Colossians 3:1-4

 

Every Day is Easter

 

I.                Since we have been raised with Christ

II.              Knowing that our hidden life will be seen

 

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 

Pastors in our synod are trained to preach sermons, but also listen to sermons. In listening we pick out certain parts or styles of the sermon or personality traits of the preacher and of course comment on them. As a seminary student our vicar can tell you that one of the most uncomfortable places to be is in front of your classmates preaching a sermon and knowing they will offer you their constructive criticism. An even worse place is in front of the entire seminary student body including the faculty knowing that not only are your friends listening, but so is the faculty who has taught you how to preach. This criticism is meant to help us learn how to preach. Preaching is something that is learned and needs practice and feedback. 

But even with practice and constructive criticism pastors begin to develop traits and styles, some good and some bad. Certainly you have experienced this with different pastors you have heard preach. You may expect to hear certain things in the beginning and end of sermon. You may expect certain types of illustrations or applications. Pastors can develop reputations in their preaching. I know a Lutheran pastor who is known for a wonderful trait. It is not his style or vocabulary. It is not his use of illustrations or ability to apply scripture to every day life. He does those things well, but this man is known for being a “resurrection preacher.” Every sermon he preaches is an Easter sermon. In one-way or another every sermon focuses on the resurrection of our Savior. For that pastor Easter is every Sunday.

But this is really true for all Christian preachers. Christians expect that as we gather in church on the day our Lord rose from the dead we are going to hear about our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. This Easter Sunday it is obvious we are celebrating the empty tomb and our Savior’s victory over sin, death and hell. We are celebrating the victory that he gives us over these terrible enemies. And for the next few minutes we want to be encouraged by the Apostle Paul to celebrate these things every day of our life. Looking at Colossians 3:1-4 we see that Every day is Easter, since we have been raised with Christ and knowing that our hidden life will be seen.

Before we were raised, Christ was raised. He really died Good Friday on the cross. He was crucified and his lifeless body was taken off the cross and put in the tomb. But the grave could not hold him. He had been telling the people of Israel that as Jonah was three days in the belly of the fish, so he would be three days in the grave and then rise. He told the Pharisees that he would destroy the temple of his body and raise it again in three days. They knew what Jesus claimed and that is the reason they asked Pilate to secure the tomb with his seal and a detachment of Roman soldiers. It was useless to try and keep Jesus in. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. The grave could not hold the eternal Son of God who always does what he says.

By his resurrection our living Savior brings blessings to us. Every year on Easter Sunday it is great to travel with the women to the empty tomb. It is great to worship with song and instrument. Picking the theme for this service was simple. “Easter brings Resurrection!” Jesus’ work of paying for sins has been accomplished. The empty tomb proves it. His resurrection means we too will rise and live eternally in heaven. And he has given us the blessing of faith that believes these gifts are ours. That is why we celebrate his resurrection today and every day.

Through faith in Christ we have been raised with him. Paul says in verses 1 & 2, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” A living Savior means that the people who believe in him are also alive. We were dead in sin but because of his love, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ. A living Savior gives life to his people through his Word and sacrament. We have been born again by the living and enduring word of God. In baptism we were born again by water and the Spirit working in God’s Word. Every day is Easter because we are alive spiritually every day of our life.

Having Easter every day is precious to us. Since we have been raised with Christ we no longer have to fear death, rather we face death with hope. Since we have been raised with Christ we have our hearts firmly set on the things above, our eternal home in heaven, no matter what the situation we face each day. In the Old Testament a man named Job faced the death of ten of his children all in one day. After mourning and grieving their loss he said, “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” This was not some fatalistic attitude. Job was raised with Christ. He did not yet know the name, but he knew what the Savior would do. In chapter 19 we hear Job confess, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; ²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”  

Job was raised with his Savior and no matter what happened in his life he knew he had eternal life. In the book of Job, he seems to be the only one who knew it. His wife and friends did not see Easter. They did not know that their Redeemer lives. To them, Job’s new life in Christ was hidden. This is true for us. Our life is hidden to an unbelieving world and maybe even to our friends and family. But every day is Easter because we know that our hidden life will be seen.

Paul says in verses 3 & 4, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” When we were brought to faith we died to sin and this unbelieving world. When we were baptized our sinful nature was drowned in those waters and we put the ways of this world behind us and now daily live for our Savior like every day is Easter. In many ways we look like everyone else, but we have a new life hidden in Christ. This life is hidden in the fact that it is different and not understood by the world. But that is a good thing because the ways of this world are so destructive and sinful. The ways of this world are so contrary to God’s Word.   

This week I saw a segment on the “Today Show” about how common adultery is in our country. They were picking up on the recent happenings in the New York Governor’s office. They brought on experts who said humans naturally tend to do that sort of thing. These experts said it was built into our genetic make up. It is just the way we are. They said people could and probably should strive against it, but we can expect that infidelity will happen. This is an obvious attempt to excuse what we know is clearly sinful behavior. There are many examples of that in this world. 

I’m glad I would never try to excuse my sin like that. I am glad that I am always honest about my sin and willing to admit when I wrong. But we know full well just how easy it is and how prone we are to excuse what we do. It is amazing what we will try to excuse when it comes to our relationship with God. We do it with our sporadic church attendance or stingy offerings. We do it with impure thoughts or foul language. We do it with laziness and a lack of love toward family and friends. We do it with our pride or greed.

Maybe I have missed the particular sin you like to excuse, but Paul doesn’t. In the verses after our text when he says, “ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.  ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Our sinful life is supposed to be buried with Christ, but it does not seem to be buried so deep. Even if our sin is not visible to others, it certainly is wide open before God and in our mind as we examine our life in the light of God’s holy law. Sin not buried deep will come back.

I went fishing as a boy and we cleaned the fish we caught. We always buried the remains in or near the garden and we were told to bury them deep. If we didn’t the raccoons or dogs would dig it up and it would be a mess. If we got done late at night, the hole was shallow or we would just mound dirt around the dead fish. The next day there was a stinky mess. That would be the case with our life if it were up to us to bury our own sin. We could never do it. We sin so much it would just keep piling up and making a mess of this life and a disaster for our eternal life.

Thank God that he buried our sin when he nailed it to the cross with his only begotten Son. The prophet Micah describes the way God forgives sin in Christ. ¹⁸ Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. ¹⁹ You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” That is where God has put our sin. Since every day is Easter we get the honor of remembering that truth every day. We can be certain and we can be sure that not only is our sin buried, it so gone forever in Christ. That is our new life hidden in Christ and that has been revealed to us by faith.

This is the Easter we have every day of our life. It is hidden as we still struggle with sin and live in this sinful world, but it will be seen when Christ comes back, or when Christ takes us home to heaven. Then we will appear with him in glory. All the promises that God has made to us in Christ, promises that we believe and treasure such as, the forgiveness of our sins, an eternal life in heaven, these we will see when God call us out of this life. And these promises will be seen by all of us on Judgment Day when Christ returns visibly for every eye to see and we are gathered by his side to stand in joy forever. Every day is Easter and that hidden truth will be revealed and we will celebrate it forever.  

I think my trait in preaching might be fishing. I base that on the very biblical truth that Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and even went fishing shortly after Easter. Vicar may think it is racing and we all know what he likes to talk about. But I pray that our preaching is always about the resurrection. I pray our life is always about the resurrection. Jesus is alive. Every day is Easter for us since we have been raised with Christ. Every day we rejoice that our life that is hidden in him now will be seen by all as we gather around his throne in heaven for our eternal Easter Sunday. Jesus Christ is risen today and every day. Hallelujah! Amen.