Entering The Community Of The Cross

Deuteronomy 7 and Hebrews 10: The Covenant People and the Call to Gather

The Old Testament reading is in Deuteronomy chapter seven, starting in verse six. Please stand in honor of God's word. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

It was not because you were a number that any other people that the Lord has set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations and repays to their faces those who hate him by destroying them.

He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and statutes and rules that I command you today.

The New Testament reading comes from Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 19 and page 1007 in the Pew Bibles. Hebrews 10, starting 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Please be seated.

You know, we're not a really happy, clappy church, are we? The clapping seems appropriate at baptism in my view. Seems to be in yours as well. Well, it is a delight to, whenever we're baptizing someone, I just absolutely love that time and the Lord has granted us a great deal of that lately and I'm so thankful for that.

John 12: Jesus Draws a People to Himself Through the Cross

I'm gonna ask you to turn this morning to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. I want you to follow as I read verses 20 through 36. John 12, beginning in verse 20. Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

So these came to Philip who was from Bethsaida and Galilee and asked him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.

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. Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.

But for this purpose, I've come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered.

Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him. We've heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the son of man must be lifted up?

Who is this son of man? So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light.

Let's pray.

Lord God, now as we enter into the understanding of your word, we pray that your spirit would open our hearts. We pray, Lord, that the text of scripture, as we look at a number of texts, would open up vistas of understanding to us, that we might follow you more faithfully.

Help us now for your namesake, for the glory of your Father, by the power of the Spirit, in Jesus' name, amen. Why did Jesus wade into the polluted cesspool of humanity with all its perversities, injustices, and oppressions, cruelty, bloodthirstiness, and greed?

And why did he die by the hands of wicked men, for wicked men and women? Well, Jesus himself has told us in the text in which we now read, he's told us why he did all that in this passage. He said, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. Jesus waded into the cesspool of human depravity in order to die and gather a people, all kinds of people to himself. You say, but wait a minute, he's not around, and he's not dying.

So what does he mean by that? The act of proclaiming the death of Jesus, the very act of proclaiming the death of Jesus gathers people to himself. He gathers them into communities or congregations devoted to serving him as Lord.

This congregation in Leroux right now, this body of believers, constitutes a community of the cross. And what we witness today is not merely addition of two people to this body. What we are seeing today is Jesus accomplishing the purpose of his death, the purpose of his death to gather people together under his rule and in his name.

And so this morning I wanna address our two new members, well, and the rest of you as well, on this community of the cross. The cross accomplishes what Jesus says it does, and that is, and if that's the case, if the cross is accomplishing what Jesus says, then the cross means community.

The cross means community. And if the cross is central to this community, then the cross defines that community. It tells us what kind of community we're going to be. It tells us how this community is unique from all others around us.

So the cross means community, and the cross defines that community. Well, first of all, know that the cross means community. It's interesting to see what the apostles did when they obeyed Jesus' commandment to go and preach the gospel.

The Cross Means Joining a Visible Church

Turn to Acts 14, Acts chapter 14. Now, this is gonna sound familiar, and it should, because we visited this passage on October 8th, about a month ago, when Samantha and the Eisenbargers and the Coghlans joined our congregation.

We talked about this. It's gonna be a real quick review. Acts 14, Acts 14, verses 21 through 23. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraged them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Now, here's how they obeyed the Great Commission, to go out and make disciples.

In verse 21, we see that they preached the gospel. They preached it. And what happened? They gathered disciples, right? Purpose of the cross was accomplished as they gathered disciples. But then what did they do?

In fulfilling that commission, the apostle gathered them into a congregation with formally ordained leaders. And again, you've heard me say this at least a few times. The evidence shows us that those who believe the message of the cross joined the communities of Christ's disciples.

To be a disciple of Jesus means to become identified, to identify with a clearly distinguishable group of disciples. And this fulfills what Jesus says, that when he would be lifted up, he would draw all kinds of people to himself and this is what's happening.

They're drawn to him and they're formed into a community, a visible, distinguishable community of the disciples of Jesus. Again, let me say it, because I see this philosophy so prevalent. And that is this, that is this, that there's no such thing in the New Testament as free floating disciples.

You are officially part of a church or you're not. And you need to be. To fulfill the great commission means to finally be part of a group of disciples. To be baptized is to identify with a congregation of Christ's disciples.

Besides what again? What is the purpose of our salvation? The apostle Peter gives us one in his epistle, chapter two, verses four and five. As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

You've been saved for the very purpose of being a stone in the building of the local congregation. That's the purpose you were saved. It works against the purpose of the cross to avoid joining yourself to a congregation.

It works contrary to the purpose of the cross. Jesus did not die. Jesus did not die so you could just attend church. Jesus did not die so you could hang around on the fringes. Jesus died so that you would be formally identified with his people in a congregation.

That's the purpose. One of the purposes of the cross, to draw all kinds of people together into a local community of Christ's disciples. Know that the cross means community, but it doesn't leave us there.

You need to know that the cross defines that community. The very cross of Jesus defines us. It tells us what kind of a community we're to be. The cross of Jesus determines the kind of community that we will be.

What does the cross say and how does it define us? Well, man, we could go through numbers of passages in the New Testament. We're only gonna look at four, all right? Here's the first, Matthew chapter 16.

The Cross Defines a Self-Denying, Christ-Following Community

Matthew chapter 16. We'll read a few verses, beginning in verse 24. 24. Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The community of the cross is a self-denying, Christ-following community. The community of the cross is a self-denying, Christ-following community, all right?

That's what we are as a congregation. Now, the shadow of the cross fell on the path of Jesus, and his path became the path of suffering. And now he describes and commands the same road of suffering for his disciples.

The shadow of the cross falls across our path as a community of the cross. So what does that mean? We must be a community characterized by self-denial. Now, Jesus does not say here, deny yourself something, okay?

That is not what he's saying. He's not saying deny yourself something like meat during Lent. He's not saying deny yourself something like pleasures that you particularly like, deny yourself that. That's not what he's saying.

He says, you have to decisively disown yourself, and you have to decisively disown the lordship of your own thinking, of your own values. You've got to disown those things that come naturally to you. You must take another lord's thoughts, commands, and understandings as your rule of life.

You have to deny yourself. Who will you date? So what, what are you talking about? All of life is a life of self-denial. Who are you going to date? Anybody you like? That person that seems so utterly attractive and so much fun for you just seems to be everything you want in a girl or everything you want in a guy.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. It's not about what you want. It's just what Jesus wants. See, that's the bottom line. That's the bottom line. What kind of clothes will you wear? I'm not just talking about modesty here, right?

Do you wear the kind of clothes that naturally just draw the attention to you? Do you? Is it about you? Is it about your attractiveness and what other people are going to think of you? Oh, no. Is it going to reflect the fact that you deny yourself and your natural wants?

Is serving God more important to you than acceptance by everyone else? I'm not just talking to teenagers here. You know, we talk about peer pressure a lot in our culture. No, no, no, we're not talking about that.

We're talking about all of us here. When it comes right down to it, are you going to deny your desire for acceptance, right? Your desire to be welcomed by everybody. Are you going to deny that in order to follow Jesus?

You know what? We live in a culture that says the greatest good is this,.

Be yourself.

Our culture is permeated with the idea that you've got to be true to who you are. And is it infiltrated all kinds of our thinking? And Jesus says just the opposite. Don't be true to who you are. Be true to who Jesus is.

Don't be yourself.

If you're gay, accept that. No, that's exactly the opposite of the gospel message. Deny yourself. That's what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We've got to be a community characterized by cross bearing.

Deny yourself, take up your cross. Jesus isn't saying take up a burden here. Those of you who are old timers here, you know where I'm going. Because this is one of those things that we've accepted. We've accepted an idiom into our English language that says I'm just bearing my cross, which means I've got this burden to bear.

That's not what Jesus is saying. When a criminal was executed, he was required to carry the cross beam of the cross on his back. That's what Jesus did. And he was to be taken outside the village to be killed.

As he walked through the streets of the village, he faced the jeers and the insults of the villagers as they lined the road. He was publicly humiliated by being hung on a cross naked. Everyone crucified was crucified without a stitch of clothing on in order to have the ultimate humiliation and shame heaped upon them.

So Jesus isn't talking about bearing a burden. Jesus speaks of our willingness to experience pain and humiliation in the public arena. Are you willing to do that? This congregation must be characterized by the fact that come what may, if we are humiliated, if insults are heaped on us for the sake of Christ, then we will take it.

Jesus says that we must be a community willing to expose ourselves to the hostility of the world and to bear the humiliation that comes with owning him as Lord, even if it means the cost of our lives.

In other words, remember when he says bear the cross, he's saying crucify the criminal within you, as my friend John would say. Crucify the criminal within you. Crucify whatever you want for what Jesus wants.

Be willing to accept the path of suffering that Jesus tread. You see, that's what we must be willing to do.

Listen to me, all of you.

In a town like ours, people will misunderstand us and they will say things about us and they have said things about us and we have to be willing to accept that if we love the Lord Jesus. But it's not just self-denial.

It's not just crucifying yourself. It's also following Jesus. Here's the positive aspect. Follow me, do what I command you to do. Having denied ourselves and experiencing the pain of crucifixion, we must put in place the commands of our Lord Jesus.

You've all heard me say this. Put off and put on, that's the way of Christ. We put off the ways of the old life and we put on the ways of the new. That's exactly what Jesus is saying here. Put off those old ways, self-denial, crucifixion, put on the new ways, follow Jesus.

And let me remind you what Jesus says. In John chapter 10, verse 10, he says, clearly, without apology, right? The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.

And so the commands of Jesus, which seem to run counter to everything we hold dear, actually produces a life that's better than anything you could ever dream. And so what should we be characterized by?

In this community, you will deal with your anger and seek reconciliation with your brother. That's gonna be a top priority for you. You're not gonna remain angry with anyone in this congregation, why?

Because Jesus says, remember, in Matthew chapter five, if you know that your brother has something against you, leave your offering at the altar. Don't even go to worship. And instead, what? You go to him, you reconcile him.

And we wanna say, we wanna say, well, it's not my fault. He's the guy that's got the problem. And Jesus says, it doesn't matter. If you know that he has a problem against you, then you go, get it settled, be reconciled.

That's the way of this community. You will not work your way around inconvenient promises.

Why?

Because our Lord has told us. What's his way? Let your yay be yay and your nay be nay. Your word, you're gonna do whatever you say you're going to do. You will love your enemy rather than hating him. Be perfect like your father in heaven is perfect in your love of your enemies.

He loves his enemies. He sends rain on the people who spit in his face every day. He gives them grandchildren. He gives them wonderful things to enjoy. Be like him, says Jesus. What does he say in Matthew seven?

Remember what the Lord Jesus says? Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye when you've got a log in your own eye? Whenever you have a problem with someone, you've had a disagreement, there's kind of a break, you're gonna go to him.

And the first thing you're gonna do is deal with your sin first. It's what I call the first and worst principle.

What is it?

When I look at you and the problems we've had with one another, I'm gonna look at me first. I'm gonna look at my sin first. And I'm gonna see my sin like a log in my eyes compared to the speck in yours.

That's the way we're gonna live as a community of the cross. That's what Jesus demands of us. To follow Jesus means you live life according to his agenda, not what seems natural to you or what you want.

And so we live a life of sustained loyalty to Jesus. That's what it means. And we can be that kind of community. How is that possible, you say? It's not possible except for the fact that the one who ultimately denied himself, the one who ultimately took up his cross, that one died for us to deliver us from the clutches of the tyranny of sin so we can do these things.

The Cross Creates a Confessing, Forgiving, Reconciling Community

Turn to Ephesians four with me. The community of the cross is, is a confessing, forgiving, reconciling community. Ephesians chapter four, we'll pick it up at verse 31. My intention here is not to tread on my brother and co-laborer's texts here, because he'll come here too.

No, let's just go here for a moment. Verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Do you see what characterizes the community of living under the shadow of the cross?

This is a community where anger, rage, malice, bitterness, wrath, all of that, all of that is banished. It can't be part of our life here. All of those things are banished. Bitterness, gone. Wrath, no.

Anger and slander shouldn't be. This is a community whose atmosphere is the fresh air of kindness and compassion and forgiveness. That ought to characterize us. You know, when I was in school, I was in seminary, I worked at a foundry.

We used to joke that the foundry was modernized in the 13th century. I mean, you couldn't see from one end of the building to the other, the smoke would be so thick. So when I'd come home at night, right, when I'd come home in the afternoon, my clothes reeked of that foundry, right?

Got all over me and my clothes. There should be no reeking of awful things in this congregation. It should be otherwise. Is this not the fragrant atmosphere of the cross, verses five, one and two, chapter five, one and two?

Isn't that the fragrant atmosphere of the cross where we love one another like Christ loved us and gave himself for us? We give ourselves for one another. We live as Christ lived for us. That's the way we live.

That's the way we ought to live. Because of the cross, we should expect that all of us are gonna sin. Because of the cross, we should expect we're gonna sin against one another. Don't be under any illusions here.

We're gonna sin against one another. Otherwise, the cross would not be necessary. It's necessary because we sin. Because of the cross, we can humbly confess our sin to one another. If you need the cross, if you need the cross, don't walk around saying, well, I never would have committed that sin.

Oh, really?

And that's what we do, don't we? We look at other people and say, oh, I never would have done that. No, maybe not, but you've done plenty of others.

All right?

Because of the cross, we can never say we've gotta be humble. I would never sin like that. Because of the cross, we should all respond with kindness and compassion and forgiveness. Because of the cross, we should always strive for reconciliation.

It's through the cross that we are reconciled to God. And that's the way we ought to live, always seeking reconciliation. So because of Jesus' cross drawing us together into community, it will be a confessing, forgiving, reconciling kind of community.

The Cross Produces Hope in the Midst of a Broken World

The community of the cross, thirdly, is a hope-generating community. Now, we've already looked at Hebrews chapter 10. You might wanna turn there for a moment. Hebrews chapter 10. We looked at 29 verse 32, but always remember this.

We live in the cesspool of the world, wading into it every day. I don't have to tell you that. You leave here on Sunday feeling great, and tomorrow, tomorrow, you wade out there into the cesspool, right?

We experience the hatred and the cruelty, the perversions and the filth. We're often discouraged and disheartened because of the cruelty that we find. We often fall into that cesspool, contracting its pollution.

We need hope. And what does this text, Hebrews 10, 19 through 25, tell us? What does it tell us? It says, we have the gospel spoken to us, and we speak it to one another. The cross is proclaimed to us for our failure.

You can have confidence. You can have confidence because you hear of Jesus' blood. You can have confidence as you draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. You draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith because you hear of Jesus, our high priest, and the fact that you have been cleansed.

You have been cleansed. As we speak the gospel to one another, the gospel produces hope. The cross produces hope in the midst of adversity, verses 24 and 25. As we meet together, we spur one another on to love and good works.

You hear your sister recite to you the promises of God in your suffering, the promises guaranteed by the cross. Your brother says, I went through the same thing, and this is what God taught me. And he can teach you too.

You have hope because the cross guarantees that God will remain faithful to his promises. Remember what the apostle Paul says in Romans 8. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not, I love this part, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up, gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give you all things? How can you doubt that God will not fulfill his promises?

He gave his son.

You can be sure he's gonna give you everything that you need. And so we find that this community ought to be a hope generating community. We ought to gather here. We have to speak to one another. We have to encourage one another.

We have to say, yes, this is how God has helped me. Here's how God can help you. We've experienced a lot of grief this year. It's been an unusual year of tragedy and grief. And yet, we ought to be able to come here and find hope.

We have to find hope from the preaching of the word of God and the ministry of us with one another. It's a hope generating community. Here's the last thing. The community of the cross is a joy producing community.

The Cross Produces Joy Because It Is Victory, Not Defeat

All right, let's finally look at Acts chapter 13. Acts 13, we pick it up where the apostle Paul is preaching. I'm gonna pick it up in the middle of the sermon, all right? Beginning in verse 44. Well, no, it's the end of the sermon, sorry.

Verse 44, the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Paul had preached it and everybody's now coming to hear this gospel proclamation. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you since you thrusted aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed and the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district, but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went on to Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Wherever the cross is preached and Jesus gathers his people, joy results. This community should be the place where people find joy, where people find joy.

Many people, including Christians, get worried about the state of our country. They're worried about the latest immigration bill. They're worried about our foreign policy. All of us live in this world of inhumanity, cruelty and injustice, but in this fallen, broken, awful world, we have to be able to come away from it and come here and find joy.

This congregation must be an enclave of joy. Joy must be the atmosphere of this place. The joy that comes through Jesus.

Why?

Why should it be that way? Because the cross stands as a symbol not of defeat. It stands as the symbol of victory. Listen to Colossians 2, 13 through 15. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Jesus, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. The accusations of God's law have been quieted. They've been eliminated.

Our debt is nailed to the cross. All our transgressions forgiven. All of them are forgiven. There is nothing that will stand between God's love for you because of what Jesus did for you. You see, as you come to Jesus, as we talked about in Sunday school class, you come to him in self-loathing.

And yet you look at the great beauties of Christ, as Andrew said today. We see the beauties of Christ through tear-filled eyes. And we see the glories of a Savior who welcomes us and takes our debt upon himself so that we can freely love him and he will love us.

Why shouldn't there be joy? You come here every Sunday and you probably come like I used to, just looking at nothing but my sin and saying, God, how can I get up there and preach? I realize I sin and I've got to confess it.

I got to have a contrite heart, but I also know this. Jesus is my righteousness. He is my holiness. He is my redemption. And when you come here on Sunday, there should be joy in your heart because you're coming to worship the Savior who has worked for your acquittal before God.

And that God will not, ever since he has forgiven you in Christ, he will never hold. He will never bring up that sin to use against you. And then not only that, but he says he disarmed the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

He has defeated the forces of darkness. They cannot control you. There should be joy in that. You are part of a community whose purpose is to show the joy, is to show the joy of God, the joy of the Lord Jesus to the world.

Do you know that's part of my job description?

Is to produce joy here.

When I read Philippians 1 .25, I say, oh God, I hope I've been an instrument of joy because the apostle Paul writes this, convinced that I will not die, I know that I will remain and continue with you for your progress and joy in the faith.

Paul says my ministry is that you have joy in the faith. This ought to be the place of joy. This ought to be the place where you come from all the hardships of life and all the cruelties of a broken world and you ought to be able to come here and find joy in the promises that God has made about the forgiveness of your sin and the fact that this broken world will someday end and we will live in a world of utter complete love and perfection.

You see, that's why we can have joy. We belong then to the community of the cross. We belong to it. A community gathered by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus and his death and resurrection. A community transformed by the work of Jesus on the cross.

A community unique among all the communities of this world. That is what God has done through Christ and that is what he has done here. He's drawn you by the proclamation of the gospel so that we can be a different, unique kind of a place, a community.

This is what Connor and Chelsea have entered. This is what you have entered.

This is us.

Father, thank you for your word. Would you help us be faithful as a community of the cross? As you gather people through the proclamation of the gospel, I pray, Lord, that we would be the kind of community that's defined by the cross.

Oh, Lord God, we fail one another. We sin against one another. Inevitably, where we are still fighting the corruption of sin, there will be problems, but God, help us to be the kind of congregation that obeys Jesus and finds reconciliation and forgiveness, where we encourage one another to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and to follow you.

A community where there's hope and where there's joy. Oh, Lord God, make that true of us. Help us to be vigilant. Help us to be obedient. Oh, God, thank you for gathering this people. Thank you, thank you for what you have done and for what you are doing.

We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

If you would, please stand. Take the insert in your bulletin. As we sing, we are God's people.