The Cross: A Confident Committal - Apr 18, 2014

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SERMON:

The Passion History According to the Four Gospels (NIV)

      At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

      When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

      Later knowing that all was now completed, and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”

      Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

      With that, he bowed his head and gave up his life.

      At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks spilt. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

      When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God.’ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breast and went away.

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Grace and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our self-sacrificing King, Jesus Christ.

Our meditation for this Good Friday focuses on the last words of our Savior. Knowing that his life was coming quickly to its end, Jesus spoke one final time from the cross.

What would you say if you knew your last breath was only seconds away? Some might use those precious final moments to say goodbye. To say, “I love you” one last time to some cherished person. Others would turn to God in prayer, calling on the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.

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When Jesus spoke his final sentence from the cross, he spoke TO GOD, but he also spoke FOR US to hear. 

The Bible says,

“Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’” (Luke 23:46 NIV).

Crucifixion was an exhausting mode of execution. It usually  ended with a whimper, not a yell. After many, many hours of suffering, utterly exhausted, physically demolished, the crucified would fade away into death.

We might imagine a crucified man yelling out in agony and despair, but only at the beginning. Not at the moment of death. But Jesus’ final yell was not an expression of agony, or of despair. It was a confident cry of victory.

Jesus knew he didn’t have to speak loudly so his heavenly Father could hear him. Remember what Jesus said before he raised Lazarus from the dead? He prayed to his heavenly Father saying...

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:41-42 NIV).

Outside the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus spoke TO GOD, but FOR OTHERS to hear. When Jesus spoke his final words on the cross, he was also speaking TO GOD, but FOR US to hear. The people at the foot of the cross heard his yell. They marked his words, and recorded those words. And so, down through the centuries countless millions have heard that cry of victory reechoed in the pages of Scripture.

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Companies today like to have tag lines.  A short phrase to put underneath their name that sums them up. If we were to put a tag line under Christ’s name, a good one would be, “Jesus Christ. A life lived to God, but a life lived for us.”

Jesus gave his life completely to his heavenly Father by living each minute in perfect sync with the Father’s will. He remained sinless from the cradle to the tomb.  

And when Jesus came to the cross, he gave not just the minutes of his life, he gave his actual life. He voluntarily died in the place of sinners.

As he hung suspended above the dusty soil of Palestine, Jesus felt the full and terrible weight of God’s hand come crashing down on his soul. He suffered hell on that cross, because hell was what our sins deserved. You’ve heard the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In that moment Jesus was experiencing the unthinkable terror of being separated completely from his heavenly Father. Jesus gave himself over to God’s wrath, so that you would never have to feel that unthinkable horror.

And when it was done, Jesus asked for something to drink. Something to wet his parched mouth so he could make an announcement to the world. Upon receiving that drink Jesus said, “It is finished.”

He wasn’t being polite. Oh, the drink is done. He was telling the world that the suffering for their sins at its end. He had LIVED his life TO GOD, FOR US. Now he would give his life TO GOD, FOR US, that we might live at peace with our Creator, forever. Jesus’ willing death was the final piece of the puzzle. The final step in our redemption.

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Earlier I said that Jesus spoke TO GOD, but FOR US to hear. But it was more than that. Jesus didn’t just speak loudly so we would HEAR. He spoke loudly so we would hear and BELIEVE. He spoke with confidence TO GOD, so that we also might have confidence IN GOD.

Jesus knew that his death was immanent. Seconds from now he would experience the rending of body and spirit. But he doesn’t cry out in agony, or despair. He knows the mission has been successful. He has done it! The price for your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the world has been paid.

And so Jesus gladly lays his spirit in his Father’s hands for safekeeping. Those hands were now safe. The wrath had been spent. And Jesus was fully confident that in three days his Father would send his spirit back to his body. That he would be raised from the dead, and glorified to show the world that his sacrifice had been accepted.

And so those last words of Jesus, were a confident committal. A joyful and expectant final testimony.

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And Jesus also spoke those words for us, so that we might take as our own confident committal.

Jesus taught his followers to pray to God by addressing him as “Our Father in heaven.” With his final words from the cross Jesus teaches us to rest our souls in the Father’s forgiving hands. Jesus has made those hands welcoming by his cross. Like it says in the book of Romans...

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1-2 NIV).

We may not be cognizant when we die. We may be sleeping, or in a coma, or unaware of our approaching end. But by faith in Christ, our hearts can even NOW say, “Father, in your hands I rest my spirit.”

This was Christ’s confident committal. Let it be ours now also. Let this be our confident committal today, tomorrow, each and every day—until we see the one who suffered the hell of the cross for us, in person.

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts, and your minds, in Christ Jesus.

The Cross: Our Only Glory - Apr 9, 2014

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-Pastor Caleb Schaller

The Cross: A Lesson in Obedience - Apr 2, 2014

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SERMON:

For most of our country, this year has been the year of snow. For the past few months it’s been pretty commonplace to see videos of people pushing cars out of the white stuff. But one snow related video caught a lot of people’s attention this past December.

King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan, was on his way to Amman, when he noticed some people trying to push a blue car out of the snow. Instead of passing by, the king stopped. Shoulder to shoulder with his subjects, the king helped get the car out of the drift, and back onto the road.

Someone caught this act of kindness with his phone, and posted the video to the web, where it went viral. It wasn’t huge news, but it was unusual enough to get a few stories circulated. King Abdullah was hailed by many as a “man of the people.”

Our sermon reading for today tells how Jesus Christ humbled himself in a way no human king could ever hope to surpass. In obedience to the Father’s plan of salvation, the Son of God lowered himself in order to raise up the entire sinful human race.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)

    5   Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

    6   who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

    7   but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

    8   Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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Obedience is not exactly a trait that most people want to cultivate in themselves. It’s dogs that go to “obedience training” right? Not people. Our culture values self-respect, self-importance, individuality, and pride far more than humble obedience.

Even when we’re faced with some command that we SHOULD obey, there are countless reasons we choose not to.

We might feel above the commands we receive. Come on, I’m more important than that. We might feel that something we’re expected to do is gross. Ugh, shouldn’t someone else do that?

Sometimes the things we’re told to do are difficult. We see that they will end up costing us something. They might even be dangerous. And so our sense of self-preservation lead us to disobey instead.

We might even see a certain command as an insult to our person. Really, you expect ME to do THAT?

Or, we might simply disobey a command because we think we know better.

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When we look at how God commands us to live in the Bible, and how we actually live, it’s clear to see that we’ve all been disobedient to God. We’ve all sinfully chosen our own way instead of God’s way. Like Isaiah says,

“⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way; ” (Isaiah 53:6 NIV).

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But in Christ, and in his cross, we see a lesson in obedience. An example far different than our own.

Verse 6 says that Christ Jesus…

“…although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men…” (Philippians 2:6-7 NASB).

We exist in the form of “man.” That is to say, we’re human beings. But this verse says that Christ existed in a different form. He was God. And yet, when the Father told him to become human, Christ didn’t try to clutch his form as God. He didn’t resist the Father’s will. Instead, he obediently took on a new form—the form of a servant. He went from being God, whom all should serve, to being One who would serve all.

And when Christ became a human being to carry out his service to God and Man, we’re told he humbled himself. That is, he listened intently to the Father’s direction, and accepted everything the Father wanted him to do as a human. He even accepted death as part of his service. And it wasn’t just any death that Christ suffered. He suffered the most humiliating form of execution—crucifixion.

Jesus didn’t let his high rank as God get in the way of his obedience. He emptied himself of his glory, setting aside his power as the eternal God. He allowed the roles to be flipped completely—from king to servant. He even took on human flesh, going from being spirit, to being body and spirit united. He became truly human. And he even submitted to a shameful and horrific death—all in obedience to his heavenly Father’s plan to save sinners.

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This is a little more newsworthy than a king helping someone push their car out of the snow. And it was harder for Jesus too. You see, when Christ became human, he was made to feel all the same things we feel. And knowing all that he would have to suffer to redeem sinners weighed heavily on his soul the night before he was crucified. It was far more than just physical suffering that would be required of him. To pay the full price for our sins, Jesus would have to feel the full wrath of God’s anger. Jesus would have to feel HELL on that cross—for every sin we have ever committed. That’s what it would take to pay off our debt.

That’s why we find Jesus nearly overcome with sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prays…

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39 ESV).

Even in this moment of deep sorrow and mental anguish, the obedience of Christ Jesus shines through in those words, “as YOU will.”

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As you know, the Father’s will was that Christ would go to that cross, that he would suffer for all your sins, and mine, and that he would die in our place. And because he did this, we’re forgiven. Because Jesus obeyed perfectly to the end, the Father raised him from the dead three days later, and restored him to divine glory.

And because Jesus obeyed perfectly to the end, we are now declared OBEDIENT—holy before the God we’ve so often failed to obey. The obedience that cost Christ everything, has gained us everything. This is the lesson in obedience that Christ’s cross lays before our eyes.

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The cross of Christ does indeed serve as an example of how we should obey God in our own lives. In our reading for tonight, Paul holds up Christ’s example as one that we should follow. We shouldn’t let our own “rank” in life get in the way. We should be willing to give up what we have, to follow the Father’s direction. We should be willing to have our roles flipped, serving people stationed lower than ourselves. We should be willing to give up everything to serve God, even if in doing so we have to experience shame, pain, and death.

But the most valuable lesson here isn’t what we SHOULD DO. The most valuable lesson here is what CHRIST DID. What we SHOULD do, is never done. We always fall short of perfect obedience to God’s commands. But what CHRIST DID, is done. And it is in HIS perfect obedience that ensures our forgiveness.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul wrote…

“¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:18-25a NKJV).

Paul’s whole point here isn’t to excuse his sin. Oh, the devil made me do it! Oh, my sinful nature made me do it! Paul doesn’t excuse his disobedience, but he recognizes that when it comes to obeying the Lord, he’s always failing. Personal obedience to God is important to Paul, but he knows that it’s only through CHRIST’S PERFECT obedience that he’ll be delivered in the end.

It’s the same for us. Try as we may, we’ll always fail to perfectly obey our heavenly Father’s will. But by faith in Christ’s perfect obedience, we will remain safe. Redeemed, restored, forgiven.

Let this remain the first lesson of obedience you see on the cross: He was obedient, so I am saved. Only then, with this greatest truth held precious in our hearts, can we move forward to follow Christ’s example of obedience in our daily actions.

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts, and your minds, in Christ Jesus.

The Cross: A Lesson in Sacrifice - Mar 26, 2014

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The Cross: A Lesson in Love - Mar 19, 2014

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SERMON:

If there is one thing that people need in order to thrive in life, and enjoy life—that thing is love. As children we need to know we are loved by our parents. We need to hear that we are loved, and we need to experience that love in tangible ways. As adults we long for the love of a close friend, or a spouse. Without love, life would be hard to bear.

In the book of First Corinthians, we are given a profound and poetic description of true love.

“⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV).

As sinful human beings, we find that our ability to love is limited. We may want to love others through what we say, and do, but too often we fail to let true love guide our choices. Too many things to do, too many pressures to bear, and too many people to please—all combine to weight us down. And instead of persisting in love, we stumble in sin. 

While OUR ability to love is limited by our sinful nature, God’s ability to love is boundless and unlimited. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than at the foot of the cross. On the cross we find a most profound lesson in love.

John 19:25-27 (NKJV)

²⁵ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” ²⁷ Then He said to the disciple,  “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

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This group of people who gathered at the foot of Christ’s cross had all been effected by God’s love, in one way or another.

Jesus’ mother Mary had been chosen by God to bring his divine Son into the human race. Mary heard the angel’s announcement. She conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. She gave birth to the world’s Savior. She raised the Christ-Child, caring for him as only a mother can. Mary knew God’s love for her through the gift of motherhood.

Mary’s sister, whose name was Salome, knew God’s love for her also. She was blessed by God with Mary as her sister. And while sisters can, and do, fight with each other. Their sisterly bond is capable of overcoming the scuffles that go on between siblings. When Mary’s Son was crucified, Salome knew what she had to do. God had given her a sister to love, and so she went with Mary to support her in her time of need.

On the other side of Mary, we find another Mary. The wife of Clopas. It appears that Clopas was Joseph’s brother, making this other Mary the sister-in-law of our Savior’s mother. She too knew God’s love for her. She had been blessed in marriage, and had gained Mary as her sister-in-law. And she too, went with our Savior’s mother to the foot of the cross, to help her in her time of need.  

Among these women at the cross, we find yet another Mary, Mary Magdalene. She knew the God’s love for her. But her connection to Jesus was not through biological, or marriage ties. Mary Magdalene had come to know God’s love for her when Jesus cast seven demons out of her. In response, Mary Magdalene had followed Jesus—both in faith, and physically as well. She followed Jesus of Nazareth during his ministry, and along with others, they cared for the needs of our Savior.

The last character that we find at the cross in this scene, is the writer of this Gospel: the apostle John.

John was one of the closest friends of Jesus. He was a disciple. A follower who trusted that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God. But John was also one of the twelve apostles. And within this circle, he was also one of the three whom Jesus confided in more intimately.

It was Peter, James, and John who found themselves on the mountain, praying with Jesus when he was transfigured before them—showing visibly his glory as the Son of God. It was Peter, James, and John who were permitted to enter that house, and that upper chamber, when Jesus raised the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus from the dead. It was Peter, James, and John who were invited to go a little farther into the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed on the night of his betrayal and arrest.

None of this was because John deserved such honor. Early in life, he and his brother James were somewhat arrogant and boastful men. Their nickname was “the sons of thunder.” And yet, under the teaching influence of Jesus, John had been changed.

When John wrote his account of Jesus’ mission later in life, John took care not even to name himself. In John’s Gospel he’s always referred to as, “another disciple”, or like in our reading for tonight, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Now, at first reading, that title might seem arrogant. As if John were saying that he had somehow earned Jesus’ love more than the others. But the whole Gospel of John shows that wasn’t what he meant. When John searched for something to call himself, something that wouldn’t draw attention to himself, he ended up defining himself as “loved by Jesus.” It was as simple as that. The one thing that John felt defined him, was Christ’s love for him.

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It was Christ’s love for John that had moved him to follow after Jesus when he was arrested. Taking great risk, Peter and John trailed the mob which had arrested Jesus, all the way to the high priest’s palace. And when Peter stole away in sorrow after denying that he knew the Lord, John continued on and watched as Pilate pronounced the death sentence on his dear master and friend.

It appears that at this point, John left the scene and hurried into the city to find Jesus’ mother, and the other women that we find gathered at the cross in our reading.

And when the crowd had drawn back, John and these women had moved forward. Five people who had known the love of God, and the love of God’s Son, from experience. People who had seen the power and love that radiated from Jesus in his healings, in his Gospel preaching, and in his unending patience.

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And while they didn’t understand it at the time, these five people were witnessing the greatest expression of God’s love for them. In the days and months to come they would learn the full significance of Christ’s crucifixion. They would learn how these events had been foretold from ancient times. That this was the way in which the eternal God would erase the sins of mankind—by letting his Son take the punishment for the sins of the world while he hung on that cross.

And even while Jesus was hanging there, experiencing the horrific agony of crucifixion, his perfect love was still conscious and active. When he saw his own mother standing below, he summoned the strength to speak through his pain. To speak a gentle command to his mother, and to his beloved disciple. He said…

“Woman, behold your son!”

And to John,

“Behold your mother!”

Jesus spoke with great economy of words, for his suffering was heavy. But his intent was clear. A new relationship was created here by our Savior. Mary was to see John as her own son now, and to care for him accordingly. John was to see Mary as his mother, and to care for her likewise.

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Mary’s husband, Joseph, was apparently dead by this time. But she did have children who could have cared for her physical needs. But the Scripture says that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in him yet. And more than anything Mary would need someone who could support her spiritually in this, oh so painful time.

And John, he would need the same support. At the time, it  appeared that he was losing his greatest friend. John would benefit from comforting Mary, and being comforted by her.

And so, John took action right away. Upon hearing this command of Christ, John led our Savior’s mother away, to his own home. Away from the deep sorrow of seeing her Child crucified.

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When we face pressure, great pain, or tragedy in our lives, that’s when we often fail to care for others. That’s when we lash out at the people who love us. People who are just trying to help. That’s when we retreat into ourselves and leave responsibilities unfulfilled. Like I said earlier, as sinners, we know all too well that our ability to love others is, sadly, limited.

But the love of God is unlimited. We see that here, don’t we? Even in the hurricane of agony that Jesus was facing, he still summoned the will to care for his friends. Friends who had sinned against him many times. Even as the punishment for their sins was falling on him, the love of Christ still blazed with intensity.

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In this moment, Jesus teaches us how to love. Selflessly. With patience. Seeking to benefit others, not ourselves. Not holding their sins against them, but bearing and enduring all for their benefit.

But in this account the Holy Spirit has given us FAR MORE than an example to follow. In this account the Holy Spirit shows us what a great Savior we have. One who bears our sins against him with patience. One who kindly endures our failures daily. A Savior who looks through all that we are, and loves us to the end.

Satan would have us believe that there is a limit to Christ’s love. That eventually, if we don’t clean up our act and get it right, Jesus will abandon us. But that’s ridiculous. OUR love is limited by our sinfulness. But CHRIST’S love is unlimited—a fact which our Savior's cross teaches quite clearly.

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The apostle John learned that lesson at the cross. In later years, after Jesus had been raised from the dead and all the confusion of these days had been explained, John wrote the following words…

“¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 ESV).

The cross of Christ does indeed teach us how to love others. But first, and foremost, it teaches us how God loves us. And this is powerful. For above all, we need to be loved. And while parents will fail in their love, and siblings will fail, and spouses will fail, and friends will fail, and we will fail—God has not failed. For in Christ we are loved with the greatest love, and fully redeemed.

“¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 ESV).

Amen. 

The Cross: A Mighty Magnet - Mar 12, 2014

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SERMON:

Grace and Lenten peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, Amen. This evening we consider the Word of God in John, chapter 12, beginning with the 27^th verse, as follows:

[Jesus said,] “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” 29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. So far the Holy Word.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Who was lifted up from the earth that where He is, there we might be also, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Magnets are funny things. They both attract and repel. That is, they are capable both of powerfully drawing things to themselves and, in certain cases - as with the opposite pole of another magnet - of powerfully pushing things away.

You may never have thought of the cross as a magnet. And yet there is something about our Lord's elevation upon the cross - and beyond that, His elevation to glory at the right hand of God - there's something there that exerts a tremendous magnetic pull in people's lives. If only that were the only force being exerted on us! But there are many other forces affecting us as well, not all of them good. Well, if you've felt yourself pulled in many directions lately, if the attraction of the cross has become less forceful in your life, if you worry that your plan for your life and God's plan for your life might just be drifting in different directions, then today's text will be good news for you. Our theme this evening is a simple one:

THE CROSS IS A MIGHTY MAGNET

I. It has power to overcome every other attraction.

II. It has power to draw us with our Savior to glory.

The events of our text find Jesus in Jerusalem with his disciples. It is Tuesday of holy week. The festival of Passover is imminent, and the city itself has become something of a magnet for throngs of devout pilgrims and visitors. Among them are certain Greeks who express a wish to see Jesus. They have evidently heard of His teachings and are attracted to Him. They want to find out more. So Phillip and Andrew introduce them to Jesus, and Jesus begins speaking. He speaks of His mission on earth, He speaks of the glory of His Heavenly Father, He speaks of how Satan would be cast out and his power over men destroyed. But one thing in particular that Jesus says is troubling to these visitors, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

These people were drawn to Jesus. Unfortunately, they also had other forces pulling them the opposite direction. One of them was skepticism. They were skeptical about Him being the Son of God, and especially skeptical about what Jesus had said would be the manner of His death. He made no secret about the fact that his death would be a shameful one, lifted up on a criminal's cross, and that offended them. We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?A little later in this chapter we hear of others who were attracted to Jesus at first, but in the end were pulled away by another very powerful force - peer pressure. …Even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." (12:42-43) How many of those people, do you think,kept silent when Jesus was unjustly condemned? How many were finally convinced to raise their voices, too, in the bloodthirsty cry, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!'?

But don't forget, the cross is A MIGHTY MAGNET. It has the power to overcome every other  attraction.And it did, didn't it? At Calvary on Good Friday, there were a few disciples who overcame their fear and were drawn back to the cross. On a mountaintop on Ascension Day more disciples were drawn to Jesus as he was lifted up from the earth to the right hand of His Heavenly Father. In Jerusalem on Pentecost the ascended Lord Jesus continued to draw all people to Himself, when over three thousand souls were saved through hearing the message of the cross. The disciples became His witnesses "…in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The message of the cross spread and grew. Centuries passed and multitudes of people were drawn to the cross of Christ. Today, two billion people - one-third of the people on the surface of the earth - claim the name Christian.Clearly, the cross is a magnet that has the power to overcome every other  attraction.

And it's a good thing, because there are many other attractions to compete with it, especially in our world of today! If you're complacently thinking that the cross of Christ is only magnet in your life, you're not paying attention. There are so many forces pulling us in other directions. Forces that at best are distractions from the cross, and that at worst are pulling us directly away from our devotion to our Savior and His cross. Money and possessions are a magnet that frequently compete with the cross for our devotion. Paul said, The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness. As we saw above, peer pressure can be a magnet pulling you away from the cross. So can pride. So can lust, and the desire for sinful pleasure. Your own human reason and the desire to reconcile God's Word with your own thoughts and ideas of what seems right to you - that can be a powerful magnet that pulls you away from your Savior's cross. And the sad thing is, we don't even always fight these other attractions!

It frightens me when I see Christians toying with these dangerous forces – forces that they know stand in direct opposition to the cross. It makes me think of how when a mighty meteor is passing the earth, there inevitably comes that moment when it first, almost imperceptibly, comes under the influence of the earth’s gravitational pull. Here’s this huge rock weighing thousands of tons, hurtling through space, and the first frail fingers of earth’s gravity reach out with just a few ounces of force and begin to pull it this way. Time passes, the rock comes a little closer, gravity gets a little stronger, and if you’ve ever seen a “shooting star” then you know how the story ends. Before long the meteor is a burning cinder of destruction hurtling brightly across the sky in its death-throes.

That’s what scares me when I see people toying with sin in their lives. They are voluntarily bringing themselves under the sway of these other influences, influences that are exerting their own magnetism. Drawing them subtly but inexorably away from the Cross of their Savior. And make no mistake, human beings do have the power to pull away from the cross. Eventually there comes a time when they can't get back, and don't want to get back. They become hardened in their unbelief, and the cross no longer draws them. From that point the cross actually repels them. My fellow Christians, do not allow the forces of sin to grow and flourish in your life. Repent of every sin every day. Don't allow anything to even start pulling you away from the cross! Bear in mind the warning spoken to Christians by the writer to the Hebrews: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Hebrews 2:3.

Oh yes, magnets can repel as well as attract, and sometimes repel quite strongly, too. In 1999 Japanese scientists developed a train that can travel 343 miles per hour. The train is called the MagLev, which is short for magnetic levitation. Powerful magnets are imbedded on the top of the single track, and equally powerful magnets - of opposite polarity - are in the bottom of the train. The magnets repel each other, and the train actually glides along several inches above the track, with no parts touching. That's how it achieves such high speeds. And it also illustrates how powerful the repelling action of magnets can be. The cross is the same way. It is a powerful attractant force. God would have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. But there are also many people who are powerfully repelled by the cross of Christ. Those who harden their hearts against their Savior will find the Gospel repellant and foolish. When they've finally turned their back on their only Redeemer, they will find it easy to glide away down the track to eternal destruction. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. I Cor 1:18.

Thank the Lord! To us who are being saved, the cross is the power of God, and that's the most attractive power of all.

In 2010 a magnet was constructed at Florida State University that set a new world record for sheer power. The electromagnet generated a sustained magnetic field of 45 Tesla, which is roughly equal to a million times the magnetic field of the earth. An attractive force that strong is hard to even imagine. There's only one force stronger. And that's the miraculous, life-changing, magnetic power of the cross! The cross is A MIGHTY MAGNET, in the second place, because it has the power to draw us with our Savior to glory

Jesus said, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Two days later, in the Upper Room He promised His disciples, In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3. How could you begin to measure the magnetic power of this force - a force that can take wretched, sin-laden people like you and me and draw us away from hell? How can you gauge the power that can take pathetic, morally bankrupt creatures such as ourselves, and pull us straight through the gates of heaven into the mansions of everlasting glory? That's the power of our Savior's cross! When He was lifted up on that cross, Jesus paid the price for each one of your sins. He wiped from God's book every last offence your disobedience had written there. He took all your guilt, all your sin upon Himself, and on that cross He atoned for every scrap.

Well might it bring tears to our eyes when we survey the wondrous cross. And not only tears of godly repentance for our sins - appropriate as those may be. No, we blessed creatures can shed tears of joy and pure relief, that Christ has drawn us from the pit of hell and delivered us to everlasting glory. With startled wonder once again this Lenten season we glimpse the depths of God's love for us! Delivered from eternal death, safe from sin's punishment, we read with delight words such as those of the prophet Jeremiah: The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;       Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.  Jer. 31:3. How blessed are we who have been drawn to the Savior! This is the magnet of God's grace, the mighty magnet of the cross. What a delight and a privilege it is for us to sing with hymnist,

Drawn to the cross which Thou hast blest,

  With healing gifts for souls distressed,

To find in Thee my life, my rest,

  Christ crucified, I come!

Now Jesus is our ascended Lord, lifted up on high to the right hand the Father. From there He governs all things for the benefit of His Church. From there He continues to draw all men unto himself. Through the means of grace - the Gospel in Word and Sacrament - our Lord continues to draw ever more people into His kingdom of grace. This He predicted in such a comforting manner in the sixth chapter of John: All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.Come to your Lord Jesus! Forsake your sins and cling to the cross! Let that blessed cross on which the Prince of Glory died draw you. Draw you to grace, draw you to forgiveness, draw you, finally, to everlasting glory in the presence of your Savior in heaven!

Magnets are funny things. Remember how fascinated you were as a kid, pulling the magnets out of old speakers, playing with horseshoe magnets in science class, rubbing a nail with a magnet so the nail would become a magnet too? If you’re like me, maybe you still find yourself absentmindedly playing with the magnets on the refrigerator. Well, suppose we incorporate that into our Lenten mediations this year. Each time you see a magnet, why not think of the cross, and meditate just for a moment on how blessed you are that you've been drawn to the cross of your Savior. The cross is a mighty magnet. It has the power to overcome every other attraction in our life, and it has the power to draw us, with our Savior, to glory. May the magnet of the cross once again draw our hearts and minds heavenward during this Lententide, AMEN.

-Pastor Paul Naumann