Extraordinary Sacrifice: A Savior Willing to be Alone
Good Friday Service
- one of my favorite times of the month as a pastor is when we have the privilege of celebrating the Lord’s table together…
- we believe in two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s supper…
- on one level, it is amazing how simple biblical Christianity is…
- there could have been dozens and dozens of ordinances Christ taught us to follow after His death, burial, and resurrection…
- but there are only two – and each one of them is loaded with significance…
- the Lord’s Table helps us rejoice in the fellowship we can have with both God and one another…that’s why the apostle John said in his first letter to the church…
1 John 1:1–4 - What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
- the communion table brings all of that together because the only way we can have fellowship with out God, and fellowship with each…is because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…His shed blood brings us together…
- I undoubtedly have the “best seat in the house” so to speak…and here’s why I say that…
- I have the privilege of looking through the elements and see our deacons who come to serve us…
- some of you have heard me say this before over the years…but I’m probably not the most emotional guy on the planet…I don’t cry at the Grand Opening of a Wal-Mart…
- but when I see our deacons coming down to serve us…it impacts me because of my love and respect and appreciation for them and their families…
- some of them I have known and served together with for over 30 years…
- I know first-hand their love for God, and for our church family, and for me and my family…
- and seeing them through the elements reminds me that the kind of fellowship we enjoy is only because of the shed blood of Jesus
- then I have the privilege of looking out on our church family…
- the auditorium is usually packed with people on church family nights…often times spilling over into the foyer with overflow crowds…
- and we have a very diverse church family…many different backgrounds and levels of spiritual maturity…
- but we’re a church family – an ekklasia – a group of men and women God has called out of the world, and placed together so we can worship, and grow, and serve, and fellowship as a body of believers…
- and I get to see that too – through the lens of the elements representing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ…
- there’s nothing like viewing the body through that lens…
- seeing a new believer…sometimes with hair still wet after being baptized…participating in their first communion service…
- or seeing someone who has made tremendous progress in conquering an area of sin and temptation…
- or seeing someone who has really messed up…but back on the road of repentance…
- or a widow or widower fresh off a funeral for their spouse…
- or people who have faithfully served the Lord for decades…
- it is an incredible sight when we can all be together…celebrating this marvelous ordinance as brothers and sisters…
- well, not tonight…this COVID 19 virus has turned the world upside down in ways that were unimaginable just a month ago…
- so, we’re observing the Lord’s table alone…or in my case with a few of our sweet worship team members, and you perhaps by yourself or a few members of your family…but certainly not the way we typically do…
- if you would to join us later in the service, if you haven’t already, I would encourage you to find a cracker or piece of break and some juice or something to drink
- here’s the question I would like to pose to you tonight…did anyone else have to be alone in order to secure our redemption, and what can this time of quarantine teach us about how and why we can love Him more?
- Steve - Pray
- Worship Team – The Wonderful Cross
- Worship Team – Reading
- Worship Team – The Power of the Cross
- The thought of “aloneness” is contrary to God’s creative design…
- even in the early chapters of Genesis, we see hints about the theological concept we now refer to as the Trinity…
- Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…but then in the next verse…
- Genesis 1:2 - …the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters
- on the 6th day, Genesis 1:26 - God said – Let us make man in our own image…
- from the vantage of the NT we know that Jesus Christ was integrally involved in all of this…Paul told the Colossians… Colossians 1:16 - For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
- so, we learn that God is three persons in one essence…He is a relational being and because there is no sin involved…the relationships bring joy and satisfaction to each member…
- then God creates Adam and everything about the creation has repeatedly been judged to be good except one thing…and what was that?...Adam’s aloneness…
- what an amazing statement… Genesis 2:18 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…
- and while that analysis was made in the context of marriage…we would all agree with it on so many levels…and maybe more-so now after this quarantine than at any other time in our lives…
- it is not good that man should be alone…so God made Eve…and she was really good…
- can you imagine what it was like for them to enjoy perfect fellowship with God as they walked together in the Garden in the cool of the Day…and enjoyed a marriage that was completely devoid of any kind of sin?...
- the Bible calls that Shalom…peace…satisfaction…the cessation of hostilities…it was good for them…all of them…not to be alone…
- because God is a relational being…and He has created us in His image…
- and then our adversary entered…you can be your own God, you don’t need this One…
- you can rebel and your life will be even better…and the best part is – you’ll never die…
- well friend, what happened when that virus was unleashed?...
- immediate aloneness…the interruption of Shalom…
- they felt guilt, and shame, and fear for the very first time…
- so they tried to cover themselves up…and they hid from God…from relational harmony to destructive and painful aloneness…
- then they turned and tried to blame each other for what had happened…
- I wonder if Adam slept on the couch that night?...
- the consequences for that rebellion were immediate and profound…so much so that the final verse in that chapter reads like this -- Genesis 3:24 - So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction…
- what happened next…people started dying…our adversary’s promise was a terrible lie…
- every step they took resulted in greater aloneness…
- Cain becomes jealous and he chooses to what?...murder his own brother…Able’s own blood was crying to God from the ground…
- by the end of that chapter, we have the first recorded song in Scripture where one of Cain’s descendants is bragging to his family about murdering a young man for insulting him…
- and then Genesis chapter 5 – the very first genealogy in the Bible…and so and so was born, lived a certain number of years, and he died…
- every death interrupted God’s designed Shalom…it led to greater and greater aloneness…
- the theme crops up all over the Bible…our struggle with aloneness…
- so someone as popular and influential as King David says -- Psalm 6:6 - I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.
- those are the words of a man who’s alone…or this Psalm of lament…
- Psalm 55:12–14 – For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend; we who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng.
- something happened between he and a man who had formerly been his friend…do you have any situations like that in your life?...
- you may not even know or understand what happened…all you know is that that relationship is no more, and at least in regard to that person, you feel alone…
- this is echoed in the book of Proverbs…Proverbs 14:10 - The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.
- or Proverbs 14:13 - Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief.
- King Solomon said it this way in -- Ecclesiastes 4:10 - …woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
- woe to the person who is struggling with something…alone.
- Aloneness stinks – it was not part of God’s design for His creatures…
- it was into that broken world that the Heavenly Father sent His own Son…
- and Jesus was unique in a myriad of ways…including His relationships…
- though He laid aside the independent use of His attributes, He still had perfect fellowship with the Father…they still enjoyed Shalom…
- which is why often during His earthly ministry…what would we see Jesus doing?...
- Luke 5:16 - But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray... because He cherished that relationship…
- He even chose 12 very imperfect disciples…but what was His relationship with them like?... John 13:1 - Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
- He wasn’t just a Savior…He was a relational Savior…
- it reminds you of a verse from Jesus’ childhood - Luke 2:52 - And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men…relational Shalom…
- then we come to the Garden of Gethsemane…literally the Olive Press, where olives were crushed for their sweet oil…
- and here’s what we read…
- Matthew 26:36–38 - Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
- here’s the key question…why would Jesus be so grieved at this moment?...
- and please remember what “Dr. Luke” adds to this part of the story… Luke 22:44 - And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
- what could possibly produce this kind of agony?... Matthew 26:39 - And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- Bible students know that to be one of the most terrifying phrases in all of God’s Word…it’s shorthand for God’s holy and righteous judgement upon sin…found in verses like…
- Psalm 11:6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
- Psalm 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.
- Isaiah 51:17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.
- the cup that Jesus was asked to drink was to be separated from His Holy Father while He was dying for the sins of the world…
- the crushing revealed what He prized the most – shalom, intimacy with the Father
- and that would have to be violently interrupted…
- this price not only had to be paid…it had to be paid alone…
- Jonathan Edwards said -- The thing that Christ's mind was so full of at that time was, without doubt, . . .: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. –Jonathan Edwards, Christ’s Agony
- I realize we live in a day that doesn’t like to hear about the righteous judgment of God as if we make those rules…
- the lie is being screamed as loud as ever…you can be your own god and you won’t surely die…
- I came across this verse the other day in my personal Bible reading and it took my breath away in light of what our entire world is experiencing…
- Psalm 9:19–20 - Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You. Put them in fear, O Lord; Let the nations know that they are but men.
- this is an amazing statement that perhaps will never be able to be made again in our lifetimes…a substantial percentage of human beings all over the face of the globe tonight…are under quarantine…and desperately alone…
- we have been humbled to the core…and that in of our ourselves…we are but men…
- do you know what we desperately need?...a Savior who would stand in that position for us…
- you may recall that just before these events…in the upper room at the Last Supper…Jesus told Peter that he was going to deny Him…you remember what Peter said, and they all said?...
- Matthew 26:35 - Peter *said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
- Mark 14:50 - And they all left Him and fled.
- and there was Jesus…to face the trials, and the mockings, and the beatings…how?...alone…
- but friends…that wasn’t the cup…at least not the culmination of it…
- the cup came at noon on what Friday?...Good Friday…why in the world would people like you and me and others around the world today call it Good?...
- one way to answer that question is – because someone loves you so much that He was willing to DIE ALONE …in our place…
- Matthew explains -- Matthew 27:45–46 - Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- that’s the substitutionary death of Christ…
2 Corinthians 5:21 - He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
- friends, do you know what this means – Jesus was willing to be alone…so you would never have to be…
- can I ask you tonight – do you know that you know that you know that you are on your way to heaven?...
- have you admitted that you are just a man…and a sinful one at that…and that your sin separated you from God…
- but you don’t want to be alone anymore – you want to trust what Jesus Christ did on the cross to pay the price of your redemption….you want Jesus to bring you to God…
- Christian friend…this time of quarantine has been odd…for some its been dangerous as they’ve still worked as heathcare providers or first responders…
- perhaps its been stressful because of the unknowns of your job and business…
- but as a Christian…have you been alone…truly alone?...
- many would say – no, in some strange ways it’s even been refreshing…
- because when Christ is all I have, I’m strengthened in knowing that Christ is all I need…
- hopefully we are resting in this admonition and promise -- Hebrews 13:5–6 - Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”
- and why/love can we make such a confident assertion?...because our Savior was willing to be alone in my place…
- my guess also is that this time of quarantine has made you more appreciative of your brothers and sisters…we love the fellowship we have in Christ…and we miss each other
- when can we get back together?...
- that’s a good question…and out of concern for our healthcare workers, our community, and our own members…we’re not going to rush it…
- and even when we do, we may be taking communion for a while sitting 6 feet apart, with masks on…
- but friends – we’re heading to a place where there’s no viruses, no ventilators, no fear, and no death…
- because of what Christ did on Good Friday, and how it was affirmed by His resurrection on Easter Sunday…we have the hope of heaven where we will enjoy unfettered shalom with our God, and with one another…
Bread – Steve – I Cor 11
Worship Team – Lead me to the Cross
Cup – Steve
Worship Team – Remembrance
Closing Remarks – Invitation to Easter Services – Steve
Worship Team – Were You There?