Colossians 3:1-4

The first Easter message from the angel was very simple. It was given to Mary and Magdalene, two of Jesus’ closest followers, who went to visit his tomb. “Do not be afraid,” the angel tells them at the sight of the empty tomb, “I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said.” 

There are not a lot of new things we can say about Easter. Either you accept that the resurrection of Christ happened and it changes your whole view on life. Or you don’t accept the resurrection of Christ, in which case, the world continues on according to its logic and Jesus’ life, teachings, and death do not make a whole lot of sense.

That’s one of the things that our reading from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians (our second reading) gets at. Paul assumes that the Easter message is true: that Christ is risen from the dead. “He is not here, for he has been raised.”  

The message is that since Christ is raised from the dead, those who are in Christ, meaning we who are baptized in Christ, Christians, you, me, the church – we too are raised with Christ. Let’s stop here to think about what that means. The logic is similar to when we are baptized – whether as an infant or adult. It goes like this – in baptism, we die to ourselves, we die to sin, error, evil, and wrongdoing. The symbol of that is going down into the water (here I’m thinking of an adult’s baptism where they are literally submerged as the most striking example). Water has cleaning and purifying properties. It is like taking part in Christ’s death in that when someone is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they put off their old self. You shed it. You leave it behind. You forsake the ways of the world and its lust and greed for power, war, money, comfort, status, and the desire to control others.

Then what happens in baptism. You come up out of the water, or in the case of an infant or child, handed back over to your parents. It’s a symbol of being raised with Christ, of being raised to a new way of life. You leave behind the world’s ways and its tendency towards lies and corruption and you come into Christ’s way of grace and truth. It’s like when a company posts a sign “under new management”. What that usually means is that the old management sucked. They had no idea what they were doing and ran the business into the ground and almost ruined the livelihood of the workers. But the new management is trustworthy and knows what they are doing, has a turnaround plan, and will lead and serve the customers and staff in a good way. 

That’s the logic of baptism – that when we are baptized, we come under new management. We die (meaning, we let go of or leave) to the old management (in the Scriptures, this is often called ‘the world’ or ‘the way of sin and death’) and we rise to a new way of life in Christ (to keep with the image, we come under the new management, Jesus Christ).

So the message is “since you have been raised with Christ” or to use my image (since you have come under the new management of Jesus Christ), seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” The next verse tracks closely, “Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Paul’s message to “seek the things that are above” and to “set your minds on the things that are above” is not a call to stare into the sky or sit in church all day. It doesn’t mean we forget about life here on earth or leave it behind. It’s not a call to do a bunch of religious sounding things. Instead, Paul’s message is to let your heart and your mind be renewed by God and when God renews our hearts and minds, our character (who we are) undergoes a renovation. Let’s follow the logic.

To seek something is to look for something that you are missing. When someone makes a new year’s resolution, they might say “I want to become stronger, or “I am seeking to become stronger”. Becoming stronger isn’t just about building muscles. It might be someone does this to be able to lose weight, or feel better, or to be more independent. Whatever the reason, there is a goal, an outcome that is desired. And becoming stronger doesn’t just happen. It takes work, discipline, and effort. You have to be active, train your muscles, and do things like go to physical therapy or the gym or work outside. You need to set your mind to it. Paul’s logic is similar, “seek the things that are above” is not about looking up or thinking only religious things. It’s about letting what is above (in the Scriptures, above earth are the heavens and the heavens are the realm of God) shape how you live today. 

So we can finish the logic of Paul’s message, since you have been raised with Christ (since you have come under new management), “seek the things that are above” and “set your minds on the things that are above” (search and come to know the ways of God and let God change, revive, renovate your heart and mind – your character). Why do this? Because you belong to Jesus Christ – “for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Christ loves you, cares for you, and in the words of the hymn today, “tells me (you) I am his own and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other, will ever know.”

Let’s close here: what happens when God renews and transforms and renovates your heart and mind? We are going to have to go back into church history and maybe confirmation class where you might have learned the vices and virtues of the Christian faith. You might know the vices – pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth – those are the ways of the old management. It’s how the old management acted and trained you to manage things. 

But when we are in Christ, when we are baptized, since we have been raised with Christ to a new way of life, we learn the new management’s ways of doing things. Those are the virtues and they work to counteract the vices. They are:

• Humility (understanding that you don’t know or control everything) works to counteract pride
• Generosity (giving and sharing your time and money with others) works to counteract greed
• Chastity (being chaste, controlling your passions, loving in an appropriate way) works to counteract lust
• Patience works to counteract anger
• Temperance (self-control, moderation, loving things in an appropriate way) works to counteract gluttony
• Kindness works to counteract envy
• Diligence (being consistent, wanting to do a good job, and doing what you say) works to counteract sloth

From time to time we take communion. The Eucharist is not just about going through motions of eating bread and drinking cup. Instead, Christ is present in communion. It is like spiritual food and drink for us. The bread and the cup give spiritual nourishment to us, from which we can draw courage and the will to set our minds on things above.

I say all of this because overcoming the vices with virtues, coming under the new management and leaving behind the old, dying to self and rising with Christ, while it is a wonderful and joyous thing, it is not easy. Put simply, being a Christian can be hard. It’s a life of joy for sure, but it is hard, mainly because we each have to deal with ourselves and be willing to let God change and transform and renovate our hearts and minds. It sounds easy, but it is very hard.

But know this, “that God who began a good work in you will continue it until it is completed.” That means that God will not abandon you or kick you out of the class if you screw up. Instead, the Lord is patient. He wants each of us to grow in faith, hope, and love and to become mature.

That’s why we gather together each week. We are here to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and bear one another’s burdens as we figure out what it means for each of us to live under the new management and live as people who have died and risen to a new way of life in Jesus Christ. Enjoy this day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. Happy Easter.

Amen.