Sermon: "CROSS ROADS" Rev. D. Anderson
Jer. 15:15-21; Ro. 12:1-8; Matthew 16:21-26
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These words of our Lord which I am about to
read again are not very popular within our
self-indulgent generation: "If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will find it.
(Matthew 16 NIV)
Our first lesson is from the prophet
Jeremiah. Like all the faithful prophets, he
was misunderstood and abused as he stood
faithful amid an unfaithful generation. He
cries in frustration to God because of the
pain. He suffers for bringing God’s word to
the people and he becomes angry with God for
this. Why doesn’t God protect Him?! Why
should the messenger suffer on account of the
message?
It isn’t fair! The cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ wasn’t fair! It was completely
unfair! It was an innocent man suffering the
penalty for a planet of criminals!
As with the Lord, the best that our planet
has had to offer has been ridiculed and
harmed throughout history. Cain kills Abel!
Angels are endangered in Sodom. Joseph is
thrown into jail on false charges. Elijah
despairs so deeply over the unfaithfulness of
Israel that he wants to die.
Paul sums up the unfair lot of the faithful
very well when he was inspired to write in
Hebrews:
37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two;
they were put to death by the sword. They
went about in sheepskins and goatskins,
destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38
the world was not worthy of them. They
wandered in deserts and mountains, and in
caves and holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11
NIV)
No--life isn’t fair toward the godly, and yet
it is through the godly, as they carried
their crosses, that the world has been
changed for the better.
There’s something gripping about that person
who stands in the tempest of worldly ways and
will not let go of God’s truth! There is a
winning power in that individual who shows
godly, sacrificial love in a world where most
people are only looking out for #1!
At this point (I want to warn you in
advance), the message is going to sound a bit
hard... a bit tough on Christians living in
America today. Yet my friends, a true word,
though bitter, is better than all the sweet
falsities of human history!
The truth is that many Christians today are
not committed to Jesus Christ. They place
everything before the worship and service of
God. They are like the "rice Christians" in
China before the communists took over.
The "rice Christians" were converts to
missionary work who became Christians not for
spiritual reasons, but because of the
material benefits that came their way.
One million protestant conversions had taken
place before the communist take over in
China, but these were mostly "rise
Christians" --Christians for personal gain.
In America today (if we simply look at the
ratios of those who claim to be Christian
over against those who are active within a
church body) we will conclude that most
American Christians are "rice Christians"
They seldom worship... they will not
sacrifice personal wants to give
substantively to the financial needs of the
church... and these "rice Christians" avoid
serving in the church.
They want the business connections... they
want a place for family baptisms, marriages
and burials... but the bottom line is that
they want to be served, and not to serve...
They want the sacrifices... but not to
sacrifice. And we see this within our own
parish family....
After the Communist take over in China great
persecution came upon the church. During
what the communists called the "Great Leap
Forward," regular church services were
outlawed. Informal, secret cottage meetings
become the norm, and pastors and Christian
leaders were beaten, killed, and imprisoned.
Yet during the persecution, as genuine
Christians in China carried great crosses,
the genuineness of their faith and love
became infectious and the church of dedicated
saints began to grow.
Christians visited those who had lost loved
ones, prayed for the sick, and even sought
God for miraculous healings. In one case, a
small Christian group cared for a communist
teacher who had become sick. So genuine was
their compassion that by the power of the
Holy Spirit the teacher became a Christian.
The teacher returned to school and was
ridiculed. She was required to go before a
public meeting. Here she protested their
hostility. "When I was ill," she pointed
out, "you did nothing to help me. It was the
Christians who did everything!"
The fact of Christians active in sacrifice
and service shamed the teacher’s critics into
silence. In this way, under the shadow of
the cross, Christianity continues to
experience phenomenal growth in China.
The true Church grows in thorns of pain.
Remember the parable that Jesus told about
the man who planted a field and then went to
rest. While the farmer was asleep an enemy
came along and planted weeds in the field.
The weds didn’t just happen... it was a
determined action... someone intended to do
harm.
And the meaning is clear. Our Lord Jesus is
telling us that Satan intentionally brings
harm into the field of human history, and
especially the Saints are going to suffer.
We don’t like it! How could creatures
created for a perfect life in paradise feel
at home in a world so corrupted and evil!
How could the Son of God willingly leave
Heaven to come into our fallen world? How
could He who knew no pain endure the pain for
us?
St. Paul tells us in Hebrews 12 that the Lord
endured the cross because of the joy that was
set before Him. The joy of not only
returning to paradise, but the joy of
redeeming others and bringing them to
paradise too!
So too, may our whole life be lived willingly
under the shadow of the cross for the sake of
this same joy. May we deny ourselves and
follow Christ knowing that we are going
forward into the perfection of heaven, and
that we have the privilege of witnessing so
others will also be brought into heaven’s
gates and glory.
And as we endure the suffering and abuse that
comes to us from the evil that Satan has
planted into the world, may we also remember
that all things work to the good of those who
love the world. Even the evil that we suffer
veils a hidden good.
An ancient Hebrew story is told of a rabbi
who was forced by persecution to leave his
homeland. His only earthly possessions,
other than the clothing he wore and a copy of
the Scriptures, were a lamp by which he
studied and a donkey upon which he rode.
Late one evening, after a long day’s journey,
he came upon a small village where he sought
shelter for the night. The villagers,
however, turned him away. The only shelter
this weary rabbi was able to find was next to
a wall which surrounded a well on the
outskirts of the village.
Trying to make the best of the situation, he
lit his lamp and began to read for the
Scriptures. Soon a violent wind arose and
repeatedly blew out the lamp-- it seems
unfair that God would not at least protect
the lamp so that the simple rabbi could read
the Scriptures.
Well, unable to read in the darkness, the
rabbi reclined against the wall and tried to
go to sleep. His rest was soon disturbed,
however, by the nearby roar of a lion. He
looked over the wall just in time to see the
lion dragging his slaughtered donkey into the
underbrush.
The rabbi was overwhelmed with distress,
grief, and a sense of self-pity. He tried
praying to God, but his prayers were hindered
by the many complaints and embittered
feelings which kept going through his mind...
sound like each of us, sometimes? Finally,
exhausted, the rabbi fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning when he awoke, he left the
shelter of his wall only to discover a
shocking sight. On the streets of the
village lay the mutilated bodies of the
villagers--slain by a vicious band of
marauders who had descended from the hills
during the night.
It was only then that the rabbi began to
understand. If the villagers had received
him, he also would have been killed. If the
wind had not repeatedly blown out his lamp,
the attacker would have noticed the light and
discovered him. If the lion had not killed
and dragged away his donkey, its presence
might have given him away. He had learned a
valuable lesson: Sometimes great gain comes
from great loss!
My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
may the Holy Spirit inspire us, and empower
us, so that we are willing to take up our
crosses and follow Christ. Whatever
sacrifices we make in time, money, or other
resources, much more will come of it in
blessings if we trust and obey.
Today let us rededicate ourselves to
gathering together often within worship here
at St. Peter’s. May we reconsider what we
are willing to give up so that we might give
more to the kingdom’s work.
And may we all, for the joy set before us,
work toward that day in which we will be in
heaven, and having walked with Christ along
the way of the cross, we will have joined
hands with those who were lost and brought
them with us into Paradise. Amen.
