04 02 2022 - Our Unexpected Crosses

 Today IS the Day When We Celebrate

Jesus’ Glorified Entrance

Into Jerusalem

On His Way to The Cross!

 

 

 

 

 

And – We Usually Always Spend Palm Sunday

Talking About the Palms

And of Jesus Spectacular Entrance

 

 

 

And Then, Next Week

We Talk About Easter Sunday

About Christ Rising from the Grave

In All His Glory

 

 

But When We Do That

We Miss What Happened In-Between

 

 

 

So Today, We Are Going to Spend Some Time

Talking About the “Between Stuff!”

 

The Cross

What does the “Cross” Mean to You?

 

 

In Our Today,

If You Are Like Most People

We Probably See -

More Crosses Than

What You Would Have Seen

40 Or 50 Years Ago.

 

 

 

People Wear ‘Crosses’ around their necks -

As Jewelry.

 

We Hang CROSSES from The

Rearview Mirrors in Our Cars & Trucks.

 

 

They Line Our Highways,

Where the Accidents Once Occurred

 

 

And All of This Is Great!

 

That Is –

IF They Are Used for The Right Reason!

 

 

The Question Is –

Do People Wear Them,

Do People Use Them,

a.               As An Instrument

“Expressing Their Faith?”

b.              Or Is It Just to Have a

“Cool Look?”

 

 

So, What Does The “Cross” Mean to YOU?

 

 

Now - We Could Have

As many Answers

As We Have in People!

 

BUT - What Does The “Cross” Mean to You?

 

 

We Really Need to Ask This Question,

About Ourselves

Possibly As Often As - Every Single Month.

 

WHY?

 

Because As God Teaches Us,

We Should Be Learning

And Through Our Learning –

Our Answer

Should Be Changing.

Of Course - That Is

IF

We Are Growing in God!

 

 

Now - We Know Through

Our Own Walk with The Lord,

 

That Is

“If You Get Too Close

To The Cross,

You Will End Up Carrying It.”

 

We All Should Write That Down.

 

 

 

Allow me to say that Once Again.

 

“If You Get

Too Close

To The Cross

You Will End Up

Carrying It.”

 

 

 

But As Christians,

·     We Look at the Cross

o And Don’t We See SORROW?

 

 

Don’t We See

The Passion of Christ LOVE!

 

 

Don’t We See

The Suffering of Our Lord!

 

 

And Don’t We See

The Ultimate Death of Christ Jesus!

When we LOOK at the Cross,

We Don’t See Such Things As:

A Vacation

 

 

We Don’t See

Laughter and Smiles

 

 

But – In FULL TRUTH –

We Who Follow Jesus,

WE OUGHT TO ALWAYS

LIVE

In the Shadow of the CROSS!

But there are times when -

·     We Deliberately Choose Our Own Cross

 

 

 

And We Do This By and Through

The Things We CHOOSE To Do!

 

 

 

And Still – There Are Those Other Times when -

·     We Are Thrust Upon a Cross

o That Is REALLY –

§ Not of Our Own Choosing.

IF You Haven’t Understood This By Now

IT IS OUR CROSSES,

o They Work as,

o They Become,

§ Our Parameter,

§ Or Our Boundaries,

Which Exactly Define

Our Own Christian Walk.

 

 

 

 

Do You Think JOB

·     Would Have experienced,

o All Of that Calamity,

o All Of the Heart Breaking,

§ IF He Was Not Close to God?

 

¹ There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.

² He had seven sons and three daughters.

³ He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

 

⁴ Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them.

⁵ When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

 

Job’s First Test

⁶ One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

⁷ “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

 

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

 

⁸ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant, Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

 

⁹ Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.

¹⁰ You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!

¹¹ But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

 

¹² “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.”

So, Satan left the Lord’s presence.”

 

 

And As We Know

      From the Scriptures,

            JOB Faced Many Crosses.

 

“Many - Unexpected Crosses”

 

But What Do We Do

·     With These Unexpected Cross

o That Are Given to Us?

I Mean They Are Not ‘Our Crosses’.

·     Well - At Least At First, They Weren’t!

 

 

You Know,

·     Things Just Seem to Always

o Come Up In-Life

§ Right When

·     You Are Not Expecting

·     Nor Looking For Them.

 

 

Things Like:

·     Your Car Broke Down!

·     The Freezer Broke Down!

·     Or A Kid Breaks Down!

Or It Can Even Be

·     When Your Friends Lets You Down!

 

 

Or When Things Just Don’t Work Out

·     Like The Way Which You Had Planned

o And You Get Frustrated

 

 

It Can Be

·     When Things Get You Down!

·   When You Get Discouraged!

·   When You Get Depressed!

·     And Even When You Get Angry!

You See:

·     THESE ARE the REAL MOMENTS!

 

·    This Is When God

o Wants To Work on Your Heart!

 

These Are those -

Most Profound

Opportunities,

The Very Moments

When We Meet Jesus

Right There - Where We Are

And Where We Can Grow Spiritually in Him!

You Know,

·     I Can Not Think

·     Of a Better Character

o To Express This Point

Then From Christ’s Passion Story

And By Taking a Look

At Simon of Cyrene.

 

Who Is He, You Say?

 

Well - This Is Usually the Part

Which We Skip Over

From Palm Sunday

To Easter Morning

 

^{Luke 23:26-43 (NLT)}

²⁶ As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷ A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women.

²⁸ But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

²⁹ For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’

³⁰ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’

³¹ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

 

³² Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him.

³³ When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.

 

³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

 

³⁵ The crowd watched, and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

³⁶ The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine.

³⁷ They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸ A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

 

³⁹ One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

 

⁴⁰ But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?

⁴¹ We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

 

⁴³ And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

 

 

We just read a Small Part

Of The Recorded Christ’s Passion.

 

And I Feel Most Know the Rest of it.

But Did We All Catch

The Very First Part of It?

 

²⁶ As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

 

 

Before Today,

·     How Did You Picture

o This Simon,

§ As He Carried the Cross of Jesus?

 

 

Within Your Thoughts

Did You Picture Simon As BEING

A Loyal Servant Of the LORD?

Did You See Him As

This Great ‘Model’ Of Christian Service?

 

 

Maybe You View Him

As Being A Great Leader of Compassion?

 

 

But You Know –

Simon Did Go and He Helped Jesus

At His Time of Need!

 

And That is Exactly -

What Each Of Us Should Do As Well!

 

We Should All Help Others,

To Carry Their Burdens

As Well As Their Crosses In Life!

 

 

BUT - How Does Simon Become –

This Great Model

of Compassion and Service?

 

 

I Mean,

He Didn’t Do This

Out of His Love and Compassion!!!

Did He?

NO!

 

He Did This Out of Compulsion –

He Was Forced to Do It

by The Romans.

 

I Mean,

·   It Wasn’t as If Simon

o Woke Up on Good Friday

§ And Said to Himself:

 

‘Okay, It’s Friday –

It’s Prison Ministry Day!’

 

And then He would have said to Himself:

 

‘I Have to Find a Prisoner Today,

So that I Can Help Him

In Any Way That I Can.

 

Maybe I Will Help Him

By Carrying His Cross.’

 

 

But This Isn’t

·     What He Said

·     Nor What He Did!

 

The Cold Fact is: He Didn’t Volunteer At All!

You See:

He Was Just Walking

Into The City

Just Like the Thousands

Of Other Pilgrims Were.

 

 

They Were All Coming In

·     For Passover

o And All of a Sudden,

o There Were These Roman Soldiers

And They Pulled Him from The Crowd

And Force Him to Carry Jesus’s Cross.

 

 

The True Fact is:

He Didn’t Choose This Cross!

 

 

And Yet – In Luke’s Gospel,

Luke Gives Us a Little Detail.

 

 

A Little Detail That Tells Us

A Lot About Simon as He Helped

Jesus With His Cross.

 

 

And That Fact Is

Right There – Simon Was Changed!

Simon Was Changed

·    Through This Unexpected Encounter

o With This Unexpected Cross.

 

 

 

You See – This Little Detail:

IS Found In Verse 26b:

“The soldiers seized him (Simon) and put the cross on him,

and made him CARRY IT BEHIND JESUS.”

 

 

 

And He Carried It BEHIND CHRIST!

Just That Little Detail Says So Much

 

And this is WHY

 

 

^{Luke 9:23,} “Jesus looks at his disciples and tells them, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it."

 

 

Even Jesus Is Telling Us

·     Just as Simon Did,

“Take up their cross and follow Me.”

You See

For Us To BE a Disciple of Jesus’,

We Are Required to

Pick Up Our Crosses

And Follow Him!

 

 

BUT - Here Is the Point:

 

If You Want to Find Out

·     IF You Are Really a Disciple of Christ’s,

o We MUST Then

LISTEN To What Jesus Says.

 

And Christ Said: IF,

(You SEE - It is always a Choice)

 

 

Christ Says, IF –

You Want to Be My Disciple,

We Must

Pick Up Our Cross

And Follow Him.

 

 

Jesus Says This So Many Times

·     Through-Out His Ministry

But When It Was Recorded in Matthew 16

That is When It Breaks My Heart

However, I Do Believe

It Paints A True Picture Of Humanity

 

Matthew 16:24 (NKJV)

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

 

 

“IF ANYONE DESIRES TO COME AFTER ME”

 

Don’t Those Words Cut into Your Heart?

 

“IF ANYONE DESIRES TO COME AFTER ME”

But We See in Our Scriptures for Today –

‘Simon, Is Doing - Exactly That’

 

 

Simon, Picked Up the Cross

And He Followed Jesus.

 

 

Luke Is Subtle in Telling Us

·     This However, By Simon Doing this,

‘Simon Was Literally Changed!’

 

 

And the Same Will Happen to Us

·     Through Our Encounters with The Cross.

Simon Was Changed!

·     And He Became a True Disciple!

 

 

What Luke’s Gospel for Today,

·     Is Subtle in Telling Us

o Is Exactly What

§ The Early Christians Saw

§ And Witnessed To!

 

 

Simon Of Cyrene Became a Convert!

 

He Became a Christian!

 

And The BLESSINGS Don’t Stop There!

 

Because - His Family Became

Prominent Christian Leaders!

And Evangelists!

 

 

 

And I Think

Luke Maybe,

Giving Us a Little Nod Here

To This Image of Simon

Carrying The Cross Behind Jesus.

 

 

And This Is to

Remind Us ALL

That It Is These

Unexpected Crosses,

That They Will Show Up at Our Doorstep.

 

 

They Will Spring Up

Right There Before Us

All the Way

Throughout Our Lives.

 

 

Every Day,

·     We Can Expect to Receive

o Unexpected Crosses.

But Here Is the Thing:

 

Don’t See Them As

Just Being Frustrating Moments!

 

 

Don’t See Them As

Just Problems

That NEED To Be Solved!

 

 

And Don’t See Them As

Difficulties That We Need to Endure!

 

 

But Rather:

See Them as OPPORTUNITIES

To Meet Jesus - Just as Simon Did.

 

 

See Them as OPPORTUNITIES

Of Growing Within Your Own

Trusting of the Lord.

 

And Remember

The Blessings Which Are Gain

Through Them

Doesn’t Stop with You,

They Go On and On

Within Your Family

And Friends

Now – I Am Not Going to Say That

These Crosses Will

Come at the Most Perfect Time!

 

 

We See That They Did Not Within

The Story Of JOB

And As Well In Simon’s

 

 

But We Should Always Expect Them

Because They Do Come

And They Come in

So Many Different Ways

 

OH - Maybe,

It Is When Your Plans Don’t Work Out!

 

 

That Can Be When the Lord

Is Reaching Out to

Grab Ahold of You

So That Your Trust

In The Lord Can Grow!

 

 

Lord, I Know You Have

Bigger Plans Than I Have,

Help Me See Your Bigger Plan.

 

Whatever The Crosses Are

That We Face,

We Need to Trust

And We Need to Have Confidence

That God Can Bring Something GOOD!

 

 

Each and Every Time,

We Need to Pause!

And Turn to The Lord and Ask:

 

What Are You Trying to Teach Me?

 

What Are You Trying to Show Me?

 

We Need to Look and Find

The Spiritual Lesson that Is Involved Here.

 

 

Don’t Just Rush Out

And Be in A Hurry

To Solve the Problem.

 

 

Don’t Just Get Frustrated

And Lose Hope

In The Little Annoying Things.

 

 

Just Pause.

Just Pause for A Moment

·     And Think About

‘What Is God Trying to Teach Me Here?’

 

 

 

We Need to Meet Jesus

In These Unexpected Crosses.

 

 

 

And When We Do,

We Have the Opportunity

To Become Like a Simon,

 

And Eventually,

·     You TOO

Will Become a Saint Simon of Cyrene!

 

 

Become Transformed

·     By The Unexpected Cross of Christ.

 

 

 

But Remember

AND - Here Is the Thing

It Is Always Our Choice!

 

 

We Can Grumble with Our Crosses

 

OR

 

We Can Praise God with Our Crosses

 

 

The Choice Is Yours

 

 

“Let him who would be My disciple take up his cross and follow Me.”