St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Lent 3 -- March 19^th, 2006

Dear children who are called and saved by God’s grace alone. Amen

There is a church in Connecticut that contains an unusual cross. "Pretty" is not a word that one would use to describe the cross. It is 10 feet tall, made of raw, untreated wood. But it’s not that the cross itself that is unique. It’s the positioning of the cross that is truly unusual. It’s not behind the altar, but bolted down into the concrete floor, right in the middle of the aisle, between the pews and the altar. It’s actually an obstruction. The pastor’s words have to pass through it. And the congregation always has to look through it.

Perhaps we would do well to have such a cross here too. It could help remind us of the importance of the cross. Surrounded by a world that knows little of the true meaning of the cross, we can easily fall into the trap of a religion that ignores or downplays the cross. We can easily forget that in the middle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands a cross—an instrument of execution—on which our Savior lived out His undying love for us by dying on it.

That’s why St. Paul’s words are so important for us to remember today: Today I want you to think about the importance of the cross as we consider this question:

In the verses prior to our text, Paul argued that while preaching is important, a preacher’s reliance on his skill as a speaker can rob the cross of Christ of its power. You see, it’s not the ability of the preacher that gives power to the Gospel. It is the Gospel that gives power to the preacher’s words. It is the substance of the preaching that brings saving faith—Christ crucified.

But the preaching of Christ crucified is not easy for the world to accept. No matter how well you dress up the word of the cross, the world will always find it rather hard to accept The world marches to a different drummer. Its enthusiasm is always for whatever seems attractive and successful. Our world, which doesn’t like absolute truth and loves "diversity," finds the cross too harsh and narrow-minded.

St. Paul divided the non-believing world of his day into two groups—Jews and Gentiles. The Jews constantly demanded that Jesus give them a powerful sign from heaven to prove His messianic claims. When challenged to prove His authority in today’s Gospel, Jesus pointed to His death and resurrection as the only sign they would receive. "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again." The cross and His open tomb would be the sure sign that His Word is true.

The Greeks, for their part, looked for wisdom. They were zealous for every kind of learning. Paul could speak from firsthand experience about this, having encountered the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens.

But in direct opposition to these Jews and Greeks, who continued their quest for divine power and wisdom, Paul proclaimed with joyful certainty the gift that had already been given to them: "We preach Christ crucified."

The expression "Christ crucified" seems to non-believers to be an oxymoron. The title "Christ," "the Anointed One," denotes a person of royal dignity. To describe Him as "crucified," denotes the very opposite—an executed criminal, stripped of any claim to human dignity and status.

To Jews, a crucified Christ was a stumbling block, an obstacle to coming to faith. While there was a great diversity of opinion about what the Messiah would be like, those expectations consistently were for a powerful figure. Moreover, anyone who had been crucified was considered cursed by God. For Jews, the cross was the most shameful death imaginable.

The Greeks trusted in wisdom. It seemed foolish to them that God would come to earth as a man, let alone, that He would allow Himself to die by any means. And the power-hungry Romans, found the notion of a crucified Messiah impossible to accept. The Roman statesman, Cicero said: "May the very name of the cross be absent not only from the body of Roman citizens but also from their thinking, their eyes, and ears." Another philosopher of the day spoke of the foolish Christians who "worship a dead man."

But in verse 24, Paul’s sad description of the Gospel’s rejection gives way to a note of joy. By God’s grace, a third group of people has been formed, called from among both Jews and Gentiles. For them, Christ and His cross was neither an offense nor foolishness, but God’s power and God’s wisdom.

Paul is saying: "If you are a Jew looking for signs as a display of God’s power, you will find that power displayed in Christ crucified. If you are a Greek on a quest for wisdom, you will find God’s wisdom perfectly revealed in the cross. If you are a Roman looking for power, you will find no greater power than the power of forgiveness and eternal life made possible in the cross of Jesus Christ.

By the cross, God outsmarted and overpowered all human wisdom and power. He did not need to consult human beings for their input. God doesn’t operate on the basis of public opinion polls. He has a better way. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Unfortunately, the message of the cross seems no more reasonable to the world today than it did in Paul’s time. And it is no less a scandal, either. Many say, "Who can really believe that everyone’s eternal destiny depends entirely and exclusively on a personal relationship with a Jewish man who was shamefully executed under Roman law almost two thousand years ago?" To be sure, the world has little room for a suffering Savior, a crucified Christ. Sinful human nature looks instead for a theology of glory.

But those, who look elsewhere, miss the true Gospel that alone can save men from their sins. They miss the true comfort and peace that God, in His grace, wishes to give to everyone. For the grace of God can only be found in the things—like Word and Sacrament—that appear weak and foolish to the world. That is why we preach Christ crucified.

How might this message of the cross be used in our lives? Think of the worst moment in your life – maybe a death in the family, or something tragic or unexpected. Where would you be able to turn if your heart is full of the foolishness of the cross? Exactly, you and I can turn to the one that that will bring comfort to hurting hearts. WE can talk to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the faith and let them know what the cross means for them at this very difficult time in their lives. We can set that cross right up in front of them so that everything in their lives and our lives has to go through the cross.

The cross still stands to today. It is a reminder of the blackest, most unjust and tragic death of all history, that of the innocent Son of God. It is also the reminder of humanity’s finest hour, for on that cross the sins and guilt and curse of all the world, of each person no matter how great their transgression, was expunged. On the cross, death and hell were conquered. In Christ, God opened His loving arms and embraced the whole world. In the shadow of the cross, we can proclaim boldly and loudly that Christ died for the sins of the world and on Easter Sunday rose from the grave. We can trust the Good News that all who put their hope in Christ will also rise to everlasting glory. He can remind people that in our baptism God had made an everlasting covenant of peace with him and would never let him go—not ever.

As we hear this message our hearts are soothed with the words of the Gospel, the cross is a great comfort to those who are struggling. There is no other hope and no other message in the entire world that can help in such a time.

But unfortunately, the Gospel was not always preached with such clarity. As we look around this world we see even Christian pastors who are forgetting this one central message. We see too many preaching about an unknown, supreme being, who is without true name, true form, or any sure word upon which we can rely in the hour of our deepest need! People will say that you know him as Allah or Yahweh or Jesus or Buddha!

We need to be faithful strong as we take this worldly foolish message into the world. We need to be able to say to people, that there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12); that further, there is only one God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and all others are imposters; that there is no other word which can heal these poor people than the words of Christ our Lord. I reminded them of John 6:68, the words of Peter. ‘Lord, to whom shall we go, for You have the words of eternal life.’ We need to make it clear that while the flowery orations of the world may soothe one’s psyche for a few minutes, only the Word of God as found in Scripture can heal their souls and restore true peace to hurting hearts.

The inescapable message to us all is that "the Word works." We can preach the Word clearly and let it work in the lives of those affected by the tragedies of this world. There needs to be no gimmicks, no changing of the Truth, just a straight pronouncement of the Word. And that Word gave hope to the hopeless and the promise of eternal life to those working in the midst of death. The preaching of Christ crucified strengthened the fragile faith of those who heard it. In the most difficult times only this Gospel of salvation can heal hurting hearts and soothe suffering souls. Only that Word brings the peace that passes all understanding. That is why "we preach Christ crucified." The Cross is the only way of salvation. No other religion will save a person.

With God’s help, may we continue to only "preach Christ crucified," in good times and bad. By God’s grace, may we continue to speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its truth and saving power. To the world it may seem to be foolishness. But to those whom God has called, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Amen.