The Call to Carry the Cross

Good morning Strat. Again, good morning. It is great to be with you here on this palm Sunday weekend which historically marks the beginning of the passion week which will culminate next weekend as we gather together to celebrate Easter to celebrate our resurrected Lord. Yet we can clap for the access.

Pretty awesome. If you are guest with us this morning were really glad that you're here and I hope that you will come and join us next week. If you regularly attend the summit church that I want to make sure you are ready and prepared to come next week was someone with you invite someone to come with you. I know Pastor JD is really excited about the message that God is laid on his heart to share with us on next weekend as we celebrate the resurrected Lord as we worship through baptism and see the ordinances displayed there as there were very very excited about that. So I hope that you will come back. My name is will to Buren. One of the pastors here work with the discipleship ministries is a great privilege just to share with you in and open up God's word with you this morning.

Let me begin by asking your acknowledging if I would mention the names Lonnie Baltimore, Justice Cunningham, Chandler Harnish, Chito Super Glue and Tim tune. I doubt many of you would have any idea of who I was talking about the fact I hadn't heard of these guys either until doing a little research this week and recognized that these guys have the illustrious honor of being Mr. irrelevant, which is a title given to the last player picked every year in the NFL draft. There are 254 pigs every year and this guy is number 254, and then make a pretty big deal out of this. Now they have a jersey with 254 on the back of it, this is Mr. irrelevant.

They give Hillman he's married his family in our trip to California and they even give them a trophy that you know that the best player in college football.

Every year is given what the Heisman Trophy right will Mr. irrelevant is been given the low salmon trophy and it looks a little bit something like this appear, you'll see the Heisman Trophy would look so cool this guy stiff arming somebody get ready score a touchdown. The low salmon trophy is a guy who is fumbling you know the football. Not exactly a picture of a trip you want to put up on your mantle. Now for those of you just aren't into sports, and following the NFL draft.

Mr. irrelevant might be like Amanda below Brittany, Michelle, Cara, Nicole and Regan who failed to get arose from Chris on the first episode of the most recent season of the bachelor.

So I recognize I might have to turn my main card for even mentioning the bachelor of here, but if I'm press on it. I'm just gonna say JD told me that so in all seriousness, sometimes when reading the Bible, we come across the names of people who are briefly mentioned and we just move on without giving it a lot of thought.

We think of them a bit like how we might think of Mr. irrelevant will this weekend were going to look at two men.

Simon us Irene and Joseph of Arimathea who both play a part in the crucifixion, narrative, and perhaps you've not spent a great deal of time thinking about them yet through their lives. We see a picture painted for us of what it means and what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ. So much it to invite you to turn me in your Bibles this morning to Mark chapter 15 in order to start reading and more in verse 16, but after turning their let me remind you of one of the most penetrating statements that Jesus ever made regarding what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Just a few chapters before Mark 15 and Mark chapter 8 Jesus is sitting down with his disciples and is telling them everything that is getting ready to happen.

He's telling them that he's getting ready to suffer many things is telling them that he's getting ready to die and be buried in that on the third day he would rise again and as he's doing this, Peter. We all know has a propensity for sticking his foot in his mouth literally gets up pulls Jesus aside and begins rebuking Jesus of all things in Jesus looks at him and he says get behind me Satan not want to Peter's better moments, but then we see Jesus saying something that just penetrates us when we think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Because Jesus says this to all of his disciples.

If anyone would come after me, you must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me forever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will save it in Mark 15, we find two men, we don't know a lot about him, but both help paint a picture of what Jesus is talking about here. Both help us understand a little bit more fully what it means for us to deny ourselves, to take up our crosses and follow him.

So let's look starting in verse 16 of Mark chapter 15 where the Scripture says in the soldiers led him astray or away inside the palace, that is the governor's headquarters and they called together the whole battalion and they close him in a purple cloak in trust and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him and they began to salute him. Hail, King of the Jews and they were striking his head with a read and spitting on him, and kneeling down in homage to him and when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him and they let him out to crucify him and they were compelled they compelled to passerby Simon of Cyrene was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to carry his cross, and they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of the school. Let me stop there and say that Mark tells us more about Simon us Irene than any of the other gospel writers do and all Mark really tells us for certain is two things. First that Simon is from us.

Irene's Irene was a Greek colony in North Africa Libya and so Simon, who was a Jew had likely made his way to Jerusalem during the Passover feast to celebrate the Passover.

He's made his way there and he wants to come and celebrate that which God had done in delivering the people out of the bondage of Egypt and began taking them into the promised land. So Simon is up Sirena from siring but the second thing we learned about Simon this is Eddie has two sons sons by the name of Alexander and Rufus so we have to ask ourselves the question because when we look at him again in the grand scheme of things this might seem pretty irrelevant. So why does Mark put Alexander in Rufus's name in the Scripture well you need to know that the gospel of Mark was written several years after the accounts that are taking place. So by this time Rufus and Alexander were now Christians and we know that because we see their names. Other places in Scripture.

Like in Romans chapter 16, where Paul acknowledges Rufus and since his greetings to Rufus and he acknowledges even Rufus's mother was like a mother to Paul.

He's acknowledging these guys are now believers and so Mark is putting their names in there to say listen if you want confidence in what I'm telling you, if you want confidence in the story. Think oh ask for yourself Alexander and Rufus, and they're gonna give the same account.

There gonna tell you that it was their father, who carried the cross of Christ so marks putting their names in there to give us confidence that these events that were reading here in Mark 15 actually happened and there were eyewitnesses to it. Let's keep reading in verse 33 and when the six hour had come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, LOI, LOI, llama, Suboxone. He which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken me in some of the bystanders hearing it said, behold, he is calling Elijah and someone ran filled a sponge with sour wine, put on a read and gave it to him to drink, saying wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. Verse 42, and when evening had come. Since it was the day of preparation. That is the day before the Sabbath.

Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council who is also himself looking for the kingdom of God took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should've already died in summoning the centurion. He asked him whether he was already dead and when he learned from the centurion that he was dead.

He granted the courts to Joseph and Joseph bought a linen shroud and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock, and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Josephus saw where he was laid but here's what we learn about Joseph of Arimathea we don't learn a whole lot more. But we know that he was a prominent member of the ruling party. He was a prominent member of the sound Sanhedrin and thus was extremely influential in society.

He had power and clout and would've been a respected man in the community.

We also know that he was wealthy because he had a tomb that nobody had ever been laid and that was hewn out of the rock, which we know fulfills the prophecy in the Old Testament that says the Messiah would be buried amongst the rich beyond this. All we really know is that we find a humble man identifying with Christ but who up until this point. According to John and his gospel tells us that open to this point he had been pretty secret about his faith.

So here we have two men don't know a lot about them, but both play a role in the events surrounding the crucifixion of our Lord one carries the cross.

One takes the body of our Lord, down from the cross and places them in the tomb that he owns and what were going to find this morning is that both men help us fully understand Jesus's command to us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.

So here's what I'd like to do for the next few minutes I want to share with you three valuable lessons that we learn about taking up our cross from the lives of these two men. The first is this if you got a pen and paper and I want you to write these down. The first is this before you can carry the cross you have to first embrace the cross before you can carry the cross, you first have to embrace the cross. Listen, you can't carry something that you have it first picked up no Mark clearly tells us when Simon is standing there that Simon is a passerby and Simon is literally the Scripture says, compelled to pick up the cross of Christ. In other words, the Roman authorities forced Simon to pick up the cross of Christ. If the Roman authorities told you to do something and you follow through with it. You didn't really have a choice in the matter. So let me be abundantly clear at this point, when we when we look at Simon. The only things we know are that he is from siring and that he has two sons us. The only things we know for certain, right we don't know candidly whether or not Simon ever gave his life to Christ. We like to think that upon picking up the cross of Christ in carrying it for him and seeing the events that were going to unfold that Simon definitively gave his life to Christ and it's likely that he did because we know that his wife responded. We know that his children were believers and so it's likely that Simon did. But the Scripture Kinley just doesn't tell us that we can be confident in that other than just pure conjecture at this point. So I say that to say this lesson, we are never forced to embrace the cross of Christ and become a follower of Jesus.

No person is ever forced to do that. But let me be abundantly clear we are all pressed into making a decision as to whether or not we are going to embrace the cross.

Every one of us here has that decision to make because we've just heard the links through which God has gone to demonstrate his love for us right, God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ what church died for us and we read this. We see this in the account that I just read.

We read of the physical torment that Jesus went through.

We read of the fact that he had the crown of thorns placement said, we see that his body was scourged. We know that he was flock which meant he had 39 lashes across his back and his legs, upon which flesh was ripped off of him. We know that he was forced to carry across to the point of physical physical exhaustion point, he couldn't carry it anymore and someone had to be compelled to carry it for him. We know that he had nails driven into his hands and feet.

We know that he physically endured on that cross for six hours pressing his broken body up and down on that cross just so he could get breath into his lungs. We know that he suffered physically. We know that he suffered emotionally. We know that those who would walk most closely with them and now abandoned them. They were fearing for their own lives. We watched and see how the Roman authorities to mock him and were now crying out and saying to him, hail, King of the Jews, we see how they took his own clothes off and put a purple robe on him just to mock him and how they took that robot and again put his clothes back on and made him carry the cross we watched as they get into his face into one of the most disrespectful things I think any human being can do to another and that is to literally get into the face of Christ and spit on him to spit on him, we see the physical and emotional torment that he went through, but I want to say to you, I want to remind us all that the physical and emotional had was nothing in comparison to the cosmic pain that Jesus felt when in that moment God poured holy hell upon him. When God unleashed his wrath when God unleashed his judgment. When God unleashed his condemnation not on you and me, but upon Christ and in that moment, our Lord and Savior, who is dying on our behalf cries out my God my God why have you forsaken me.

So you see we are all brought face-to-face with the cross were all brought face-to-face with what Christ has done and now we have to decide whether or not working, embrace it, we have to ask ourselves, and I can embrace the one who has done everything necessary to save me and I know I know that there are people here who are gathered in your saying to me will I just don't know if I can do it.

I don't know if I can embrace the cross because I have so many other questions in your wrestling with these questions you have questions about some of the hard teachings of Jesus.

You can't, perhaps quite get your mind around what the Bible has to say about creation or miracles or the Holy Spirit you have questions about what the Bible teaches about sexual ethics in marriage, not to mention the doctrine of hell, or how a benevolent good and loving God could even allow for such a place you've got really good questions and I mean good question, but here's my encouragement to you as good as those questions are, don't let that be the starting point for you. Let the starting point be did Jesus do these things is he who he says he was did he die on the cross was he placed in the ground and did he rise from the grave forever defeating sin and death.

Because here's the thing.

If he has done that which is which is meeting your most fundamental need of being reconciled to a holy God if he has done that he can be trusted in everything. One of these other things. So we we wrestle with that.

First we let that be the first question that were wrestling with so did he do these things and if so are you willing to embrace it and that leads me to the second lesson that I think we'd arrived this morning and that is this embracing the cross demands that we lay everything else down embracing the cross demands that we lay everything else down. Both men paint a picture of this and help us see this one physically and the other spiritually only look at Simon. We recognize he was, shoved in the service by the Roman guards and the implication would've been that he literally had to lay anything that he had with them down. Don't know if he was carrying anything, but he traveled a long distance, and he was a passerby so he shoved in the service and it would've meant to embrace this crossbar meant that he would've had to lay everything down but what about Joseph of Arimathea, in verse 43, Mark tells us that Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for the body of Christ I might seem pretty innocuous but when you really stop and think about is actually very significant for Joseph of Arimathea to identify with Christ in this way meant a willingness to lay down everything in his life. Remember, he had power. He had prestige. She had wealthy had tremendous influence, and so now by coming forward to answer the body of Christ. Joseph of Arimathea was saying, I'm willing to lay all of this down. I'm going lay all that down in order to follow Christ.

In other words, he saying it's not about me it's not about my influence is not about my money. It's not about making a name for myself. I want my life to be about making famous the name of Jesus, and he laid it all down now. Thinking this week just in preparation for for our time together this weekend. I was asking myself. God, what are the things in my life that I am holding on to that are keeping me from experiencing a depth and intimacy with you. What am I clinging to what is most important to me that I need to lay down in order to to experience something far greater, which is you and it was as if God just opened my eyes to a pretty painful process of showing me really all throughout my life. How easy it is to let my pride well up into seek the approval of people and to make a name for myself and how easy that is for me and it was as if like God was, pulling back the curtain and showing me some things in my life.

In some ways that this happened in one of the things God reminded me of was was of a time when I was in college I was a swimmer at NC State and some of you right now are saying to yourself, you don't look like any swimmer I have ever known what I was a lot of years ago, so cut me a little slack. Current but I remember very vividly one evening, my freshman year we were training over Christmas break and winning a long Christmas break got like two or three days and then we would have to be back on campus. On the 26th and we were trained while everybody else was home for two weeks two and three practices a day and we work pretty hard and I remember one evening. It was was our third practice of the day and we were doing this really difficult set and we're about two thirds of the way through the fire marshal emails working pretty hard so I'll just kinda grinding this set out in and I come into the wall and I got turned over to look at the clock, you know, because you're always constantly looking at intervals and are preparing to go on the on the next interval and when I touch the wall. My coach one of my coaches is kneeling down is kneeling down and I hit the water, startles me because he's right there and he's counted in my face and he points his finger at me and he says you are going to be quite one day I thought to myself, yes, yes I am.

I want to be great. One day I want to be remembered for the work that I'm putting in here.

I think it was a famous golfer Lee Lee Trevino, who says the older I get, the better.

I was so I recognize that I want full disclosure amongst my friends here at the summit church, full disclosure, I was never to be an Olympian. I was never going to be a national champion but the one thing that I thought I could accomplish while at NC State was had hoped that we could become ACC champions and I hope for me personally that I could get the school record in what was my best event. So when I worked towards that. I worked hard towards that one am honest, what the Lord began to reveal to me and what I'm embarrassed to admit to you some of what my motivation was for the because my motivation for that was really this I thought to myself how great it would be to walk into the Nata Taurean, NC State when you walk in, what you see see the record board right see the record board with all the events and all the times and all the people's names who own those records and I thought to myself how great would it be to walk into this place and see my name listed. How great would it be to walk in and see tears my name people to acknowledge my name has having done something good.

Now the rest of the story is I got that school record kept it for a few years and it got broken. So now it's all for nothing, but my point is simply this, it doesn't matter who you are. Every single one of us have things that we must be willing to lay down for Joseph of Arimathea it was his wealth. It was his influence is a root reputation, and the like. What is it for you. What is God saying if you want the latest laying this down is to bring you something far greater than you've ever experienced before laying this down means that you pick me up. Jane me at my right hand are pleasures for evermore see the beautiful thing and what motivates us the motivation behind us laying down everything is the fact that Jesus first laid everything down for us when we read in Philippians chapter 2 where Paul would say this is what Jesus did, though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. It amazes me church to think that there was a moment in history where Jesus Christ our Lord looked at the beautiful expanse of heaven and all that heaven is comprised of and said I am going to lay that down to calm and be born in a manger and ultimately go to the cross where the Scripture says he did all the joy set before him of bringing a people to himself that would ultimately bring glory and honor to our heavenly father we can lay it all down because he's first laid it all down for us.

Joseph of Arimathea had seen Christ lifted up and now he was willing to lay it all down. Now he could say with Paul. I count everything is lost for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He just wants to know him and the power of his resurrection and the may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death it by any means possible he may attain the resurrection of the dead listen when we truly embrace the cross.

When we embrace Christ through faith and repentance.

We are no longer slaves to this world and we are set free. Now we can say is the hymn writer would say turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of this world will grow strangely dim.

What in the light of his glory and grace. You see, Jesus said for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will save even in laying everything down. We are actually gaining you're always gaining with God even when you're laying it down because you're laying this down and you're saying God and believing you and I know at the right hand are pleasures for evermore. At your right hand there is the fullness of joy. These things are good gifts with their only intended to point me to something better.

And that is you, the giver of the gift.

Sorry for going to embrace the cross. Then we have to lay everything down which leads to my third point analysis. Fully embracing the cross leads to boldly engaging in his mission to fully embrace the cross means that we will fully and boldly courageously engage in his mission what you know something when we read Mark's account here in chapter 15. Again, we might have the tendency if we only read this account to think of Joseph of Arimathea is strong, as courageous as bold like is going to pilot right you just hours before sentenced Jesus to death. This is a pretty risky endeavor on on Joseph of Arimathea as part like Mark says that he took courage and went before Pilate will remember that John's Gospel paints a very different picture of front of Joseph of Arimathea John helps us to see that Joseph Arimathea was in fact a disciple, but only one in secret. He didn't want people to know that he was a follower of Christ because the Scripture says he was fearful why was Joseph of Arimathea fearful. Listen.

Fear is the natural response when what you value the most is threatened. Fears the natural response of what, when, what you value the most is threatened. Think about what everything Joseph of Arimathea stood to lose he stood to lose his wealth is power his prominences influences name is reputation, all those things he stood to lose so shouldn't surprise us to see that Joseph of Arimathea was fearful because what defined him was being threatened, so I want to ask us really before I go any further and and and just make this statement one of the best ways for you to understand and know where your affections lie or what's most important to you is to ask yourself this question, what are you most afraid to lose. What are you most afraid to lose another way of asking that is this what one thing what one thing if you lost it would lead you to despair.

What one thing if you lost it would lead you to think that life might just not be worth living and the answer to that question. That's where your idols are.

That's what's most important to you. That's what you worship. That's where you're setting your affections seen for Joseph of Arimathea he was fearful because he stood to lose these things but yet we find him here in Mark 15 something is different. Something has transpired. Yes, he was a believer, but now all of a sudden his courage was greater than his fear. So what happened with the crucifixion is what happened. He saw with his own eyes. Jesus on the cross he saw what Jesus had been saying now coming to fruition. And now he had seen the links which God had gone to love him and reconcile him to his heavenly father. So at some point during this course of events. Joseph of Arimathea said I'm going to step aside on the lay all this down and I'm going to go public with my faith, you see. Don't miss this summer church being convinced of what Jesus has done gives us confidence in what he will do.

Seeing what Jesus has done gives us confidence in what he will do. That's why Mark says he is looking for the kingdom and he took courage. He's looking for that he knows that this is going to come. He knows that God is going to establish his church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

He knows that nothing can frustrate the plans of God. He knows that God is going to return and establish a new heaven and a new earth, and God is gonna rain and we are to be his people and is gonna be our God and things will be as they should be and that gave him the competence of knowing I can boldly go now to to pilot because I'm confident in who what Christ is done and what he said.

He ultimately will do listen being totally convinced of this, the fear that Joseph and private was overcome with the courage that led him to go public.

I love how Pastor JD said it. Listen, God doesn't call the brave.

He makes brave the called.

As we saw in previous weeks. It was true. Gideon, it's also true Joseph Arimathea you see when we fully embrace all that Christ has done for us. He promises a season to give us everything necessary to fulfill his mission. Everything necessary to go and boldly proclaim the excellencies of him who called you and me out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Peter says it this way.

His divine power has granted to us what church all things that pertain to life and godliness. The very spirit of God that resurrected Christ from the dead is the same spirit that resides in you as to wherever you go, you can say with confidence, he is with me and I have nothing to fear.

Nothing to fear. Let me go and be bold and courageous and engage in his mission. I received an email this week from a friend who serving in central Asia. He was sharing with us an encounter that one of the men that he had been discipling had with his father as is the custom of this country it's it's normal for a son and his wife and children to live with his father and mother so this believer was having others over to his house and they were studying God's word behind closed doors, and his father happened to walk in on him and see him studying the Bible he confronted his son and he said what are you doing and he told him his son who will call John. John says to his dad.

Dad. I must confess now I am a follower of Jesus's father looked Amy said I demand right now that you denounce who you believe in, and you re-devote yourself to Islam and he said I can't do it. So I believe now that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. And I will not denounce him, at which point his father reached back and slapped him across the face and said get out take your wife take your child and get out of the house and John looked at his father and he said he said you will still you will always be my father and my mom will always be my my mother and I will always love you as father looked at him and said you're no longer my son John said to his dad. He said that the one thing I would ask of you is not to share this with others, not because of what it means to me personally because what it might mean to the lives of those who gathered in that room with me and John's father looked at him and he said don't worry I won't tell anyone because I would be ashamed for anyone to know that a son of mine is done such a terrible thing you see.

Fully embracing the cross means boldly engaging in his mission and boldly engaging in his mission. We are confident that God is going to give us everything that we need to fulfill all that he is calling us to do, whether it be in a situation like John was experiencing or whether it be in a situation that you are experiencing. Don't miss this. Listen while Jesus's work is finished. It is not yet complete. Each of us must constantly pick up the cross and follow him, and for each person. This is going to look different for Joseph. It meant taking the bold step and asking for the body of Christ. What is that bold step for you.

What is that bold step for you to close our time this morning by just asking that one fundamental question what step is God leading you to take today what one step busy leading you to take for some of you that step is the realization that there you are holding on to things that you need to let go of for you that one step is asking God what is that one thing that I'm so afraid to lose that one step for you is to say, God, this is where my affections have been and I'm going to lay this down so that I may embrace you in the fullness of joy that you are no longer let these things to find me but I'm to let the fact that I am a son and daughter of the most high God bears the image of Christ. Now be my identity. What is God leading you to lay down for others of you that one step today means taking a bold step. It means doing something that is bold and courageous because you're confident that God is with you and you will never leave you nose carrying the cross sometimes begins with small and seemingly insignificant acts of faithfulness for some of you it might just mean asking someone to come to Easter services with you next weekend recognizing that your invitation may change their eternal destiny brothers view it might mean saying you know what, I'm a follower of Christ dying to go public, to go public by being baptized, and identify with the body of Christ proclaim to this church that I have trusted Christ for others of you. It might mean breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend you know is it walking with God brothers view it might mean saying no to a job because that jobs can lead you to do lead you to not be able to spend time with your family fulfill the mission God is called you to in your home. Brothers view it might mean joining a small group or joining the church are engaging on a mission trip.

What small and maybe seemingly insignificant act of faith is God leading you today today still for others of you that one step that one step for you today is going to be for the very first time acknowledge that you are a sinner and that Jesus has done everything necessary to sing that first step for you is just a confess with your mouth and believe that Jesus is Lord and know full well that when you do you will say you join me in prayer that I was simply asking these moments just a few moments of quiet reflection God that you would make it abundantly clear to us. What are the things God that we must lay down one of the things that we are so afraid to Scott from experiencing the fullness of joy that you promised help us to see God.

If we try to save our lives. Try to find our identity here were losing if we will lay down our lives, we gain Christ, he is our reward. Would you help us see those one small seemingly insignificant acts of faith that they think you're leading us to commit ourselves a fresh and new to that day God for those who need to trust you for the very first time this morning. I pray I pray that they would just pray. A simple prayer like this. I recognize that I am a sinner and that my sin is against you, a holy God. But I believe that Jesus has come, was crucified, buried and resurrected and done everything necessary to save, so I trust you with my life and I lay it all down to follow Christ that would you do these things in your people that we might leave here changed my leave here God passionately intimately walking with you, what you doing