Sermon Tone Analysis

Spring

Tomorrow, March 20th, is the official first day of Spring.

Anyone excited for that?

Of course, in Colorado that means much (if not most) of the snow is still coming.

I love the seasons.

Growing up in Southern California we didn’t have them.

It was just sunshine all the time.

So annoying.

:D.

Spring is coming, and for the Christian what does that mean?

Brace yourselves...

Easter is Coming

Or “resurrection Sunday”.

You may notice I say “Easter” still even knowing all the historical weirdness of the origins of that name: the goddess Isis, etc… You know why I still say Easter?

So people know what I am talking about.

And this is the primary, the central holiday of the Christian faith.

It is (or should be) bigger than Christmas, more important that Christmas.

What is Easter all about?

Obviously not bunnies and eggs.

Because it’s all about Jesus.

But like… what aspect of Jesus?

Jesus-Centered

In the three years of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus did a lot.

He taught about the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and it’s present radical availability to all.

Jesus corrected the abuses and misunderstandings of the law of God.

This is what Sabbath keeping should look like, what love of neighbor should look like.

What the law should look like: love God and love others.

Jesus modeled for us what perfect humanity looks like, a new Adam in loving obedience to his Father, filled with the Holy Spirit.

But Jesus is more than that, isn’t He?

He is the triumphant Christ, the Messiah, the Risen Son of God.

Christ-Centered

Being “Christ-Centered”, then is a little different, or at least a little more specific than being “Jesus-Centered.”

There are people who may claim “Jesus” but maybe aren’t even Christians.

Jesus as the “Christ”… Christ means “Messiah”, which in turns means “Anointed One.” Jesus as the Christ sees the Mission of Jesus, Jesus revealed as the Son of God, Risen and justified in his resurrection, as the triumphant Savior.

Isn’t this what Easter is all about?

Celebrating the Risen Lord?!!!

It is.

Nothing I am going to say over the next few weeks stops us from fully celebrating the “Risen” Lord, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

You’ll remember this back from our time in 1 Corinthians last year.

There’s an odd note in here:

Isn’t this written after Jesus’ resurrection?

Why not “know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him resurrected?”

Or at least “crucified and resurrected?”

Why does the Bible keep focusing on the Cross over the Tomb?

And another one that sums it all up:

Isn’t it odd that the focus is most often on Jesus’ cross… not on the empty tomb?

I’ve preached on this before, it is weird.

102 verses on the cross or crucifixion.

It is weird that we don’t wear empty tombs around our necks, we wear crosses.

The symbol on every church is the cross (either with or without Jesus’ body on it).

Really?

Boasting in “nothing else?”

What about the miracles… and the miracles we can look forward to?

What about resurrection and glory, eternity and heaven, angels and hallelujahs and worship???

What about great churches?

Great ministries?

Successful evangelism and missions?

Isn’t that stuff worth boasting about?

Boasting in the cross…

I get that the cross was necessary… but it’s like celebrating the means of death and suffering.

It’s like wearing an electric chair, a lethal injection, a noose around our neck.

I guillotine on top of our churches.

Why such a focus on the cross, even after the resurrection?

The world has been “crucified to me?” and “I to the world?”

I get the last part as a kind of “in Christ” thing… but that isn’t quite the way Paul uses it here to the Galatians.

It is an accomplished aspect in his discipleship.

He is dead - shamefully murdered - to the world.

The world is dead - shamefully murdered - to him.

There is a radical separation there, a forever separation, a division.

And he is thankful for it, he boasts in it.

You see this, YASSSS, that’s why I am dead to the world and it to me, isn’t that awesome!!!

Boasting in the cross, even here it seems above the tomb.

Paul is a cross-centered disciple.

and of course Jesus taught his disciples that they would follow him on the cross.

Did he also promise resurrection?

Yes.

Resurrection is coming.

Jesus is alive.

And the resurrection is what validates the cross, it is what tells us everything Jesus claimed is true and true forever, it is the defeat of death, it is the firstfruits, it is a promise to all of us.

Resurrection is good and the Bible is clear, that’s a promise and you should be excited.

But we don’t get to skip past the cross to get to resurrection.

In this life we have the sure hope of resurrection, but we then take up our cross, eagerly, honored to do it, boasting in it.

We don’t skip past the cross to get to resurrection.

That’s what I really want to do.

And I think this is where Paul is going.

We have a tendency to want to skip right on past the cross.

Of course we do.

The cross is hard, it is offensive, it is painful, it is humble and humiliating.

We don’t always (or maybe even often) see the point of the cross.

And yet, Jesus told us to take up our cross… not the empty tomb.

Jesus commanded and the early disciples modeled a cross-centered discipleship.

A focus on the “crucified Jesus” and not just the Risen Christ.

We are to be:

Cross-Centered

It is possible to be Christ-centered but not cross-centered.

To be Christ-centered is to be captivated by Jesus as a triumphant Savior who offers us an abundant life with greater sense of power and influence in our lives.

To be cross-centered is to follow Jesus as a Savior who embraced the cross, making that the pattern of our lives and leadership.

Super inspired in this by “Emotionally Healthy Discipleship” by Peter Scazzero

What does that mean?

Exactly?