The Glass Cross
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 15, 2009
Mark 1:40-45
If you would please take the Bible that's in your pew and look at it.
Don't open it up, just look at it. What do you see? You see the Bible.
Now look at it as though you're looking at it through glass. It looks
the same, doesn't it? But imagine if that glass you're looking through
is in the shape of a cross. The Bible still looks the same, only now
you're not just seeing the Bible, you're also seeing the cross. Not
only that, you're also seeing the Bible *through* the cross. Now open
up the Bible, to any page, it doesn't matter. Every word in that Bible
is the Word of God. Every sentence, every phrase, every narrative is
God speaking to you what He wants you to know.
Don't just look at every word, though. Don't simply believe it's the
Word of God and read for what you can get out of it. See it for what
it really is. Look at it through that glass cross. When you read the
Word of God see the cross as you're reading.
This is what Jesus was trying to get the man to see in the Gospel
reading. He didn't want the man to see Him as the one who would take
away his leprosy. He wanted the man to look at Him through a glass
cross. In the Old Testament reading Naaman wanted to be healed from
his leprosy. Elisha wanted him to see that God would offer him so much
more. Naaman could only see that, though, if he looked through a glass
cross.
Elisha didn't know the specific name Jesus, the specific person Jesus.
Naaman didn't know anymore than Elisha did. The leper in the Gospel
reading was face to face with Jesus, the one Elisha believed in as the
promised Savior. But the leper didn't know Jesus. He was looking at a
man who could heal him. He didn't look at Jesus through a glass cross.
We don't know what happened to this man later on. But we know what
happened to Jesus. The cross. The cross is what happened to Jesus.
What Jesus was doing with that man who wanted healing was all about
the cross. Elisha's directive to Naaman was all about the cross. Jesus
knew these things. And we know these things, too. Because we have the
Word of God, the Bible. And we have a glass cross to see the Bible
through.
Nothing Jesus did makes sense without the cross. Or at least, it's
ultimately meaningless without the cross. Everything in the Bible is
useless to us without the cross. If you look at the Bible through any
lens other than the cross you will not see Jesus and what He does for
you. You will see a lot of things. But none of them will have anything
to do with Jesus' work of salvation for you.
When you see things through the glass cross you will see things
differently than if you're looking to get your due from God. You will
begin to see that all that appears not quite right in your world is
swallowed up in the cross. If the lens through which you're looking at
the world and your life is your problems and unmet needs, then you
will miss the cross. And when you miss the cross you miss the
salvation Christ brings to you.
You might wonder how in the world you can take the story of Naaman and
the story of the leper in the Gospel reading and see it as all about
the cross. The cross isn't mentioned. The cross hadn't even happened
yet in both cases. How could these men be expected to know that that's
why Jesus came? And you might even wonder what the cross has to do
with your life, and your problems, and your needs. How does the cross
help you feel better when you're suffering severe illness like the men
in our Scripture readings? How does the cross impact your life in your
struggles at work or with your family? How does the cross help you out
when you have some real needs—not just wants—when you're struggling
financially month to month, when you fear you're on the chopping block
at work?
Talk about the cross is one thing. Jesus dying on the cross is all
nice and good. But life is another thing. Practical life stuff is
real—how does the cross make this stuff better? How does it help you
in your life? Naaman found out. The leper in the Gospel reading found
out. You can find out, too. Because you have something. You have a
glass cross. Hold it up. Look at that Bible. Look at the words on the
page. See what God does for you through the cross. See that the
healing of Naaman and the leper of the Gospel reading were stops along
the way to the cross. They were little snippets of the salvation God
brings to you in the cross.
Whatever it is you're going through, stop worrying about it and put
the cross up before your eyes. Whatever your struggles, quit blaming
God and look at the cross. You want to know what He's doing to help
you? Look at the cross. That's what He does. He sends His Son to
suffer in a way that you could never quite understand or endure. He
sends His Son to come into this world where there are some who can't
even be around others or everyone else would suffer from such a
horrible condition. But Jesus doesn't just heal. He touches. He's not
afraid of leprosy, or anything else you might come to Him with. He'll
touch you in your condition and take it upon Himself. In fact, He'll
take it to its death in His own death. That happened on the cross.
Nowhere else. In no other way. The cross. Not by you straightening up
and flying right. Not by you believing enough or suffering enough. Not
by you being a stronger Christian than some that you know aren't as
strong.
The cross. There's only one reason Christ came. There's only one
reason God sent His Son. The cross. If this is the way it is for God,
then why are we looking at everything but? Why are we wondering why we
suffer as we do, when Christ has given us the cross? When He shows us
that suffering is swallowed up in His suffering? Why are we
questioning God when we struggle; when we don't understand how He
works—when He gives us the cross? Is it really so hard to see that
it's all about the cross? That that's what Jesus is always pointing
people to? That it's what He is always pointing us to? Is it really so
hard?
Yes. It is. We know it. We know it's hard. We know we can't do it. The
doubts creep in. Pain piles onto more pain. Temptations come harder
and more frequently the stronger we become. Struggles never seem to go
away, only change their circumstances. What we do through all of this
is see ourselves in it all. We ask the questions. We wonder why. We
lament that it doesn't seem all that blessed to be a Christian.
And you know what God's reaction to this is? He's angry. He's beside
Himself that we don't see it. There's one thing there, but we miss it.
We can spot everything else and miss the one thing. The cross. Why
else did Jesus speak harshly to the man after healing him? Because it
meant nothing without the cross. The man didn't see that. He went on
his merry way, rejoicing in his freedom, and forgetting about what
Jesus had told him. Apart from the cross the man's healing means
nothing. Apart from the cross our lives are separated from Christ,
ultimately eternally in hell.
Through the cross, though, through the cross, you have life. You have
life in Christ. You have life eternal. You have life in which you know
that everything is given by God to you for your good or used by God
for your good. You don't have to wonder—you know. You know because you
have a glass cross to look through. You know because He didn't leave
the cross back there, on Calvary, two thousand years ago. You know
because He brings the cross to you. Today. Every day. In your life.
Eternally. He brings the cross to you in your Baptism. In Baptism you
died with Christ so that you may rise with Him. He brings the cross to
you in Absolution. In Confession and Absolution you are slain, your
sinful flesh convicted and brought low so that you may be raised up to
new life. He brings the cross to you in His Holy Supper. In His Holy
Supper He invites you to come and feast on Him. Come thirsty. Come
hungry. Come with your illness, your sin, your guilt. He brings to you
the cross. His body hung on that cross. His blood was shed on that
cross. He brings you that. Yes, Himself.
That's what the cross is all about. It's all about Him. That's what we
need. We need Him. Not just whatever He can do for us (which is
anything). What He did on the cross. That's what He gives you. That's
why He came. That's what you always have. Look through that glass
cross and see Jesus. See your salvation. Amen.
SDG
--
Pastor Paul L. Willweber
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS]
San Diego, California
princeofpeacesd.net
three-taverns.blogspot.com
It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything
except where the marks of the Church are concerned.
[Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian]
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[email protected]>
