“The Message of the Cross”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Every year at Christmastime a small number of atheists and secularists
create controversy in our nation about public displays of nativity scenes,
Christmas trees, and other Christmas symbols. They’ve taken out billboards
in major cities, including one in a prominent location in New York City, which
proclaimed about the Christmas story: “You Know It’s a Myth.” It should not surprise us that the world takes that attitude toward
Christ, and Christianity, and the teachings of our Christian faith. The
Apostle Paul puts it this way in today’s Epistle Reading, “For the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” “The Message of the Cross” has two parts, what we call the Law and the
Gospel. As Law, the cross communicates the bad news of our sins.
For, the horror of Christ’s death upon the cross is testimony to the wickedness,
the depravity, the sinfulness of all humanity, including you and me. The
Apostle Peter puts it this way, in the first Christian sermon, recorded in the
book of Acts: “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you, by
miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him . . . and
you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
. . When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart.” The author of the hymn “How Great Thou Art” served as a missionary in
very remote mountain areas of Eastern Europe, where he encountered many people
who were hearing the story of Christ’s crucifixion for the first time. He
said he wrote the third verse of his famous hymn based on the reaction people
often would have when hearing for the first time about Christ’s crucifixion.
Like the people in Acts, they were frequently “cut to the heart,” and would cry
out and sob over their sins: But when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin. That is the first reaction God seeks from you with “The Message of the
Cross,” an acknowledgement of your own sinfulness. As Jesus says in
today’s Gospel Reading, “REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” But, “The Message of the Cross” is not only, or primarily, a message of
the Law, the bad news of our sins. “The Message of the Cross” is primarily
a message of the Gospel, the Good News of your salvation. Paul puts it
this way in Colossians: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in
him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God . .
. but now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to
present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” That is the Good News of “The Message of the Cross”: Through Christ’s
death on the cross, your sins are all forgiven. On his account, God the
Father declares you, “holy in his sight, without blemish and free from
accusation.” “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” We are so accustomed to the cross representing an inspiring,
comforting, religious symbol, it is hard for us to get back into the mindset of
the first century, when for most people the cross was the total opposite of
inspiring or comforting, a gruesome method of torture and execution. As
Paul says, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” You’ve heard examples of oxymorons before, a phrase that is an inherent
contradiction, like “jumbo shrimp,” “exact estimate,” or “working vacation.”
Some people might say “short sermon” is an oxymoron! To both Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s day, the whole idea of “Christ
crucified” was an absolute, nonsensical oxymoron. Because, the Jews were
expecting the Messiah, the Christ, to be a mighty warrior-king, the mightiest
fighter and greatest military figure in all history, who would overthrow the
Romans and establish on earth with military might the greatest earthly kingdom
the world had ever seen. So, “Christ crucified” was an total oxymoron to
them, a contradiction in terms, like a “powerful weakling” or “heroic loser.”
“Christ crucified” just didn’t make sense, didn’t seem possible. The non-Jews also could not accept “Christ crucified,” because in their
pagan philosophy and mythology the gods would never allow themselves to suffer
so. The Almighty Creator of the universe dying on a cross? It was
just plain silly. As the Roman Governor Festus once said to Paul, “You are
out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane.” An ancient citizen of the Roman Empire transported over the centuries
to a modern American city would be absolutely dumbfounded by the large number of
impressive buildings that have crosses perched prominently on their steeples.
Why would people put crosses, of all things, on top of these great buildings?
The cross atop our bell tower is the highest object towering over the
countryside, and we have a massive cross at the front of our sanctuary.
Why would we commemorate such a horrific event? Why would we so
prominently display this symbol? “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness
to Gentiles. But, to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” For us the cross and Christ crucified have been transformed into
symbols of hope, forgiveness, and God’s love. Peter puts it this way:
“Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring
you to God. . . he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.” The early church father Athanasius beautifully explained why it is
especially comforting for us that our Lord died in this manner, upon the cross:
“How else could our Lord have died except upon a cross?” he asked. “For it is
only on the cross that a man dies with his arms outstretched and open in
welcome.” That is why the cross and Christ crucified cross are transformed for us
into inspiring, comforting symbols of hope, forgiveness, and God’s love, love so
great that he gave up for us his own Son. As Paul says in Romans, “He was
delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification. . . Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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