The Cross Still Stands

I saw this as a headline on a television at the gym the day after the burning of Notre Dame. It is a horrible thing when beautiful old architecture burns to the ground and the loss that cannot truly be valued or replaced. It is sad that a piece of history like this has been destroyed. We can be thankful that there was no loss of life. But put aside this loss in Paris for a moment and think about the cross of Christ.

The headline struck me, not because of some mystical feeling that a physical cross remained, but the reality of the message behind the cross. On Sunday evening we looked at the beginning of 1 Corinthans 3. 1 Corinthians 3:2 states, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

I wonder if we are content in 21stcentury America with the simple message of Jesus Christ and him crucified. If you have not listened to the message from Sunday evening, I encourage you to do so. I think we are often discontent. Jesus is not enough. We want more. We are conditioned to want bells and whistles and all sorts of add-ons to our faith instead of the simple good news that Jesus died, He was buried, and He rose again. Is that not the message of the Gospel? Is that not the message of Easter? Is that not what we want others to know?

I pray that God helps all of us to be content with the means of grace that God has given us for our good and for our growth in Christ. God has given us the reading and the preaching of His Word, the Sacraments, and Prayer. Are these enough for you? Are you growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?

The cross still stands! That is more than an ethereal or emotional saying or phrase or thought after a physical tragedy. The cross still stands is a message that we ought to be remembering not just this week as the world might pause for a moment to think of what happened on the cross, but it is a message that we can share and embrace each day, each week, as we grow as we worship as we fellowship.

The world changes. Kingdoms rise and fall. Values and standards blow carelessly with the wind. The message of the cross stands forever and the kingdom of God is expanding and God is sovereign.

Hebrews 12:28, 29, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”