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August 12, 2007
Pentecost 11c
Colossians 3:1-11
Pastor Ben Berger

The Secret of Success

Has anyone ever told you, “You can have whatever your heart desires”? I think they are right, but what does your heart desire? Has anyone ever told you, “You can do whatever you set your mind to”? I think they’re right too, but to what have you set your mind? Many of us have been taught to desire and set our minds to success. What is success? The man in our gospel reading thought success was building wealth and storing it so he could sit back, relax and take it easy. How did that work out for him? Solomon, the richest man of the world at his time, said it was all meaningless. He didn’t see the point in building wealth just to leave it to someone else. What is your definition of success? Today, the apostle Paul reveals to us The Secret of Success. It takes only two simple steps. 1) Set your Heart and 2) Set your Mind.

Paul begins chapter three by saying, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above (1). Paul makes an assumption. He says, SINCE you have been raised with Christ; the word SINCE assumes that you have been raised with Christ. Have you? Have you been raised with Christ? There’s one way to find out. Ask yourself what your heart desires. To what have you set your heart?

I know what your heart desires because my heart desires the same things, things on the earth. Paul gives some possibilities in verse five: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Many of us, if not all of us, after age twelve or so set our hearts on sex. We can’t stop thinking about the opposite sex. It seems innocent at first; we just want to hold hands. Then we want to kiss; and then kiss deeper. Then our hands want to touch. And pretty soon we’ve lost control. Even if we haven’t taken the actions, we’ve had the thoughts. Now I don’t know if those thoughts go away with age, but if we’ve only had them once, we’ve sinned. Our hearts have desired what God has declared off limits. And today, people don’t think twice about living together or having sex before marriage. We’ve given ourselves permission to set our hearts on sin.

The other desire that Paul mentions is greed. The word could actually mean coveting, which fits the idea of wanting something that God hasn’t given us. Greed doesn’t have to mean the desire to be rich, though most of us have set our hearts on the big and rich lifestyle. Greed can simply be wanting more than God has given me. I can ask and I can work for more, but as soon as “more” becomes my heart’s desire, then greed becomes idolatry. Any desire that takes the place of God is idolatry.

I said earlier that you can have whatever your heart desires. If you want sex, you can have it. If you want wealth, you can have it. What price are you willing to pay? Paul says that the wrath of God is coming (6) on those whose hearts desire anything but him. The wrath of God is coming on all who have not been raised with Christ.

You have been raised with Christ. Remember that Paul began by assuming that you have been raised with Christ. Paul’s assumption is true of all who have faith in Christ. Your faith connects you so closely with Christ that you did everything Christ did. Before you were raised with Christ, you died with Christ (3). When Jesus died on the cross, he also crucified your sinful nature with all of its desires. It’s your sinful nature that desires sex and money and all other earthly things. That part of you died with Christ. And when Jesus rose from the dead, a new person rose with him in you. By his Spirit, given to you by Word and Sacrament, Jesus has created in you a new person that desires new things. Your new man desires things above. Paul said, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (1).

Set your hearts on things above. After Jesus died and was raised from the dead, he ascended into heaven where he has stored up for you treasures and wealth beyond your imagination. Remember that Jesus created the world. He created sex and money and everything else. But, because sin ruined this world, Jesus has created a new world with even greater blessings. Set your hearts on blessings above. Until we get there, those blessings mainly include forgiveness of sins, new life and eternal salvation.

Your new man craves these blessings and wants nothing more. He wants nothing more than to know every day that your sins have been wiped clean by the blood of the Lamb and will not keep you from entering heaven. He wants nothing more than to live a life of thanks for the one who died for him. He wants nothing more than the guarantee of eternal salvation, filled with blessing upon blessing to fill your heart’s desire.

The secret of success begins with setting your hearts on things above. But, you can’t obtain something just by wanting it. You must take one more step. Once you have set your heart, you must also set your mind.

In verse two Paul says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Then he explains why in verse three, For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Paul makes another assumption. He assumes you will set your minds on things above because you died. Have you really died? Again, there’s one way to find out. Ask yourself what you think about?

Most of us think about the same things we desire. That takes us back to Paul’s list of sexual immorality and greed. The more we desire such things, the more we think about them. The more we think about them, the more we desire them; and the cycle grows and grows with our sin.

If we don’t get the sin our hearts desire, our thoughts turn to other sins listed in verse eight: anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lying. When we don’t get what we want, we get angry and often that anger is directed at God. The more we think about our anger, the quicker it grows into rage. Then we begin taking our problems out on other people with slander, foul language and even lying. Once we have set our minds to get something, our minds will stop at nothing to get it. Only one thing can stop our minds: death.

Paul said, you died (3). We talked about that earlier. By faith you died when Jesus died. He crucified your sinful nature on the cross. But, the death of your sinful nature is not permanent until your body also dies. Every day your sinful nature rises up to fight the new man in you, to lead you into temptation and to accuse you to eternal death. That means you must keep dying; you must die every day. Keep dying by setting your mind on things above.

Begin by thinking about Christ. Every day, many times throughout the day, as often as your sinful nature tries to divert your attention to earthly things, think about Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus’ death is permanent. He died once for all sin. You sinful nature cannot accuse you of yesterday’s sins because they have been forgiven. And your sinful nature cannot lead you into today’s temptation because Jesus’ resurrection gives you power to resist. Do not let your sinful nature control your mind; rather, think about Christ.

Then think about your own death and resurrection. Every time you confess your sins you die again. You keep putting to death that sinful nature. And every time you look again to the cross and empty tomb, the Holy Spirit will raise up in you a new man. When you daily put to death your sinful nature with its evil deeds and desires and when you daily put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator, then you can also look forward to your final death and resurrection. Then you have assurance that at the death of your body, your sinful nature will also die permanently. And you can have the assurance that one day Jesus will raise up not only a new man inside of you, but your body as well.

Set your minds on things above. Begin now to look for Christ’s return. Paul said that at this time your life is hidden with Christ in God (3). I know it’s hard to see it because you must see it by faith rather than by sight. It’s so easy to see only earthly success. But by faith, we can see the success that God has planned for us. Success in the form of forgiveness for our sins, a holy life here on earth and eternal salvation in heaven. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (4).

You can have whatever your heart desires. Set your hearts on things above, on the life that Jesus has promised you for eternity in heaven. Set your minds on things above. Think about Christ’s death and resurrection and the death and resurrection he guarantees you. When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. That’s success. And Jesus is the secret of success.