The Cross Proclaims a Grace-Driven Purpose
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
(3) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. (6) After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. (7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, (8) and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
INTRODUCTION: A Biblically-correct view of history.
Steven Spielberg¡¦s movie, Saving Private Ryan, tells the story of an Army captain named John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) who in the aftermath of the World War II D-day invasion at Normandy Beach is ordered to find a solitary private among thousands of displaced soldiers. he must return Private James F. Ryan home to his mother, whose other three sons have just been killed in action.
Captain Miller and the small group of men assigned to him successfully locate Ryan, but then are forced to defend a strategic bridge against enemy tanks and troops. Captain Miller is fatally wounded. In his dying moments, he reaches out to Private Ryan, and with great emotion says, ¡§Earn this! Earn this!¡¨
Many years later as an older man, James Ryan stands in a veteran¡¦s cemetery tearfully looking at the tombstone of the man who saved his life. He wonders aloud if he has indeed earned the great gift he received.
Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ died on the Cross that we might live forever. In his final words he did not suggest that we could ever earn such a gift. Instead he cried triumphantly, ¡§It is finished!¡¨
There is much in our society that talks about being politically correct, even to the point of revising history, so that it glosses over the past by forcing today¡¦s perspective from one particular group. This results in a re-write of history that to the writer is ¡§politically-correct.¡¨
Paul¡¦s goal is not to be politically correct.
His goal with history is to provide a Biblically-correct view of history. Paul realizes that history is His Story, that is God¡¦s story of interaction that lifts up the cross and realizes the cross proclaims a grace-driven purpose. We are saved, not by what we do, but by what Christ has done. This is the message of the cross. This is the message of grace. In these verses from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul lays out 8 key historical points.
Paul¡¦s Key Historical Points -- First Things First
1. Christ died for our sins (vs. 3).
2. Christ was buried (vs. 4).
3. Christ was raised on the third day (vs. 4).
4. He appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve (vs. 5).
5. He appeared to more than 500 (vs. 6).
6. He appeared to James and the apostles (vs. 7)
7. He appeared to Paul (vs. 8).
8. This is for you (vs. 3).
Of the 8, this last one is my favorite, but what does this mean?
First, it means: 1. Only CHRIST is on the cross, and only GOD can build the church. Jesus says in, Matthew 16:18, ¡§And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.¡¨
It¡¦s not my church, it¡¦s not your church to run. This is Christ Lutheran Church. The key word is Christ. He is the one who gave life, that we might have life.
I was once given wise church leadership advice that went something like this, ¡§There is only one God, and you are not Him. I am not Him, either.¡¨
I could not die for your sins. Paul could not die for your sins. Martin Luther could not die for your sins, only Jesus the Christ could die for us. And, only God can build the church.
Second, the facts Paul shares means: 2. God calls PEOPLE to share the cross message. Notice what Paul says in, 1 Corinthians 15:3, ¡§For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.¡¨
Paul is saying the news is so good and so important, he could not keep to himself. You find a new restaurant, the food is great, the prices are low, don¡¦t you tell your friends about it? If we do that with food for the body, shouldn¡¦t we do that with the food that saves our soul? Paul does not hoard the gospel message, he passes it on. His mission was driven by the grace of the cross.
What does this mean for ministry?
The truths Paul shares and the grace-driven purpose of the cross effect not only our salvation, but how we live out the Christian faith and how we minister in the name of Jesus Christ. A grace-driven purpose means 4 truths:
TRUTH 1. We minister by GRACE, not GUILT. Paul writes in, 1 Corinthians 15:10, ¡§But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.¡¨
We minister by what God¡¦s grace does in us and through us, and not by the guilt the world heaps upon us. A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master¡¦s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master¡¦s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream, ¡§I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.¡¨
¡§Why?¡¨ asked the water bearer, ¡§what are you ashamed of?¡¨
The cracked pot replied, ¡§I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master¡¦s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don¡¦t get full value from your efforts,¡¨ the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, ¡§as we return to the master¡¦s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.¡¨
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, ¡§Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot¡¦s side? That¡¦s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on you side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you¡¦ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master¡¦s table. Without your being just the way you are, he would not have these beautiful flowers to grace his house.¡¨
As one pastor loves to put it, ¡§We are all cracked pots.¡¨ God, in His grace, uses us. And God¡¦s grace, not guilt, is the reason to respond in ministry to what God has done on the cross. Who are you watering for Him with your cracked pot? For like Paul we go forth in God¡¦s grace. We go boldly in our weakness and we find His strength.
The cross proclaims a grace-driven purpose, and for ministry that means: 2. We are in PARTNERSHIP with God¡¦s purpose -- a quest for lost souls.
Notice how God uses more than Paul in God¡¦s grace-driven purpose. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:6, ¡§I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.¡¨
One of the most basic skills astronauts must learn to master is how to function in an environment of zero-gravity. To me it seems thrilling to be capable of flying and floating around the cabin, but an absence of gravity can also increase the difficulty of doing earthly tasks in a zero-gravity environment.
For example, just how do you get the toothpaste to stay on your toothbrush? Everything has to be nailed down, self-contained and sealed tight, or it will float away. A writing pen had to be re-designed so the ink would come out. Basic tasks had to be re-learned.
In our day, it seems as if we are moving in a world of zero morality. Each year it seems society moves to ¡§whatever you want.¡¨ when it comes to living life. Yet we do not have to live alone in this world, God invites us to join the team, and to follow His quest for lost souls. Some are called to plant, some to water, but God is the one who makes it grow.
The cross proclaims a grace-driven purpose, and for ministry that means: 3. People are to be motivated by the GOSPEL, not by the LAW.
Ever heard the phrase, ¡§God helps those who help themselves?¡¨ Quite a number of Americans believe that phrase comes from the Bible, but it doesn¡¦t. It¡¦s origin is Ben Franklin in Poor Richard¡¦s Almanac. How different is what Paul says in, Romans 6:23, ¡§For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.¡¨
While Ben Franklin says, ¡§God helps those who help themselves.¡¨ We as Christians must believe that God helps those who cannot help themselves. God¡¦s grace is the motivation force for reaching out. Although some motivate by the law, that is demanding what must be done, God seeks to motivate by the Gospel, what He has done for us. This is how we know the cross proclaims a grace-driven purpose.
Fourthly, the cross proclaims a grace-driven purpose, and for ministry that means: 4. The challenge of ministry is grace lived out, that is LOVE. As some wise person has noted, ¡§Love like paint, can make things beautiful when you spread it, but it simply dries up when you don’t use it.¡¨ God, in His love, spreads His paint with the brush of the cross on the canvass of our world. As John 3:16 says,
„h John 3:16, ¡§For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.¡¨
Grace lived out is love. We cracked pots are called to spread forth all of God¡¦s love in this world and in our day to day world that we live.
CONCLUSION: ¡§Do you look good on wood?¡¨
Father Daniel Berrigan, has this great observation about the Christian life. He says, ¡§If you want to follow Jesus, you had better look good on wood.¡¨ So the question, we must ask, ¡§Do you look good on wood?¡¨
To wear the wood, to bear the cross, is to live out a grace-driven purpose. As Paul passes the truths of the faith on to us, in order to transform our lives. The mission of the cross calls us to pass on Christ to transform the lives of others. Amen.
(Thanks for the idea for this message to the book by Dr. Kent R. Hunter with David L. Bahn, Confessions of a Church Growth Enthusiast, Corunna, IN: Church Growth Center, 1997.)
