The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.5)

(Pt.5)

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.”-Revelation 3:1 

I have often thought that if I had not been a pastor I may have been a funeral home director. Caring for the deceased and their families is a noble profession. One aspect of the job, however, that is not very glamorous is preparing the body for burial. A body goes through the process of embalming. 

A very simplified explanation of the embalming process is that the blood is removed from the body and chemicals are injected to slow decomposition. In essence, we are trying to make something dead look as alive as possible. This process allows for family and friends to pay their respects and properly grieve the loss of their loved one. 

This caused me to think about a dilemma facing many churches today. Jesus recognized that there are churches that have a reputation of being alive, but are dead. How does a church look alive, but be dead inside. They embalm themselves. I found in my studies that there are three reasons for embalming:

Sanitation 

Presentation 

Preservation 

An embalmed church has determined to sanitize its message. They do this by removing virtually every semblance of the blood and brutality of the cross and replace it with programs, activities and acts of compassion. Their goal is to be more presentable to the community, to become a place where people never feel uncomfortable, where they can come and experience the love of Christ without any conviction. A place where they are not subjected to seeing the bloody price that was paid because of their own sinful choices. It is an attempt to make the church more palatable for generations to come by preserving their way of life and their place in the culture. 

You ask, can a church survive very long like that? The answer to that question should be obvious. However, in my research I found that a person who is embalmed correctly will still be recognizable 50, 60, to 70 years later. They are simply a shell, but they are recognizable. Jesus said that Sardis looked alive, but was really dead inside. An embalmed church that is emptied of the blood can be dead inside, but still resemble a church for many years. 

However, in these last days, God is not looking for an embalmed church. He is coming back for a blood-bought, blood washed church that has embraced the blood stained cross of Christ.

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.4)

(Pt.4)

“12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”-Ephesians 2:12-13

We started talking a few weeks ago about two emblems that point to the very crux of our faith that have slowly been sanitized from the western church as well as the lives of many Christians: the cross of Christ and the blood of Jesus. Last week we finished focusing on the cross, this week we want to focus on the blood. 

I find the timing of these messages uncanny, just coming off the heels of Halloween. The celebration of Halloween has its origins in the Celtic festival Samhain. It was one of the most important festivals on the Celtic calendar. According to scholars, it was believed that during this time of year the world of the gods was made visible to humankind.  Ghosts of the dead and spirits from the underworld were thought to return to the earth to wreak havoc on their mortal worshippers. It was a festival aligned with danger and charged with fear. Sacrifices of every kind were thought to be vital, for without them the Celts believed they could not prevail over these dark forces. Why the history lesson? Halloween, back in those days, wasn’t the celebration that we see today. It wasn’t a holiday built around candy, games, and costumes. It was a time of real fear, blood and sacrifice. 

You see if you take the blood and gore out Halloween it looks fundamentally different from what it had been. In large part, our culture has successfully sanitized Halloween. Celtics would look at today’s Halloween celebrations and still see some aspects of its traditions in play like jack-o-lanterns and scary costumes. However, overall, it has been so watered down that it gives off only a faint impression of the original.

Same could be said about the church today. You take the blood out and it fundamentally changes the message, the mission and the eternal destinations of millions of souls. Many are trying to preach a sanitized message that is devoid of the blood and because of this we are beginning to see a watered down Christianity emerge that looks nothing like the original. 

We sing a lot about Jesus, but sing little about the blood of Christ. We talk about His love for us, but avoid discussions regarding the brutality of the cross. We have sanitized our faith, by removing the blood from our message. 

But here is an important truth: Humans can't live without blood. Without blood, the body's organs couldn't get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive, we couldn't fight infections, or get rid of our own waste products. Without blood we die. Both physically and spiritually. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.3)

(Pt.3)

“24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”-Matthew 16:24-26 

Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” The problem is we’ve made the cross we carry look more like artwork rather than an instrument of death. We’ve bought into the lie that Jesus did all the dying that needed to be done. We’ve so sanitized the cross that we don’t even see dying to ourselves as being necessary. 

We thought Christianity was about finding a place to sit at the foot of the cross, but can I remind you it was the soldier’s that sat at the foot of the cross playing games, while Jesus died:

“35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.”

Truth is, we are not truly following Christ until we pick our cross and follow Him.”-Matthew 27:35-36

Jesus warned us that following Him meant we’d have to carry our cross daily. It’s an honor, not an obligation. Simon carried the cross out of obligation, but we get the honor of carrying it. 

How important is the message of the cross? The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2: 

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 

The Apostle Paul embraced the cross. He didn’t shy away from it. Why? Because when people encounter the brutality of the cross they recognize the true love of God. Remember Simon’s two sons? Ever wonder how the events that unfolded that day affected them? They not only witnessed their father being forced to carry another man’s cross to Calvary, they likely witnessed Jesus’ death. 

 It is interesting that Mark Ch. 15 mentions Simon’s two sons, Rufus and Alexander, by name. Why? The most obvious answer is that they were both eyewitnesses to the event. Each of them could validate the authenticity of Mark’s story. 

However, historians and scholars also believe that he mentions them, as well, because they were known to the early church. It is believed that these young men’s encounter with Jesus that day transformed their lives. Historical evidence points to Rufus and Simon’s wife as being very involved in the early church’s development. All because of an encounter with a blood stained cross. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.2)

 (Pt.2)

“Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.”-Matthew 27:32 

According to Mark 15, Simon had come to Jerusalem with two sons, Rufus and Alexander, we’ll talk more about them later. Jerusalem, at that time, was filled with people who had made their way to the city to celebrate the Passover. Most likely, that is why Simon and his family were there as well. 

The crowds were gathering as Jesus made His way through the cobblestone streets. I am sure, out of curiosity, Simon and his sons moved in closer to see what the commotion was all about. When suddenly a man beaten beyond recognition drops to the ground in front of Simon. At this point Jesus had been beaten with whip so severely He was unrecognizable, had parts of his beard ripped out and and a crown of thorns seated on his brow. It was a gruesome scene. Suddenly the soldiers grabbed Simon and forced him to pick up that blood stained cross, follow Jesus, and carry it the rest of the way to Golgatha. Simon hadn’t signed up for this. It was thrust on him. He had come to celebrate Passover with his family. He was not anticipating a messy crucifixion, nor expecting to bear the weight of a bloody stained cross on his shoulder.

What if your first introduction to Jesus was when you took up the blood stained cross He was carrying and followed Him to His crucifixion?  

We all have origin stories. Stories of when we first met Christ. But, none of us have an origin story like Simon. Could you imagine sitting around with other believers having that discussion. One might say, “I first met Jesus on a hillside in Capernaum and heard him teach about loving our enemies.”, or  “I was in Gadera when I first met Him and saw him restore sanity to a man filled with a thousand demons,” or “I first met Jesus on the road to Jericho and saw him restore sight to a blind man.” What about you Simon? “I met Jesus on the road to Golgatha when I was forced to pick up his blood stained cross and carry it to his death.”

I can only imagine what it felt must have felt like to kneel down next to Christ and take up the cross that He had been carrying. Talk about being forced out of your comfort zone. I am sure Simon was shocked and more than a little caught off guard. He had no idea that he would have to carry the cross that day. Nor did he realize how the man who he knelt beside would transform his life. 

Here is the problem, some Christians today are just as shocked as Simon by the cross they’ve been asked to pick up and carry. 

“24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”-Matthew 16:24-26 

Simon was the physical embodiment of these words Jesus spoke: “Take up your cross and follow me”. In the same way, Jesus has called us to take up our cross and follow Him. However, the cross we bear is not carried out of obligation, but rather out of honor. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Cross, the Blood, and You! (Pt.1)

 (Pt.1)

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.”-Matthew 27:32-35

I want to spend the next few weeks speaking about a couple facets of our faith that seem to be disappearing from the Christian landscape. I am talking about the cross of Christ and the blood of Jesus. 

Recently my wife and I went on vacation and on each of the planes we boarded was a little sign that read “Sanitized for your protection”. The goal, I assume, was to ease the conscience of those entering the plane that they would not be subjected to anything harmful. Regrettably, it seems like some in the church have tried to do the very same thing when it comes to the cross of Christ. They’ve tried to sanitize it for the protection of others. They have buffed out the bloodiness of the cross to ease the conscience of those being seated in the worship service. 

Let’s be honest, the crosses we have hanging in our churches today are cleaned up versions of a bloody original. They have been scrubbed clean of the blood to make them more attractive and tragically, in many churches, their preaching of the cross has been too. I would contend with you, that if the cross we preach resembles the one hanging behind our pulpits more than the one Jesus died on; then we are not preaching Christ and Him crucified. We are preaching a dignified Christianity devoid of the power to save and transform the souls of mankind! 

Are we trying to make the cross more attractive? Do we really believe that a sanitized cross will be more appealing to unbelievers? Are we truly convinced that the imagery of a blood stained cross bothers that many people? It’s funny that we try so hard to scrub the brutality of the cross from our symbols and sermons in an effort to protect the delicate egos of others, when in reality we live in a society that spends hundreds of millions of dollars on scary films that glorify blood, gore, and murder. Think about this, the movie Halloween Kills, that was just recently released, earned over 50 million dollars in its opening weekend. 

Obviously, the world isn’t unsettled by the imagery of Christ’s death. They are not disturbed by the blood, gore and brutality of the cross. They are, however, put off by a church that is unwilling to embrace the savagery of the cross. A church that is trying to soft pedal the gospel in a time where people need a Savior that was willing to face the brutality of crucifixion to save their souls. 

When we sanitize the message of the cross, the lost don’t get found. Humanity is remains destined to die in their sins. People need to have a life altering encounter with Jesus and the cross. That brings us to this man in Matthew Ch. 27. His name was Simon of Cyrene. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Narrow Way (Pt.2)

(Pt. 2)

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”-Matthew 7:13-14

As we learned last week, the gate is narrow in the sense that there is a particular requirement for entrance and that is faith in Christ. In comparison: “The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.”-Matthew 7:13

One commentator explained it this way: “The wide gate is non-exclusive; it allows for human effort and all other world religions to travel on it.” 

There is a push in our culture to accept all forms of belief and religion as being equal in all ways. This inclusiveness is being passed off as being morally transcendent and enlightened beyond that of scripture. To oppose the idea makes you narrow minded and bigoted. What could be more enlightened than a road that is non-exclusive and includes everyone? Seems like utopia, except for the lack of honesty regarding the destination. Those who promote this approach tend to romanticize the journey and emphasize what it is like to be on that road together, but fail to fully express what is at the end of that road. One version of this passage reads “and broad is the gate that leads to destruction.” Hell is the clear destination. 

Scripture is clear that there are but two eternal destinations for mankind: Heaven or Hell. Eternally with Jesus or eternally separated from Him. Satan has worked tirelessly to try and convince mankind that a life without Jesus is far better than a life with Him. Simply put, Satan doesn’t need you to embrace Hell, he simply needs you to reject Jesus. Rejecting Jesus keeps you off the narrow path that leads to God. It keeps you on the default road to hell. All lanes on the broad road have the same eternal destination. Satan doesn’t care what lane you occupy on the broad road. You can practice Atheism, Islam, Buddhism, New Age, Scientology; it doesn’t matter. According to God’s Holy Word any road that does not lead us to faith in Christ leads to destruction. 

You can switch lanes, find enlightenment, abandon religion, worship Satan, or live completely secular and Satan will not fight you. It is only when you realize that Jesus is the only way and move off the highway that leads to destruction to the narrow road that the battle begins. 

Jesus says that the narrow gate leads to a hard road, one that will take us through hardships and difficult decisions. A road on which we must learn to crucify our flesh, endure trials, and live a lifestyle separate from the world (Galatians 2:20, James 1:2-3, Romans 12:1-2). 

When faced with the choice between a narrow, difficult road and a wide, paved highway, most people choose the easier path. Human nature gravitates toward comfort and pleasure. When faced with the reality of denying themselves to follow Jesus, most people turn away 

Jesus, though, never romanticized the journey. He counseled us to count the cost. He told us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He said that to follow Him would be to fellowship in His suffering. That is why only a few find it. Jesus never promised that the road would not be difficult, He promised that the destination would be worth it. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The Narrow Way (Pt.1)

 (Pt.1)

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”-Matthew 7:13-14

Somewhere along the way, it seems this passage was set aside and rather than hell being the default destination of all mankind (that is without some kind of divine intervention); society, however, has attempted to replace hell with heaven as the default destination for everyone, unless of course they are especially wicked and only then are they reserved a place in hell. 

Christians, who disagree, are often accused of being narrow minded because of their unwillingness to bend on the idea that there are no other way of obtaining heaven beyond accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. We are bombarded with arguments designed to cast doubt on the idea that God would choose a single or narrow access point for entering His kingdom. These arguments are designed to make us think that God’s loving nature would never allow such a narrow approach. 

Arguments like, how could a loving God send people to a place of such anguish and suffering? Or how could God send someone to hell when they had done so much good while here on earth? Or how about the question regarding muslims, atheists and buddhist that are all kind individuals, many who do good works in our society, are they condemned to hell simply because they have not received Jesus as their Savior? 

Jesus, however, made it very clear that access to the Kingdom of God is restricted to a single gate. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate.”-Matthew 7:13

Jesus validated this statement on other occasions like in John 14:5-6: “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

He elaborates even more in John 10:1-9: “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.”

It was a truth that the early disciples understood plainly. Peter and John declared before the religious leaders of their day:

For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”-Acts 4:11-12

Later the Apostle Paul when writing to the believers in Rome the way to be saved wrote: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”-Romans 10:9

Jesus nor the early disciples ever alluded to another way to make heaven apart from placing our faith in Jesus Christ. The gate is narrow in the sense that there is a particular requirement for entrance and that is faith in Christ. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church