Colossians 3:1-4.                               He is risen – Have you risen???                  16/4/17

{1)  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.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed: Our Lord Jesus has risen from dead. He lives to ........... Ho Hum; and the world goes back to sleep, or gets ready for its picnic or whatever other recreation that they are into. Thanks for waking us up, so that now we can go and look for our Easter eggs. Let’s get on with our long weekend.

Sadly, the world today takes little notice of the message that come out from the churches on this day. It has got nothing to do with their lives. It is just some proclamation of an event that supposedly happened a long time ago; and it seems as though it is of no real importance for us today.

As a result, most of our fellow Australians are running hither and thither to enjoy a long weekend. Here is a weekend that they can go and get away from it all; enjoy the beauty of our Australian scenery and many other forms of relaxation. They know the joys and pleasures that can be got out of this Easter weekend. So they now aim to make the most of it. They will leave Easter celebrations to those of us who want to celebrate an event that is long past and seemingly irrelevant to their lives.

Yes, there are a good few who will take time out to spend 1 hour in church on this day and then rush back to what ever they were doing before. The message of Easter is again of no real great value to them; they sort of know that it is important and they will do the right thing and hopefully keep God happy. Then at the end of the year, at least they can say they have been to church.

But even amongst most of us Christians here today that message of the risen Lord Jesus makes little difference to our lives. Yes, we proclaim, quite readily, that Jesus rose from the dead; we hold to these truths of the Bible and pay lip service to their importance. But our lives display very little evidence to the relevance of this risen Lord to our everyday life. Our lives are little different to any others in our society. No wonder so many of our fellow Australians have lost interest in the real message of Easter; that life changing - life renewing message of Jesus crucified and risen again for you and me.

Sadly, so often, this change can't be seen. There is no evidence then, for those out there that this is for real. Too often all we do is pay lip service to this message; but where is the power and importance of this message for people’s lives? Where is its relevance for life today? When they look at you and me, do they see that Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection is all important to us?

Let us think back to those early Christians and their experience of the Easter message. To this point those first disciples were like ‘scared rabbits;’  that is until they heard the message that Christ is risen! Their master has risen from the dead just as he said he would. He really is the one he said he was. From that point on, everything he had said to them became important for their lives. His life giving Spirit filled them to overflowing and they became changed people.

The risen Lord - the Message of Easter transformed their lives. Now they could not help but speak of the things that they had seen and heard. They boldly lived by what they believed: right to the point of being flogged to death; or being crucified themselves; or even thrown to the lions. Their whole lifestyle changed. Their whole orientation in life was turned upside down. Their lives took on the whole thought of our text here.

Let us hear it again. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on 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.

With Christ's resurrection all who believe and are connected to him have been raised to a whole new life. The power which raised Jesus lifeless body is now at work in our lives. Instead of minds filled with how to survive this life and how to avoid persecution and hardship, our hearts and lives ae fixed on the Lord Jesus; on the one sitting at the right hand of God.

The Early Christians only concern was to live and do as the Lord wanted. And they could do it, because their life was hidden in Christ. He was the one who was all important to them. They knew that no matter whatever happened to them, they were sharing in his glory. Their whole life was now to be lived as Christ lived. They would seek to do as Christ did. And they could make a good fist of it, because He lived in them - he was their real life. So now they lived - now they loved - now their lives had a purpose and a direction.

No wonder people flocked to hear the Easter message. No wonder the church grew and grew. The power of God which raised Jesus was evident in his follower’s lives. They could see the changes God had made to their lives. They could see what the death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of life and salvation meant for these people.

They could see how they were freed from the shackles that held them all back. They could see the truth of Jesus. They could see the love of God flowing forth from these people’s lives. The risen Lord Jesus had made such an impact; such a change. As a result, many of them wanted to know more: many wanted to be a part of this Jesus Christ.

That is surely the message that comes to us today. He is Risen! Our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. The power of God has transformed life for us also. We too are given the new life that was given to Christ. To all who believe in him and are baptised, they have been raised to life with Christ.

We don't have to worry about death. We don't need to hassle ourselves and struggle in order to get on in life. Our life too is hidden in and with Christ. Trusting in him we have the certainty of eternal life; the certainty of sharing in glory with Christ. At our baptisms we were joined to Jesus and his death and resurrection.  We are a part of all this which is truly great.

Now then our minds also can be focussed away from ourselves and our own wants and desires. Now we can fix our minds on Christ and the things of his kingdom. Our whole life can take on a new meaning and direction: No longer looking down and around us; worrying about this and that. No, we can now look up - look out - we can live - we can love - we have true peace and joy in our lives. Our lives being transformed into the life of Christ. We are a part of this great One who died and was raised from the dead; and he assures us that now we too will be able to share in his glory forever more.

So now then our lives can reflect this Jesus each and every day of our lives. We can take up our crosses courageously and allow this Jesus and all that he has done be reflected to the people around about us. We know that this Jesus will work good out of the most tragic of situations, even if we can’t see how this can be.

We will continually speak of Christ and the forgiveness that he has won for us as being central to who we are and what we are about. Surely Jesus and what he says is important is what will be important for us. The things of this world that people strive after will fade from significance for us, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing and being a part of Jesus Christ.

We too will take seriously what he says in his Word rather than change to the culture of our world today and the “I wants”. We now know that what he says in the Bible is what is good and right for us, even if it is out of step with the world around us.

Christ is risen! We too have risen. New life has come into the world - our world. We are changed people. We are people who can look up. No longer is our life the same as so many around us. We surely are different - we are new people. People who have what is important in life. A sure and certain hope the future is secure, no matter what we are facing in this life.

Now the power of God can also be evident in us his people. What a change has come over our world. A change that transforms our lives. New life has come to us also. New life has come to Christ and through him to us also. To him be glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Christ is Risen! - He is risen indeed!

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish