Hiding and Revealing

 Hiding and Revealing

Colossians 3:1-4, Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023

Today's sermon text contains many abstract concepts, and the most notable of these is the expression that "life is hidden." First, let's read Colossians 3:3:

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

The phrase "you have died" in this sentence refers to the spiritual existence of a Christian who has undergone baptism. Through baptism, Christians see themselves as having already died. Of course, they have not actually died, and they cannot die. Our lives are part of God's good creation, and every aspect of our lives should be valued. Extreme asceticism that has appeared in Christian history is not true faith. When we say that we have died through baptism, we mean that we have accepted our previous self and our new self as different beings. We have rejected the worldly achievements that we pursued when we did not know and believe in Jesus Christ, so our previous selves are like dead.

Baptism means not only dying but also living again. We die with Christ and live with Christ. Our old selves die, and our new selves are born. However, just because our old selves die, it does not mean that our lives are entirely renewed. There are still trials and errors in our daily lives, but the direction of our lives is completely different. As Colossians 3:2 says, we focus on "the things above," not on "earthly things." Colossians 3:1 explains that "above" is where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. "Above" does not refer to any space in the universe or the world of the Platonic "ether" as described in the philosophy of Neo-Platonism during the time of the writing of Colossians. Rather, "above" refers to the world ruled by God's power. To understand "above" correctly, it is essential to know what God's power is.

According to the fundamental teachings of Christianity, God's power is revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The power of the resurrection is the ultimate power of God. When the New Testament speaks of the resurrection of Jesus, it mostly mentions "the dead." This is because overcoming death is the essence of the resurrection. Death is the destiny of all living creatures. This includes humans as well as other living creatures. The reason why death is special to humans is that only humans are aware of death. Some argue that animals also have a vague consciousness of death, but this is not certain. If animals were aware of death, they would show signs of preparing for death while they are still alive. I have not heard anyone say that funeral culture exists among other animals. Humans consciously or unconsciously accept and cope with their lives in relation to death. This is because they know how violent and brutal death can be.

Modern civilization alienates death. More accurately, humans are alienated from death. There are two reasons for this. One is a consumption-oriented life. Modern people try to experience a feeling of detachment from death through consumption. If they become acutely aware of the fact that they will die, they cannot maintain a consumption-oriented life. I recently got rid of all my clothes except for work clothes and tennis clothes. I can live with three modified hanboks depending on the season, so there is no problem. This is not to say that everyone should live like me. It is simply an expression of my will to reduce consumption as much as possible now that I am 70 years old. The other reason is that modern people dream of immortality through artificial intelligence and medical advances. They consider it salvation. If I were given the choice of immortality, I would say "no, thank you." It's not because I don't like living a long and healthy life, but because life is meaningless without experiencing death. I learned this from the Bible, and I believe it to be true.

Jesus Christ, whom we believe to be the Son of God, also fell into the depths of death. It is difficult to mechanically believe in the Christian doctrine that Jesus carried the cross to forgive and save us from our sins. Jesus wanted to avoid the cup of death as much as possible. The day before he was crucified, when he went to pray with Peter, James, and John, he was "deeply amazed and sorrowful," and told them to "stay here and keep watch" because he was "exceedingly sorrowful even to death" (Mark 14:33-34). Just before he died on the cross, he cried out, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" Why did Jesus think he was abandoned by God through death? If the path to human salvation existed, wouldn't it be right to go boldly? In contrast, Socrates, accused of inciting young Athenians, accepted death gracefully by receiving a cup of hemlock, leaving his disciples with the words to repay a borrowed chicken from a neighbor. Such an attitude is a tradition of Greek philosophy based on dualism between the spiritual and physical worlds. From the perspective of the New Testament Bible, which regards the human body as a holy creation of God, the death of the body is a complete destruction of human life. It is a desperate event. The disciples who witnessed their teacher being crucified and buried in the tomb were scattered back to their hometowns. The movement of God's kingdom started in Galilee had to come to an end. We all end our lives with death.

At some point, the disciples began to experience Jesus, who had been crucified and buried in a grave, as the "Living One." It is not easy to understand this experience of the disciples, just as it is difficult to understand the sentence that Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" According to the gospel proclamation, Jesus did not simply come back to life in the same body before dying. Rather, it is said that even though the door was closed, the resurrected Jesus entered the room. More importantly, it is a fact that the risen Lord appeared only to his disciples and those who had followed him. In 1 Corinthians 15:5, a list of eyewitnesses to the resurrection is given, including Cephas (Peter), the Twelve, five hundred brothers and sisters, James the brother of Jesus, all the apostles, and Paul. If the risen Jesus had appeared at the Sanhedrin or Pilate's office or in the center of Jerusalem, the news of Jesus' resurrection would have been more widely spread. However, the fact that the risen Lord appeared only to those who had a special relationship with him means that his resurrection was a special event that occurred in the realm of faith, not a general event that could be reported in history books or the mass media.

It is difficult to think that the resurrection of Jesus has little evidence to support it. What is reported in the news is not always important or certain. The truly important events are not recognized when they occur, but only when their results become apparent after a considerable amount of time has passed. When Jesus was born from Mary's body, almost no one recognized it. If people had known beforehand the significance of Jesus' birth in human history, many would have paid attention. Our daily lives are similar. The important events in our lives do not always reveal themselves from the beginning. Memories of certain experiences, even if they are vague, can determine a person's life later on. This is because the nature of this world is to conceal.

In today's text, Paul says that our lives are "hidden in God." This means that our lives have not yet been fully revealed, and therefore we cannot face the true identity of our lives. We still do not fully know who we are. Some people may feel uncomfortable with the question, "Who are you really?" They may argue that just being alive and living vividly is life itself. Of course, it is life, but it is not the kind of life that the Bible calls eternal life. I am not saying that the fact that our current lives inevitably end with old age and death means that they are hidden. The very nature of our vivid daily lives is to conceal. Try listing the things that you currently think make you happy. For example, let's say you won the lottery for one billion won, became a best-selling author, or a famous YouTuber, or married a good person. We do not know what impact these things will have on our future. We just blindly follow the vague idea of a "good life" that the world presents to us. This does not mean that our daily lives are not precious, but rather that the events that occur in our daily lives are not yet fully revealed, but are hidden. In other words, they are open to the future, like a seed that contains a hidden flower. When certain conditions are met over time, an unimaginable flower blooms from the seed. Are you waiting for the moment when a flower blooms in your life? Is this a story that is too far-fetched for you to believe? Do you not feel the reality of it? What do you really feel while you live?

Paul speaks of a very important fact here. He says that the life of us Christians is hidden 'with Christ' in God. Someone who lives for money is hidden with money. The phrase 'with Christ' means to be one with Christ. To borrow Paul's expression, Christ is in me, and I am in Christ. This refers to the spiritual solidarity in which we participate in the destiny of Jesus Christ, which leads to his suffering, cross, resurrection, and second coming. Being baptized, becoming a member of the church community, gathering regularly for worship, and sharing fellowship among church members all indicate the fact that we are one with Jesus Christ. Through this, our life, that is, our future, is hidden with Christ in God.

Appearing in Glory

The statement that our life is hidden means that our life has not yet been manifested. We still feel hungry, lonely, sad, and angry. We are disappointed in ourselves, and we secretly want to boast. No matter how many life goals we achieve, we are not satisfied. Human existence is far from the completion of life. We should be careful when we see videos on TV, YouTube, SNS, etc. that show people who seem to be completely satisfied and happy with their lives. Such stories are only partially true. No matter how splendid they are, they are only seeds. The happiness of a seed is different from that of a flower. We must endure the life of a seed. Only then can we welcome the moment when life is manifested. Referring to that moment, Paul says in verse 4:

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

"In verse 3, it says our lives are hidden in God, and in verse 4 it says that Christ is our life. Together, verses 3 and 4 mean that we are currently living a hidden life in God with Jesus Christ as our life. When Christ appears, we will also appear with Him. Our destiny will be determined by Jesus Christ. I am waiting for that moment.

The Christian tradition teaches that Jesus will come again at the end of the world to judge the world with life. According to 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and following, when our Lord comes with the sound of the trumpet, those who have died in Christ will rise again, and those who are alive will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord. Paul expressed that moment as "we will always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). That is heaven, eternal life, and resurrection as we know it. What does that mean? When Christ appears, we will be with the Son of God and always be with Him. We will become flowers that cannot be imagined in the dimension of seeds. It is the completion of life. Therefore, today's passage says that we will appear with Christ in 'glory' (δόξα).

I heard that the movie series 'The Glory' was quite popular. The 'glory' mentioned in the Bible refers to an event where all the tangled problems associated with vengeance are healed in a fundamental way according to God's way. We do not know how God will heal or what specific way He will appear. Jesus himself said, "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36) It is because it is an event belonging to God's glory. In other words, it is an event where God reveals His divinity according to His way. We hope for it, but the people of the world do not value it much. They are not interested in it. They only focus on achieving their own scripts and programs. The reason they seek a glorious life only within their own categories is because they do not seek their own glory but the glory of God. We, as Christians, seek and praise the glory of God. We are waiting for today with great anticipation to welcome that moment. God's glory will soon be ours, and we will participate in it."

Waiting for the coming of Jesus with vague expectations and idle hands is certainly not enough. We do not simply look up to heaven and turn away from our daily lives and historical responsibilities. We believe that the moment of glory has not only yet to come, but that it has already begun here. Living in the dialectical tension between hiddenness and manifestation, that is, between "not yet" and "already," we strive not to lose sight of this tension at any moment in our lives. Therefore, we neither boast of having completed our own lives nor fall into despair, arrogance, or discouragement. We acknowledge that we are always lacking in something, yet we are always full of joy. So, no matter how many things we have to be proud of, we do not become complacent, and no matter how unfortunate our circumstances, we do not consider ourselves unhappy.

The important point here is the fact that we are "with" Jesus Christ, as mentioned before. Verse 3 says that we are hidden with Christ in God, and verse 4 says that we will appear with Him in glory. We are fortunate to live not alone in facing this great destiny but to live with Him. Therefore, the last verse of Matthew 28:20 conveys the promise given by the Lord of Resurrection, saying, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Until when? Until the moment of our death!