The Lutheran Hour
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"Get Your Head into the Clouds"
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Text: Colossians 3:1-4
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Christ is risen; He is risen indeed, hallelujah! And an abundant, joyful, eternal life is here now for everyone who puts their faith in Him. Amen.
It’s Easter, my friend, and here’s the promise of the day. If you trust in Christ, in His Word, if you get your head in the clouds, if you will, of His resurrection grace, you’ll have His forgiveness, eternal, abundant life now and forever. That’s His offer, that’s His promise; for the Crucified One is the Resurrected One who lives and wishes His life to be yours as well.
This is a very powerful Biblical passage we have today. It’s packed with the essence of the faith because it’s speaking about Christ Alone. It’s packed with the promises of grace because Christ is raised and seated at God’s right hand and you are loved in Him. It’s packed with God’s purpose of and for your life because you’re His, put off the things, then, that are killing you, put on the things of life He gives. It’s packed with direction for your life for His destiny is your destiny.
So, look up to Him, look out to the horizon of His promise; get your head in the clouds of His resurrection grace. But, it’s not natural for us to keep our head in the clouds, is it?
There’s an article in a San Francisco newspaper, it reported that a young man once found a $5 bill on the street and then he resolved from that time on he would never lift up his eyes while walking. The paper went on to say that over the years he accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents, a bent back, and a miserly disposition.You could say that he was keeping his eyes focused on the ground, on the here and now, on the place where the rubber hits the road; yes, he didn’t miss a thing. Or, you could step back from his incredible dedication to the grind of this life and say very matter-of-factly, he also missed everything. For with such a gaze to the ground, he missed the glory of the sunlight on his face, the beauty of sunsets on an evening stroll, the radiance of the stars in the dark of night on a walk before bed, or the endless blue skies on a summer day walk on the beach, and most of all he missed the smiles of friends and neighbors throughout all those strolls.
There are a lot of people like that guy in this world. They think that they’re taking life seriously, getting things done, keeping it real, when all the time they’re really missing everything. Maybe you’re a bit like that. We’re all like that at times. We may not walk around staring at the sidewalk, engrossed with mundane things on the street; but we often walk around with a similar gaze, looking only at the things of this life now while giving little attention to the things of God in life now and forever; the things of our hearts, our souls, and yes, even our minds in Him.
Well, don’t be satisfied with the buttons, pins, and pennies of this world when Jesus Himself, this Easter Sunday, offers you the very treasures of His cross and resurrection.
You might say that Jesus is inviting us to live with our head in the clouds and not our minds in the gutter. Or, even better, you could say that with our eyes focused on the things of heaven we can take whatever the gutter gives and overcome it, outlast it, and give thanks through it all.
Christ’s victory is your destiny. Christ’s Word has eternal, lasting power. Christ’s promise is that you become the human being that you were created and redeemed to be. Look up. Look to Him. Look to His horizon, His destination, His Word for your life now and forever.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, says Paul, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”Get your head into the clouds of His resurrection grace.
Now, please don’t mistake what I’m talking about for daydreaming. Do you remember when people would chastise you for daydreaming in school? “Get your head out of the clouds,” they would say, “and concentrate on what you’re doing. Get your head out of the clouds and see what’s going on around you. Get real.”
Get real. Well, that’s exactly what Paul is calling you to do; get real. There’s nothing more real in this life than the death and resurrection of Jesus for you. When God comes into the flesh, things get real. When God the Father makes His Son Jesus the sacrifice for sin, your sin in this world, things get real. When God is willing to save rebels, to save sinners, to give life for those who deserve death, things get real.
Remember what I shared with you last year in our Easter sermon from the empty Tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem? His resurrection from the dead makes all the difference in our lives right now.
So, no matter what the reality you are struggling with at this moment, no matter the pain, no matter the struggle, the truth remains; with faith in Jesus, you are an Easter people. What makes a believer different is not who we are, but who we believe in. What makes us different is not who we are, but who we belong to.
In fact, when Paul challenges us to set our hearts on things above, it’s not generic; it’s not lift your eyes up. No, it’s specific. It’s look to Jesus for your life, in work, in leisure, in purpose, in play, in all things. Look to Him.
This text challenges the world’s classification of things. The world says there are two kinds of people; optimists and pessimists. The Bible says there is a third kind of person, an Easter person. We are not merely optimistic because optimists never know for sure what will happen. We’re not pessimists, because we have a certain hope in Jesus Christ no matter what is happening at the moment.
By faith in Him, we are Easter people, and the good news is that anyone can be an Easter person in Christ.
Paul says later in Colossians 3:11, “In Jesus there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free.” Christ breaks the boundaries of nationalities.
A Christian can be black, white, red, yellow. He can be American, Indian, African, Jew, Russian, European, Korean, Japanese, or Thai; yes, he can even be a Yankee fan or a Green Bay Packer fan! But seriously, a Christian can speak any language; can celebrate his faith or her faith in any culture. These things add flavor to life, yes, but they don’t make us different; because bonding us through all of our differences and uniqueness is the fact that we are by faith in Jesus; say it with me now, we are Easter people.
Easter is the day of declaring this truth for all who will hear and believe!
In fact, we need more Christians to do just that, to declare the truths of His Word. When all is said and done, Jesus won’t even need to be proved by His people. The very Word of the resurrected Jesus, at the seat of God’s power in heaven, it will accomplish that for which it is sent. We need to know it, yes; believe it, yes; and even more share it with all of its fullness. You see, declaring His Good News because Christ has done it all; that’s what we get to do today. For Christ is risen, in Him there is life and salvation. Get your gaze off the sidewalk, get your mind out of the gutter of this world, and set your heart on things above!
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
Get your head into the clouds of His resurrection grace!
Focused on the things of Jesus then; Paul says by faith you know that in Him you have died to those things that are killing you even now. You are a sinner; yes, but that doesn’t define you. You have struggles and temptations; yes, but that is not who you are. By faith, you are His son, His daughter, His heir.
And that means that you can die to those things that are destroying you from the inside out right now. You don’t have to wait for heaven to get started on living a life that is eternal!
Healing, hope, and promise happen when we repent of our sin and acknowledge our need for a Savior.
But even more, healing, hope, and promise happen when we begin to receive and live in the grace that God has made possible for us in Christ alone.
Easter people see themselves as they are. We are realists. We know that we’re sinners like everybody else. We know that things aren’t good if God doesn’t help. We know and confess that we are helpless without Christ. Some of you may have a problem that isn’t going away and you don’t know why. Maybe you’re trying to solve it on your own and there is no power there. Maybe the Lord allows it to stay around so that you’ll look to Him for the strength and power needed each and every day.
By faith, we know that as sinners we have died with Christ; that in Him on the cross, our sins no longer define us and they no longer destroy us.And greater still, by faith, the believer knows that we too live in the newness of His resurrection life.
His life is our life. His destiny is our destiny by faith, right now!
Jesus says, “Look to my cross, lay your heart in my hands, and now get your head into the clouds of my resurrection power and purpose for real life living! Receive My word, My sacraments, let Me deliver this good news all the way to you.”
The same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead raises us up with Him in the waters of His gift of Holy Baptism. Then and there, His life becomes your life. That same power of God is coming to you now even in this Word! The minute you trust in Christ as your Savior, His resurrection guarantees your resurrection in Him. By faith in Him, your eternal life with God is not just wishful thinking, it is a certain promise guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Jesus your Savior.
It’s the most real thing you can be and do in this world.
Paul says, “Set your mind on things above, not earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
So, with your head in the clouds of His resurrection grace, with your heart in the heavenly hands of Jesus, with your eyes fixed on Him alone; get to living your life in Him.
Living that way, Paul reminds us that we have a different set of priorities. This world is not all there is. Knowing Christ by faith is the one thing that really matters. We live with a different set of priorities all for Jesus!
He says, “Set your mind on things above. You are Christ’s people. Don’t just ask how will this benefit me, ask how will it glorify Christ and benefit my neighbor!
Living with our heads in the clouds of His grace; it’s not ignorance or naïve optimism, it’s not even mere intelligence, it’s a sanctified, common sense, spirit-empowered life of knowledge, discipline, and action in the gracious promises of Jesus Christ lived out in this world.
In a world of coarseness and shameless bravado; boy, do we need people like that today!
Easter people; that’s you. You have been called to the wisdom of God in Jesus Christ to live life with your hearts set on Him, using all the gifts He’s given you in this world for others.Think about it. There is an Easter purpose in everything you do. In the music you play, in the art you produce, in the science you investigate, in the philosophy you live by, in the work and leisure you get to enjoy!
Living life with His priorities grants moral courage to act decisively as graced people, with Christ’s wisdom for other’s sake!
Paul is calling us to faith and life, a life lived in the power and purpose of the resurrection of the One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father and is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
One last thing though, as you get to living this way, don’t be surprised with a few bumps in the road this side of heaven. In fact, there will be times when things don’t appear the way you think they should. Paul says, in Christ, by faith, you have His life and salvation, 100%; even if it seems hidden from view at the moment. Like Jesus, we are victors who appear as servants, we are people with eternal life even as we struggle with illness and temporal death. Even Jesus told us it would be this way until He comes again to judge the living and the dead.
But Christians live with God’s purpose and power even then!
At those times, especially those times; the promises of God even more powerfully hold us and we get to more powerfully hold on to the promises of God even then, because we are resurrection people, Easter people, holy people in Christ and Christ alone!
Arthur Godfrey, considered one of the world’s greatest salesmen, still worked very hard at it into his 70s. That’s not unusual except for the fact that he could hardly walk because of a back injury suffered in a plane crash; he was battling cancer for the 20th year, and yet, though he had all the money he needed, with his faith in God, he still kept doing his thing under God for others! Why?
He said, “I get thousands of letters every month from people who are crippled or have cancer, or those who have lost a lung, and they see me banging around, using my gifts for God and others, and it gives them hope. They are lifted up; I can’t let them down.”That’s the power of being an Easter person in all circumstances! That’s the gift that Jesus wants you to have right now. Will you open that gift by faith? Will you trust in Him for your life? As we proclaim Christ’s Word here every Sunday, you can begin to see the fullness of that grace, peace, and power that is available to all who trust in Him by faith. Will you come on that journey with us, with me, every Sunday? Will you let Jesus open your heart and mind to the blessings of His Word? Will you trust that keeping your eyes set on Him you have all that you need to live an abundant, eternal life forever?
During Super Bowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker, whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home with a package in his hand.
When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived for five years on a deserted island, and during the whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gave him a simple, “Thank you.” But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, “If I may ask, what was in that package after all?”
She opened it and showed him the contents, saying, “Oh, nothing really; just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds.”
In that package he had all that he needed not only to survive, but to be rescued; if he would have just opened the gift.
Today, my friend, there is a package clearly marked for you. The Bible, with its message of forgiveness and life, is a package to be opened today in your life, my friend. The message of the cross, the presence of the resurrected Lord, is a FedEx gift from Christ Himself to be opened by you by faith. With faith in Christ alone, you have all that you’ll ever need to live life, resurrection life, in His Name, now and forever.
So, don’t be satisfied with the buttons, pins, and pennies of this world when Jesus Himself, the resurrected Savior of the world, this Easter Sunday, offers you the very treasures of His cross and resurrection. Set your heart, your gaze on Him by faith. You’ll be eternally glad that you did!
Amen!
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for April 20, 2014
Topic: Did Jesus Really Die On The Cross?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer. Pastor, did Jesus really die on the cross? It’s been said that Jesus was actually unconscious when He was put into the tomb and He later revived.
SELTZ: Mark, there are certain questions that never seem to go away. And, it’s not that the question hasn’t been answered. It’s that some people just don’t want to believe that Jesus really died and rose from the dead. In spite of all the eyewitnesses and the accurate testimony of Jesus’ resurrection in the Bible, people have tried to claim that Jesus didn’t really die when He was crucified.
ANNOUNCER: This is often called the “swoon” theory–that Jesus was unconscious or even in a coma, but He wasn’t physically dead.
SELTZ: That’s where our friends in the medical field are helpful, Mark. Books and articles have been written about the ancient execution practice of crucifixion. When a person was crucified or affixed to crossbeams as they were being executed, that person typically died from asphyxiation. He suffocated as he hung there.
ANNOUNCER: It was a very slow and cruel death.
SELTZ: It was a death penalty for the worst of criminals. And it was brutal. Jesus, however, suffered even more than the actual crucifixion. Before He was nailed to the cross, Jesus was beaten severely. The shock and blood loss of the scourging could have been enough to kill a man, but, as we hear in the Bible, Jesus was still alive when He was crucified.
ANNOUNCER: But, how do we know that He actually physically died and He wasn’t just lapsed into a coma?
SELTZ: Well, before answering that, let me just say this, Mark, it’s important to note that while it looked like the Roman soldiers were “killing Jesus,” as a popular author states, the Bible says Jesus even more profoundly gave up His life.
ANNOUNCER: So, we’re looking at the evidence that He was, in fact, dead and that He allowed it to happen.
SELTZ: Exactly. So, back to the evidence. For example, as the soldiers prepared to remove the bodies of Jesus and the men crucified with Him from the cross, they broke the other men’s legs. That would make certain that the suffocation was complete. The men couldn’t brace themselves with their legs to get a breath. When the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw He had already died. To make sure, they pierced his side with a spear. Water and blood rushed out–a sign that Jesus’ heart had failed. He was physically dead. There was no chance of any physical life after what He had gone through.
ANNOUNCER: Movies that depict the crucifixion are often very difficult to watch, but I don’t think they even come close to really showing the agony and the torture of it.
SELTZ: That’s right. Jesus paid a huge physical price on the cross, one beyond what we can imagine. But Jesus paid an even greater spiritual price. So, the crucifixion was not just about physical agony. As He hung on the cross, He was rejected by God the Father and punished for our sin. So, when Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” He was also suffering hell on our behalf. That’s the worst agony of all.
ANNOUNCER: So, to be clear, when Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, there was zero chance He was alive?
SELTZ: None at all. That’s why the disciples hid and Jesus’ followers mourned. Jesus had really died. The disciple John, the women, and the Roman soldiers all witnessed His last breath. Jesus really died, but this is where the miracle of His work for us really comes in.
ANNOUNCER: And we’re talking here about the miracle of His resurrection?
SELTZ: Yes, that’s true, but also the miracle of our salvation. You see, Jesus overcame what we could never overcome. He rose physically from the dead; He also conquered the curse of sin for us. The Bible says that Jesus scorned the shame of sin and lives victoriously for us. Hebrews 12:2 says it, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh were overcome once and for all. So Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished the ultimate miracle of earning for us the gift of eternal life.
ANNOUNCER: To sum this all up, what would you say to someone who denies that Jesus really died?
SELTZ: Well, Mark, show them the Scriptures, the evidence, and then let the Holy Spirit do His work. The eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection are plentiful in the Bible. In addition, it’s extremely implausible to suggest He survived crucifixion by a Roman execution squad. But even more, let them know the why of it all. If Jesus didn’t die, we would have never received the precious gift of God’s forgiveness and eternal life.
ANNOUNCER: Christ is risen.
SELTZ: He is risen, indeed!
ANNOUNCER: And it always comes back to that Good News of our salvation in Him. Thank you, Pastor Seltz. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds” From Hymns for All Saints: Lent, Easter, Pentecost (© 2006 Concordia Publishing House)
“He’s Risen, He’s Risen” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)