Sermon for August 1

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Aug. 1, 2010
Colossians 3:1-11
Where Christ is

In the name of Jesus, amen. The last three Sundays we’ve been fortunate to hear significant passages from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Today we hear Paul affirm that the most important aspect of real estate is location, location, location.

Where is Christ? Where is He to be found? That question has always been asked in every era in all four corners of the globe. Thanks be to God that He Himself has revealed the answer.

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Jesus occupies the seat of power, the seat of authority, the seat of judgment. The Father has given to the Son the right to be judge. That may terrify us. Some people are driven away from God because of judgment talk. Judging is uncomfortable. It makes some people feel inferior. But let us remember that a judge has the ability to rule in your favor. Sometimes the judge finds you innocent. If you have done nothing wrong, you are not worried about what the judge may find.

God’s people, created and redeemed, look and see Christ seated at the right hand of God and give praise for that reality. There is the Christ. There is our Savior.

It helps us to see Christ seated at the Father’s right hand. It sounds as if Jesus is removed from us, but the Spirit of God helps us to remember how Jesus got to that seat of power, that seat of might, that seat of mercy, that seat of compassion, comfort, and consolation.

Jesus Christ started at the right hand of the Father. The Father saw how horribly wrong things were going on earth. The Father endured rejection from His people. The Father suffered infidelity on the part of His people. The Father’s gracious actions for His people were received ungratefully. Instead of thanks and praise, the Father was ignored, was told that His compassion was not enough, was told that His gifts were insignificant and insufficient.

The people of God had set their minds on earthly things, not on things above. They were angry. In anger, Cain murdered Abel. They were full of wrath and malice. There was obscene talk coming out of their mouths. By what came out of their mouth, it was clear what was in their heart.

And so the Father responded with great force and decisiveness. Now is the time. Now is the moment. Now is when My people will see what I can do. On a still, silent night, a virgin gave birth to a boy. That boy was the one conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. That boy was the Son of the Most High God. That son was Jesus. Jesus left the right hand of God to come to earth to save the people of God who had left, who had wandered, who had sought their own way.

There Christ is in the manger. There Christ is being worshiped and adored by the shepherds and the Magi. There Christ is praised by the angels: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth!” There is the Christ.

The Christ left the manger. The Christ grew up to do the ministry of mercy. There was the Christ in the boat with the disciples. There was the Christ feeding the crowds, touching the sick and healing them, eating with sinners, welcoming the outcast. There was the Christ.

Christ Jesus worked and walked among the earthly and brought them what was from above. Forgiveness. Mercy. Acceptance, not of their sins but of themselves. Christ brought them salvation. Christ took what was the Father’s and gave it to the people of God. Where is Christ? In Cana of Galilee. In Bethany. On that donkey riding into Jerusalem. Before Pilate. Before the crowds. On the cross, where he died.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Even though you have a heartbeat, even though your chest rises and falls with breath, even though you have brain function, you have died. And you have risen through the water, in the water, because of the water of Holy Baptism. Your life is hidden with Christ in God.

This reality helps us learn where Christ is. Ubi Christus, ibi ecclesia. Ignatius of Antioch teaches that where Christ is, there is the Church. Christ is the content of our living and working. Christ is the content of our serving. Christ is the content of the help that we receive. There is Christ in collection of school supplies, letting children know that someone cares about their well-being, about their education. There is Christ in our collection of food, letting people know that someone cares about their physical condition. That someone is Jesus Christ, working in us and through us, so that the pure mercy of God may flow.

We set our minds on things above, where Christ is. Jesus Christ came to earth, lived on earth, died on earth, was buried in an earthen tomb, and rose from that earthen tomb. Christ ascended, the lamb that was slain is now the victorious Lamb that is our shepherd.

Where is Christ? We cannot leave His presence. There He is, where He promised to be, in the bread and wine of communion. There He is, in the Word. There He is, in the way we live our life, trusting not in ourselves, but trusting that the Lord will be where He loves to be: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. There He is. SDG