Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2006-01-01 / 1. szám

4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ The Cross Luke 23:32-49 1 Corinthians 18:31 The preaching of the Cross is simple in its facts, humili­ating in its doctrines, and startling in its announcements. The re­sult of preaching the Cross is foolishness to them that perish; but it is the power of God unto them that are saved. It is clear, there­fore, that there is an eloquence which would deprive the Gospel of its due effect. This “wisdom of words” veils the truth which ought to be set forth in the clearest possible manner. It also explains the Gospel away. But it is possible to refine a doctrine till the very soul of it is gone. Under pre­tence of winning the cultured intellects of the age, it has gradually landed us in a denial of those first principles for which the martyrs died. Some people call the Cross, the doctrine of the atonement “foolishness.” Because, they say, see how the common people take it up. Because this doc­trine of the Cross is not the offspring of reason, but the gift of revelation. All the thinkers of the ages contin­ued to think, but they never invented a plan of salva­tion. If we are able to show how to make unlimited profit, all the world would listen; but when the sermon is only about the Word of God, and eternity, and the soul, and the blood of Jesus - most people turn on their heel. They call the Gospel foolishness because they look after themselves, and care more for the body than for the soul. Because they regard all the truths with which it deals as insignificant trifles. The word of the Cross should be allowed to speak for itself. It cries, let us hear this word of the Cross, for in effect the text says: “let the Cross speak for itself.” Men and women are totally changed, and the whole man­ner of their life is altered. The Word of the Cross has delivered us from the love of sin. No sin is now our master. We fall into sin, but we mourn over it, and hate the sin, and hate ourselves for committing it. The Word of the Cross delivers from the dread which once held us in bondage, and made us tremble before our Father and our Friend. But now we love Him and delight in Him. The Word of the Cross delivers us from the power of Satan, from self, from the world and from all things that would enthrall us. We are saved. We feel that heaven is bom within us - bom by the Word of the Cross through the Spirit. Some Christianity is not unlike those people who try to take the main element, the big kick, out of whatever they use. They drink Diet Coke, which is Coke without coffein or sugar. Some people use saccharine which is sweetness without the sugar. They smoke some special cigarette, which are cigarettes without the tobacco. In each case, the main element has been taken out, leaving the pleasant illusion that you are still getting caffeine, sugar and nicotine. Without pressing the analogy too closely, some Christianity is like that. It is Christianity without the Cross on Calvary, and the result is just as anemic. The Cross is the focal point of the Cristian faith. Calvary is at once the deepest shadow and the brightest light. The first and most obvious fact is that an innocent man was killed. Jesus had done nothing to deserve death. The Cross then stands for a mystery - the mystery of suffering and of evil. The first word that Calvary brings to your lips is why. Why do the good suffer ? Why does evil exist ? The Cross doesn’t answer the problems; it doesn’t erase the question mark. In a profound sense the question are insoluble. Even as good a man as Paul said, “But the evil which I would not that do.” (Romans 7:19) But the next thing that happened on Calvary was that a loving God was revealed. The centurion who stood by the Cross as Jesus died put it plainly: “Truly this man was the son of God.” (Mark 15:39) The Cross not only raised a mystery but it shed a light. Men have always wondered what God was like. On Calvary, they learned that he was a God who loved the world so much that he was willing, if necessary, to sacrifice his son. That takes a lot of loving and a lot of caring, as any parent can testify. The loving God knew that his pur­poses in the world could only be accomplished by blood, sweat, and tears. That’s why it is not the lighter and pleasanter part of the Gos­pel that have won people, but the drawing power of the Cross. Still another thing that happened on Calvary was that the Cross became the symbol of the victory of the unseen and eternal over the seen and the temporal. The Cross became the symbol for the things that earth cannot destroy. It seemed as if the Cross was the end of Jesus’s life, but today we know that it was only the beginning. The things about his life that were eternal had no dealings with the Cross. What about your own life is eternal ? Certainly not your physical body. It wears out. Nor your possessions. You can’t take them with you. It is your spirit, your soul, the radiance which you may have shed abroad, the good you may have done, the helpful influence you may have had on others, the development of your mind, the ongoing institutions into which you have poured your heart and your money, the love of God which has become a part of your nature. The things you can take with you into the next life are the things which are eternal. God planted a Cross on Calvary’s hill to remind you of the infinite mystery of suffering and evil, to suggest to you the infinite love of God counting no sacrifice too great, and to be a lasting symbol for the things that are eternal as against the things that are temporal. This is the power of the Cross. Believe in the power of the Cross for the conversion of those around you. Do not say of any man that he cannot be saved. The blood of Jesus is omnipo­tent and we shold plead with the lost to trust the shed blood of Jesus for the saving of their souls. The geographical heart of London is Charing Cross. All distances are measured from it. This spot is referred to simply as “the cross”. A lost child was one day picked up by a London “bobby”. The child was unable to tell where he lived. Finally, in response to the repeated questions of the bobby, and amid his sobs and tears, the little fellow said, “if you will take me to the cross I think I can find my way home from there”. The Cross is the point wher men become reconciled to God. If we find our way to God and home we must first come to the Cross. Preaching the Cross gives God glory. We have to ask God to teach us and to lift up our eyes to that green hill far away without a city wall, and in its shadows to discover the devine light in which he will be with us in the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. S.Sz. He bore the sin of many made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53-'12

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