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Pastor's March 2011 Message |
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THE CROSS “…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23 Ash Wednesday occurs on March 9th this year and with it another Lenten season will begin. Lent is the solemn season that beckons us into a time of honest self-reflection in order to lead us into repentance. The forty days of Lent begin with the sobering reminder that “from dust (ashes) we came and to dust (ashes) we shall return because the “wages of sin is death.” (Rom.6:23). The Lenten journey takes us to the foot of the cross, where, as the hymn puts it, we can truly estimate the staggering cost of our sins. In contemplating this, I began thinking about the Cross. That is our Christian Symbol, our logo, the center of our banner. I am so used to it - maybe you are too - that I don’t recognize how strange that is. What other Champion, what other Deity, what other Savior, has such a symbol. The mighty Zeus with his long flowing hair and thunder-bolt, Hercules armored with muscles bulging, Superman or Batman with their cape inscribed with a special symbol that seems to radiate strength and power. Our Champion, Savior, Deity, has a Cross for his symbol - an instrument of tortuous death, a reminder of abject helplessness and humility – humiliation. No wonder Christ crucified is a “stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles.” It defies logic – a helpless God who saves by dying. But that is just the point! It wasn’t strength, power, majesty, super-powered abilities like that of the heroes of old or of today that we needed. We needed a Savior who was willing to die, Someone willing to pay the “wages of sin.” The cost was staggering…what could possibly be worth enough to pay the price of the sins of the whole world? The blood of Jesus, Son of God, God in the Flesh, True God and True Man, it alone has inestimable value. As Martin Luther said, “He saved us not with gold or silver but with His Holy Precious Blood and His Innocent Suffering and Death.” Why? “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness…this is most certainly true.” And so our symbol is a Cross. An EMPTY Cross! A reminder that what our Savior did for us didn’t end in death but points to the promise of life… “that I might live with Him…” The Old Rugged Cross has a certain glow to it… a resurrection glow that symbolizes God the Father’s acceptance of His Son’s death in our behalf. The wages of sin have been paid for and now we have “the free gift of God .. Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 6:23.
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