Holy Cross Sunday - September 14, 2025 (Slides): Open two browser tabs/windows or use two devices. In one stream the service. In the other open the slides and follow along from wherever you are.
Holy Cross Sunday - September 14, 2025
The sermon was thematically organized around the the Cross of Jesus. I began by retelling an experience I had about being too late to visit one of us at Concordia who died before I made it to the hospital. I indicated that I was troupled she was already in a body bag. I said that I considered opening it, but the Lord provided away out of that difficult decision when a nurse walked in and asked if I were ok. I asked her if she could open it, so that I could give thanks for this person. I used this image of total blackness of the body bag to remind us that this is the fate of every sinner--death--the darkness that greets everyone.
I then showed a few slides that emphasized the Lord's mercy and goodness even in this cursed-to-death creation: beautiful stars at night and clouds in the day, the powerful energy of the sun, and a slide showing clouds in the shape of a dog.
Though he blackness of death awaits us all, I closed with the verse from John 12:32: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” At this point I showed an image from Jesus' perspective on the cross, looking down at those who crucified him. I asked, "Which person are you?" Then I highlighted different people in James Tissot's painting What Our Lord Saw from the Cross. Whether you are the devout person right underneath the cross or those giggling in upper right corner, I said that Jesus looks at you and dies for you. He forgives you.
I concluded the sermon by directing attention to the final hymn that we sang, Abide with Me. The last verse reads, "Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies. Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." The cross is before our eyes, knowing that Jesus is looking to save us!