All will see His coming. All will see you in your appearance with Him. Until then, hear Him: Christ is dead and risen. Hear Him about you too: You are dead, and you too are risen in Him.
The humblest of all nine pericopes assigned through the three years of the Easter Day service in the lectionary, this epistle is one of my favorite selections of scripture. I bet you have never heard it specifically preached on Easter Sunday. I know I have not. This year is the year I will do it. So, I am writing this preaching advice to myself this week, which can be a peek under the hood at my process for you, how I conceive of the craft myself.
First things first: Imagination, putting myself in the time and place. For me that will be 9am on Easter Sunday after a long weekend with multiple services daily since Thursday. Sunday’s service will be the finish line, with the egg-hunt and congregation fellowship brunch as the prize at the end. The church will be decked in white paraments, candles, and (I hope handsomely as opposed to oppressively) stuffed with lilies and other flowers. The critical mass of the faithful of my congregation will have most recently experienced the joy of the vigil service the evening prior. Their friends, family, and visitors who might not otherwise darken the doorstep will be in the pews with them on Sunday morning. I need to remember how this is one of those rare, ready-made opportunities for a captive audience to hear the ninety-two-octane gospel. Clear delivery of the Christ dead and risen, in a plainly distinguished law-gospel sermon, is the faithful course.
Next thing: Get familiar with the liturgical context. We will read Acts 10, chant Psalm 16, and process Matthew 28 during the public reading in my church’s traditional Service of the Word. Hymns and special music will, of course, confess the resurrection of the son of God, focusing our attention on Christ’s (and our) victory over the grave. The introit will be verses from Psalm 139. The most salient bits of the context pericopes that I dog-ear for my own reflection and continuing reference are: Acts 10:39-41 (Christ’s death, resurrection, and appearances); Psalm 16:1-2, 6 (resonates with the Colossians 3 theme of “hidden in Christ”), and, of course, Psalm 16:10; Matthew 28:6 (“lay” is past tense – that is not where Christ is any longer, and where Christ is, is where you are in Colossians 3); and Matthew 28:9 (the feet; this is bodily, material, corporeal, real, and so is the Colossians 3 stuff). The most salient bits of liturgical context that I do the same with: Introit (Psalm 139:1-4, echoes of being “hidden in God” a la Colossians 3); “the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign” (This is the Feast); Nicene Creed (“the third day He rose again... sits at the right hand of the Father”).
Next thing: I do a close reading of the pericope I will preach on in the original language (I truly encourage you to do this too, preacher. Whatever your level, there are plenty of great tools to assist you, and if you are not yet in a regular habit of using Greek, consistent practice will move you from being fluent with the tools to being fluent with the language!). As I read, I make note of a few things I want to come back to, some related to vocabulary and grammar, others having to do with allusions to other scriptures. So, perhaps these following “exegetical notes” will be of some help to you as well.
Colossians 3:1: Most English translations render Greek ei as “if.” This is not incorrect. But “since” is better, because Paul is taking as a given that you have been raised with Christ, the foundation for his continued argument. The New International Version, New Living Translation, and New Century Versions get this right (The Message, on the other hand, gets this whole pericope comically – or dangerously! – wrong). Why reflect on this? I want to make certain to remember that for my hearers’ having been raised with Christ is literally fait accompli – this is description, with all credit given to Christ who rose first for them and, indeed, raises them daily, in-the-now lived life, not just the not-yet raised-at-the-end stuff.
Colossians 3:1: The verbs here are all second person plural, the “all y’all” of Greek. Do not forget that Paul is talking to many hearers/readers, a collective body (a point lost in English unless you have a footnote or a Greek New Testament open alongside). That plurality is something I intend to draw on, not just because I want my folks to hear the message as not just individual, but also as a comfort that Paul is talking about more people than we can even see. For example, those family members, friends, and loved ones we know who have already gone to be with the Lord. It is a reality that they too – and you! – have already been raised with Christ, all to the credit of our risen, ascended, and reigning Lord.
Colossians 3:1: “Having been raised” with Christ ties back to Colossians 2:12. Paul grounds this in baptism, with all its burial and resurrection connections echoing Romans 6:3-4 and all the Easter stuff in Paul’s larger argument there.
Colossians 3:1-2: ta anō... ta anō... ta epi tēs gēs (things above, things on earth) are the objects of what Paul’s hearers/readers are called to seek and set their minds on. This distinguishes earthly/heavenly in precisely the same way Christ does at John 3 when He talks (baptismally there too!) about being born anōthen (from above), about how flesh gives birth to flesh but spirit to spirit. Anō, above, is where Christ is. The ascension and session at the right hand of God could be its own sermon (and should be, six weeks from now!). Certainly, study it, but spending inordinate space on it in a prepared sermon manuscript will likely be more distracting than helpful for an Easter sermon. This is just a caution I am conscious of as I prepare.
Colossians 3:3: I always teach my students to translate gar in their heads as “now, the reason I say that is...” This is a good reminder that the apethanete, “you died,” is the direct explanation, the answer to an unspoken “why” question following verses 1-2. Why seek the things above? Why not set your mind on things below, but only above, where Christ is? Simple answer: You died. The death certificate is sealed, time of death recorded. Your life has now been kekruptai; perfect passive, completed action, ongoing reality. It has been, is, and always will be hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:4: “When Christ appears... you will appear with Him in glory.” The Greek vocabulary most resembles 1 John 3:2. The good thing to remember with this cross-reference is the entire context of 1 John 3:1-3. This is about being children of God, in the now and in the not yet. This is also about being in the world but not of the world. It is Colossians 3:3 redux: You died! Your life is now hidden with Christ in God! Another resurrection intertext caps off the verse: In glory, resonating with being sown perishable, raised imperishable, raised in glory (1 Corinthains 15:34).
You died! Your life is now hidden with Christ in God!
Finally, after I am satisfied with my “exegetical” work (I put that in quotes lest any seminarians think I am skipping too many steps from the process of analysis they learned and practice from their professors; this is, admittedly, not a full-blown twenty-page literary, rhetorical, and theological analysis of the text prepared for commentary, publication, or an evaluation by my Greek professor!), I ask myself the central practical questions that address the core of every sermon. Where is Jesus in the text? What gets in my listener’s way of seeing and hearing the Jesus the text would deliver? How is the actual, historical, saving death and resurrection of Christ related to the presentation of the Christ as revealed in this text; directly, indirectly, with patent hooks to draw on, or will I have to do some clever importing from elsewhere?
On any given week, the entire process I just described over a couple of pages takes place in about ten to fifteen minutes, unless I am feeling tired, or am distracted by rabbit holes, or the text happens to be inordinately lengthy or thorny. I write some things down from time to time, but not generally. I usually have these things swirling round my head (for good or for ill) by the time I actually sit down at the laptop to start drafting a manuscript.
The directly revealed Jesus in this text is the one who is seated at the right hand of God. He is above (anō). This Jesus is the hiding place in which your hearer’s life is hid. This Christ is their life. And finally, this is the Christ who will be revealed, who will appear, and, when He does, so also will your hearers, a result of the inextricable link, the connection they have with the Christ, their life hidden in Him. The hiding/revealing dynamic, the seen and unseen, will come up again through the Easter season texts (refer to next Sunday’s epistle, “though you have not seen Him, you love Him,” 1 Peter 1:8-9; next Sunday’s doubting Thomas gospel with the risen Lord and the evangelist himself underscoring the unseen nature of faith: “Blessed are those who have not seen and, yet, believe... these things are written in order that you may believe,” John 20:29-31).
All of this suggests to me a major thrust for an Easter day sermon that goes along the lines of, “What you and the world does not see,” versus “What God sees,” and “What faith ‘sees’ (hears).” The lies we tell ourselves versus the truth that does not change. The experience of not seeing and then seeing, now and not-yet, ending with the encouragement of a life hidden with (the risen Lord Jesus) Christ in God in the now as we anticipate the not-yet. Hiddenness and revelation, hiding and appearance, will be a frequently employed motif. The basic structure will be tripartite with a coda:
(1) Christ died, and He rose again. The historic crucifixion was seen by all but witnessed in diminishing numbers down to the burial. The historic resurrection of the Son of God was seen by none, then few, then many, and then all.
(2) You died, and you rose again (baptismal connection). Baptism is a rite witnessed, perhaps, by many, a death certificate signed by God Himself, but it does not look like you are dead. The baptized life is actually unseen too. The unseen stuff at the right hand of God with your hand on the wheel of the universe with Him where you are hid is the real stuff, whether you “see” it or not. Hear it and believe it!
(3) The world is judged (all things are dying) but it will all be remade at His appearing. When Christ is revealed, you will also be revealed in glory. Until then, He gives us visible gifts, like the Christ in your neighbor, the Christ in the supper where we yet commune with unseen believers awaiting the final resurrection(!), and the Christ in the promise that He will return soon.
Coda: Living the baptized resurrection life today until the not-yet end is a life that is unseen (hidden with Christ in God) even as it is seen (hidden glory, hidden resurrection). Let the rest of the world think about the ta epi tēs gēs; the earthly, visible stuff below. You seek and set your heart and mind on the ta anō, the things above. All will see His coming. All will see you in your appearance with Him. Until then, hear Him: Christ is dead and risen. Hear Him about you too: You are dead, and you too are risen in Him.
A blessed Easter and Eastertide to you and to your hearers as you craft your sermons to bring the life of our risen Lord Jesus Christ to ears that need to receive the promise of resurrection!
Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Colossians 3:1-4.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching Colossians 3:1-4.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
