Colossians 3:1-11

            {Prayer}

            A little refresher of where we’ve been in this series.

            Chapter 1, we looked at doctrine or teaching. Christ at the Center declared that Jesus is, “Firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). “Firstborn from the dead” (1:18). “So that he might have first place in all things” (1:18).

            Chapter 2 was about danger. Danger in the sense of what the false teachers were trying to get across. The belief that Christ is at the Center had to be defended. False teachers were saying, “Christ isn’t enough.” Paul wrote, “The fullness of the deity dwells in Christ in bodily form. You have been given fullness in Christ” (Col. 2:8-9). In Christ, we are made full, we have enough, we have more than enough.

            Chapters 3 and 4 are about duty. Christ at the Center is demonstrated in how we live.

            Our duty as Christians is to demonstrate, with our lives, that Christ is at the center. And it all beings with our mind. Paul says, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2).

            Thinking leads to feeling which leads to doing.

            For those keeping track, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday, February 14^th. On that note, I never played organized baseball until I was in Seminary. So needless to say, when I played in Seminary, about the only way I made it on base was either by drawing a walk or getting hit by the ball. However, there was a guy on our team who had played first base for the Florida Marlins Triple-A team. He was a lefty who prided himself on the fact that his bat speed was one mile per hour faster than Ken Griffey Jr.’s.

            Being more like the Sandlot players, we asked him from time to time what it was like playing against the pros. We would ask him things like what was the hardest pitch to hit and by who. The hardest pitch to hit for him, and I believe for many others, was a curve ball. For those who don’t know, it’s a pitch that looks like it is coming right at you at 80 miles per hour and then about eight feet from the batter it curves drastically to go over the outside or inside corner of home plate. The pitcher who got into my teammate’s mind the most … none other than Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. By their presence, good pitchers can get into the minds of hitters.

            Paul starts this third part of Colossians about duty, about how Christ at the Center is demonstrated in the same manner. “It all begins with your mind.” According to Paul, we have two options. We can either set our mind on “earthly things” or on “things above.”

            And what exactly are “earthly things”? They are things like, “… sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). They’re GIGO – garbage in; garbage out. They are things like “… anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Col. 3:8).

            Suppose one day you come to visit me and find me working in my greenhouse. Granted, neither is my house nor my thumb green, but let’s just go with this for a moment. Everything is arranged for flowers and fruit to grow. I ask you to join me as I collect some seeds to plant. You’ve always though I was one brick short of a load, but what I do next removes all doubt.

            You watch me walk into a field next door and strip seeds off of all the weeds. Crab grass seeds, dandelion seeds, and all kinds of weed seeds. I fill up a big sack with these seeds and return to the greenhouse. You can’t believe what you’ve just seen me do. “I thought you wanted a greenhouse full of flowers and fruit.” “I do.” “Then don’t you think you ought to plant flower and fruit seeds?” “Do you have any idea how much those seeds cost? Besides, you have to drive all the way to the garden center to get them. No thanks. I’m taking the cheap and easy route.” As you walk away, shaking your head, you mumble something about two bricks short of a load.

            Everyone knows that you harvest what you sow. You reap what you plant. Yet strangely, what we know when we plant a garden, we tend to forget when we cultivate our mind.

            Thought management is, well … unthought-of. We think a lot about time management, weight management, and personnel management. But what about thought management?

            If our mind is a greenhouse and our thoughts are the seeds … shouldn’t we be careful about what we sow? Shouldn’t we be selective about the seeds we allow to come into the greenhouse? Isn’t guarding our mind a strategic task? It’s so easy to take the cheap and easy way out. No wonder we harvest things like sadness, envy, and strife. No wonder our lives are full of chaos and calamity. No wonder we don’t see any beauty or brightness. All we have planted are weed seeds.

            Let’s switch up metaphors a bit. Suppose I ask you to take care of my house while I’m out of town. When I return, I find the place in shambles. The carpet is town, walls are smeared, the furniture is broken, food is all over the place. Your explanation is not impressive. You say that a rugby team called, looking for a place for their party. So, let me ask you one questions … “Don’t you know how to say ‘no’?”

            No you don’t … and neither do I. You see, we set our minds on earthly things. We let any riffraff through the door. Anger shows up, and we let him in. Revenge needs a place to say, so we have him pull up a chair. Pity wants a party, so we show him the kitchen. Lust rings the bells, so we change the sheets on our bed. We don’t know how to say “no”. That’s why Paul writes this.

            “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:1-3). Paul says that when were baptized, we died. Death isn’t something that Christians look forward to, but something we look back on. If you have been baptized, you are no longer the person you once were. We were too far gone to be rehabilitated. We were totaled, thoroughly corrupted and enslaved to sin; sowing all our wild seeds. And rather than trying to do some cosmetic repair work, God killed us.

            He killed me so that He could make a new me. This is why Paul writes, “Since you have been raised with Christ …” and not “Since you will be raised with Christ.” We have been raised from the dead. One moment, I’m dead to God and alive to sin … the next moment I’m alive to God and dead to sin. One moment I’m controlled by sin and hostile toward God … the next moment I’m washed of sin, I’m clothed in Christ’s righteousness, I’m a member of God’s family and at peace with my Creator.

            Looking to things above, Paul says that “Christ is your life” (Col. 3:4). In this book of Colossians, Paul calls Christ the very image of God, the Lord of creation, the Head of the church, the Reconciler of the universe, the One who has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the fullness of God, the Victor over all cosmic powers.

            To set my mind on things above … that is to confess “Christ is my life.” My job is not my life. My investments are not my life. My relationships are not my life. My health is not my life. My hobbies and interests and teams and sports and education and goal are not my life. There is nothing wrong with these things at all, but none of them can forgive me, restore me, ultimately delight me or fill me. And none of them can raise me from the dead and present me washed, cleansed, and holy in God the Father’s sight.Only Jesus can do that. This is why Christ is my life. This is what setting my mind on things above means.

            This is not my house, but perhaps you’ve heard about a man who came home from work one day to a cranky wife. Arriving at 6:30 in the evening, he spent an hour trying to cheer her up. However, nothing worked. Finally, he said, “Let’s start over and pretend I’m just getting home.” The husband stepped outside, and when he opened the door, she said, “It’s 7:30! And you’re just now getting home from work?”

            Would you like to be more positive? More upbeat? More cheerful? More helpful? Easier to live with? Thinking leads to feeling which leads to doing. It all beings … with your mind. Be more selective about the seeds you plant in your mind, then you will be much more delighted with the crop you harvest. In fact, the crop will be absolutely … beautiful! And why is that? Because that’s what happens when Christ is my life. Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.