[Propertalk] FW: Sermon Resources for March 4 - continued

[Joe Parrish]

The Cross Has Always Caused Problems

A Pastor on Northern Vancouver Island wrote to online study group this
message: 

"I'm having difficulty with the Gospel this week; what is this cross that I
am to take up, and what am I to deny in following Jesus?" 

Another Pastor, a student minister in the United States wrote: 

"I find this a hard gospel text because it talks about suffering rather than
joy."

The cross has always caused problems to people. Brutal and barbaric - the
cross was a tool of political power for the Romans. They maintained their
power because of the fear of death on the cross. 

When one was condemned by the state, the condemned literally had to "take
up his cross" and carry it to the public place where he was to be
crucified. It was part of the humiliation process, the mechanism of social
control for which crucifixion was invented.

The cross was an instrument of suffering and shame - and no more so than
among the Children of Israel - where the scriptures themselves declare:
"cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree". 

To die on a cross was a sign that one died cut off from God, and cut off
from the people of God - a sign that the person was rejected. And of
course in the case of Jesus this was very true. 

Richard J. Fairchild, If Anyone Would Follow Me
___________________________

Ambition: Bigger Is Not Always Better

The American businessman was at the pier of a small, coastal Mexican village
when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were
several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the
quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican
replied only a little while.

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish.
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. 

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" 

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late; fish a little; play with my
children; take siesta with my wife, Maria; stroll into the village each
evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and
busy life, señor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should
spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat; with the
proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats; eventually you
would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a
middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your
own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You
would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico
City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City where you will run your
expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, señor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "Fifteen to 20 years." 

"But what then, señor?"

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right,
you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and
become very rich; you would make millions."

"Millions, señor? Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire and move to a small coastal
fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your
kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings
where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos." 

Sometimes our American culture thinks only about things that are bigger.
Bigger is always better. We get so caught up in the success syndrome of our
culture that we forget the way of Jesus which called us to simplicity and,
in our text today, to a life of self-denial.

Mickey Anders, Self Denial

_______________________________________

I Am No Longer My Own

In his covenant prayer, which he offered every year at midnight on New
Year's Eve, John Wesley prayed,

"I am no longer my own but Thine, put me to what thou wilt, rank me with
whom thou wilt, put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be employed for
thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee; let
me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I
freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we'd do well to pray with Wesley and be
reminded that we're not free to follow the dictates of our own sinful
nature; we're free to surrender our wills to the will of God and to submit
ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ. 

Philip W. McLarty, The Cost of Discipleship
______________________________

Taking Up Your Cross - Service 

During the dark days of World War II, England had a great deal of difficulty
keeping men in the coal mines. It was a thankless kind of Job, totally
lacking in any glory. Most chose to join the various military services. They
desired something that could give them more social acceptance and
recognition. Something was needed to motivate these men in the work that
they were doing so that they would remain in the mines.

With this in mind, Winston Churchill delivered a speech one day to thousands
of coal miners, stressing to them the importance of their role in the war
effort. He did this by painting for them a mental picture. He told them to
picture the grand parade that would take place when VE Day came. First, he
said, would come the sailors of the British Navy, the ones who had upheld
the grand tradition of Trafalgar and the defeat of the Armada. Next in the
parade, he said, would come the pilots of the Royal Air Force. They were the
ones who, more than any other, had saved England from the dreaded German
Lufwaffa. Next in the parade would come the Army, the ones that had stood
tall at the crises of Dunkirk. 

Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked
men in minor's caps. And someone, he said, would cry from the crowd, "And
where were you during the critical days of the struggle?" And then from ten
thousand throats would come, "We were deep in the earth with our faces to
the coal." We are told that there were tears in the eyes of many of those
soot laden and weathered faced coal miners. They had been given a sense of
their own self worth by the man at the top.

Service does not always come with big fancy ribbons. And I think that it is
forever true, that it is often the humble acts of service that provide us
with the deepest sense of joy and the most fulfilling satisfaction.

Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
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________________________

The Fork in the Road

According to that great font of wisdom, Yogi Berra, "If you come to a fork
in the road, take it." Mark 8 is a kind of theological fork in the road.
This chapter is the hinge of Mark's gospel. Not only is this the exact
middle of Mark in terms of chapters and verses, it is also theologically the
center point at which the ministry of Jesus takes a decisive turn toward the
cross. Jesus seems to know what he is doing and also where he is going (or,
better said, where he must go whether he wants to go that direction or not).
For the disciples, however, Mark 8 does present a kind of fork in the road.
And like Yogi Berra, as they look at the fork in the road, they want to take
it. They want it both ways. They want to stick with Jesus and be his
followers while at the same time insisting that Jesus follow them down the
path they want to take. 

Scott Hoezee, The Lenten Fork

__________________________

Take up Your Cross

This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden under the shadows of my
vines. But If I were to ascend some high mountain and look over the wide
lands, you know very well what I would see: brigands on the highways,
pirates on the sea, armies fighting, cities burning; in the amphitheaters
men murdered to please the applauding crowds; selfishness and cruelty and
misery and despair under all roofs. It is a bad world, Donatus, an
incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and
holy people who have learned a great secret. They are despised and
persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have
overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians--and I am one
of them.

Cyprian, a third-century martyr.

________________________

Built around the Cross

There's a great story about the artist Rodin, who one day saw a huge, carved
crucifix beside a road. He immediately loved the artwork and insisted on
having it for himself. He purchased the cross and arranged to have it carted
back to his house. But, unfortunately, it was too big for the building. So,
of all things, he knocked out the walls, raised the roof, and rebuilt his
home around the cross (Best Sermons 3, Harper & Row, 1990, p. 115). 

When you hear Jesus' call to radical discipleship, I hope you will decide to
knock down the walls and rebuild your life around the cross. Remember, Jesus
said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take
up their cross and follow me."

Mickey Anders, Cross-Bearing

_______________________

Hard Truths

Billy Graham poses the question this way: "When Jesus said, 'if you are
going to follow me, you have to take up a cross,' it was the same as saying,
'Come and bring your electric chair with you. Take up the gas chamber and
follow me.' He did not have a beautiful gold cross in mind - the cross on a
church steeple or on the front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of
execution."

Gary Weston, Hard Truths

_______________________

Living Life from the Outside In

Were I to create a short list of people who live from the outside in, it
would include people who don't know what their political beliefs are until
they've read their favorite political columnist; don't know what books they
want to read until Oprah tells them; don't know how to decorate for
Christmas until Martha Stewart directs them; don't know what to believe
until their denomination tells them; don't know what to wear until they have
consulted a fashion guru; don't know how to respond to the controversial
issues of the day until they check their windsocks to see which way the
breeze is blowing. 

People with this pattern are like submarines cruising through life at
periscope depth and they will not come to the surface until they have
surveyed the surrounding territory, making sure that their emergence will
occur within optimal conditions for safety from others they perceive to be
potentially menacing critics. 

Living life from the outside in -- we have all been there at one point or
another in our journeys. And when we are accurately so described, we are the
same folks Jesus had in mind when he talked about people who have gained the
whole world, but forfeited their lives. 

We've gotten it backwards, Jesus says. Instead, turn matters inside out and
live from the inside out. 

Robert A. Noblett, Sermons for Sundays in Lent and Easter, CSS Publishing
Company 
______________________________________________

Sermon Closer: We Have a Choice to Transform 

There is a story about two young brothers who were caught stealing sheep.
The punishment back then was to brand the thief's forehead with the letters
ST which stood for sheep thief. As a result of this, one brother left the
village and spent his remaining years wandering from place to place
indelibly marked by disgrace. The other remained in the village, made
restitution for the stolen sheep, and became a caring friend and neighbor to
the townspeople. He lived out his life in the village--an old man loved by
all. 

One day a stranger came to town and inquired about the ST on the old man's
forehead...

The rest of this illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons,
including our sermon series for Lent, can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.

 

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