Cross Words
Sermon
From Dusk To Dawn
Sermons For Lent And Easter
A schoolyard taunt as old as Methuselah goes: "Sticks and
stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."
We adults know better. Words can deeply wound a sensitive
soul. In the book of James are these words: "If you think they
are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their
hearts, their religion is worthless." (James 1:26)
Jesus had heard many words in his months of ministry. He had
responded to the cries of the crippled. He had salved the
sorrowing spirit of the grieving. He had preached the world's
greatest sermons. He had shown us what it means to pick up our
crosses and follow him. Jesus is the Word of God. His word abides
and comforts and challenges. Today we look at his word on the
cross.
Jesus was in Caesarea Phillipi. Located on the southwest flank
of Mount Hermon, it was a resort community. It was a famed city
of idolatry. Pilgrims traveled to the area to pay homage to a
flock of idols. The Romans called it Paneas for the god Pan.
Fresh running water from the Jordan streamed through the city. It
had a beautiful white temple in the center of town. It was rich,
decadent and devoted to idols.
It was here that Jesus chose to speak of the cross, crossing
his pathway to the empty tomb, looking at the idols. Penetrating
into the needs of suffering folks who had come to the city
to bathe in the healing waters gave the Lord an opportunity to
teach us the way of the cross.
Jesus calls us to costly discipleship. He urges us to shun the
vanity fair of idolatry. The greedy, graspy, grinding rut leading
to the tomb. He calls us to a life of service given joyfully to
our sisters and brothers. He calls us to give ourselves and all
areas of our lives to him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was executed by the
Nazis, heard the call of Jesus. He refused to flee to America
during the War and stayed to minister to his hurting countrymen.
The young Lutheran said, "Cheap grace is the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring repentance ... Cheap grace is grace
without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without
Jesus living and incarnate."
There was once a boy who lived in London. He grew up in a
neighborhood where a church steeple was adorned by a huge white
cross. One day he wandered away from his neighborhood and got
lost. He saw a policeman and told him, "O sir, help me find the
white cross and I'll then be able to find my way home." When we
find the cross, then we will know our way home. Calvary is proof
that at the heart of God is the cross.
In the dark days of World War II, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill took office. He promised the British people victory
over Fascism would be assured only if they were willing to devote
blood, sweat and tears to the cause of freedom. God's grace is
costly. It cost God the death of the Lord Jesus on Golgotha's
stark hill. It costs us our denial of self in service to the King
of Creation.
Theologian John Calvin asked himself what the cross meant to
him and wrote,
We are God's;
to Him let us live and die.
We are God's
Therefore, let His wisdom and will preside in all our
actions
We are God's
... towards Him ... let every part of our lives be
directed."
(Institutes III, 7)
The New England poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who fought long
for human liberty, said in his poem, "My Soul and I:"
Nothing before the nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on the Seeming void and find
The rock beneath.
Sticks and stones can break our spirits. Stones can be flung
with fury at us when we are seeking to follow Christ.
The world is an arena of conflict. Often our best efforts are
misunderstood. Sometimes we may even feel our lives and pathways
are as dark as a Pennsylvania coal mine and as crooked as a
rainbow arched across an April sky.
Located in Louisville, Kentucky, across the street from the
Wayside Christian Mission facility is a cross museum. It is
operated by a retired Baptist minister. For a small fee you can
walk through the museum containing thousands of crosses. Gold
crosses. Crosses embedded with expensive jewels. Crosses small
enough to carry in your pocket or purse. Huge crosses. Silver,
gold, copper and painted crosses. Crosses of every size and
shape. This variety of crosses is perhaps a parable of Christians
who have picked up their crosses and followed Jesus down the
gospel road leading upward to heaven.
All of us have burdens to bear and problems to solve. We can
try to handle these challenges alone. Or we can join with other
crossbearers who follow in the trail of him who died on the
cross. Him who comes with words of comfort, "All you who labor
and are heavy laden come unto me and I will give you peace."
Above the walls of the world is a loving God whose cross is
raised above the concrete canyons of our cities. In this
Lent we look to the cross upon which the Prince of Glory bled for
us all. With Isaac Watts we sing again:
When I survey the wondrous Cross
on which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gains I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.
What does the cross of Christ mean to you?
stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me."
We adults know better. Words can deeply wound a sensitive
soul. In the book of James are these words: "If you think they
are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their
hearts, their religion is worthless." (James 1:26)
Jesus had heard many words in his months of ministry. He had
responded to the cries of the crippled. He had salved the
sorrowing spirit of the grieving. He had preached the world's
greatest sermons. He had shown us what it means to pick up our
crosses and follow him. Jesus is the Word of God. His word abides
and comforts and challenges. Today we look at his word on the
cross.
Jesus was in Caesarea Phillipi. Located on the southwest flank
of Mount Hermon, it was a resort community. It was a famed city
of idolatry. Pilgrims traveled to the area to pay homage to a
flock of idols. The Romans called it Paneas for the god Pan.
Fresh running water from the Jordan streamed through the city. It
had a beautiful white temple in the center of town. It was rich,
decadent and devoted to idols.
It was here that Jesus chose to speak of the cross, crossing
his pathway to the empty tomb, looking at the idols. Penetrating
into the needs of suffering folks who had come to the city
to bathe in the healing waters gave the Lord an opportunity to
teach us the way of the cross.
Jesus calls us to costly discipleship. He urges us to shun the
vanity fair of idolatry. The greedy, graspy, grinding rut leading
to the tomb. He calls us to a life of service given joyfully to
our sisters and brothers. He calls us to give ourselves and all
areas of our lives to him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was executed by the
Nazis, heard the call of Jesus. He refused to flee to America
during the War and stayed to minister to his hurting countrymen.
The young Lutheran said, "Cheap grace is the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring repentance ... Cheap grace is grace
without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without
Jesus living and incarnate."
There was once a boy who lived in London. He grew up in a
neighborhood where a church steeple was adorned by a huge white
cross. One day he wandered away from his neighborhood and got
lost. He saw a policeman and told him, "O sir, help me find the
white cross and I'll then be able to find my way home." When we
find the cross, then we will know our way home. Calvary is proof
that at the heart of God is the cross.
In the dark days of World War II, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill took office. He promised the British people victory
over Fascism would be assured only if they were willing to devote
blood, sweat and tears to the cause of freedom. God's grace is
costly. It cost God the death of the Lord Jesus on Golgotha's
stark hill. It costs us our denial of self in service to the King
of Creation.
Theologian John Calvin asked himself what the cross meant to
him and wrote,
We are God's;
to Him let us live and die.
We are God's
Therefore, let His wisdom and will preside in all our
actions
We are God's
... towards Him ... let every part of our lives be
directed."
(Institutes III, 7)
The New England poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who fought long
for human liberty, said in his poem, "My Soul and I:"
Nothing before the nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on the Seeming void and find
The rock beneath.
Sticks and stones can break our spirits. Stones can be flung
with fury at us when we are seeking to follow Christ.
The world is an arena of conflict. Often our best efforts are
misunderstood. Sometimes we may even feel our lives and pathways
are as dark as a Pennsylvania coal mine and as crooked as a
rainbow arched across an April sky.
Located in Louisville, Kentucky, across the street from the
Wayside Christian Mission facility is a cross museum. It is
operated by a retired Baptist minister. For a small fee you can
walk through the museum containing thousands of crosses. Gold
crosses. Crosses embedded with expensive jewels. Crosses small
enough to carry in your pocket or purse. Huge crosses. Silver,
gold, copper and painted crosses. Crosses of every size and
shape. This variety of crosses is perhaps a parable of Christians
who have picked up their crosses and followed Jesus down the
gospel road leading upward to heaven.
All of us have burdens to bear and problems to solve. We can
try to handle these challenges alone. Or we can join with other
crossbearers who follow in the trail of him who died on the
cross. Him who comes with words of comfort, "All you who labor
and are heavy laden come unto me and I will give you peace."
Above the walls of the world is a loving God whose cross is
raised above the concrete canyons of our cities. In this
Lent we look to the cross upon which the Prince of Glory bled for
us all. With Isaac Watts we sing again:
When I survey the wondrous Cross
on which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gains I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.
What does the cross of Christ mean to you?
