The Cross
Bill Shorey brought a message a few years ago at Christ Community and man oh man, it was powerful. Bill was "on" like I've never seen him. He is an evangelist at heart and today he pulled no punches. The message was on the Cross.

The modern church seems to shy away from the brutal honesty of the Cross. The church avoids the brutality of Christ's death on the Cross and unfortunately, we seem to shy away from the finality of the Cross. The Cross is the one and only and final way to God. God cannot be accessed except through Jesus and the Cross. Period.

As an aside, I was speaking with a lady this week about a retired Pastor here in town. She was saying that he preached the "we're all going to heaven" message his entire life. His funerals were always, "Pete's going to heaven, we all are going." The message of the modern church is more and more politically correct. "God doesn't exclude anyone, the Bible is a pathway to personal prosperity, you too can be successful, you're a winner in God", etc. Hogwash.

God is good and graceful and merciful but there is only one way to Him. Yes, God is love but God hates sin. Over and over in the Bible are stories of God dealing with sin. Adam expelled from the garden. Cain and Abel. Noah and the flood. Sodom. Pharaoh and the wrath of God. God hates sin.

All through the Old Testament, God sets up a system of sacrifices. Lambs, sheep, doves, goats, etc. were given as sacrificial offerings to pay for the sins of the people. God hates sin and He ALWAYS required blood to be shed to pay for sin. Always.

Yet, the church seems to shy away from that. It seems to exclude. It seems to paint the picture of God not loving us. So, we gloss it over and we shy away from it. There is but one way to God and it is through the incarnation and death on the Cross of His one and only Son.

Bill gave an example of a church in New England. The architect built the church and right up front there is a huge Cross. Right down front. A big, huge, very rough, heavy timber Cross. Right there in the middle of the church. Right in the way. When the preacher preaches, the Cross is right in front of him. It is in the way. To listen to the sermon, you have the Cross in between you and the preacher and you have to move your head to see the preacher and he is moving all around to see the people around the Cross. It is in the way. When there are funerals, there is barely any room up front for the casket. The Cross is in the way. There are stories of brides tearing their wedding gowns against the rough hewn timbers of the Cross.

Outside on the lawn of the church there is a large metal Cross. In the winter, the rust runs down the Cross and it quite literally looks like blood. It isn't pretty. It isn't esthetically pleasing. It isn't politically correct. It is the Cross.

See, here's the thing - God isn't trying to win a popularity contest. He isn't trying to please the world. God is just. He has His way. What happened on the Cross was brutal. There is but one way to get to God and it is only by way of the Cross. It isn't by charity. It isn't by being a good person. It isn't by good deeds. One way. The Cross.

Unfortunately, the Cross seems to be in the way for the world. We'd really rather not deal with it -surely, we don't have to talk about sacrifice, blood, torture, separation from God, pain and death. That is just so messy. Surely God is so good and I am good that He won't require me to deal with the Cross.

No my friend just like the Cross in that chapel up north, the Cross is in the way. You can't avoid it. You must deal with it, face it and embrace it.

Soar!