1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,220 I don't know what the date is, but undoubtedly in the heart of every one of us there is a 2 00:00:08,220 --> 00:00:11,300 date that we remember. 3 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:17,020 We know what happened, we know where we were, we know what we were wearing, and we know 4 00:00:17,020 --> 00:00:23,160 lots of details about it because something happened that was so traumatic we can never 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,280 forget it. 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:33,200 Maybe it was the assassination of John Kennedy or Martin Luther King or John Lennon. 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:39,720 Perhaps it was a loved one or a close friend. 8 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:45,200 There are some events that are so traumatic, so emotionally shocking, that they leave psychic 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:51,760 effects in our lives for as long as we live on the earth. 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:58,280 During the crucifixion of Jesus Christ were thousands of people. 11 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:05,640 While most may have been unaware of the fast moving circumstances that took place in the 12 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:16,000 night time leading to his execution, everyone in Jerusalem eventually was left with this 13 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:22,660 day being marked on their lives forever. 14 00:01:22,660 --> 00:01:28,080 Just three days later two men were walking from Jerusalem toward their home when a stranger 15 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,120 came to walk beside them. 16 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:37,240 He inquired what was on their minds and they responded by saying, are you only a visitor 17 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,920 to Jerusalem? 18 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:45,520 And do not know the things that have happened there in these days? 19 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:56,000 You see the whole city became wrapped up in this event that took place 2000 years ago. 20 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,920 The series that we're going to focus on on these Sundays before Easter will deal with 21 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,320 a few of those people who are in the periphery of the cross. 22 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:14,240 These individuals, most of whom were not followers of Jesus before that day, experienced life 23 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,720 change as a result of the cross. 24 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:22,760 I invite you to open your Bible with me to the New Testament and the Gospel of Mark to 25 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:29,400 the fifteenth chapter where I begin reading in verse 21. 26 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,960 Mark 15, verse 21. 27 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:39,620 And a certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing 28 00:02:39,620 --> 00:02:49,280 by on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross. 29 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:58,560 In the course of life's journey, the cross may intersect your life with results that 30 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,820 will change you. 31 00:03:01,820 --> 00:03:06,900 Consider for example Simon of Cyrene. 32 00:03:06,900 --> 00:03:12,440 Every Jew who had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire of that day in what was called 33 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:18,040 the Diaspora had a lifelong dream. 34 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:27,720 That dream was to one day go on a pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem, to be there in the 35 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,260 holy city for the Passover season. 36 00:03:32,260 --> 00:03:38,240 It was for most of them a religious journey and also a personal holiday. 37 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,240 It was a festive occasion. 38 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,040 It was expensive. 39 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,360 It was time consuming. 40 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,920 It required planning and so there was a lot of anticipation of this time when one would 41 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:56,920 finally be able to go to Jerusalem. 42 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,680 Simon lived in the city of Cyrene. 43 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:06,000 It was an old Greek settlement on the northern coast of Africa in what was called in that 44 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:11,600 day and still is called today Libya. 45 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:19,200 Cyrene was a prosperous city of trade and commerce and it had a large Jewish population. 46 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:25,640 Although Simon was from Africa, it is unlikely that he was an African black. 47 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:33,400 His name suggests to us that Simon was a transplanted Jew who may have been part of that commercial 48 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:38,840 center of Cyrene. 49 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:46,600 Perhaps he booked passage on a ship from Cyrene to Joppa or to Caesarea. 50 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:52,440 He joined himself to a caravan of camels and horses that went across the top of northern 51 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,920 Africa and Egypt over to the land of Palestine. 52 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:04,480 But eventually, like thousands of other visitors to Jerusalem in that season, he probably had 53 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:10,200 to stay in the fields or the vineyards around the city. 54 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,280 There were a few inns in Jerusalem. 55 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:20,000 They were not places where respectable people tended to stay. 56 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:26,640 Nonetheless, they were quickly filled up when this season of the year arrived. 57 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:31,880 So camps were set up all around the city to care for the literally tens of thousands of 58 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:38,360 people who would come from all over the Roman Empire for the Passover. 59 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:47,120 In that throng somewhere around the city of Jerusalem was Simon and with him his two sons, 60 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:53,840 Rufus and Alexander, and probably Mrs. Simon. 61 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:59,520 His wife was likely along with them. 62 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:07,080 Alexander and Rufus are named by Mark for a reason most commentators think. 63 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:15,160 It is a suggestion to us that these two boys became well known in the Christian community. 64 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:24,120 Mark wrote his gospel probably to Christians who were in Rome. 65 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:30,160 The story is that Peter preached in Rome and the Christians there desired someone to set 66 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:36,240 down for them in order the events of Jesus' life. 67 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:43,920 Mark, John Mark being associated with both Paul and Barnabas and Peter eventually, was 68 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:49,360 asked to take upon himself that assignment of writing this gospel. 69 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:57,240 And so sometime between 67 AD and 70 AD he set down and penned the sixteen chapters in 70 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,600 the gospel of Mark. 71 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:07,400 He mentions Rufus and Alexander specifically probably because the Christians in Rome knew 72 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,400 them. 73 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:17,080 If so, this ties together with why Paul in the sixteenth chapter of Romans writing to 74 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,400 the same people says to them, 75 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:26,920 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother in mine. 76 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,360 And so Rufus is named, assuming it is the same Rufus, he is named again by the Apostle 77 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,320 Paul and is living in Rome. 78 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:41,640 Paul sends him greetings, chosen in the Lord, and also greets his mother who apparently 79 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,960 had had a special ministry in the life of the Apostle Paul as he calls her not only 80 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,760 Rufus' mother but his own. 81 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,480 Then the question might be asked, well why isn't Simon also mentioned if this is that 82 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,600 Rufus? 83 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,720 And the answer is that he may have died by this time. 84 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:09,480 Mark is writing some thirty years later and so was Paul and so Simon may well have died 85 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,620 after the events that we read about in this chapter. 86 00:08:13,620 --> 00:08:15,440 And why isn't Alexander mentioned? 87 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:21,120 Well it's possible again that he may have died and it's possible that he was buried 88 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,680 in the city of Jerusalem. 89 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:30,740 In 1941 an article written by archaeologists who were digging in Palestine recorded uncovering 90 00:08:30,740 --> 00:08:35,640 a cave on the southwest side of the valley of Kidron. 91 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:41,200 The valley is on the east of Jerusalem and comes around to the south. 92 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:49,200 And the cave was marked as a burial place for Jews from Cyrene. 93 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:54,760 And so it seems that there were particular plots set aside in Jerusalem for Jews who 94 00:08:54,760 --> 00:09:01,840 died in the city from various parts of the Roman Empire and here was a cave for the bodies 95 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,000 of those who were from Cyrene. 96 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,200 And in that cave they found an ossuary. 97 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,000 They say, well what is that? 98 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,520 It is a bone box to put it simply. 99 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:19,520 It is a box made out of limestone or some other kind of stone that can be carved. 100 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:24,720 And in that box are placed the bones of people. 101 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:34,360 And they found an ossuary there that twice had written on it in Greek, Alexander the 102 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,680 son of Simon. 103 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:45,080 And so we think that Alexander died and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, his father 104 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,600 also probably having died in some course. 105 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:55,720 And now Mark as he writes to the believers in Rome reminds them that this is the Simon 106 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:03,000 who was the father of both Alexander and Rufus. 107 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,040 Well the morning came for the Passover. 108 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,920 The custom was to have prayers in the temple about nine o'clock and so the pilgrims that 109 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:19,120 were camped outside of the city came streaming in to Jerusalem through the gates in order 110 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:24,800 to be in the temple area when the prayers were said at nine o'clock. 111 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,300 But this was a different morning than any morning that had ever occurred before in any 112 00:10:29,300 --> 00:10:34,000 Passover. 113 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:40,160 As Simon and some of the pilgrims were coming into the city gate, coming out the gate was 114 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,040 a procession of Roman soldiers. 115 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:50,120 There was a crowd, a mob behind them crying, crucify him. 116 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:55,560 There was a group of women from Jerusalem following along weeping and there in the midst 117 00:10:55,560 --> 00:11:03,200 of the soldiers were three criminals, each of them bearing his cross. 118 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,260 The cross that was born was what was called a patibulum. 119 00:11:06,260 --> 00:11:09,000 It was that cross piece. 120 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:15,160 Only the stake was left in place at the place of execution. 121 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:21,240 It was left in the ground and only the cross beam, the patibulum, was born by the one to 122 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:22,240 be executed. 123 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,200 And it was born for a reason. 124 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:32,680 The soldiers wanted to humiliate the condemned criminal so that from the place of judgment 125 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:38,640 to the place outside the city where he was to be executed, he had to carry his own patibulum 126 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,720 on his shoulders. 127 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:51,680 Jesus had been through a night without rest, passed from one false trial to another mockery 128 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:53,760 of a trial. 129 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,160 He was beaten. 130 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,600 He was mocked. 131 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:04,840 He was cruelly scourged so that when one looked at him one could hardly tell that this was 132 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,880 a human being. 133 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:14,200 Tremendous emaciation in his body, his loss of blood to this point caused him to be able 134 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:20,160 to carry his patibulum from the praetorium where he had been judged through the city 135 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:26,200 streets out to the city gate where apparently he must have stumbled, though the text doesn't 136 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,880 specifically say that. 137 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,000 The Roman soldiers saw the situation. 138 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:38,160 They did not want him to die before they got him to the crucifixion. 139 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:46,000 And so they used their powers and pressed into service someone who was standing around 140 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,980 and who should be chosen. 141 00:12:48,980 --> 00:12:56,040 But this man who had for years looked forward to this time in Jerusalem where he could observe 142 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:57,880 the Passover. 143 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:03,280 It was a holiday, a vacation for him and his family. 144 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,840 All he wanted to do was to go into the city and go to the temple and pray as the devoted 145 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,820 religious man that he was. 146 00:13:11,820 --> 00:13:16,920 And now he is stopped beside the gate as these soldiers come out and one of the soldiers 147 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:24,240 grabs him and forces him to come over to them. 148 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:30,800 And they take that patibulum that had been strapped on the shoulders of Jesus and they 149 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:36,640 strap it on the shoulders of Simon. 150 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,440 And they say, come on! 151 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:45,720 I remind you that Simon was not a friend of Jesus. 152 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,400 We don't know he had ever heard of Jesus before. 153 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,560 He did not carry this cross willingly. 154 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:56,680 It was humiliating. 155 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:00,120 It was embarrassing. 156 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:07,200 He was torn away from his boys and his wife and forced to go with this throng of soldiers 157 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,760 and these condemned criminals to a place of execution. 158 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:30,400 And he, this Jew, this righteous Jew, had to carry a patibulum on his shoulders. 159 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:41,920 It was a day that Simon would never forget because it was a day when the cross of Jesus 160 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:48,960 intersected with his life and it changed him forever. 161 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:59,600 All of the indications suggest that sometime subsequent to that fateful morning, he realized 162 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:07,000 who Jesus was and came to faith in him along with all of his family. 163 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:22,560 Warren Wiersbie writes, Simon came to Jerusalem for the Passover and met the Lamb of God. 164 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:27,640 In this account, so brief as it is from the Gospels, there are several observations I 165 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,720 want to make that apply to our lives this morning. 166 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:42,320 The first observation is this, we cannot anticipate when our paths too will intersect with God's 167 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,600 interruptions. 168 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,680 Simon was just doing what he had came to the city for. 169 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,440 He had looked forward to this day perhaps for years. 170 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,280 He had invested lots of money to get there. 171 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,060 He was with his family. 172 00:15:58,060 --> 00:16:09,880 He was going to pray to God and his life was interrupted by a cross. 173 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:16,240 I am speaking this morning to someone whose life has been laid out before you and there 174 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:21,680 has been a routine that you have been in or there are plans that you have made or there 175 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:26,680 are goals that you have established or there are intentions that have been in your heart 176 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:37,360 and suddenly something has come in to interrupt. 177 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:43,120 That something has been sent by God. 178 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:50,680 In this regard, I think of Saul of Tarsus who was on his way to Damascus, Syria, there 179 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:57,120 to continue his work of putting to death and persecuting Christians, followers of this Jesus. 180 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:05,000 And as he was walking or riding along the road to Damascus, suddenly his life was interrupted 181 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,000 and forever changed. 182 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:17,880 In the case of Simon, it seems to have resulted in his salvation. 183 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,020 I don't know what the interruption is in your life that God has sent, but it very well 184 00:17:23,020 --> 00:17:28,720 could be that God has sent that interruption to get your attention. 185 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:33,520 That you might respond to him and be saved. 186 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:39,800 It is so easy to get caught up in life and in our plans and our routine of things and 187 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:50,760 to forget about those things that are most important, to neglect our own souls welfare. 188 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,360 And so God plans these interruptions. 189 00:17:55,360 --> 00:18:04,000 And that interruption to you is as the cross was to Simon of Cyrene. 190 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:09,840 What looked like a humiliating catastrophe for him in the end proved to be a wonderful 191 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,440 opportunity. 192 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,800 And I want you to know that if your routine has been interrupted by God, even if that 193 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:23,200 interruption is painful, if it brings you to faith in Jesus Christ and to the salvation 194 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:30,160 of your soul, what now appears to be a catastrophe will be a wonderful opportunity for you to 195 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:35,920 know God personally through Jesus Christ. 196 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:42,020 We can't anticipate when these things are going to happen, but God has done it to someone 197 00:18:42,020 --> 00:18:44,240 here I'm talking to today. 198 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:51,520 And you know who you are, and God knows who you are. 199 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:58,920 And you know these interruptions don't stop with that first one. 200 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:05,200 God has a way of stepping into our lives often, and we don't anticipate it. 201 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,600 We're unsuspecting as Simon was. 202 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:14,520 We're going about our thing, even serving the Lord, even going to the temple, and God 203 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:20,480 steps into our lives with something special. 204 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:27,240 When you and I begin to realize that God does this, it makes life an adventure with God. 205 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,040 This happened to me about three weeks ago. 206 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:36,760 I was out in California over a weekend and attended a church I'd never been to before, 207 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:42,240 but pastored by a long-time friend of mine in El Cajon, California. 208 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,440 They had just built a brand new church, and I wanted to see it, and I wanted to see my 209 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:47,440 friend. 210 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,240 And so Pastor Thoman, who was along with me, and I decided we would go there on Sunday 211 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:59,200 morning to worship at Shadow Mountain Community Church. 212 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,320 We originally had planned to go to the later service because my friend said that would 213 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,640 be the more alive service. 214 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,720 I would have given somebody the same advice if they're coming to our church. 215 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,800 Come to the 1045 service. 216 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:19,560 People are awake by then, for the most part. 217 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,760 So we decided we needed to go at nine o'clock so we could do some other things that day, 218 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:29,760 and changed our plans, went to the nine o'clock service, enjoyed it immensely. 219 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,460 And at the conclusion of the service, my pastor friend invited me to come up to the pulpit 220 00:20:33,460 --> 00:20:38,000 and to pronounce the benediction, which I did. 221 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:43,240 And then I stepped down, and when I did, there was a small group of people there. 222 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,920 And the Wilson's son was there to say hello to me. 223 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,240 He goes to that church. 224 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,440 There were some other people who know some of you who were there who said, well, I know 225 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,680 of Grace Church, and someone who'd even been here. 226 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,680 Then there was this couple. 227 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:05,000 And as I worked over toward them, they said, you don't recognize us, do you? 228 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:11,000 And I looked at them again, and they said, we're the Erdelys. 229 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,920 I said, Warren, the Affirm. 230 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:20,380 Some of you know that my father died when I was eight years of age. 231 00:21:20,380 --> 00:21:27,920 When he was fighting in World War II, his best friend was Warren. 232 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,560 They served together in the Aleutian Islands. 233 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:35,540 They were together in several army camps in the United States, and the two wives traveled 234 00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:40,840 back and forth across the country from South Carolina to California, trying to keep up 235 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,040 with their husbands and have opportunities to say hello. 236 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,160 When I was a little boy, I remember Warren and his wife coming to visit us in our home 237 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:55,760 occasionally, and we going to see them as that friendship continued. 238 00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:00,160 Even after my father's sudden death, they kept in touch. 239 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,440 Warren would come down to our farm from St. Joseph, Missouri, where he lived, and would 240 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:09,980 hunt. 241 00:22:09,980 --> 00:22:17,880 Time went on, and I, as a young man growing up, sort of lost touch with them. 242 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:25,440 But back in 1966, when I must have been five or six years old, something like that, no, 243 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,920 when in truth I was a senior, had just graduated, in fact, from Moody Bible Institute, I was 244 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,640 traveling with a quartet on a summer tour. 245 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:38,880 We got to Southern California, and I knew that Warren and Leah Fern lived there, and 246 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,680 so I got their telephone number from my mother and called them up and asked them to come 247 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:43,680 over to our concert. 248 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,200 I wanted to talk with them. 249 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:50,760 I wanted to talk with Warren, who I knew was a Christian, about how he had had the opportunity 250 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:57,040 to witness to my father, or if he had, and sadly he hadn't. 251 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:02,680 But we renewed acquaintance, and I had not seen them from 1966 until 1993. 252 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:08,840 From that morning, they had just happened to be visiting from Boise, Idaho, with their 253 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,480 daughter and son-in-law, who happened to go to that church, and they decided to go to 254 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:14,360 the nine o'clock service. 255 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:18,720 And we worshiped together in that service, not knowing we were in the same service, until 256 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,680 just at the end I was asked to come and lead in prayer, and they both shocked, looked at 257 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,600 each other, and said, could that be the Galen Call we know? 258 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,320 And they came up afterward, and our acquaintance was renewed. 259 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:34,280 It was a wonderful, warm occasion. 260 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:40,800 And walking away from it, I just said, Lord, thank you. 261 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:42,240 This was a time when you interrupted. 262 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,920 I was here to go to church, and then we have some other things to do, and God just said, 263 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,920 plop, I have a surprise for you. 264 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:59,160 You and I begin to see life this way, with God in control. 265 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:07,240 Life becomes an adventure with God, and we enjoy His interruptions, even those that are 266 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,480 painful. 267 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:18,060 We can't anticipate when our life's journey is going to be interrupted by God and the cross 268 00:24:18,060 --> 00:24:20,560 of Jesus. 269 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:26,160 The second observation that I make is that unpleasant assignments can be transformed 270 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,560 into unimaginable privileges. 271 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:34,640 Believe me, if there was any way for Simon to have avoided this, he would have. 272 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:38,920 He would have come later in the morning, he would have gone earlier, he would have stepped 273 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,280 back in the crowd. 274 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,320 He did not want to carry this cross. 275 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,840 It was an unpleasant assignment, but it was his. 276 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:57,960 But later, at some time, when he was able to inquire about this one whose cross he bore, 277 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:05,040 and he found out that it was Jesus of Nazareth, and who He was, and what He had done for Him, 278 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:16,000 Simon saw that unpleasant task as an unimaginable privilege. 279 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,440 What made the difference? 280 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:27,360 It was his understanding that God had controlled that assignment he received. 281 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:33,640 I'm talking to some people today who have some unpleasant assignments in life. 282 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,480 There are things that you're being called upon to do right now that go against your 283 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,040 grain. 284 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:41,040 It's against your nature. 285 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,300 You find it hard to do these things. 286 00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:49,600 You weren't cut out for that work, that assignment that you're called upon to bear. 287 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,680 You hadn't anticipated this in your life. 288 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:57,100 When you said your vows, it was for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, not thinking 289 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:07,880 it might be for poorer or sickness. 290 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:14,520 My friend, the most unpleasant task in all the world can be transformed into unimaginable 291 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:20,800 privilege when we understand who it is that hands out the assignments. 292 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,520 It's God. 293 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,080 God is bigger than everything. 294 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:34,120 God is over all, and He is the one who ultimately hands out the assignments of life. 295 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:38,600 When you and I can see that and when we can look up into the face of God and say, God, 296 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:44,680 thank you, suddenly that assignment becomes a privilege. 297 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:56,200 What was unpleasant and hard becomes an unimagined benefit to our lives. 298 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:03,480 The third observation I make in our text is that bearing Christ's cross marks us forever. 299 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:08,840 You and I can never be the same after being confronted with the cross and bearing it. 300 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,920 In Simon's case, it appears that his conversion resulted. 301 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:18,640 His name is forever written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, and more than that, whenever 302 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:26,600 this Gospel story is preached around the world, Simon of Cyrene's name is identified with 303 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:31,960 it. 304 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:36,820 Bearing the cross of Christ marks us forever. 305 00:27:36,820 --> 00:27:43,960 No one can identify with Him and remain the same or would want to. 306 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:52,260 How has your life been marked by the cross, my friend? 307 00:27:52,260 --> 00:27:56,580 Thank God for that marking. 308 00:27:56,580 --> 00:28:00,160 Thank God for that hurt. 309 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:11,440 Thank God for that scar that says that you are one of His and you have borne His cross 310 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,000 faithfully in the world. 311 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,300 The cross of Jesus confronts each of us. 312 00:28:19,300 --> 00:28:25,560 We cannot escape it any more than Simon could. 313 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:32,000 We may be prepared for it or we may be entirely unsuspecting of it as Simon was, but the fact 314 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:38,880 is that when the cross presses itself upon us, it demands some kind of response. 315 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:47,120 We must make a choice to identify with that cross, to pick it up and to carry it, and 316 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:56,120 to be identified with Jesus or to refuse it. 317 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:09,080 Thomas Achempas, a Christian priest and mystic who lived more than 500 years ago, said, Jesus 318 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:17,480 hath many lovers of His kingdom, but few bearers of the cross. 319 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:23,280 We enjoy identifying with Jesus' kingdom and His reign and the joys of being a Christian, 320 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,280 but where are those who would bear His cross? 321 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:39,760 All are disposed, writes Thomas, to rejoice with Him, but few to suffer for His sake. 322 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:47,000 Are you willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus on your high school campus? 323 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,540 Are you willing to bear the cross in your workplace? 324 00:29:51,540 --> 00:29:58,920 Are you willing to identify with Jesus in that public forum? 325 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:08,720 Jesus hath many lovers of His kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. 326 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,320 One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado. 327 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,680 One of his volumes is entitled, No Wonder They Called Him Savior. 328 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,760 In the introduction of it, Max tells about an occasion several years ago when he was 329 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:33,240 in Canada preaching and there met a Canadian student from Ireland originally. 330 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,760 The student realized that Max was a Christian and asked for some time with him alone, and 331 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:43,080 so they got together and sat down with a cup of coffee. 332 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:49,680 With his deep Irish brogue, the student said, I just want to know what counts. 333 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,600 Don't talk to me of religion. 334 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:56,360 I've been down that road and please stay off theology. 335 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,880 I have a degree in that. 336 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:00,960 Get to the heart of it, okay? 337 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,120 I want to know what counts. 338 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,360 They began to stir their coffee and the student went on. 339 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,760 I grew up in the church. 340 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,320 I wanted to go into the ministry. 341 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:17,560 I took all the courses, the theology, the languages, the exegesis, but I quit. 342 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,640 Something just didn't click. 343 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:25,160 It's in there somewhere and at least I think it is. 344 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,760 Max says, I looked up for my coffee as he began to stir his. 345 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:35,120 And then he summarized his question with one statement. 346 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,100 What really matters? 347 00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:42,320 What counts? 348 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,240 Locato says, I looked at Ian for a long time. 349 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:46,880 The question hung in the air. 350 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:48,800 What should I have said? 351 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:50,160 What could I have said? 352 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,800 I could have told him about the church. 353 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:57,560 I could have given him a doctrinal answer or read him something classic like the 23rd 354 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:58,560 Psalm. 355 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,940 But that all seemed too small. 356 00:32:01,940 --> 00:32:07,280 Maybe some thoughts on sexuality or prayer or the golden rule. 357 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:08,680 No. 358 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,920 Ian wanted the treasure. 359 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,420 He wanted the meat of it. 360 00:32:14,420 --> 00:32:17,060 I stirred my coffee. 361 00:32:17,060 --> 00:32:19,640 Ian stirred his. 362 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,400 I had no answer. 363 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,720 All my verses so obediently memorized seemed inappropriate. 364 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:31,160 All my canned responses seemed timid. 365 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:37,780 Yet now years later, he writes, I know what I would share with him. 366 00:32:37,780 --> 00:32:47,840 From 1 Corinthians chapter 15, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I received, 367 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:53,920 that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. 368 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,800 And then he says, there it is. 369 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,100 Almost too simple. 370 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:02,600 The part that matters is the cross. 371 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:09,280 No more and no less the cross. 372 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,400 My friend, it is the cross that matters to you today. 373 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,440 It is not the routine that you've been on. 374 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,800 It's not the plans you've laid out for your life. 375 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,200 It's not your hopes for the future. 376 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,440 What matters is the cross. 377 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:32,040 And this morning the cross of Christ intersects with your unsuspecting life. 378 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:38,240 And now the choice is what will you do with that cross? 379 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:44,020 Let's pray. 380 00:33:44,020 --> 00:33:52,520 What will you do with it, friend? 381 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:59,680 The Christ who died on that cross invites you to come and to follow him, but you must 382 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,960 pick up the cross to do so. 383 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,520 It will change you. 384 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,200 It will affect every part of your life. 385 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:17,180 You can never be the same again, but you will have a destiny of heaven. 386 00:34:17,180 --> 00:34:22,400 And you will have a life in this world of adventure with God that you will miss without 387 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,160 the cross. 388 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:36,240 Oh, that today you would respond to the Savior and give yourself to him and pick up his cross. 389 00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:43,000 And Christian friend, you who have picked up the cross in that sense, how has the cross 390 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,520 impressed itself on your life? 391 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:56,040 On your walk with God, do you recognize who has given you that unpleasant assignment? 392 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,720 Do you see the source of the interruption? 393 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:01,800 It's God. 394 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,920 No longer debate the cross. 395 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:16,080 Don't complain about it, but say, Lord, I carry your cross as your disciple, and I carry 396 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:26,000 it with gratitude for the pain and for the change that it brings to my life. 397 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:35,120 Father, may we respond today to the cross in such a way that our lives will be the better 398 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:36,120 in Jesus' name. 399 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:43,440 I'm going to ask you to take your hymnal and open it with me to hymn 185. 400 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:49,920 And as we sing this hymn, if you today would trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 401 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:55,920 And maybe like Simon of old, you have been a religious person. 402 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:01,280 You've been devoted to your religion. 403 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,600 And yet today you understand that it's the cross that makes the difference, that brings 404 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,600 you into that relationship with God. 405 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:13,880 Oh, that today you would trust Him and respond to Him in faith. 406 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:18,520 However the cross has intersected with your life, I pray that you will respond to God. 407 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,560 And if you need to be saved, we invite you to come. 408 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:26,640 We'll have pastoral staff and elders here ready to pray with you to help you. 409 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:32,480 And if as a Christian you've been struggling with what the cross means in your life, and 410 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,680 there's been a rebellious attitude about it. 411 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,760 You've been fighting against God. 412 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:46,320 Will you today come and surrender and yield in us to Christ's Lordship in your life? 413 00:36:46,320 --> 00:37:06,320 Let's stand together as we sing about the wondrous cross.