MAKING THE CROSS CENTRAL TO YOUR LIFE AND CHURCH

Imagine a stranger visiting your church some Sunday. The visitor knows next to nothing about Christianity, but is interested and wants to learn. As he drives up to your building, he notices the cross on the outside. As he enters the building, he sees crosses as part of the design on the main entry doors. Moving into the worship auditorium, he notices a cross prominently displayed at the front, one in the design of the pulpit and in the design of the table in the front. He sits down next to a couple and notices that the man has a cross pin on his label and the woman has a cross on her necklace. The opening song refers to the cross. When the part of the service where you have communion begins, the minister refers to communion being a remembrance of the death of Jesus on the cross, and the congregation sings “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

Such a visitor might go away impressed but puzzled by the frequent mention of the cross. It is notable how often the cross is referred to, but it also raises questions: Do Christians really give up everything for the cross? Can Christianity be accurately summed up as a faith of the cross?

The cross is difficult to grasp. We know it is central to Christianity, but even we sometimes are not aware of how often we mention the cross. We become accustomed to our references to it. Further, we must ask ourselves how we are to put the cross at the center of our lives and of our churches. The questions are appropriate as we near our annual focus on the death of Jesus on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter.

This is the issue that comes forward in the Gospel Matthew the first time Jesus introduces the idea of the cross to his disciples. Matthew 16 is a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. The chapter contains Peter’s confession of faith, immediately after which Matthew writes, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” From that time on, Jesus makes teaching about and preparing for his death and resurrection central to his ministry.

When he introduces the topic in Matthew 16, we find that we have a choice to make regarding the centrality of the cross in our lives and in the church.

(1) We can stand in the way of the cross. The disciples could not understand the idea of the cross when Jesus introduced it, because they believed him to be a king who would deliver them from Rome. A king could die, but had to be protected, but Jesus explains to them that he must die. Peter, just after his confession of faith, says to Jesus, “Never, Lord. This shall never happen to you.” Peter responded to the first mention of the cross by standing in the way.

Have you ever stood in the way of the cross? Does your church stand in the way of the cross? Are we too often comfortable taking the easy path in following Christ? Do we do things our way instead of God’s way? Does Jesus need to say to us as he did to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan”?

(2) We can take up the cross. Jesus puts a hard teaching in front of us: If you are going to follow Jesus, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him wherever he leads. We are in the middle of the practice of Lent. Perhaps some of you have given up something for Lent. Such a practice reminds us that we are to give up ourselves to follow Christ, but we must be careful to remember that living by the cross is an ongoing commitment, not just a seasonal one. Indeed we must take up the cross, as Jesus told his disciples, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

Are you practicing that kind of commitment in your life? Are you asking people in your church to practice that kind of commitment? As we go through this Good Friday and Easter, make the cross not just about words, but make the cross central to your life and the life of your church.