paul reminds believers that we have died with Christ and in Colossians 3.1 that we have been raised with Christ. This is the good news we call the gospel. The gospel is the announcement that the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15). He died on a Roman cross bearing the wrath of God for the sins of his people. He was buried and on the third day he rose again, defeating sin, Satan, and death. He ascended to heaven where he reigns and from there he will return to the earth physically and visibly to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.
If you will repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ alone you will be saved. Placing your faith in Christ means that you know the facts about Christ, you ascent that these facts are true, and you place your trust in who Jesus is and what Jesus did. If you place your faith in Christ it is proof that God has saved you. It is proof that the Father has elected you and that the Holy Spirit has made your heart new.
Last week Pastor Kevin preached from Colossians 3.1-17 where the Bible tells us what happens after we believe the gospel: we set our minds on Christ, we put to death that which is sinful in us, and we put on holiness, which is found in Christ alone. Our new life in Christ is summarized in Colossians 3.17, look at it again: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Everything we do is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another way of saying that is everything we do is Christ-centered. Our lives are centered in Christ.
And that begins with the most important things in our lives: our marriages and families. It also applies to the thing we spend a majority of our time doing, namely our work. That was my defense of why I’m labeling these three points as, “Christ-centered:” (1) Christ-centered marriage, (2) Christ-centered parenting, and (3) Christ-centered work. Let’s look now at Christ-centered marriage.
This section has often been referred to as the new covenant household code. Luther called them Haustafeln, which in the German means, “Household table.” We are wrong to think that marriage and parenting are mundane. These are the most important things in our lives. NT Wright notes, “It is clear from the numerous parallels to this section in other early Christian literature (Eph 5.29-6.9; Titus 2.2-10; 1 Pet 2.18-3.7) that the early church took seriously the necessity of living Christianly in the place where, for better or for worse, one is truly oneself.” We are the most ourselves at home and the gospel applies there first and foremost.
In Colossians 3.18 the Holy Spirit says, Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. I’m intentional in saying it that way because there’s no doubt that some of you are offended by this verse. So before you get soured with me I’ll reiterate that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write these words and they are the authoritative Word of God. The entire Bible is the Word of Christ inspired by the Spirit of Christ (1st Pet 1.11). That means when we read the Scripture it is as if Jesus himself is standing here speaking these words. So I’ll say again, hear the word of Jesus Christ: Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
There are a few things we want to notice about this command from God’s holy Word. First, while the Greek word γυνή can be translated as either, “women” or “wives,” the immediate context makes it clear that this applies to wives. Paul is writing to wives, husbands, and their children about the divinely appointed order of operations for every home. Scripture is not commanding all women to submit to all men. The word, submit is the Greek word, ὑποτάσσομαι. Etymologically the word can be divided in two: τάσσο means, “order,” and ὑπο means, “under.” To submit means to order under.
Wives are commanded to order themselves under their husbands; to submit to their own husbands. Like all Christians are called to submit to the Elders of their local church and like all Christians are called to submit to the government, so long as the government isn’t requiring us to sin, wives are commanded to submit to their own husbands. Notice also that this command is to wives not to husbands. The next verse speaks to husbands. This command is for wives. Scripture doesn’t say, “Husbands make sure that your wives submit to your leadership.” No, the text says, Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
And Scripture says that the submission of wives to their own husbands is fitting in the Lord. The Lord finds it fitting that wives should submit to their husbands. This has been God’s will from the beginning. In our call to worship we read Genesis 2, which reveals that God created Adam first giving him authority over the garden. God then said it was not good that Adam was alone and created Eve from Adam. Adam was given the authority to name Eve and the responsibility of teaching his wife the God’s Word. YHWH did not speak his command to Eve, only to Adam, and Adam’s responsibility was to teach his wife the Word of the Lord.
This command does not mean that wives are lesser beings in Christ. That would be antithetical to the teaching of Scripture in general and Colossians in particular. The purpose of the book of Colossians is to argue that all who take Christ by faith find themselves on the same footing in Christ. It also doesn’t mean that wives must submit to their husbands if their husbands lead them to sin. The submission of a wife is in things that are fitting in the Lord. What it does mean is that God created husbands to lead their wives in the Lord and the godly disposition of a wife is to follow her husband’s godly leadership.
In verse 19 Scripture says, Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. The command for husbands is not to insure that their wives submit to them, the command to husbands is to love their wives and do not be harsh with them. The Greek word translated harsh is derivative of the word for bitterness. Husbands are commanded to not treat their wives with bitterness or to create bitterness in their wives.
The way husbands fend off a culture of bitterness in their homes is by loving their wives. More important than loving your children, your parents, your siblings, your buddies, or you work is loving your wife. Men of Christ Community Church, the most important thing you’ll ever do in your life is to love your wife. I’m not going to preach this now, but later today or tomorrow read Ephesians 5, which is the same exhortation we read here but expanded. In Ephesians 5 Paul argues that wives must submit to their own husbands and husbands must love their wives as Christ loves the church because marriage was given by God, first and foremost, as a picture of the gospel. Marriage refers to Christ and the church.
This text doesn’t merely reflect a 1st century Patriarchal culture that no longer applies in 2022. These gender roles are inherent in creation and marriage because this is the only order of operations that accurately reflects the good news of Jesus. Jesus leads the church; he is her head. In the same way, husbands are commanded to lead their wives and children. The church always submits to Christ. In the same way, wives are commanded to submit to their husbands in their godly leadership. Jesus never submits to the church. The church always submits to Christ.
CS Lewis wrote, “If the home is to be a means of grace it must be a place of rules…the alternative to rule is not freedom but the unconstitutional (and often unconscious) tyranny of the most selfish member.” Like a fish out of water, a home that disregards God’s order is not free, but dying. The fish is not enslaved in the water; it is free to thrive in the constraints that God created it for. When a marriage functions according to the way God commands it fosters human flourishing. When this order of operations is ignored it produces human floundering
Christ-Centered Parenting
But not only are we to be Christ-centered in our marriages, we are also called to be Christ-centered in our parenting. Verse 20 says, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. This command is a recapitulation of the 5th commandment, which says honor your father and your mother. All believers, regardless of their age, are commanded to honor their father and their mother. Integral to this command is the specific instruction to children: Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
This is a healthy reminder for us that there is some continuity between the old and new covenants with regard to children of belivers. Lest we become too baptistic and assume that our children have no place in the community of faith, Paul rebukes that hermeneutic here. He speaks directly to children. So while we understand that the New Testament teaches that faith isn’t inherited; at some point in time the Holy Spirit must change every Christian’s heart through the gospel. Yet children of Christian parents are under a sort of covenantal protection. They are close to the covenant in a way that others aren’t.
And it’s not very often in a sermon that there will be application specifically for children but here it is. It’s unfortunate that most of the children of Christ Community Church are in junior church or our preschool class because this is for them. I would encourage you parents, especially you dads, if your kids are in junior church right now, when you leave church, read this verse with your kids and explain what it means. With that being stated, I speak now directly to any children here in the service, mostly teenagers, I would presume.
So to all of you children still living in your parents’ home, Scripture commands you to obey your parents in everything. And the reason is that your obedience pleases the Lord. It pleases the Lord because God loves the order of operations that he created and commanded. God is glorified most when husbands lovingly lead their families, wives submit to their own husbands, and children obey their parents in everything.
It pleases the Lord because God is sovereign. That means that it’s not an accident or a coincidence that you have the parents you have. God gave you to them on purpose. He gave them to you as a picture of his authority in your formative years. That doesn’t mean that everyone’s parents are always right. Parents are sinners too. But God has providentially placed you in their home and he commands you to obey them.
In verse 21 Scripture has another command for fathers: Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Because fathers have God-given leadership in the home, they are warned not to abuse their authority. Husbands were already warned to not be harsh with their wives and now they’re commanded not to provoke their children, lest they become discouraged. It’s not incidental that some of the emotional and psychological issues that people struggle with are identified as “daddy issues.” Because fathers represent God to their children, there can be life-long repercussions for a lack of loving leadership by dads.
Fathers must protect, provide for, and discipline their children in a godly way, not provoking them, because this is what our Father in heaven does for his children. Dads uniquely image our heavenly Father to children and that’s why this command is for fathers specifically. When we sin against our children in arrogance, unrighteous anger, unbiblical discipline, or abuse, we are living a lie. We are preaching to our kids that God the Father is arrogant, unrighteous in his anger, or abusive. Fathers of Christ Community Church do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. And when you do, confess your sin to them and ask for their forgiveness.
Christ-Centered Work
We are called to have Christ-centered marriages, to be Christ-centered parents, and finally we are called to be Christ-centered workers. We must be exegetically and hermeneutically responsible when we interpret and apply passages like Colossians 3.22-4.1 because they have been wrongfully interpreted and applied by people in the past. The word bondservant in the ESV is the Greek word δοῦλος, which literally means, “slave.” Paul is writing to slaves and masters, but Scripture is not condoning slavery here; people in the past have wrongfully interpreted it so, but that is not the case. Scripture’s commands concerning slavery are descriptive, not prescriptive.
In fact, 1st Timothy 1.10 says that slavery is contrary to the gospel. Revelation 18 says when the great Babylon falls and there will be no more slavery. Slavery was not intended by God and is a human evil but it was also a 1st century reality. Paul would’ve had as much luck fighting against slavery then, as we would have arguing against electricity now. It was part and parcel of their culture. Paul is not endorsing slavery in general, he is writing to people who are enslaved.
Elsewhere in the letter Paul emphasizes the common ground all believers have in Christ. In Colossians 3.11 Paul writes, Here there is not…slave [or] free; but Christ is all, and in all. An honest reading of history reveals that it was Christians in the United Kingdom and in the northern United States that fought hardest against the institution of slavery. And while the slavery that Scripture addresses in the New Testament wasn’t exactly the same as slavery in the 17th-19th centuries, the principle stands. Paul’s point is whatever situation you find yourself in glorify God.
The text commands slaves to obey in everything. Here Paul uses the same word that he did for children: obey (ὑπακούω). Notice that Paul doesn’t command wives to obey their husbands, but to submit to their husbands. The relationship of a husband and wife is different in authority then it is of parents to children and of these slaves to their masters.
And Paul commands slaves to obey their earthly masters. Slaves may have earthly masters but their master in heaven is their true master. Paul uses this language again in chapter 4 verse 1 when he writes, Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Whether one is a slave or a master, we all have the same master in heaven, Jesus Christ who is the head of all.
And the passage commands these slaves to work not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. The phrase with sincerity of heart is the Greek phrase ἐκ ψυχῆς, which is literally translated, “from your soul.” Paul is saying put your whole heart, your whole soul, into your work because ultimately you’re working for the Lord. There are two points of application for us now: one general and one specific. The general application is this: regardless of whatever situation you find yourself in, ideal or not, work unto God. Whether it concerns your marriage, your family, your work, your health, your finances, or your education, trust God and live every moment unto the Lord.
The specific application is for our work because that is the closest application for us in southeast Michigan in 2022. Regardless of whatever work you’re called to everyday, work as unto the Lord. Whether you’re a pastor, or an engineer, or a teacher, or an administrator, or a nurse, or a homemaker, or a coach, or you’re working the line, or you’re a truck driver, or a salesman, or whatever you’re doing, do it unto the Lord. And the text gives us three reasons why regardless of vocation we must work as unto the Lord.
The first reason we work unto the Lord and not to man is because of the inheritance of Christ. Look at verses 23-24: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. We work for God and not for man because we will receive our inheritance as our reward. Regardless of our compensation in this life, be it for slaves or for employees, our inheritance is awaiting us. The amount of money you make in this life means nothing. Your inheritance is in Christ. In Christ we have inherited all of the riches of the heavenly places. We have Jesus and when he returns we will live with him forever in the new creation. Work with eternity in mind. Spend, save, and give of your money like you can’t take it with you. Spend your time like you’re going to live forever. Regardless of what you make in this lifetime, your inheritance is Christ.
Second, we work unto the Lord and not unto man because of the sovereignty of Christ. Verse 24 says, You are serving the Lord Christ. Christ is sovereign so work unto him. In his sovereign providence God has placed you wherever you are now. That doesn’t mean that your conditions are always ideal or that you’ll be where you are now for the rest of your life, but wherever you are now, you’re there because God has you there. Do your work unto the sovereign Christ. You are ultimately working for him, no one else. He is your King.
Third, we work unto the Lord because Christ will judge all sin. Verse 25 says, For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. In the end Jesus will right all wrongs. Slaves had to obey their masters because even if they are in oppressive situations, God has them there in that moment and they are responsible for how they respond in their suffering. Masters are warned that all wrongs will be made right so they better act accordingly. Wherever you are now God has you there and he will right all wrongs.
That means if you cheat your employer, regardless of how they treat you, you are sinning against God. If you’re an employer and you’re abusing or mistreating your employees, you are abusing or mistreating those made in the image of God. God will right all wrongs. There is no partiality. God will judge all sin, either on the cross of Christ or in eternal conscious punishment in hell forever. Sin is sin even if you’re being mistreated. Sin is sin, especially if you’re in power. The inheritance of Christ, the sovereignty of Christ, and the judgment of Christ motivate us to do all of our work, whatever that may be, unto Jesus himself.
Conclusion
I don’t know about you but I haven’t used the mathematical order of operations since school. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you kids not to learn it. You need to learn it. I don’t want all of the moms and teachers to bombard me after church rebuking me for telling their kids that learning PEMDAS is irrelevant. Do your schoolwork, kids.
While I haven’t used the mathematical order of operations since school, God’s divine order for the home affects every home of Christ Community Church every day. Every marriage and every family of Christ Community Church is either flourishing or floundering based on whether or not we’re obeying God’s divinely appointed order of authority. Even those of you who are single, the gospel shapes how you do your work. The gospel of Jesus Christ shapes our marriages, our parenting, and our work. All of this is summarized in Colossians 3.17: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.