The Cross Brings the Change We Need – Holy Cross Day

INI

Change. Everyone wants it. But no one knows how to achieve it. Whenever a national tragedy strikes – whether it’s this week’s school shooting, or the stabbing of an innocent woman on a train, or the assassination of Charli Kirk, a faithful Christian serving in the political realm – everyone cries out for change. We want the violence to stop. We want to exercise our faith publicly without fear of death. We want respect in the public square, even when opinions disagree.

So, what are our solutions? Our clever ideas aren’t any good. Maybe, we’ll just pass legislation? Nope. We’ve seen that doesn’t really work. Maybe, we’ll do the opposite and force people to act like Christians, even apart from a genuine faith. Perhaps that’ll stop the violence? Nope. Medieval history shows that doesn’t work either. Why? The problem isn’t legislation or governing rule. And it’s certainly not the solution. The problem is with the sinful human heart. The problem is when life is lived apart from God – when we live as if our lives and our opinions matter most, and God has to take a backseat to me. Society has bought into the lie that we can orient our lives together secularly – apart from God. But that’s only brought a culture of death, allowing Satan to take control of the reins as the ruler of this world. But hasn’t that been the problem with humanity ever since Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden? We’re so willing to hand Satan the reigns… aren’t we?

We want change. But we point to other people. We want THEM to change – to change THEIR political worldview, to change THEIR attitudes towards those who disagree. Both sides of the isle do this. But THEY don’t want to change, they just want others to bend to their will. “It’s the left’s fault, it’s the right’s fault.” Don’t you see what we’re doing? Don’t you see that we’re behaving just like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden? Blaming others without recognizing our own sinful nature? No one wants to look honestly at the pure Word of God and be changed by it – not only in believing what it teaches about God’s holy and eternal Law, but also in conforming our lives to the way it instructs us to live according to the Gospel.

Everyone wants utopia. We want a peaceful world. But that can’t happen through more policies, more discussion, and more persuasion. It can only happen when one thing happens: when hearts are converted to Christ, and each individual dies with Christ on the cross and rises to live each day with Him. If you remember just over a month back now, I preached how the Word of God is the ONLY tool in our toolbox for making Christians. Same thing applies here. There’s only one tool for peace. It begins and ends with the cross of Christ. ALL OTHER TOOLS WILL FAIL and exasperate the problem. Because sinful men lead it’s charge.

Christ will have the last Word. He has, does, and will crush evil in all its forms underneath the weight of His heal. He has crushed evil on the cross, through which His glory is manifested to the world. He does crush evil today, when God washes people’s evil hearts clean in Holy Baptism and sprinkles them clean with the blood of Jeuss in the Holy Sacrament. When these things are received in true faith, we willingly accept our present crosses with joy, courage, and strength to live daily for Christ. And He will crush evil on the Last Day when He comes to judge the living and the dead. He will judge them on their fidelity to Christ – whether or not they believe Christ lived and died FOR THEM – and whether they believe this in true faith as it bears GODLY fruit in the world.

And a part of this Godly fruit lived out in the world is doing the duty of telling every soul that Christ is Lord, and NOT being content until the Holy Spirit creates a genuine saving faith in them. Is that not what we call for in our first hymn? We confess to this dying world – “Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim TILL ALL THE WORLD ADORE HIS SACRED NAME.” Even if death be our way – we aren’t defeated. For we have victory with Christ, and our lives will be vindicated by our King one day.

Point is, the precious blood of Jesus is the only tool that can be a healing balm to a wounded heart. And that must be proclaimed. That’s the only medicine that can cut straight to the heart of man and give a peace which surpasses all understanding. That’s what Holy Cross Day is about. It’s about remembering the cross of Christ again in our church year apart from Good Friday. It’s certainly about His innocent suffering and death to heal the worst in us. But our text today also shows us this important feature of the cross – obedience.

Our Gospel lesson starts out with some Greeks saying to Phillip – “We wish to see Jesus.” That’s the statement Jesus loves to hear. Because it leads Jesus to fulfill his mission for them. Jesus responds to their desire to see Him by revealing His true purposes to them, and to all the world. Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Here, Jesus is talking about His cross. It’s time to reveal His true purpose to the world – to be the perfect man who lives in obedience to the heavenly Father. Then, Jesus turns the foolishness of the world into the wisdom of God. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24).” What does Jesus mean by this? Of course, He’s talking about himself. HE is the grain of wheat which is buried in the earth and dies. God’s blood has gone into the earth to make the ground fertile for the expansion of God’s kingdom on earth. That’s the fruit which Jesus’ life bears. It bears fruit for discipleship of His people. It bears fruit in that people are drawn to the saving work of Jesus. And it bears fruit as God’s kingdom takes root in the hearts of His people, showing itself in lives lived in obedience to Him.

That much is evident when Jesus describes the life of His followers – “Whoever loves his life loses it.” That is to say, anyone ashamed of being a follower of Christ has loved his life more than he has loved God. Thus, truly, his life is lost. “and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” That is, whoever values the kingdom and the spread of the good news – even if that should mean danger, persecution, hatred from the world – so be it. God keeps and preserves their life eternally. Jesus then says, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” And where do we follow Jesus to? The cross. Because we’d rather endure suffering to honor our Father, our Savior Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who lives in us, then cling to life with this evil world that is destined for destruction.

Will it be easy to follow Jesus? No. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to follow the will of His heavenly Father. He said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” God leads us to bear our crosses, not run away from them. But why does He do that? Because what seems like losses to the world, God uses for strategic gain. For example, God has used the death of Jesus’ cross to draw all people to receive forgiveness, life, and salvation in His saving name. Likewise, God uses our crosses that seem like burdens, to be able to put ourselves and our self-preservation tendencies to death, and to view suffering as something to rejoice in. He uses our crosses to cause us to reach out in faith to depend on Him. And by His grace, our crosses serve as inspiration to others in God’s kingdom, that they might pick up their crosses and follow Jesus too. For when Christians in the spirit of Jesus bear their crosses joyfully, the heavenly Father is honored and glorified.

And yes, that’s troubling. Because the demons hate God’s Word. The world joins in that hatred. They want you to keep your faith as a private religion, not a public proclamation. They want you to think it’s a message for some, but not others. And that it’s okay that they don’t believe in Christ. But that’s not the truth. Jesus didn’t think so. He proclaimed – “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” and this a reference to Satan, His demons, and to all who follow him in their rebellion of God. He continues, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ALL PEOPLE. That’s the Lord’s desire. Not just the ones who already bear the name. Christ died for ALL. And John clarifies, this is a reference to the raising up of Jesus on the cross, not His resurrection from the grave. John wrote “He said this to show by what kind of DEATH he was going to die.”

         The cross of Jesus unites people under one house, one faith, one Lord. The cross of Jesus is what brings peace to this world, and peace to the hearts of sinful man. Thanks be to God that He has counted you and me worthy of bearing the Cross of Jesus for a sinful world. May He send the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of unbelievers that they may receive this message of salvation with great zeal and joy. And may He give us boldness and confidence not only to bear our crosses in witness to the glory of God, but to proclaim the healing remedy of Christ our Lord to this sinful world. Because only by His holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death, can the world have the change it desires.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston