Heart Focus

9.30am Sunday 19 August 2007

Readings: Matthew 6:19-24; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Colossians 3:1-4

We often hear the expression when hearing or talking about someone who really wants to have or do something or go somewhere that "their heart is set on" accomplishing that goal. For example, last Sunday night at the Youth Service, we divided into groups and were asked several questions. One of them was, "What is your dream for the future?" One person said that they had their heart set on becoming President of the United States. It was probably one of the American teenagers that were present at the service. Another person had their heart set on getting married. What you set your heart on is something that you are willing to do anything so that you can have it. You will expend whatever time, effort and energy that is required to achieve that dream. For example, the All Blacks have set their hearts on winning the Rugby World Cup, and have to put aside lesser goals to concentrate on getting into top physical and mental shape for their games. What you set your heart on is something that is constantly on your mind and becomes the focus of your life. It is important therefore that your heart's focus is one that is worthy of all the commitment and dedication you will expend to achieve it.

"Heart Focus" is the subject Paul is addressing at the beginning of Colossians 3. In the first half of this letter Paul states profound truths about who Jesus Christ is, what he has done, and the position he now holds in the universe. In Chapters three and four he draws out the implications of this for those who believe in him. Paul relates these truths to daily living, applying his teaching practically. He says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."[1] There are several questions we can ask if we are to unearth the important truths Paul is teaching.

1.      Who is Paul addressing in these verses? The answer is found in the opening words of this chapter: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ..." Paul is writing to Christian believers. Note that it is past tense, thus it is those who have already experienced the new life to be found in Christ. That will be true for many of you here. You know that "you have been raised with Christ." For some of you, you can say it was at this time, in that place on or about this date, and you knew that you had passed from death to life and become a new creation in Christ. You knew because your life was different from that time onward. You now had a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. You may not have understood what it all meant at the time, particularly if you were young, but you knew that something began then that continues to this day, that has brought about a transformation in your life. For others of you, you cannot be so precise. It was more a process, but just as real nonetheless. You cannot point to a certain day or time or place, but over a period of time you realised that Jesus Christ had become real to you in a way he was not before, and your life now had a new centre, a new direction, a new purpose. To use Paul's own words from chapter one of this book, you had been brought out of "the dominion of darkness" into "the kingdom of the Son," and as a result received forgiveness for your sins.[2] If that has been your experience, then these words of Paul in Colossians are addressed to you and you need to listen carefully. The second question is,

2.      What is Paul saying? What is his subject matter? Listen again to these verses as they are found in The Message translation: "...if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective." What Paul is saying is that you need to have a new perspective on life, the perspective of Christ. That is, as a result of the new life you have experienced in Christ, your life is to have a new and different and higher focus, one that has eternal realities firmly within its sight. Now the important thing to realise is that this change in perspective does not happen overnight, or in and of itself. It is not the natural consequence of your decision to become a follower of Christ. You need to nurture and develop this focus because it is quite different to what you focussed on before. In fact it is quite foreign to your previous way of thinking. Paul explains this difference in Romans 8. He says, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires..." He then goes on to state the consequences of that kind of mindset. "The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death... The sinful mind is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."[3] That is the way it was before you became a Christian. These same verses from Romans also talk about the new mindset. It says: "...those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ...the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." When we look at these verses together, note the contrast between the two perspectives. There is the stark contrast between "life" and "death." One focus is life-giving and nurtures your relationship with God, the other stifles it and eventually separates you from God. There is the contrast between doing what "the Spirit desires," having a heart that wants to do God's will, and "not submitting," that is a heart that is rebellious to God and his requirements. There is also the contrast between having "peace" with God, which comes from being forgiven and standing in a right relationship with him, or being "hostile" to him, that is actively working against God and his purposes for creation. This helps us to understand what Paul is talking about in Colossians. To set your heart and mind on the "things above" is to set your heart on what God "desires," to have his perspective on life, a perspective that is not limited to our lives on earth, but one that incorporates both time and eternity. This is vital, for whatever you set your heart and mind on is what you are going to pour your energies into, what you will give your life to achieving, what you will give priority to over the many other demands on your time and effort. So you need to exercise wisdom in the choice you make. You only have one lifetime. Time is not a renewable resource. You can only spend it once. Therefore, it is vitally important that you spend it in the best possible way, a way that will not bring regrets, "if only" when you come to the end of it. Paul is saying that now Christ has raised you to a new life your heart focus must be on him. You must develop his perspective, and you do this by focussing your attention and being passionate about the "things above."

When we look at the life of Jesus, this was his focus. He saw life from a very different perspective to those around him, even to that of his own disciples. His focus was always on God's agenda for the world. This did not mean he had no time for the here and now. He had eyes open to the needs around him. Not one person in need escaped his attention or concern. He was very much in this world, but he was never of it. At the same time he constantly warned and taught about the error of focussing only on the things of this life. He encouraged us to store treasure in heaven, beyond the destructive work of moths and rust or the grasp of thieves. A number of his stories, like that of the rich fool and the rich man and Lazarus, were told so that his hearers would know the foolishness of storing up treasure on earth and not sharing it with others.[4] On one occasion he had some very strong words to say to Peter. After Peter had made his famous confession that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, he tried to dissuade Jesus from taking the path to the cross. In response Jesus said to him, "Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."[5] To have your heart and mind set on the "things above" is be taken up with the things that God is concerned about, and being concerned with such things enables you to see your life from an eternal perspective. You are to live your life here on earth in the light of your ultimate destiny. This leads naturally to a third question that can be asked about these verses, the question of "Why?"

3.      Why focus on things above? Why are we to set our hearts and minds on "things above." Or, to use J B Lightfoot's comment on these verses, why must you and I "not only seek heaven," but "must think heaven?"[6] Here are four reasons:

a)      It is where CHRIST is. Paul says, "Christ is seated at the right hand of God." To be "seated at the right hand of God" is to be in the place of highest honour and power and authority in the universe. Jesus Christ will one day come in power, but even now he is at the helm of the universe. He is in control. While people are still under the power of the "dominion of darkness" and are still living according to their "sinful nature" shocking things will happen. Innocent people will suffer. Some will die. Only the grace of God can change that. Only God can give a new heart and a renewed mind. This is why the Gospel is so relevant and necessary, for unless a person is raised with Christ to a new life, they cannot change the way they are, just like the leopard that cannot change its spots. But for those who "have been raised with Christ," who have been brought "in the kingdom of the Son" of God, note both things that are done for you and not by yourselves, the picture is entirely different. A new dynamic is released; one that has its source in the ruler of the universe, the One for whom nothing is impossible. God turns your life around, and not only points you in the right direction, but also gives you the power to live right in this world. This is why the focus of your life must be upon him, because you are constantly reminded that in him and with him is all authority in heaven and on earth.[7]

b)      It impacts your life on EARTH. Paul says here, "...you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Note the two words in the middle of this statement, "is now." It is addressing the present. Paul expresses the same thought in his letter to the Galatians when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." It means that Jesus is alive in you, is living his life through you, and nothing will ever come between you and him. This is why in answer to his own question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Paul can state with such confidence: "I am sure (convinced) that ... nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord."[8] But this truth about the life you have in Christ does not only impact the present, that which is confined to time as we know it, measured in hours and minutes, days and years. It stretches far beyond that.

c)      It impacts your life for ETERNITY. This is why you are to set your hearts and minds on "things above" because they are the things that endure forever. This is what Paul was referring to when said to the Corinthians: "Therefore we do not lose heart... For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."[9] The life you have in Christ makes you citizens of an everlasting Kingdom that endures for all time. When Paul elsewhere contrasts Christians with those who live as enemies of the cross, he says of the latter, "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things." He goes on to say, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."[10] We set our hearts and minds on "things above" because we are citizens of an eternal realm that is filled with the presence of God himself. The final reason for this upward focus is that

d)      God's kingdom is GLORIOUS. Nothing on earth can compare with it. Paul says here in Colossians, "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."[11] NewstalkZB often plays advertisements about Sylvia Park and every time it finishes with the words, "Sylvia Park, this is the place." I can assure you that Sylvia Park is not the penultimate place to be. In our small group we have been going through Journeys, a set of studies on how Christian faith impacts peoples' lives. In the second study has the testimony of Trevor Yaxley, who when grieving for his son killed in an horrific car crash, was given a vision of heaven which so overwhelmed him that he wept uncontrollably. It was an hour and half before he could begin to tell his wife what had happened. The statement in Trevor Yaxley's story that really challenged me was when God said to him, "Consider this. You have seen only a tiny corner of heaven. Consider what people are giving in exchange for their eternal destiny with me." Listen to what Paul says about heaven: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - these things God has prepared for those who love him."[12] This is why your heart focus is to be on "things above," why you must seek and pursue "the things over which Christ presides," and nurture and develop Christ's perspective on life. For this is where reality and truth is to be found.