Cross-Shaped Love ~ 1 Corinthians 1:18-23 ~ Holy Cross Sunday

I don’t play the lottery or buy raffle tickets…  The reason: I never win anything…

The only good prize I’ve ever won happened right here in this church—a door prize from our Christmas Banquet in 2012.  I won a stuffed bunny that I gave to Elizabeth.  She named him Earl—and he is the crown jewel in her stuffed animal collection.  That’s it.

If, perchance, I do win anything, I always end up with the kinds of things so useless, you can’t even re-gift them.  Think giant novelty sunglasses, or a basket full of Uncle Sam–themed home accents from the dollar store.

The big cash paydays, first-class vacations and new cars always elude me.

When we approach the Christian faith, we all come with a set of great expectations.  We come seeking the best possible life for ourselves.  We hope that hurts and problems will go away; that dreams will come true; that we’ll be happy.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

We come wanting to discover what we need to do to get saved and go to heaven.  We come to find some incontrovertible proof that God is real.  We want to know the secrets that’ll help us tap into God’s awesome power and make our lives really, really good. 

But we preach Christ crucified—and the cross doesn’t exactly give us what we were hoping to find.

It’s a great symbol of our faith.  It looks nice on chains and necklaces, and on church buildings.

But ultimately, it embodies the brutal and horrific manner that Jesus was put to death by sinners.  It embodies weakness, suffering, and defeat.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t come to church looking for this.  I want a Savior who can help me avoid these things!  I want to know what I have to do to be saved and to be happy.

But we need to stop and pay attention to what God in Jesus Christ is doing here! Jesus isn’t here tragic mistake or spectacular failure.

Jesus is forgiving his murderers.  He’s promising a condemned criminal that he will be with him in paradise.  His blood is shed and his body broken.  With his last dying breath, he cries “it is finished.”

You see, Jesus is accomplishing all things for our salvation.  He gives himself to take away the sin of the world; the perfect sacrifice.  And the cross is more than Jesus wiping out a debt. 

It is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us—that God would become a human being and suffer hell for your sake. 

Jesus is lifted up so that all the world can see that Jesus did everything necessary for you to be saved.  By faith, you take hold of the salvation he gives to you.  God doesn’t lay down requirements.  God gives a relationship—and it is through that relationship that eternal life bursts forth because Christ is alive—living for you, in you, and through you. 

The cross expresses divine love in a way no other faith can—whether it is a means of realizing personal needs and wants, or achieving your way into heaven with good works.  Truth is, God won’t always give you what you want.  And no matter how perfect you may become, you’ll never be able to do enough good works that you can be with absolute certainty that you’re fit for heaven. 

The cross, on the other hand, is all about love.  It’s a sign of truth.  When you commit sin, you’re forgiven.  When you’re suffering, Jesus suffers with you.  When people hate you, God accepts you.  When you pray for God to take your cross away (and God does not), God will do something greater.  When you’re dying, death will not have the last word.  When everything is going wrong, God will have the victory. 

The way to know Jesus is to know his cross—and not just with your mind, but with how you live.  We must live in the relationship with Christ that he initiates.  We meet him in the Word; we speak to him in prayer; we eat and drink his body and blood.  But we mustn’t stop there.

We must live cruciform lives for others—just as Jesus does for us.  Gracious and generous self-giving love for our neighbors, giving thought only to what those neighbors need; instead of what they might deserve or what they might do to us in return. 

The promise—is that just as Jesus’ cross brings life and salvation to the world; we shall both give and receive the divine life that transforms and renews even the most hopeless people in the most hopeless situations. 

Life in Christ is not about you, either what you have to do or what you can get for yourself.  It is the reality of what God in Christ does for you and for the world.