My old self has been crucified with
Christ. It is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me. So I live in this
earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. Galatians 2:20(NLT)
This
past week there has been a wrecking crew at our house in Thomasville.
Eleven
years ago it wasn’t a wrecking crew, but the effect was nearly the same. It was a building crew adding on to our
house. They worked for 6 months putting
two new rooms on the back of our house for Mom and Dad to come live there.
While
they worked they needed a place to toss stuff.
So, next to the house was a dumpster, about 8’ x 25’ and full of scrap
wood, shingles, discarded Pepsi bottles and sandwich wrappers.
Inhabitants
in the dumpster included untold millions of fly larvae, mice and roaches, not
to mention the odd family or two of black snakes. (Don’t tell Elizabeth
If
I had asked Mom and Dad if they preferred to live in the new rooms or the
dumpster, the only question would be if I have been drinking. Nobody in his right mind lives in a dumpster
if there’s a new house waiting.
The
apostle Paul tells us about the new life being out of the dumpster of sin and
crucified…now living in-Christ. How do
we live like Paul said – in Christ, with Christ living his life through our
life? It’s living together in love,
in the faith family. That’s what Jesus
came to die for, that we might have life.
We were born into the deficit of sin.
It separates us from God and each other.
Jesus came to break down the barriers that separate us, so that we can
walk together.
So
many people make the mistake that they must do this or that – change here and
there. The kind of life Jesus offers is not
one where YOU make the changes. You simply make yourself available; HE
makes the changes.
A
preacher put it this way:
“The schoolhouse that I used to attend
when a boy was surrounded by a forest of scrubby black oaks. When the frost came and loosened the grip of
the leaves on other trees it seemed only to tighten the hold of these sear
leaves upon the oaks. The ice and the
snow and the winter winds were powerless to make these oak trees give up their
burden of death. But by and by there was
a new warmth in the atmosphere. There
was a new note in the song of the bird.
Spring came and slipped into the hearts of these oaks. It stole up through their branches. And then one day a new leaf said to the old
leaf, 'Make room please.' And life had
come and death had gone. It had been
brought about not by a power without, but by a power within.”[2]
This is being crucified with
Christ…letting go of the dead, and receiving new life!
So, as you come to this table, take
the note paper attached to your bulletin and write what needs to be crucified
with Christ on it. You might write your
name, or just that one, or 50 things that keep you from being on the cross with
him.
Or you just don’t have that much ink or
paper, and you will just write nothing; but bring the paper anyway. You can nail it to this tree, with Christ, as
a statement that Christ is greater than your sin, and you believe nothing can
separate you from the love of God that compelled him to die for you.
That’s what this table means. We, who name the name, give ourselves to be
crucified with him. This is our
confession of faith; our trust is in His cross.
Go to VIDEO
[2]Clovis G. Chappell, More Sermons On Biblical Characters (New
York, George H. Doran
Company, 1923), 63, 64
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