The Word Of The Cross Is The Power of God
Sermon
THE VICTORY OF FAITH
New Testament Sermons For Lent And Easter
When Neil Armstrong was on the moon, an American flag was planted to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established in 1960 to set a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In 1969, that goal was achieved in a most dramatic way.
When Jesus was on the earth, he planted a cross to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established from the foundation of the world that God would love the world, no matter what it took. On a place called The Skull during the Roman occupation of Palestine, that goal was achieved in a most dramatic way.
The cross is a sign that the journey is ended, the destination has been achieved, the work is accomplished. "It is finished," Jesus said from the cross. The Word from God is the word of the cross.
Pierre Chardin, Christian author and observer of the world, has written, "The human epic resembles nothing so much as a way of the cross." Any casual observer of humanity will recognize that every cradle swings over an open grave. We place crosses on graves.
We have crosses to bear. There are diseases and illnesses that stalk us, seeking to nail us on the scaffold of pain and fear. There
are relationships that, though they are important to us, die a thousand deaths because of our ineptitude at really caring for one another. We have hopes and dreams that go to sleep with the night and never awaken with the new day's light. We may desire to live on high ground under sunny skies, but we cannot avoid walking through the valley of the shadows.
It is not bright and cheerful to talk about crosses. It is much more comfortable talking about commonplace sorts of things that warm the heart: caressing a baby, drying clothes on the line in a gentle spring breeze, getting out into the fields to turn the earth once again and plant the crops, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, visiting with friends over a cup of coffee, canoeing down a meandering river, laughing with children.
The word of the cross? We would rather not hear it. Rather not, but yet we do. We cannot avoid it. Nor can we avoid the figure of Jesus. In the midst of our cross-strewn ways, he comes, carrying his cross and being hung upon it. This haunts us. We cannot sidestep the specter of this One, who intended only good for all, yet was crucified as a common criminal. He willingly took his cross, letting the worst happen to himself, yet trusted in his Heavenly Father to make something of it. He prayed in the Garden, "Not my will, but yours be done." In the word of the cross, can the power of God be present? It seems a bit like folly.
On the cross so many years ago, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These are pounding words from the cross about the cross that echo the deep feelings in our hearts when we too have felt forsaken. What is it about the word of the cross that keeps reverberating through time? Cross-bearers like us, when we hear this word of the cross, our ears perk up and we are attentive. Why is that?
Think of the oyster. It is a clammy, cold, ugly mollusk. Lying on the ocean floor, it is subject to the intrusion of a grain of sand -- an irritation in the seemingly complacent life of the oyster. By not ignoring the painful intrusion or waiting for it to go away, but by paying special attention to it and surrounding it with its own secretions, the oyster creates the pearl -- a treasure of beauty and worth.
Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Imagine, a grain of sand becoming so important.
The word of the cross! Imagine, it becomes so important, a treasure of beauty and worth. Despite its ugly appearance, and its nature of intruding upon our lives as we would like to live them -- could there be here a pearl of great worth that would warrant selling all that we own and investing in it?
The word of the cross is the pearl of God, the power of God. For at the center of every one of the crosses that we bear in life is the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the bringer of God's love to the world, died on the cross. God used that apparent defeat to demonstrate his very power over life and death and all the forces of evil. Hidden in weakness, God enticed the evils of this world to nail Jesus on the cross and then in the moment of their seeming victory, he clutched them to himself and drew them into the grave with him. There he dealt them a death blow that brought their power to an end.
Because of that one singular cross upon which Christ died once for all, the power of God is at hand to help everyone to bear their crosses. That pearl of infinite worth can belong to anyone by faith. Faith finds the power of God in the word of the cross. The power of God is the word of the cross. God took what was foolish and weak in the world and made it into a standard of strength for all who believe.
When life takes on a clammy, cold and ugly appearance, do not forget the oyster and how to look for the treasure inside. When life brings you crosses to bear, do not forget the cross of Christ. It is the power of God to lead you through suffering with patience, character, and hope which will not disappoint you.
Vernon Bittner, in his book Make Your Illness Count, talks about how an illness or a tragedy can be a stepping stone to greater living. That was certainly true for Gordon Gund. In his early thirties, his eyesight gave way to a disease. Blind and visionless, he despaired. As his family rallied around him, he began to look deep inside himself. Finally, he applied himself with the gifts that God had given him. He remade his life. He became the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and has established a foundation for eye research.
If we want, we can learn about ourselves, we can truly see other people, and we can grow in faith, hope, and love -- if we pay attention to our crosses and learn to find the treasure in the midst of it all. The treasure for the Christian is the love of God in Jesus Christ who is with us, hidden in the shape of crosses, helping us grow into real, eyes-wide-open, caring, loving, thankful human beings.
The word of the cross is the power of God!
Martin Luther, in his delicious treatise The Magnificat, expresses it this way: "God will continue to let his people become powerless, and to be brought low, until everyone supposes their end is near. Yet in these very things he is present to them with all his power. He hides himself in the cross with those who suffer. Only faith can see this. Here is the fulness of God's power and his outstretched arm. For where man's strength ends, God's strength begins. When the suffering comes to an end, it will be apparent what great strength was hidden underneath the weakness. In the same way Christ was powerless on the cross; yet there he performed his mightiest work. He defeated and conquered sin, death, world, hell, devil and all evil for you."1
Wow! Fellow cross-bearers, as you bear your cross on life's journey, hear the word of the cross. Take heart and be of courage. See Jesus! Believe in Jesus! He bore his cross for all for the forgiveness of sins and for life everlasting. The word of the cross is the power of God and the power of God is the word of the cross, on which God has brought you life abundant and life eternal. Amen.
____________
1. Reprinted from The Magnificat: Luther's Commentary, translated by A. T. W. Steinhauser, copyright © 1967 Augsburg Publishing House. Used by permission.
When Jesus was on the earth, he planted a cross to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established from the foundation of the world that God would love the world, no matter what it took. On a place called The Skull during the Roman occupation of Palestine, that goal was achieved in a most dramatic way.
The cross is a sign that the journey is ended, the destination has been achieved, the work is accomplished. "It is finished," Jesus said from the cross. The Word from God is the word of the cross.
Pierre Chardin, Christian author and observer of the world, has written, "The human epic resembles nothing so much as a way of the cross." Any casual observer of humanity will recognize that every cradle swings over an open grave. We place crosses on graves.
We have crosses to bear. There are diseases and illnesses that stalk us, seeking to nail us on the scaffold of pain and fear. There
are relationships that, though they are important to us, die a thousand deaths because of our ineptitude at really caring for one another. We have hopes and dreams that go to sleep with the night and never awaken with the new day's light. We may desire to live on high ground under sunny skies, but we cannot avoid walking through the valley of the shadows.
It is not bright and cheerful to talk about crosses. It is much more comfortable talking about commonplace sorts of things that warm the heart: caressing a baby, drying clothes on the line in a gentle spring breeze, getting out into the fields to turn the earth once again and plant the crops, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, visiting with friends over a cup of coffee, canoeing down a meandering river, laughing with children.
The word of the cross? We would rather not hear it. Rather not, but yet we do. We cannot avoid it. Nor can we avoid the figure of Jesus. In the midst of our cross-strewn ways, he comes, carrying his cross and being hung upon it. This haunts us. We cannot sidestep the specter of this One, who intended only good for all, yet was crucified as a common criminal. He willingly took his cross, letting the worst happen to himself, yet trusted in his Heavenly Father to make something of it. He prayed in the Garden, "Not my will, but yours be done." In the word of the cross, can the power of God be present? It seems a bit like folly.
On the cross so many years ago, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These are pounding words from the cross about the cross that echo the deep feelings in our hearts when we too have felt forsaken. What is it about the word of the cross that keeps reverberating through time? Cross-bearers like us, when we hear this word of the cross, our ears perk up and we are attentive. Why is that?
Think of the oyster. It is a clammy, cold, ugly mollusk. Lying on the ocean floor, it is subject to the intrusion of a grain of sand -- an irritation in the seemingly complacent life of the oyster. By not ignoring the painful intrusion or waiting for it to go away, but by paying special attention to it and surrounding it with its own secretions, the oyster creates the pearl -- a treasure of beauty and worth.
Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Imagine, a grain of sand becoming so important.
The word of the cross! Imagine, it becomes so important, a treasure of beauty and worth. Despite its ugly appearance, and its nature of intruding upon our lives as we would like to live them -- could there be here a pearl of great worth that would warrant selling all that we own and investing in it?
The word of the cross is the pearl of God, the power of God. For at the center of every one of the crosses that we bear in life is the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the bringer of God's love to the world, died on the cross. God used that apparent defeat to demonstrate his very power over life and death and all the forces of evil. Hidden in weakness, God enticed the evils of this world to nail Jesus on the cross and then in the moment of their seeming victory, he clutched them to himself and drew them into the grave with him. There he dealt them a death blow that brought their power to an end.
Because of that one singular cross upon which Christ died once for all, the power of God is at hand to help everyone to bear their crosses. That pearl of infinite worth can belong to anyone by faith. Faith finds the power of God in the word of the cross. The power of God is the word of the cross. God took what was foolish and weak in the world and made it into a standard of strength for all who believe.
When life takes on a clammy, cold and ugly appearance, do not forget the oyster and how to look for the treasure inside. When life brings you crosses to bear, do not forget the cross of Christ. It is the power of God to lead you through suffering with patience, character, and hope which will not disappoint you.
Vernon Bittner, in his book Make Your Illness Count, talks about how an illness or a tragedy can be a stepping stone to greater living. That was certainly true for Gordon Gund. In his early thirties, his eyesight gave way to a disease. Blind and visionless, he despaired. As his family rallied around him, he began to look deep inside himself. Finally, he applied himself with the gifts that God had given him. He remade his life. He became the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and has established a foundation for eye research.
If we want, we can learn about ourselves, we can truly see other people, and we can grow in faith, hope, and love -- if we pay attention to our crosses and learn to find the treasure in the midst of it all. The treasure for the Christian is the love of God in Jesus Christ who is with us, hidden in the shape of crosses, helping us grow into real, eyes-wide-open, caring, loving, thankful human beings.
The word of the cross is the power of God!
Martin Luther, in his delicious treatise The Magnificat, expresses it this way: "God will continue to let his people become powerless, and to be brought low, until everyone supposes their end is near. Yet in these very things he is present to them with all his power. He hides himself in the cross with those who suffer. Only faith can see this. Here is the fulness of God's power and his outstretched arm. For where man's strength ends, God's strength begins. When the suffering comes to an end, it will be apparent what great strength was hidden underneath the weakness. In the same way Christ was powerless on the cross; yet there he performed his mightiest work. He defeated and conquered sin, death, world, hell, devil and all evil for you."1
Wow! Fellow cross-bearers, as you bear your cross on life's journey, hear the word of the cross. Take heart and be of courage. See Jesus! Believe in Jesus! He bore his cross for all for the forgiveness of sins and for life everlasting. The word of the cross is the power of God and the power of God is the word of the cross, on which God has brought you life abundant and life eternal. Amen.
____________
1. Reprinted from The Magnificat: Luther's Commentary, translated by A. T. W. Steinhauser, copyright © 1967 Augsburg Publishing House. Used by permission.
