THE CROSS
Luke 23:32-34

Unlocking The Mystery Series
October 25, 2009
Pastor Nathan J. Thompson

When we built Shepherd’s Sanctuary in 1997–98, the Building Task Force wanted to ensure a wonderful space in which to worship, with a welcome appearance, inviting to the community. I believe they achieved this very well.

The goal was for those coming to Shepherd or passersby to see that worshipping Jesus is our congregation’s mission and priority.  To make that clear they decided that a large cross on the outside top of the sanctuary, and a large cross in front of the chancel were important.

So, a liturgical arts task group met with an artist to design the chancel cross, a family gave a generous donation to pay for it and then it was hand-carved in Europe. The vines were rubbed with gold and it was shipped to St. Paul.

I remember very well the day this cross was hung in the Sanctuary.  The contractor had a couple lifts as they secured the wire and lifted this very heavy cross in place.  The artist who designed it was sitting near the back when it was installed, and some of us staff observed the process.

As it was put into place and secured, not one of us, including the artist, could believe what we saw.  Instead of just this wooden cross there were two shadows on the wall behind.  It was like the three crosses on Calvary when Jesus died.

I still remember how stunned the artist was.  He never imagined or even dreamed of how the lights would create these shadows.  It became an important part of this artwork, which many have commented on through the years.

Yes, the cross of Jesus was by intention to be the center of our outside space and the center of our worship together.  It is because this cross of Jesus is central to our faith, to the Bible history and message, and to our hope and mission in this world.

This morning as we continue to look at the keys that help us unlock the mysteries of the Bible, the cross is certainly an important and essential key.  It was on the cross that Jesus suffered and died as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

It was on the cross that Jesus took the punishment we deserve.  Jesus took all of our sins, transgressions and failures upon Himself.  He suffered for them by carrying them to His death.  Jesus died for our sins so that we can be forgiven, washed clean and given new life.

Luke 23:33 reads, “When they came to the place called the skull, they crucified him there along with the other criminals—one on his right and one on his left.  Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”

Ernest Gordon, in his book about World War II, Through the Valley of the Kwai, tells about a group of British soldiers who were taken prisoner and working on a railroad.  At the end of the day the tools they used were counted and it was announced that one of the shovels was missing.  The guard walked back and forth and demanded that the guilty man admit his crime.

However, no one did.  The guard then yelled that he was going to kill them all.  He loaded his gun and aimed it at the first man in the lineup.  At that moment a young Scottish soldier stepped forward and said, “I did it.”

Upon hearing this, the guard proceeded to kick this man in his shins and spit in his face.  Then, using his rifle like a sledgehammer, came down butt end on the soldier’s head.  He slumped to the ground under the fatal blow.

His fellow prisoners picked up his lifeless body and carried him back to the camp.  However, later when all the shovels were counted again, not one was missing.

Jesus said these wonderful words in John 15, “Greater love has no one than this than that person lay down their life for their friends.”

My friends, this is the kind of God we believe in.  As God’s plans unfold from the beginning of creation, and as God’s people often turned from Him to follow other gods, God through His only Son, Jesus, took our place on the cross.

Jesus stepped forward even though He was not guilty.  He took the punishment of death in our place.  He paid the ultimate price for you and for me because He loves us with an everlasting love.  God wants only what is best in your life and mine.

The important thing to remember is that the cross of Jesus is really the central key in the whole Bible.  Without the cross there is no hope for creation.  Without the cross Jesus’ birth at Christmas is just another holiday based on commercialism.

If Jesus did not die for our sins then we have no hope whatsoever.  If Jesus did not defeat the powers of darkness and death through His death and resurrection, then we have nothing to celebrate, sing about or worship.  The cross is central to our faith.

Author Max Lucado said these words in his book, The Cross.  “It rests on the time-line of history like a compelling diamond.  Its tragedy summons all sufferers.  Its absurdity attracts all cynics.  Its hope lures all searchers.

History has idolized and despised it, gold plated and burned it, worn and trashed it.  History has done everything to ignore it.  How could you ignore such a piece of lumber?  Suspended on its beams is the greatest claim in history.  A crucified carpenter claiming to be God on earth.

Divine.  Eternal.  The death slayer.  Never has timber been regarded so sacred.  No wonder the Apostle Paul called the cross the core of the gospel.  Its bottom line sobering: if the account is true, it is history’s hinge.  Period.  If not, the cross is history’s hoax.”

And then Max Lucado asks, “Which is the cross for you, hinge or hoax?  Or, in the words of Jesus, ‘Who do you say that I am?’”  These are good questions that he asks.  Who is Jesus and the cross, my friends, for you? 

We live in a time, however, when the cross as jewelry is more popular than ever, while the message and meaning is often forgotten.  For the cross is not really a beautiful piece of art—it represents execution, sacrifice, agony, blood, and death.

It not only reminds us of Jesus’ agonizing death, but it also reminds us of Jesus’ words to us, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

My father used to tell the story of the pastor who didn’t like the message and meaning of the cross.  He thought that it was too negative to talk about sin and sacrifice, and he thought it was too violent to talk about blood and death.  He wanted everything to be happy.

When he came to this church he had the cross in the chancel taken down and locked in a room.  So, one Sunday as the choir processed they sang, “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus out behind the door.”

It is too bad today, my friends, how the message of the cross is often ignored even in the church.  It is much easier and less challenging to preach about positive thinking, some generic form of love or the latest popular cause or issue.

To focus on the cross, however, always calls for a decision.  It always reminds us that we are sinners in need of a Savior.  The cross shows us that as Jesus gave His whole life for you, He calls you to give your whole life to Him by faith.

The cross shows that God hates and despises the evil, the divisions, the violence, the lack of forgiveness in this world.  He does not simply wink and look the other way.  No, God acted with love and boldness by dying on this cross—by putting to death all this sin and evil.

This means that following Him cannot be just a halfway commitment.  It means to die to our sins through daily repentance and forgiveness, and to stand for what Jesus stands for.  To be transformed through His cross means we seek to follow His will, His love and His mission.   

In closing, some of you may remember this illustration and picture I have used before.  It shows that there is a chasm between us and God; this chasm is due to our sin and rebellion against Him.  There is no way you can jump over this chasm, or work your way, or follow the right spiritual guru or fad to get you there.

But the good news is that through Jesus, God has built a bridge over this chasm to us—and this bridge is centered in the cross.  It is through the cross and Jesus’ death for you and me that this chasm is bridged, that we can be united with God, and that there is forgiveness and new life.

My friends, you are invited today to come to Jesus and His cross, to lay your sins on Him, to cross the bridge and be reconciled in God’s love.  May the cross be your bridge to faith and new life.