Live as if You Were Dead

Colossians 3:1-3

What a strange admonition we have in our text--to live as if you were dead.

Most of us can relate to a time when we wished we were dead--a moment of deep shame or humiliation, perhaps. Nothing would seem better than to simply vanish from the earth, no longer having to hear the laughter at our expense, or wither under the glares of our judges. Sometimes such a moment is a moment of intense grief, a moment like that which Job endured when he lost family, home, health, and, seemingly, his God--he wished he had never been born. 

But those ideas are not in the mind of our text. 

Instead, what this lesson admonishes us to do is to live apart from the ways and means of the life presented in the world. We live in a materialistic culture. We define human value by wealth. Success is seen in someone with a Mercedes in the driveway, a five bedroom house holding two people, a bank account with six or seven digits in the balance’s dollar side, and so on. Someone is seen as wise when they have all the material goodies the world has to offer. Someone is seen as having figured out life when  the outer trappings are luxurious. But, counters our text, do not be fooled by appearances. The real story is interior. 

We know too many stories in which a beautiful house holds something more akin to an asylum full of miserable people. Tiger Woods has re-emerged from the darkness of his failed marriage, problem with sexual appetites gone wild, and a tsunami of bad PR. He has the mansion, the ad contracts, the money, but is he happy? His first marriage seemed to belie the myth that wealth equals bliss. 

Christ asks us to redefine wealth, health, and happiness. Christ invites us to redefine bliss as joy. 

Wealth, as defined by Christ, is to be rich in spirit. What is eternal is love. We create lasting happiness when we meet one another in love. In love, we are able to give ourselves freely to another human because love removes all reason for fear. In love, we discover that what truly makes our lives rich is being connected to other people. Those connections provide for us the means by which to live each day, for we know we do not go alone, that we are not isolated, and that someone will listen to us, really hearing what is within our minds and hearts. Love reminds us that our true and actual treasure is our being, for we are unique acts of God’s creative will. Stuff vanishes. Toys fire only hunger for more toys. Money makes a poor conversationalist. 

Health, as defined by Christ, is to live in love. Love helps us keep our perspective, reminding us that we are not the center of the cosmos, but that we share this space with a myriad of others. Love allows us to share the journey, letting us let go of our avarice to share with one another so that all might have enough. Love gives us a firm foundation from which to build our lives because it sets out priorities for us--what will get us further along our way is that which allows us to give of ourselves, meeting the needs of others, and, in the strange economics of faith, discover that the more we give, the more we receive.

Happiness, as Christ defines it, is not the momentary bliss of eating a chocolate sundae. Happiness is deep settledness and peace that, in Hebrew, is named “Shalom.” This peace is total. It is the absence of fear, stress, and trepidation. It is being able to coexist with whomever we might be with at any given moment, friend or foe. Happiness is knowing that no matter what we face, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. 

So, live as if you were dead--already a resident of heaven wherein wealth, health, and happiness are perfectly found.

Live by love, and you will be more alive than you ever imagined.