Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23  Psalm 49:1-11  Colossians 3:1-11  Luke 12:13-21

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God…. Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly.” [Colossians 3:3 NRSV] So writes the Apostle Paul in his letter to the people of Colossae.

How is it that we are to have, not a life consumed with earthly things, but a “life hidden with Christ in God?”

Throughout these summer months, we have journeyed with Jesus through the words of the Gospel of Luke. Week after week, our lessons build one upon the other, relatively sequentially, as we join Jesus on his mission among the people of Galilee and Samaria. Like the twelve, we too are disciples seated around our teacher, observing his ministry, awed by his miraculous healing presence, moving toward Jerusalem – the Cross. And, so these words of Good News, recorded for us by Luke, are not to be interpreted simply as accounts of separate unrelated ministry efforts and random parables.

Like the disciples whom Jesus calls to follow him, we enter the journey as individuals. And like these first followers, as we listen and learn and grow, we gather those lessons one upon another as we become one with Christ – our separate lives fall away; we die to our old self-absorbed selves, and we become one with our companions on the journey and with God, “hidden with Christ in God.”

What is it we need to learn about being “hidden with Christ in God?”

From the Good Samaritan, we have learned that all are our neighbors – those we love and those who are difficult to love and those we are afraid to love – all neighbors with whom we are called to share our earthly resources to insure their wellbeing. From the sisters Martha and Mary of Bethany, we have learned that we are to put away our anxieties and distractions so that we might focus clearly and listen intently to the instructions of Jesus. From the lips of Jesus, himself, we have learned that we are to pray boldly that God’s name might be revered on earth, that God’s kingdom will come to earth, and that God’s will will be done through our earthly lives so that we live as if heaven is here on earth.

Thus, step-by-step, on our summer journey with Christ we have discerned the meaning of being hidden with Christ in God. Through Christ, humanity is reconciled to God; through faith, we live in a new relationship with God and with our neighbor.

The foolish landowner of our parable missed this discernment. The foolish landowner of our parable believes all he has accumulated to be his individual accomplishment, gained from his personal individual efforts alone. In the foolish landowner, we find the epitome of all things superficial, fruits of self-absorbed aggrandizement with no glory or thanks to God – and no acknowledgement that earthly life and death are dependent and held solely in the hands of God.

Being hidden with Christ in God is our goal. It is the goal of our worship together. We enter as separate individuals pushed and pulled by the cares of the world; we hear the word of God; we affirm our faith; we prayer for the wellbeing of our neighbors in the world and for the universal Church; we confess our sins; we exchange the peace of Christ; and, then, we come together as one Body of Christ to the Table of our Lord. Thus, as we leave this place, we go into the world to love and serve with our hearts united with Christ in God, united with one another in our mission to bring the Good News of Christ to the world.

Our instructed Eucharist is an effort to help us better understand that progression of entering as individuals and leaving as missioners hidden with Christ in God. The liturgy of the Book of Common guides us through this mystical process. I invite you to open your hearts and minds, as did Mary of Bethany on Jesus’ visit to her home, put away earthly distractions, hide yourself with Christ Jesus in the Good News of our salvation; hide yourself with Christ Jesus that God’s kingdom may come to earth.