Our Crosses into Victories
Sermon
God's Love for Us
Pulpit Messages for the Lenten Season
At first the words Our Lord speaks to us
seem like very hard words:
we must pick up our cross for His sake,
and follow after Him.
If we are at all normal human beings,
our first objection would be this:
no one wants a cross;
none of us wants to suffer;
none of us wants to carry burdens;
none of us wants to struggle.
And yet the strange truth of our lives is this:
all of us in this life have a cross.
At times in our lives these crosses may vary:
for some it may mean living with a drunken spouse;
for others it may mean living with a broken marriage;
for others it may mean living with some kind of handicap;
for still others it may mean personal problems,
or money problems,
or vocational problems.
The truth is that none of us wants a cross,
but all of us have a cross.
And all Our Lord is saying to us here is this:
that you and I don't have to go out looking for crosses,
or manufacturing crosses,
but all we have to do is bear the crosses we already have,
and offering it up to Him, it will make a difference.
And the difference it will make is this:
Christ will turn our crosses into victories.
Here I would like to share a story with you about how this is so:
that as we offer up our crosses to Christ,
He changes them into victories.
It involves a woman who was a housemother
at a small southeastern college.
The woman was crippled,
and had all she could do to use one hand.
And each morning,
one of the girls had to come in to help dress her.
And one day,
one of the girls put this question to her:
"Isn't it hard for you to have to undergo this suffering?"
And what the housemother replied
is pretty significant.
"Years ago it was," she said,
"but today it's a blessing.
"In giving this cross over to God,
He has enriched my life immeasurably.
"Through this cross that I bear,
I have come to know God in a deeper way
than maybe I ever would.
"Through this cross that I bear,
I have come to have closer contact with people
than maybe I ever would.
"Don't feel sorry for me," she said,
"God has turned my cross into a victory."
You and I don't have to go through life
looking for crosses,
because crosses we already have.
And when Our Lord says
pick up our cross and follow Him,
what He means is this:
It's in giving our crosses over to Him,
that it will make a difference:
He will change our crosses into victories.
There's an illusion in the world today
that somehow life should be free from suffering.
If we have a marriage problem,
then psychology should be able to help us.
If we have a mental problem,
then somehow psychiatry should be able to help us.
If we have a physical problem,
then medicine should make some kind of breakthrough.
If we have economic problems,
then somehow the government should be able to help us.
If we have a vocational problem,
then somehow the schools should be able to help us.
If we are dissatisfied, or unhappy, or depressed,
then somehow drugs,
medicine,
placeboes,
entertainment,
counseling,
something new
should be able to help us.
But the witness of Christianity is that this is not so:
There is suffering in this life,
and we can't escape it.
The main symbol of the Christian faith is the cross,
a reminder of suffering,
of brokenness,
of pain.
Our Lord did not drive away in a Cadillac;
He was plastered on a tree by the world.
And you and I are also crucified upon our crosses:
the heartbreak in a marriage,
the bitterness of a job,
the hatred of a neighbor,
the loss of a loved one,
the heartache of a child,
our handicaps,
frustrations,
life itself.
But what Our Lord tells us is this:
It's not that suffering will never take place,
(Hype movements tell you this,
rip offs, fads),
But that it's through Him
that our suffering will be elevated,
ennobled,
sanctified,
given meaning,
given direction,
given purpose,
given the grace of His life.
That it's through Him
He will turn our sufferings into triumphs,
and crosses into victories.
The woman who was crippled had undergone suffering.
In her early years she was bitter.
But as she gave her cross over to Christ,
her life was elevated.
Her suffering was given meaning.
Her life was given purpose.
Her heart was given joy.
Christ took that cross,
seen in the eyes of the world as senseless,
and turned it into a victory for that soul.
Crosses we always have with us,
and as we bear our crosses all by ourselves
we are beaten:
It is senseless.
It is stupid.
It is discouraging.
It is meaningless.
It's disheartening.
But offering that cross up to Him
makes a difference:
He elevates us.
He ennobles us.
He sanctifies us.
He gives us meaning.
He gives us the grace of His life.
He shows us things we could not know before.
He leads our lives in new directions.
He turns the defeat of our Good Fridays
into the victory of His Easter and Resurrection.
The world would bury us with our crosses,
but Christ has come to give us life through them.
Each of us this moment
has crosses that we bear in our souls.
And here,
the voice of Our Lord calls to us:
"Pick up your cross, and follow me.
Offer me your cross, and follow me.
And I will turn your cross into victory.
You may not understand now.
You may not know the way I am leading you.
You may feel bitter, and disappointed, and unhappy.
But trust me, and follow me.
And your eyes will see,
in this life and eternity."
This invitation of the Savior of our souls:
that as we give our cross to Him,
He will turn it into victory;
that through our life with Him,
in our prayers,
our worship,
our communion,
our devotion,
our following Him,
Good Friday will be turned into Easter,
our wastelands turned into gardens,
our defeats turned into victories.
Amen.
MORNING OFFERING
Most Holy and Adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I firmly believe that You are here present; I adore You with the most profound humility; I praise You and give You thanks with all my heart for the favors You have bestowed on me. Your Goodness has brought me safely to the beginning of this day. Behold, O Lord, I offer You my whole being and in particular all my thoughts, words, and actions, together with such crosses and contradictions as I may meet within the course of this day. Give them, O Lord, Your blessing; may Your divine Love animate them and may they tend to the greater honor and glory of Your Sovereign Majesty. Amen.
seem like very hard words:
we must pick up our cross for His sake,
and follow after Him.
If we are at all normal human beings,
our first objection would be this:
no one wants a cross;
none of us wants to suffer;
none of us wants to carry burdens;
none of us wants to struggle.
And yet the strange truth of our lives is this:
all of us in this life have a cross.
At times in our lives these crosses may vary:
for some it may mean living with a drunken spouse;
for others it may mean living with a broken marriage;
for others it may mean living with some kind of handicap;
for still others it may mean personal problems,
or money problems,
or vocational problems.
The truth is that none of us wants a cross,
but all of us have a cross.
And all Our Lord is saying to us here is this:
that you and I don't have to go out looking for crosses,
or manufacturing crosses,
but all we have to do is bear the crosses we already have,
and offering it up to Him, it will make a difference.
And the difference it will make is this:
Christ will turn our crosses into victories.
Here I would like to share a story with you about how this is so:
that as we offer up our crosses to Christ,
He changes them into victories.
It involves a woman who was a housemother
at a small southeastern college.
The woman was crippled,
and had all she could do to use one hand.
And each morning,
one of the girls had to come in to help dress her.
And one day,
one of the girls put this question to her:
"Isn't it hard for you to have to undergo this suffering?"
And what the housemother replied
is pretty significant.
"Years ago it was," she said,
"but today it's a blessing.
"In giving this cross over to God,
He has enriched my life immeasurably.
"Through this cross that I bear,
I have come to know God in a deeper way
than maybe I ever would.
"Through this cross that I bear,
I have come to have closer contact with people
than maybe I ever would.
"Don't feel sorry for me," she said,
"God has turned my cross into a victory."
You and I don't have to go through life
looking for crosses,
because crosses we already have.
And when Our Lord says
pick up our cross and follow Him,
what He means is this:
It's in giving our crosses over to Him,
that it will make a difference:
He will change our crosses into victories.
There's an illusion in the world today
that somehow life should be free from suffering.
If we have a marriage problem,
then psychology should be able to help us.
If we have a mental problem,
then somehow psychiatry should be able to help us.
If we have a physical problem,
then medicine should make some kind of breakthrough.
If we have economic problems,
then somehow the government should be able to help us.
If we have a vocational problem,
then somehow the schools should be able to help us.
If we are dissatisfied, or unhappy, or depressed,
then somehow drugs,
medicine,
placeboes,
entertainment,
counseling,
something new
should be able to help us.
But the witness of Christianity is that this is not so:
There is suffering in this life,
and we can't escape it.
The main symbol of the Christian faith is the cross,
a reminder of suffering,
of brokenness,
of pain.
Our Lord did not drive away in a Cadillac;
He was plastered on a tree by the world.
And you and I are also crucified upon our crosses:
the heartbreak in a marriage,
the bitterness of a job,
the hatred of a neighbor,
the loss of a loved one,
the heartache of a child,
our handicaps,
frustrations,
life itself.
But what Our Lord tells us is this:
It's not that suffering will never take place,
(Hype movements tell you this,
rip offs, fads),
But that it's through Him
that our suffering will be elevated,
ennobled,
sanctified,
given meaning,
given direction,
given purpose,
given the grace of His life.
That it's through Him
He will turn our sufferings into triumphs,
and crosses into victories.
The woman who was crippled had undergone suffering.
In her early years she was bitter.
But as she gave her cross over to Christ,
her life was elevated.
Her suffering was given meaning.
Her life was given purpose.
Her heart was given joy.
Christ took that cross,
seen in the eyes of the world as senseless,
and turned it into a victory for that soul.
Crosses we always have with us,
and as we bear our crosses all by ourselves
we are beaten:
It is senseless.
It is stupid.
It is discouraging.
It is meaningless.
It's disheartening.
But offering that cross up to Him
makes a difference:
He elevates us.
He ennobles us.
He sanctifies us.
He gives us meaning.
He gives us the grace of His life.
He shows us things we could not know before.
He leads our lives in new directions.
He turns the defeat of our Good Fridays
into the victory of His Easter and Resurrection.
The world would bury us with our crosses,
but Christ has come to give us life through them.
Each of us this moment
has crosses that we bear in our souls.
And here,
the voice of Our Lord calls to us:
"Pick up your cross, and follow me.
Offer me your cross, and follow me.
And I will turn your cross into victory.
You may not understand now.
You may not know the way I am leading you.
You may feel bitter, and disappointed, and unhappy.
But trust me, and follow me.
And your eyes will see,
in this life and eternity."
This invitation of the Savior of our souls:
that as we give our cross to Him,
He will turn it into victory;
that through our life with Him,
in our prayers,
our worship,
our communion,
our devotion,
our following Him,
Good Friday will be turned into Easter,
our wastelands turned into gardens,
our defeats turned into victories.
Amen.
MORNING OFFERING
Most Holy and Adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I firmly believe that You are here present; I adore You with the most profound humility; I praise You and give You thanks with all my heart for the favors You have bestowed on me. Your Goodness has brought me safely to the beginning of this day. Behold, O Lord, I offer You my whole being and in particular all my thoughts, words, and actions, together with such crosses and contradictions as I may meet within the course of this day. Give them, O Lord, Your blessing; may Your divine Love animate them and may they tend to the greater honor and glory of Your Sovereign Majesty. Amen.
