Pentecost 10 Colossians 3:1-11 Hidden With Christ
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21
Back in the gold rush days in Alaska, the miners that arrived there discovered that the Eskimos had a unique way of trapping wolves for their fur. The Eskimos took a razor sharp knife and placed it in the hard packed snow with the blade pointing up. They took some blood and a little fat and smeared it on the knife. Then they would leave it there and check back every few days.
When a hungry wolf wandered by, it would smell the blood and lick the knife blade. The blade was so sharp that the wolf would not feel the cold steel cutting its own tongue. But it would taste more blood, and lick the knife again. Every time the wolf licked the knife, it tasted fresh, warm blood, and it licked the sharp blade even more. And with each lick on the knife’s edge, the wolf put another small cut in its tongue. Without realizing it, the hungry wolf drank its own blood, satisfying its hunger but at the same time, it weakened and died. When the Eskimo would check his trap, all he had to do was pick up the wolf and skin it out.
We live in a world full of traps that are baited with things that appeal to our sinful earthly nature. Paul lists those sinful things; sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. The desire to become rich and to store up great wealth is found on the same list. Paul lumps all those deadly things together and calls them idolatry. This sinful nature is like a hungry wolf that lives within each one of us. Our sinful nature sees and tastes only the pleasure of idolatry. Idolatry starts out with a little taste, one pornographic picture, one little kiss with a friend’s husband or wife, or even one trip to the gambling tables.
Each trap that is set affects us differently, but they are all deadly. It just takes a little taste of the so called good life; a ride in a luxury car, a visit to a rich person’s house or a party where drugs and alcohol flow freely; just one little lick on the blade of desire and the wolf within us gets hungry for more. We become greedy and are willing to sin all the more to continue feeding our own sinful desires. We are not aware of the knife blade that cuts us each time we sin, slowly draining away our lifeblood; slowly separating us from God the Father and His Church which sustains us with eternal life.
But if we stop and look at our lives, we can see the warning signs. Paul lists some of these as well; anger, rage, hate, calling people names, cursing and lying. These are all symptoms that tell us we are sinners. Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death. Each time we sin we cut ourselves on the knife blade which slowly drains our life away. Furthermore, we were born sinful into a sinful world. No matter if we were born rich or poor, in Alaska, Colorado, Jerusalem or anywhere in the world, we were born sinners.
And as sinners, we all started dieing the day we were born. No matter how long we live, how rich we may become or how much pain or pleasure we experience, life in this world has no future.
King Solomon gives us an idea of what this life holds for us in our Old Testament lesson. The richest and wisest man that has ever been, tells us of his experience. He used his wealth and wisdom to search for meaning in everything there is under the sun; in learning, in pleasure, in work. He focused himself in study, and gained great wisdom and knowledge. He surrounded himself with pleasures and beautiful women. In fact, he had 700 wives. He had expensive houses, lavish gardens, horses and chariots, dozens of servants, entertainment, gourmet foods, and fine wines. He denied himself nothing. He threw himself into work building, trading, conquering, and becoming more and more wealthy. He experienced more of what this world had to offer than any of us will see in our lifetimes.
And what did the Preacher of Ecclesiastes find? No matter how hard you work and no matter how hard you search, there is nothing in this world to give you complete satisfaction. A graveyard awaits us all. Without God in the center of your life, everything is empty and meaningless. Life is just ‘a chasing after the wind.’ Solomon states, “What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.”
The things of this world promise a full and abundant life filled with lots of pleasures; everything we desire. But the pleasures in our past do not really satisfy us. Yes, we can look back at the good times in our lives with fondness, but as we age, all of the pleasures of the past do not help us with our future.
Our past pleasures in life only leave us looking backward to the life we once had. And as we grow older and wiser, we begin to taste our own blood; we realize that our life will end. And when death finally comes for those who don’t know Christ, Satan is waiting to pick them up and carry off their souls to eternal damnation.
But thanks be to God for sending us His Son, whom John the Baptist called, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” How ironic that God sent a Lamb into a world full of wolves to defeat Satan! Jesus came willingly into a world filled with death so that we might have life, and have it abundantly. He was rich, but for our sakes He became poor. God was born of a humble Virgin mother, and placed in a manger. He grew into a poor preacher from Galilee with no place to lay His head. He became poor in our sin and death so that by His poverty we might become rich in His life.
Jesus taught us to speak kindly about others and to always tell the truth. He taught us to follow Him in faith just like a lamb follows the voice of the Shepherd. He came showing us not to worry about what we should eat or drink or what we should wear for He will provide for us.” As Solomon said, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also is from the hand of God, for apart from Him who can have enjoyment?”
And for all of His wisdom, love, patience and teaching, Jesus was crucified as a criminal. Even so He died for you so that you could look forward to a life apart from this world.
You have become rich in God's mercy, rich in forgiveness and rich in freedom. Christ has set you free, not only from sin and death, but also from every false hope, from every anxiety, every worry, and every idol. Christ has freed you, raised you, and seated you with Him at the Father's right hand. The wolf within you with all of its sinful lusts was struck with a fatal blow when you were baptized. And because of the atoning work of Jesus, a lamb was raised to life within you.
You are now both a sinner and a saint. You have both a wolf and a lamb living within you. The wolf still lusts after earthly things that can lead you to destruction, while the lamb desires heavenly things, those attributes of faith that lead to eternal life. The wolf and the lamb within are in a constant struggle. When you give in to temptation, the wolf within feeds your sinful nature and causes you to cut yourselves on the knife of sin.
Satan still sets his traps, but his cold, sharp knives no longer can hurt you when you remain hidden in Christ. The sting of death, the sharpness of sin has been taken away by Jesus. The Lamb of God has defeated the trapper named Satan.
Through the water and the word, and the body and blood of Christ, you can be healed from the terrible wounds of sin. The Lord’s Supper heals your wounds caused by sin and strengthens the lamb within you. Paul tells you, “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” You become more and more like the Lamb of God as Christ becomes more and more a part of your life.
When you ‘feed on Christ’ God gives you the promise and the gifts of eternal life. Through the Holy Spirit, He has given you the gifts of eternal life, forgiveness, and salvation. Your life does not depend on the abundance of your possessions, but in the abundance of life that is already yours in Jesus Christ. You could lose everything you have today; your house, your health, your work, your savings, your pension, everything, and yet you will have lost nothing.
The kingdom of God is yours. The riches of heaven are yours. Eternal life is yours. And along with that eternal life will be the knowledge and wisdom that goes with being renewed with your Creator.
As you are renewed, God makes you priests in His royal priesthood. Then true satisfaction in work and enjoyment of life are found as you look forward to a life in Christ. When you look at Christ as the Good Shepherd, you are free to enjoy what God has given us. You are free to give generously to God and to others. You are free to work and to enjoy the fruit of your work and be content with what you have, because the meaning and purpose of your life is not tied to what you have or what you do, but to whom you belong. You were bought at a price; a high price paid by Jesus with His very body and blood. You belong to Jesus, now and forever, Amen.