Permanence

I was listening to a YouTube video of Michael W. Smith’s version of Everywhere I Go I See You. I love that song. Somewhere in this midst of this lyric video that someone cobbled together there was a photo of three crosses. I’m not sure why it struck me, after all I’ve seen that type of photo a million times, but, for some reason, it did. It wasn’t unusual, the middle one, the one Jesus would have been on, was slightly higher than the rest. I wonder was it really that way. I mean we Christians perceive it should be higher than the rest, but did a bunch of pagan Roman executioners get the significance of what they were seeing? I doubt it. Yes I know later in the day a centurion did, but the executioners? I still kind of doubt it.

The second thing I noticed was that the center cross is ever so slightly askew. That struck me as somewhat odd. Needless to say, the one in the photo is a modern construction and not the original, and yet there was something striking in the “askew-ness.” The cross was not built for permanence. When Jesus was taken down, someone else was probably put up. The cross didn’t have to be perfect, it didn’t have to be permanent, it just had to kill. On that day, most people didn’t get the significance and they surely didn’t see the permanence, but on that day everything changed. Jesus changed the narrative. A cruel instrument of death, became a symbol of life and peace and for those who place their faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross, everything changed forever. A temporary structure, was used to create a new permanence. Life forever for all who believe.

Embrace the permanence of life in Christ.

True Love, the Cross and You

How will you express the love of Jesus and His sacrifice, His life death and resurrection to our world in this season? This is one of my favorites. It’s a six foot wooden cross that is covered with stories from the newspapers and magazines about sin and it’s effects. It’s a deliberately uncomfortable image for many. Some may even think I am desecrating the cross. To think that is to miss the point. The cross itself was desecration. Jesus bore every every act of evil and every sin to a hideous instrument of gruesome death. The reason we revere the cross is because Jesus changed the narrative, making an instrument of death into a symbol of life and love and grace. Our sins are what put Him on the cross. The cross as I have created it symbolizes 2 Corinthians 5:21 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I position the cross on the platform and as a narration of John 19 plays, I do to the cross what was done to Jesus. I “flog” is with red paint representing the beating He took. I place a crown of thorns on it, put a purple robe on it, and finally I throw the robe down and drive nails into it. Then I nail a sign to it, “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.” The very last thing is to add some thin purple paint in response to Jesus saying “I thirst,” the final prophecy fulfilled in Jesus’ earthly life. By now the piece is pretty messy. The final words of the narration are “It is finished,” Jesus’ last words before the tomb.

I then begin speaking. You see Jesus Christ did not speak English, as a matter of fact there was no English. So in effect He did not say. “It is finished,” but the Aramaic equivalent, a single word, “tetellestai.” It did in fact mean, “It is finished,” but it has a secondary meaning. I paint this meaning across the crossbar. You see, it also means “Paid In Full.” That is precisely what Jesus did—He paid your sin debt and mine in full. He did what only He could do, and because He did, when we trust Him as Lord and Savior, our debt is paid and we are set free. Eternal life begins, not at the gate of heaven, but in the moment when we come to Him. From that point on, we can live with Him in this world and in the life to come.

Have you trusted in Him? If so, share Him. Tell people about Him and His love. If you have not, why not today? Ask Him to forgive you and ask Him to come into your heart and into your life. He is good. One final thought. The cross is hideous and awful. Why did Jesus do it? Because you and I were in danger of being lost forever, but out of perfect love, He did it for you. Jesus loves you!

Sermon of the Week: 3/15/2020 Restoration

Well the Corona virus scare necessitated the closing of church for the week, but that’s not going to stop God’s Word.

Scripture Reading: John 19:16-30

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” ²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. ²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”^[a] So this is what the soldiers did. ²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,^[b]here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. ²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished,and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (NIV) Sermon: Pastor Dave Weiss

The Challenge The fact of the matter is in spite of all that is going on around us. God is really good, all the time. He is constantly at work in our world restoring us to Himself. He loves you completely and utterly. If you have never asked Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior, all you need to do is pray and ask Him, and place your faith and trust in Him. If you need help to do this, please contact Pastor Dave. God is good and He will come through.

The Wondrous Cross

In my presentation, Forgiven, part of the presentation is done on a most unusual cross. I keep the cross covered until it is ready to be presented. Still everyone can tell by it’s shape what it is. It’s not a plain wooden cross, nor is it a shiny golden cross. No, I call it The Cross of Sin. It’s a cross covered with stories of sin clipped from the headlines. Where I try to make most of my work beautiful, this piece is hideous. When I finish a presentation, I just add stories until it is covered again. I intend to continue using this cross until it is no longer usable. It’s got many layers of stories on it by now and it’s two sided so I can use it twice before having to recover it.

Some might be offended by this. How could I place images of sin on an image so closely related to Jesus. Well the short answer is, I didn’t, Jesus did! Oh of course I did the actual cutting and gluing, but it was Jesus that took all the sin of the world to the cross. Every one of those people committing every one of those sins and atrocities, was someone Jesus died to save. He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. In the presentation, I tell the story of the cross, while doing to my cross all the things that were done to Jesus. By the time I am done, it is a “bloody” nail pierced mess. It is a graphic depiction of what was done to our Lord as He paid the price for you and me. A price we could not pay.

I finish the presentation with Jesus final words on the cross, “It is finished.” It might shock you to know, Jesus did not speak English. He spoke a language called Aramaic and so the word we translate to “It is finished.” is the word “Tetellestai.” It does mean “It is finished.” but it has a secondary meaning. It was a word often used in the ancient market place when a transaction had been completed. The secondary meaning of Tetellestai is “Paid in Full.” That is precisely what Jesus did on the cross and when we place our faith in Him, our debt of sin is paid in full.

What a wondrous thing it is. So many people walk through this word believing that they have little or no value. It’s part of the reason our news is full of stories of sin and desperation. If only we understood the cross and the high price Jesus paid for us there. You and I were worth so much to God that He gave His only Son to set us free. That is an extremely high value and as such we should know we are highly valuable to God, the One who matters most. You are valuable, blessed and highly favored.

Believe it!

Ended Up In the ER Last Night

Not to worry, it was a false alarm. I was driving home from a great morning of ministry in some pretty nasty weather, surrounded by a disproportionate number of people who I’m pretty sure got their drivers licenses as the toy surprise in a box of Cracker Jacks, but I digress. The muscles in my ribs and back went into severe spasm (more paint than I have had in years). Having had a mild heart attack in the past, quite frankly, all this pain in my chest region, provoked me to some anxiety and I decided it was best to get checked out. The upside of all this is, I am doing well, praise God.

Of course, hospitals do not take this stuff lightly, so I was in the ER for a couple hours while they made sure everything was working as it should. The hospital I went to was a Catholic Hospital, so on the wall directly in my line of site was crucifix, Christ on the Cross. Now I know, there are people who struggle with this. I once had people demand they remove a painting I did of Christ on the cross from a church wall because, they pointed out, Christ is no longer on the cross and the tomb is empty. I get that, but here’s the thing. When you’re in pain, there is something very healing about seeing the act that opened heaven to all who would believe. There is a certain degree of perspective to be found in seeing Jesus on the cross. I know He’s not on the cross anymore, but I am pretty grateful that He was…

Sometimes I wonder if the image of the empty cross is too sanitized. Maybe we need to remember the price that was paid. so we don’t take our sin too lightly. Maybe we need to remember we don’t suffer alone. Maybe we need to remember He knows our pain.

Thank you for the Cross, Jesus. And thank you for being with me, even when the pain and the doubts come.

The Ultimate Picture of Jesus

It looks nothing like him, and yet it really tells us all we need to know. It’s something we wear around our necks. Sometimes I think that means we get it and sometimes I think it means we thoroughly miss the point. We’ve made it something beautiful, yet in reality it was something hideous and horrible that only Jesus could make beautiful. It’s the cross. A device of death and torture that Jesus turned into a symbol of life and hope. It’s the picture of His mission and the picture of God’s love and our value to God. It shows us that we were worth so much to God that He was willing to sacrifice His perfect Son for us in our sorry, broken, sinful state. It’s an instrument of death and the gateway to life.

That one picture says so much. How can we take it’s message to the world?