Crossroads

Why Paul Closes with Names and Greetings

Paul includes this section at the end of his letter to the Colossians for two primary reasons. First and foremost, he wants the Colossians to recognize that he remains in chains because he has been preaching the gospel. His imprisonment should not shake their commitment to the Lord. Throughout the letter, there has been breathing of opposition—people trying to convince the believers at Colossae that they need to believe more than just in Jesus, that they must include certain Jewish practices and other observances to be what God wants them to be. Paul closes by reminding them: I am in chains because I’m preaching the gospel. Don’t allow anyone to lead you away from that. His reminder serves as encouragement for them to stay true to the gospel.

The second reason, though secondary, is also significant. By listing all these different names, Paul demonstrates his connection to the congregation, even though he never made it to Colossae. This personal connection gives weight to his words and helps people listen to what he has written. There are also explicit instructions about swapping letters with the church in Laodicea, which need to be carried out. All of this is a typical way in the first century for a letter to conclude with greetings.

The Companions and Their Stories

Tychicus and the Stoning at Lystra

Tychicus appears in four different places in the New Testament. He is mentioned in Acts alongside Timothy and Aristarchus as traveling companions of Paul. In Ephesians, it is said that he is the bearer of that letter and will explain Paul’s circumstances to them. Some believe that perhaps the letter to the Laodiceans is actually Ephesians, which makes for an interesting thought, though no one can prove it. He is also found in 2 Timothy, where Paul sends him to Ephesus, and in Titus, where he is sent to Crete to take Titus’ place so that Titus can come be with Paul. This is clearly a man with a very important role in fulfilling Paul’s ministry.

It is believed that Tychicus is from Lystra, the same city as Timothy. Do you remember what happened in Lystra? It’s one of those places Paul went to where he healed a man who was lame. Upon healing that man, the people thought he and Barnabas were gods and gave them the names Zeus and Mercury. Paul had to dissuade the crowd from offering sacrifices to them. Then the crowd turned on them. They dragged Paul out of the city and threw stones at him, trying to kill him.

Paul leaves Lystra and goes on his way, but then he comes back to that very place later. On his second visit, he picks up Timothy, and we think Tychicus as well. Do you think this man had any idea early on that if you’re going to travel with Paul, there are going to be some challenges? Do you think Tychicus might have actually witnessed the stoning of Paul and yet still decided to go? Life is filled with crossroads. We don’t know exactly how that conversation went, but we are told that the people at Lystra really pushed for Timothy to go with Paul. If Tychicus is along for that ride, isn’t it interesting how a man who lived in a very small town would see the world and share in the gospel? Ephesus, Crete, places he would have never visited without joining Paul.

Onesimus the Runaway Slave

Onesimus is a runaway slave who has found Paul and, somewhere in the process of being with him, converted to become a follower of Jesus. Being a runaway slave was against the law in the first century. Paul, understanding what the law is, keeps Onesimus for a period of time, but eventually it is time for him to go back home. Home is Colossae. Onesimus is traveling with Tychicus, bringing this letter to the Colossians back to his home place. The person he ran away from is Philemon, and from the letter to Philemon, we know Onesimus is carrying that letter.

Do you think when Onesimus is coming back to Colossae, as he gets to the city limits and can see the city on the horizon, his heart rate went up? Do you think he might have been nervous going into the city, not knowing exactly what would happen to him? Do you think when he’s carrying the letter to Philemon, the person he ran away from, and he hands it to him, that first meeting was awkward? As he stood there while Philemon read the letter. Life is filled with crossroads. He ran away because he did not like being in his situation, but now Onesimus returns not just because it’s the right thing to do. He returns because he is a follower of Jesus, and he comes back with a new heart.

Aristarchus and Imprisonment

Aristarchus is mentioned three times besides here in Colossians—in Acts 19, Acts 20, and Acts 27. He is from Thessalonica and becomes a traveling companion with Paul. According to Acts 19, he is one of those dragged before the assembly in Ephesus as a potential traitor, someone speaking about Jesus and encouraging people to follow a new king. According to Acts 27, Luke tells us that he is a co-prisoner with Paul. Do you think Aristarchus, when he left home in Thessalonica, thought that he would be in chains? Do you think when he made the decision to follow Paul and travel around all these different places, he ever envisioned a time where he would face death?

Mark’s Redemption

Mark is the one who left Paul on the first missionary journey. He, Barnabas, and Paul all went out together, but Mark left. We’re not given an explanation—maybe he was homesick, maybe he didn’t like it, maybe he got sick. Who knows? For Paul, it was like, you quit. I don’t need quitters. I need people who will encourage me to keep going. When the second missionary journey starts, it’s Barnabas who wants Mark to come along, and Paul says, I’ll have nothing to do with him. If you’re insistent on taking Mark, you take him and go your separate ways because we’re not going together.

Yet here he is at the end of Colossians. What does Paul say about him? If Mark should make his way to Colossae, he’s a good guy. At the end of 2 Timothy, when Paul is near death and tells Timothy to hurry and get to him before winter, he tells Timothy to bring Mark because he is important to him. Something happened. Mark began that first journey with all the enthusiasm of someone brand new trying to get going in a spiritual direction, and then something happened. The crossroads came. How do you go from being a failure to a respected and valued friend? Something happened with Mark, and Paul saw it.

Epaphras the Faithful Intercessor

Epaphras is the one who preached the gospel in Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. It is believed that Epaphras was trained by Paul and sent out. Here in Colossians 1:7, he is acknowledged as the one who preached first in Colossae. He is mentioned here in 4:12 and also in Philemon verse 23. What does it say about Epaphras? Verse 12: he is always wrestling in prayer for you that you may stay firm in all the will of God. Here is a guy who knows what it means to pray for people. We know very little about Epaphras other than what is said in Colossians and Philemon, but what we do know is he had a heart for people. Somewhere in that crossroads of life when he made his decision to follow Jesus, he not only gave his life to Jesus, he gave his life to three areas, three cities, wanting them to find out who Jesus was through him.

Demas’ Abandonment

Then we come to the name Demas, and this is the saddest one. Paul tells us that Demas greets, along with Luke, the believers in Colossae and Laodicea. Demas is mentioned again at the end of 2 Timothy where Paul simply writes: because Demas loved the world, he has abandoned me. Crossroads, what happened? We don’t know. At this point when Paul is writing to the church at Colossae, Demas is on fire for the Lord. He is with Paul. He is committed. Something happens between 60 and 64 AD. By the time Paul is coming to the end of his life at the end of 2 Timothy, Demas abandons him. In a short period of time, Demas goes from being committed to God to being committed to the world. And what happened? We have no idea.

Archippus the Leader

The last name is Archippus, one of the leaders of the church in Colossae. According to Philemon verse 2, the church at Colossae meets in his home. Of course, the members would include Philemon, Archippus, Onesimus, and others mentioned here. The other thing said about him is right here at the end, verse 17: Tell Archippus to see to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord. Does that mean he is not doing his work? No. What it means is your leader needs to be encouraged to keep leading, and you need to follow him. Tell him to keep going at it. Don’t give up.

Called to the Unknown

What does all this have to do with us? Let me ask you something. When you started your walk with Jesus, could you imagine where you are right now? I will tell you, no. I had no idea where I would end up. I’m doing what I never thought I would do. If you’d asked me at ten years old what I would do with my life in following God, all I could tell you is I’m going to follow God. What about you? You became a follower of Jesus. Could you imagine where God would have led you? Could you imagine the different crossroads in your life where you’ve had to make a decision about following Jesus time and again? It was a once-for-all decision, but it’s really not, is it? It’s something you have to do regularly. You have to decide, I’m following Jesus, over and over again.

I don’t know what happened to Demas, but at some point he said, I don’t want to follow Jesus anymore. I don’t want to follow the world. I don’t know what happened in Colossae when a bunch of folks decided that maybe they did need to be more Jewish. How could that happen? We go through all these names and we say, well, they’re just names. No, they’re not. They’re people. They’re people who made decisions about Jesus, followed Jesus, and by the time they came to the end of their life, they were in places they never could have ever dreamed of.

Aristarchus in chains—I’m sure in Thessalonica, his parents never envisioned him being imprisoned by Rome, who had the power to take his life. When Tychicus left home in Lystra, he couldn’t have imagined being in Ephesus and Crete and other places. If you’re going to say yes to God, if you’re going to say yes to following Jesus, just be prepared for where he takes you. That’s the point. Be prepared for where he takes you.

Barbara and I have been at this congregation for a long time. Every once in a while we reminisce, trying to remember different people that have come through these doors and been with us for a short period of time or even a longer period and are no longer here. We drag through our memory banks trying to remember names and what brought them here and what took them away. There was a time, and it still is, that when people would come in and I would get attached to them and then they would leave and I would say, oh, this is terrible. This is tragic. I don’t want to do that. We had a family here years ago—the Heffingtons. They left here. He came here to go to medical school. They went back to Nashville, which was home, and he served as a doctor there for many years. Do you know where they are now? Alaska. Why? What’s God got for him up there? He’s an elder up there. Could he have ever imagined going to Alaska? Maybe. I don’t know. But if you’re going to follow Jesus, be ready to go wherever He leads you. Be ready to go with Him. Be ready for whatever comes.

I don’t know what happened to Mark when he gave up on the first missionary journey, but by the time Paul’s getting ready to die, he needs a friend and that’s Mark. I don’t know what’s going to happen with you. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, much less what will happen with you. But I will stand here and I will plead with you that we all just decide we’re going to follow Jesus wherever He leads us. And we don’t necessarily want the chains and we don’t necessarily want the hardships. I’m not saying you’ve got to like it, but I am saying if it comes, it comes. God is faithful and He is following you, and you are following Him, and He is close to you.

At the end of your life, you want a mark or two. Don’t read the names and just go, hmm, they’re names. They were people who at the crossroads of life made a decision to follow Jesus, and it cost them something. Following Jesus—oh, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. But it’s also one of the most challenging I’ve ever engaged. Will you follow Jesus wherever He takes you?

I don’t want anybody to leave. Don’t hear me say that. I don’t want anybody to leave. I want everybody to stay here until I die, okay? But I don’t know where God’s going to lead you, and I don’t know how He’s going to use you. I’m at the point in life where I recognize that God sometimes takes people away from here and uses them in other congregations somewhere else. I don’t want anybody to leave. But I want you to follow Jesus wherever He takes you. I’m confident that Timothy’s mom and grandma missed him. I’m confident that the family at Thessalonica missed Aristarchus. But they were doing God’s work. They were following Jesus wherever He took them. Let us be like that.

We’re going to stand and sing a song. A song is an opportunity for a visual response, if one would like to make that. A response in which we can pray together. A response in which two of our young ladies have done in the last couple of weeks become Christians, giving their life in baptism to Jesus. We’ll assist you today, whether it’s through prayer or baptism. But let’s leave here determined to follow Jesus wherever He takes us. Whatever He has planned for us.

Follow Jesus

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