The Crux of the Matter
Deeper Still • Sermon • Submitted
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Foolishness of the Cross
We just began the season of Lent. The whole purpose of Lent is to focus on Jesus (which we should always be doing), but in particular, Jesus’ suffering, his sacrificial death on the cross - and the culmination of his work for us, rising to new life, ascending into heaven.
This is the very center of the Christian faith, these works of Jesus are the way in which God is reconciling the world to himself, through Jesus. So we want to take time to reflect on what it means, what it offers us, understand it more fully and to root our lives more fully in the cross.
It’s also what distinguishes us from the world. Cross has always provoked world - because what Jesus did for us makes no sense. And this has been true from the very beginning, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25...
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Paul talks about how both the Jews and Greeks didn’t get the message of cross, it made no sense to them - it was, in his words, foolishness.
It was foolishness to Jews because they wanted signs, miracles. They wanted to see God act in power.
They were an oppressed people, under the heel of the Romans. They wanted God to raise up King, the promised Messiah, who would - in God’s power, take it to the Romans, give them their just deserts and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel as a great nation.
A King, crowned with thorns, being executed by the Romans as a common criminal, was not what they were hoping for. That was weakness, utter foolishness as far as they were concerned.
Greeks, on the other hand, looked for wisdom. They wanted deep and profound teaching, some great philosophy that would explain life’s great mysteries.
They didn’t see much wisdom in a itinerant Jewish peasant who had no formal credentials, much less one that got himself killed on a cross. Where’s the wisdom in that? Seems incredibly foolish.
Paul’s point is that there has always been resistance to the message of the cross. The idea of the God of all creation, enduring humiliation and suffering - death by crucifixion was considered a shameful way to put to death, has long been something we’ve balked at - we want bigger, stronger, smarter, faster, more powerful, richer.
Even Jesus’ disciples couldn’t even fathom it. Every time Jesus tried to explain what was going to happen to him (and he did it often) they rejected it. Bible tells us that the “disciples did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.”
It was so foreign to their way of thinking, so unfathomable, so foolish - they didn’t get it.
The first time Jesus told them, Peter rebuked Jesus - no way, not on my watch!
Jesus then rebuked Peter by telling him that he’s thinking too much like man, not like God. Because for God, this is the way. The way to life. The way of Jesus is the Via Crucis, the way of the cross.
I share that all because it’s no different for us today. Like the Jews, like the Greeks, we want to find another way. But when we talk about this idea of moving out of shallow Christianity to deeper discipleship, one of the things that’s absolutely essential is that we get to the very crux of the matter, which is to embrace the cross.
As Peter Scazzero puts it, we must move away from following the Americanized Jesus to following the true Jesus, the crucified one.
Like all cultures, there are aspects of the cross that seem utter foolishness to us. We may love and be genuinely grateful for Jesus’ willingness to die on the cross for our sins, his embracing of the cross.
But we shrink back from idea that we follow him into this - that we’re to embrace the cross in our own lives.
Helpful to think about what Scazzero means by the Americanized Jesus - what have we made following Jesus to be more palatable, more to our liking?
In American mindset, what is it that we value most? What are the things we focus on? How do we define greatness or success? How do we deal with the difficult aspects of life, pain and suffering?
Central to American mindset is personal happiness. We want to live life in our own way, under own terms, so it suits us.
If you haven’t noticed - gas prices have shot up. Much of that is direct result of war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions the world is imposing on Russia. Internally, I’m already griping about it. Compared to what the Ukrainian people are suffering right now, it’s a small sacrifice. But pain and suffering don’t fit in well with American mindset.
We think that more and more is going to make us happier. Consider the homes we live in - since 1950’s, homes have more than doubled in size, with half as many people living in them. And it’s still not enough space - how many storage units exist for us to store more stuff!
Why we have more of a consumer church culture here - we “shop” for churches (interesting that we use that language - customer is always correct). Look for churches that meet my needs. What I like.
It’s no surprise that the prosperity gospel got started here in the United States - health and wealth, baby! If you confess it, you possess it. That is not the way of the cross.
These are signs we are more influenced by our American culture then by the way of the crucified Christ.
We could go on to talk about the way as a culture we think about success, our love affair with fame & popularity, our focus on appearance. All these things have influenced our following Jesus.
But if we’re going to move toward deeper discipleship, to be disciples as Scazzero has so wonderful put it: An emotionally healthy disciple slows down to be with Jesus, goes beneath the surface of their life to be deeply transformed by Jesus, and offers their life as a gift to the world for Jesus, then we need to follow the crucified Jesus. We need to embrace the cross, in all its fullness and the implications for our life.
That’s our main point this morning - embrace the cross. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 2:2 - For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
I want nothing more than to know Jesus and him crucified. I want to embrace the cross - that’s what Paul is saying here.
Way of the Cross
Jesus Christ and him crucified
To get an idea of how foolish the message of the cross is, it’s an interesting exercise to think about how story of Jesus would be different if it happened in kind of great American tradition, not how God actually did it.
I think Jesus would still have come from very humble beginnings, we love a true rags-to-riches story, underdog who overcomes all odds.
In this version of gospel, Jesus certainly would have had setbacks and challenges to overcome. But he would have continued to win the crowds over bit by bit. They would have been cheering for him in the end when through his sheer ingenuity and the force of his will, he defeated the religious leaders, beating them at their own game, making them look very foolish. Then he would have mustered the Israelites together to win a seemingly unwinnable war against the Roman oppressors. It would make for an epic movie.
This would have been a very tough and gritty - and of course, handsome, Jesus, with a bit of soft side to him. Motley crew of disciples right alongside with him. Love interest, for sure - we’re all about romantic love. Single and content Jesus wouldn’t have cut it.
But that’s not Jesus we encounter in the Gospels - if you look at life of Jesus closely, it’s clear that the way of the cross didn’t come for Jesus right at the very end of his life, his life had always been informed by embracing the cross:
His willingness to speak truth, even when it offended others - and cost him. In John 6, we see Jesus teaching to a crowd of folks. Jesus talks about how he is Bread of Life, and in order to gain eternal life, you must eat his flesh, drink his blood. Crowd starts grumbling. People start walking away. It’s not just random folks listening, it’s people who’d been following him. “From this time forward many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
That does not seem like a recipe for success if you’re trying to build a movement. But Jesus was not concerned with likes, with popularity. He lived to please the Father, even when it cost him.
Crowds clamoring for more miracles, more signs - especially the religious leaders (give us a sign!). They would have given him the seal of approval of the most respected people in Jewish community. It would have vaulted him in status throughout Israel. He didn’t - he wasn’t concerned with that - success for him, as it means for us (Scazzero) - “becoming the person God calls you to become, and doing what God calls you to do - in his way, and according to his timetable.”
How often Jesus would anger others because of his love and support for those deemed unacceptable
The sinful woman in Luke 7, who expressed her deep gratitude to Jesus by washing his feet with her tears, wiping them dry with her hair. Those gathered couldn’t believe he would let her touch him - she was a prostitute and he’s a rabbi, teacher. Jesus defends her actions before his dinner host, Simon.
Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, reviled by the citizens of Jericho (so much so that he hid in a tree in his attempt just to see Jesus). Jesus stops and tells him, I must stay at your house today. (You get the honor of hosting me at your house).
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
This man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”
Over and over, Jesus was willing to do the unpopular thing. Love the least. To let disciples walk away.
Jesus embraced cross living his entire life. It’s no surprise, then, that at the end, Jesus willingly took the cup his Father gave him, laying down his life at cross. That he refused to save himself from the cross.
He had plenty of opportunity - knew about betrayal, knew arrest was coming (in fact, when he was arrested, he told his followers who’d pulled out his sword that he could have called on Father to send 12 legions of angels - but he didn’t).
He knew they had nothing on him at the trial, if he’d given any kind of defense to Pilate (who knew he was innocent), he would have been set free.
This is what it looks like to embrace the cross. Jesus gave himself entirely to the will of the Father. What might that look like for us, as opposed to the temptation of following the Americanized Jesus?
I want you to hear what Paul continues to write in 1 Corinthians 1, because it helps explain the way of the cross...
1 Corinthians 1:26-29...Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
Do you see what God chooses? God chooses foolish things, weak things, lowly things, despised things, things that are not.
Why does he choose them? To shame and nullify. Shame the wise. Shame the strong. Nullify the things that are, high and mighty and loved things of the world…so that no one may boast before him.
Everything about embracing the cross is God’s work in us to humble us. We are puffed up with self will. God is working in us a willing surrender of our will to him. That’s why suffering and failure can often be the things God uses most powerfully in our lives - when he moves us from willful to willing. Because those are times we are most broken, humbled, open. What might embracing the cross look like for you and I?
Embracing the cross might mean that instead of always looking like you have it together, you let people see cracks and messiness and failures in your life.
Embracing the cross might mean letting go of need to be well thought of.
It might mean no longer shouldering all the responsibility - I have to get it done, I have to make it happen. Success depends upon me.
It might mean no longer avoiding uncomfortable situations or avoiding conflict because someone might be upset with you. It might mean no longer seeking security at all costs.
It might mean a willingness to do the hard work of addressing the wound in your life that you thought you’d buried a long time ago.
This is what it means to follow the crucified Jesus, to embrace the cross.
Spiritual Disciplines - Embracing the cross as constant move from willful to being willing, surrender of self-will
Practice of detachment - not clinging or holding to anything we possess for the sake of Christ - we relinquish all possessiveness and self-will.
Our possessions (deaccumulation), our plans and goals for our lives, the outcomes we want to see happen (we don’t try to manipulate or force things to happen).
Listen to Jesus.
Essence of being a follower of Jesus - listen in order to follow. Hear Jesus above the voices of our culture
I want to remind you that the Gospel does not end with Jesus dead in a tomb. We do not just follow the crucified Jesus, we follow the risen Jesus as well! So important to remember because everything we willingly give up for the sake of Jesus, he restores in far greater ways than we could ever imagine.
Everything about the Kingdom of God is upside-down from the way we think about it (why we resist it so much).
First shall be last and the last shall be first.
Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
I hope you’re getting the point. I’m guessing you’ve heard the phrase, the crux of the matter. The heart, the central part of the matter.
From the early 1700’s the word crux meant puzzle or conundrum. Which is pretty fascinating, because crux is the Latin word for cross, crucifixion is to be killed by means of cross.
Crux, or cross, is a puzzle, a conundrum. Stumbling block to Jews. Foolishness to Greeks. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Life, genuine, full abundant life comes through embracing the cross - that is the crux of the matter.