Surveying the Cross; A Place of Fear (1 Cor 1:18-25)

Snippet of Sermon by Nathaniel Goh

During the provocative passage in her concert in 1996, Madonna was shown on a mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns. She has explained that it was meant to illustrate a theme of confession. Then Madonna pleaded with audience to see the world as a unified world. publicity stunt.

We need to care about what we see at the cross and what it should mean to Christians today. What does it mean for you today?

Crucifixion is for state criminals meant for the lower classes. It was to be so harsh so as to be a deterrent. The public display sought to utterly humiliate the victim who would be left to feed the birds. With grim humiliation, ignobility, abject shame, deepest pain,  suffering and torture, the family would have to bear the emotional anguish of watching the entire execution. The cross is representative of what one could fear in life. Paul says that the message of the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews. Foolishness: madness and insanity. There are other religions that believe in dying gods, e.g. Egyptian God but they are mostly free from the shame of the cross.

Deeply perplexing, the Gnostics, could not fathom how could the designer of of the Cosmos could subject his people to the madness of the cross. So they would prefer to think of it as but an appearance only. In Deut 21:23 to be hung is to be under God's curse. The Apostle Paul started out persecuting believers because he could not accept the cursed one as the Messiah. Greeksthink it is sheer insanity to believe in a savior on the cross because it is for the weak and vulnerable. In Mark 8:24, Rev Wilfred Ho shared that we who come and follow Jesus have all custom made crosses to carry: to symbolize the cross of being alone, the cross is your anger with yourself, boss, government, with your lot in life. It could be a cross of despair, of cancer, of family members having delivered a still born. It is not uncommon for us to question the power and existence of God.

In the midst of it all, you hear comments, what good is God and Jesus? The Apostle Paul understood the dilemma and contradition: He could not separate Jesus from his death. Surely the cross must have the last word or else God is dead. Here is his confidence from God that in Christ, He has redeemed the weakness of this world. That same power that oppressed others have been subverted. The Corinthian church was looking for a way to water down the humility of the cross and the crucified Christ... Are we any different today? We claim Jesus as Lord but sometimes our lives show that the cross is useless, we rather put our trust in other things and persons. To counter our fear, anger, abuse from our subordinate, we need to encounter the cross, this place of fear and allow it to be transformed by a fact: the damnable cross is transformed into an object that absorbed all the pain and Jesus became a curse for our sakes. He forgave us all our sins, canceled it away by nailing it t the cross, he made a public spectacle of them. The cross became the place of victorious freedom rather than fear. It is difficult to carry the cross for crosses remind us that life will pose difficult questions at us. It could be a deliitating sickness, real crosses, pain and fears, but our solidarity in the cross will bear fruit in Christ.

The God who Hung on the Cross Story gospel came to Cambodia 1999: most villages were steeped in  Buddhism and spiritism. But in one small village they warmly received the gospel for they have been waiting for him for 20 years.

"For 20 years, the inhabitants of a Cambodian village worshipped 'The God who hung on a cross' - without knowing Jesus," reports pastor David Em. The village in Khampong Thom province was controlled by the Khmer Rouge, but the people have since readily accepted the gospel, almost as though they had been waiting for it. An old woman told Em that God protected the people from being massacred with 1.7 million others in the 1970's. They were forced to dig their own graves while soldiers prepared to execute them. Desperate, they called on all the gods which came to mind to help them. Some prayed to Buddha, some to other gods, and the old woman prayed to 'the God who hung on a cross'. As they cowered on the ground, waiting for the shots, they saw a vision of the cross, then heard a voice telling them that they would be saved: 'None but I can save you,' it said. When they opened their eyes, the soldiers had vanished. Since that time, they have prayed to the God who rescued them, but they knew nothing about Christ until Em preached to them. "They now know Jesus by name and have started a church. The old woman is so happy; she had waited for this day for 20 years."

We are not called to suffer in silence, to distract ourselves from fear, we are asked to look to Jesus the one who faced shame and death and came through victorious. If we cling to the oldrugged  cross, circumstances will not improve right away. In those times remember Jesus who hung on the cross. We may still feel alone at times, things may not have changed dramatically, but bear in mind that it was a place of real fear but for all who will trust in Him, He will exchange your cross for a crown.

Reflection Questions:
1. Name your fears in the presence of God. Surrender them one by one.
2. Let the words, "None but I can save you", be your meditation as your go through the roughest time of your life.