I’ve heard the saying, “finding your hidden self in Christ” before and never really understood its meaning. How can I find myself in Jesus Christ? My story seems so off course with His. My life looks nothing like His. I supposed that’s why the saying says we find our hidden self in Christ - it’s lost. Somewhere along the way of our everyday we lost our connection with God. We - being all humanity (and you and I, personally). It was a beautiful connection we once had with the creator. Our determined insistence, however, on creating and writing our own story has broken this connection and only through the story of Christ (which is still being written) can we be joined back with God.
Why does this matter? Do the things of heaven above even matter here on the ground? Yes.
Ever find out something amazing you never heard of prior. Recently, I read a summary (wiki) of the Boston Molasses Disaster. Here are some details:
The Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses Flood and the Great Boston Molasses Tragedy, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. A large molasses tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph, killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local folklore, and residents claim that on hot summer days the area still smells of molasses.
We are coming up on the 90th anniversary of this great catastrophy this coming January. Something so unlikely (molasses spill) took the life of 21 people and destroyed an entire city. Wow! This is what’s so amazing about history, and so tragic about ignoring it: we are all connected by our history. This connection identifies for us the common threads of humanity and uncovers the motif of our existence. Wherever you look in history, you will find an image or fragment of yourself.
Jesus’ place in history marks a place many of us intersect with because of our faith. Even still, those of us who claim to have no such faith in Christ find ourselves in between the lines of the Word. His miraculous birth, unknown years, public ministry, sufferings and execution, and re-entry to life are gates into a story in which we all find ourselves. In fact, we don’t just find pieces of our story there - but the whole thing. Following Jesus includes partaking in the elements of His Story - be they sufferings, joys, or triumphs. The great reengineering of humanity happens in us when we give up our small ambitions and take up the life and death of Christ. This is how the story continues - His Story. It is here where our story does not simply intertwine or ricochet with the story of Christ…
… His story is our story.
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. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)
Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’ (Luke 9:23-4)
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