In Christ

Discovering the meaning of being in Christ

9/6/2021

Col 1:24–2:3 Brothers and sisters: I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory. It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

Every letter of St. Paul uses his signature saying, “in Christ,” and it serves as a summary and synthesis of everything else he is trying to say. Does that two-word phrase “in Christ” sound familiar to you? Well, it should. For example, we heard it in our first reading from Colossians, where Paul said: “that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Or, consider 2 Cor 5;17, where Paul states: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation.”

Or, we might read in Ep 1:12, where the Apostle says: “So that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.” Or, we find it again in Phil 2:5, “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.” If every letter of St. Paul were like the stanza of a song, the phrase “in Christ” would be like the refrain, - the part that repeats – and that ties it all together. “In Christ” contains the core of Paul’s preaching.

What does that signature saying “in Christ” really mean? Let me give you three examples of people trying to figure out the meaning of being “in Christ.” In 2013, Archbishop Peter Sartain was interviewed on the news show “60 Minutes” by Bob Simon. Bob asked the archbishop why the Church does not ordain women to the priesthood. He probed: “Where does it say in the Scripture that a woman cannot be ordained?” Archbishop Sartain explained: “It goes back to the fact of the choice of Jesus of the 12 apostles as the college of those who would go forward to proclaim the gospel.”

But Bob would not give up so easy, so he persisted: “Well, if there were 100 apostles and they were all men, then obviously Jesus did not want any women. But with 12 it could have been happenstance they were all men, and maybe the 13th could have been a woman.” Archbishop Sartain chuckled good-naturedly, and replied: “I don’t think so. The choice of Jesus is the choice of Jesus. And that’s just the way it is.” In other words, both men were wrestling with the meaning of being “in Christ” and are we doing what Christ wanted with ordaining only men?

The second example was a question a friend from Fayetteville sent me via text. She asked: “Help me understand the gospel where, after Jesus heals someone, he tells them not to tell anyone. Can you help me understand why he does that?” I texted her back my answer, saying: “I think part of the reason Jesus does that is because people’s expectations of the Messiah were very worldly. That is, they wanted the Messiah to overthrow the Roman authorities, establish a kingdom on earth (like the glory days of King David and King Solomon), and basically create a heaven on earth.”

I continued: “But Jesus came to point us to the heaven that waits for us after death, whereas here on earth, we will have to carry our cross and suffer. But people would not (and could not) understand that message until after Jesus’ own suffering, death and resurrection. That is why he told them to stay mum.” In other words, my Fayetteville friend was wanting to understand Jesus more – why did he command silence? – in order that thereby she could be more “in Christ.”

The third example was another question a parishioner here at I.C. asked. She inquired: “Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest instead of to God directly on our own?” She admitted though: “I prefer to go to confession to a priest because I feel like it helps and I feel forgiven afterwards unlike when I do it on my own.” What a great question and maybe you have wondered something similar yourself.

I basically answered that in John 20 Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles and instructed them to forgive sins. And when we confess our sins to a priest, we receive that same Spirit of forgiveness. But you see again, the underlying question was what did Jesus want and how close are we to his wishes? Put differently, she was asking, how can I be more “in Christ”?

I am convinced that the phrase “in Christ” can be heard not only echoing in every letter of St. Paul, but also echoing in the life of every Christian. When we ask why Jesus only called men to be apostles, why Jesus told the crowds to keep quiet, why Jesus gave the Spirit to forgive sins, we are asking how can I be more “in Christ”? And we will not be fully and finally “in Christ” until we get to heaven, which is what St. Paul meant when he said today: “That we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!