Abide with Me - 1 John 3: 16-24

Growing up, my dad had a tendency to make every vacation into an opportunity to teach us a history lesson. Most of our vacations were centered on history - Colonial Williamsburg and Plmoyth, Mass. But even those that weren’t had an aspect of learning to them. My brothers and I used to joke that we were the only kids who went to museums and historic sites as part of our time at the beach. It was no surprise then, that a friend (who was raised with the same attention to history) and I found ourselves at a memorial for soldiers our first week in Australia. As we approached the monument, the first thing we saw was the eternal flame, symbolizing the sacrifice of these men and women was beyond our time and place. The second was the words of John 15: 13 etched into the marble floor, “Greater love has no man but this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

When we read the account of 1 John today, the words of the gospel of John are once again brought to our mind. Often this verse congers up images of soldiers sacrificing themselves for the greater good. The other group often thought about is martyrs. Those men and women who stood up for their faith through action, and were ultimately killed for it. People like Martin Luther King Jr, who was killed for his belief in racial equality in this country. Or Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador, who spoke out against the government denying people their basic human rights. 

But today’s scripture passage reminds us that we are all called to lay down our lives.In fact, laying down our lives should be what we normally do as Christians, not a rarity. We lay down our lives daily in our choices surrounding how to act and treat each other. For the past several months, the Wednesday Bible study has been studying the book of James. If I could summarize that epistle in one sentence it would be that faith requires action, a message that 1 John picks up on today as well.

1 John has been described as an epistle where an older, more mature Christian is mentoring newer Christians in the faith. He is insistent in reminding the new converts, and us, that our actions come from our heart, and if we have the heart of Christ Jesus, when we should act like him - laying down our lives for others.

That’s easy enough to say, but what does laying down one’s life for others look like in our day to day living? It means putting the needs of others first. It means seeking the good for others. It means to speak up for those who are facing injustice, no matter how unpopular the stance. It means leading people to God, through Christ Jesus shining through our actions. Any time when we set aside, the normal human desire to put ourselves first in order to show the love of God, we  are laying ourselves down.

Please do not misunderstand what the author is saying. We are not called to a life of self-deprecation. We are not to set ourselves aside to the point where we neglect ourselves. But we need to re-imagine self-care to have it align with laying ourselves down. For example, I try to diligently protect my day off, my Sabbath, not because I am stingy, but because I know I need one day to bath myself in the presence of God, in order to effectively reach out and lay myself down for others the rest of the week. The question is really, what is the norm for you - do you normally set yourself aside so God can work through you, or do you focus solely on yourself.

Listen again to what I just said - do you normally set yourself aside so God can work through you. This is not about self-denial for the sake of self-denial. This is about emptying yourself so God can use you as a vessel for the work of the kingdom. When you neglect yourself simply for the sake of neglect or because you want to please people by putting them first, this is not laying yourself down. For laying yourself down is about God’s will being above all in your life. Without hesitancy.

The writer of 1 John (as well as the writer of James) are faced with Christians who say they love Jesus. Who intellectually know about Jesus, but who do not abide in him. For if you abide in Christ - if you live in Christ. If we look back at the Gospel of John, which 1 John is expounding on for a new group of believers, we are told time and time again to get our life from Jesus. Or in another translation to remain in Christ Jesus. Friends, Jesus Christ already abides in us, beckoning us to get life from him. The Bible tells us to remain in Christ, meaning Christ is already dwelling in us, shining through us, for the glory of God with the Holy Spirit’s leading. The question is are we acting like it? Are we acting like the resurrected Lord dwells with and in us?

There are many different models for evangelism out there today. The one that I find most meaningful and practice most often is relational evangelism - being in relationship with people and then letting your actions lead people to ask what light is shining through you. Such evangelism can be understood through the following Buddhist tale:

Many years ago there was a young man who searched for truth, happiness, joy, and the right way of living. After many years of traveling, many diverse experiences, and many hardships, he realized that he had not found any of the answers to his questions and that he needed a teacher. One day he heard about a famous Zen Master. Immediately he went to him, threw himself at this feet, and said, “Please, Master, be my teacher”

The Master listened to him, accepted his request, and made him his personal secretary. Wherever the Master went, his new secretary went with him. But although the Master spoke to many people who came to him for counsel, he never spoke to his secretary. After three years the young man was so disappointed and frustrated that he could no longer restrain himself. One day he burst out in anger saying to his Master: “I have sacrificed everything, given away all I had, and followed you. Why haven’t you taught me?” The Master looked at him with great compassion and said: “Don’t you understand that I have been teaching you every moment that you have been with me? 

Friends, we may not have people begging us to be their teacher, but we still have people we interact with each and every day who provide us with the opportunity to show the love of Christ for them, by laying ourselves down. We have the chance to show our faith through our love for others. Faith in Jesus Christ transforms us to act with love for others. In fact we are called to be obedient to Christ by demonstrating such sacrificial love that shines through our very lives and actions. 

Such self-sacrifice will not come naturally to us, because it is contrary to our human nature. We need to start small and work towards living a life of self-sacrifice, like someone training to run a marathon, starting one mile at a time, for long periods of time, before the big race. So what one way are you called to lay yourself down this week? With what one person are you going to set yourself aside? How are you going to show the message of Christ with your actions? How are you going to live for God this week? Start small. Leave room for your creativity and God’s grace, and see what lives you will touch with the power and message of the risen Lord. Amen. 

We are All God's Children/ We are One in God's Love - 1 John 3: 1-7

There is an old saying that you cannot choose your family. You are born into the lineage that you have, and at times we wrestle with how to separate ourselves from those things that bother us about our family - our hair color and texture, our temperament, our family drama. Sometimes we succeed and are able to separate our identity as an individual from the things we like least about our heritage while maintaing that which we claim as the best. But at the end of the day, you can’t change who your family is and what you’ve been born into by biology.

Or at least so we claim. But the truth is, by virtue of our baptism we are born into another family as well, our church family. Our Christian brothers and sisters. Spiritual parents and siblings. Or in the words of the epistle, children of God. Just like our biological family, their may be things that we would like to change. There may be times that we wish we could be part of a different family, but at the end of the day, family is family. 

And what an unusual family it is. We are often mis-understood by non-family members. We may yearn to fit in with other people, but like Jesus, we will be misunderstood because we are the children of God. We don’t do things like everyone else around us. While everyone else seems to focus on the individual, and what is best for me, we preach community first. In a world that fights with one another in order to bring about security, we seek forgiveness and peace. And in a world where identity is marked by status and accomplishments, we find our identity in our baptism. We are surely an odd bunch. Not to mention that while others are shuring up their homes on earth, we live on earth, while knowing that we also have a home in heaven. 

Further, in this family, there aren’t the usual marks of resemblance. Our eye and hair color aren’t all the same. We don’t share the same DNA. We come from different nations and races. We have different beliefs at times. We speak different languages. We are different ages and gender. Yet, we have the most important thing in common -we know that we are a loved child of God. We are embraced with a transformational love. In the words of theologian Ronald Cole-Turner, “while our birth certificates declare our natural identity, our baptism certificates declare our true identity.” Through the uniting love of God, we are drawn together and made into a family, where we are claimed as God’s children. 

However, far too many of us are living in the awkward teenage years in our church family. How many of you remember wanting to escape your family? Maybe going as far as distancing yourself from them or ignoring them? Far too many children of God are living in this phase as well. Not claiming the identity of their baptism, but instead trying to hide in the facade of what the world defines as normal. Instead of living the counter cultural way set forth by Jesus, we try to sneak into someone else's family. We dress like everyone else, talk like everyone else, do the things that our heavenly parent has instructed us not to do, all in an attempt to fit in. To be normal. But children of God, we are not called to be normal. We aren’t supposed to fit in with everyone else, we are supposed to be inviting other people to be part of our family, no matter how weird. 

So even in our disordered teenage years, and even though we don’t have many markers that make us seem like family, what truly brings us together? What unties us and makes us one? The love that God has lavished upon us. This past week I took my brother into the city. Being a pastor, one of the things I notice is church buildings, and two stuck out to me on this trip. The first was marked by a cross hanging off of the side of the building that lit up at night with the words “No one can escape sin”. The second had the slogan, “the church that love built.” What do you think about when you consider the family of God? Do you think about being the rag tag group of people that God brought together by love or a group that cannot escape sin? What message do we want to present as a community? I don’t know about you, but I would much rather be the church marked by God’s love and grace. A group that may not know what we will become or what the future holds, but we know now, in this moment, that we are loved by God and each other. 

Of course, there are going to be times when we stumble, as individuals or as a collective group. But we will never, ever, be kicked out of the family. No matter how much we run away. No matter how much we get caught up in being like other people. No matter what. God will not forsake us as the children of God. That is a pretty powerful message. We are forever marked by our baptism and the love of God. And the good news is that in this family, as children of God, we know that we will never be complete. That we are going to continue to grow in love for God and for one another, in a transformational way. Praise God! 

Did you notice the vows that you took as a church concerning someone being baptized? To help raise him in this local church. This family of God. To help instruct and teach her. To help them claim the power and truth of his baptism. That is a pretty powerful promise to make on the behalf of a child or new convert. I was sharing with the confirmation class a few weeks ago, that I didn’t always like that someone made that promise at my baptism. I did not like the fact that I had lots and lots of parents raising me in the church, not just my biological ones. But that was until I realized why I had so many parents... Because I was part of a family that was bigger and stronger then anything I ever imagined before. Have you ever considered what a vital part you are to this community, this family, as a child of God? 

However, I think what the author of 1 John is trying to gently remind us of today is that sometimes we need to relearn what it means to be a church family. To be a church family is to submit each of our wills to the ultimate parent, God, whom calls us Beloved. We submit ourselves because even we we did not know God, God knew us. Very few of us can make such a powerful statement about our human relationships. For only God knows from everlasting to everlasting. We have the ultimate parent who takes away our sin and reminds us that while we were given this family for our benefit, its not about us. Its not necessarily about what we want or getting our own way. Its about getting along with one another, because God cares about each of us deeply. Its about bringing honor to our heavenly parent by the way that we treat each other, because we each bear the likeness of God. 

Being a family also means that we are called to hold each other accountable. Allowing someone else to call us out when we fall short and sin. Surround each other with grace to remind each other that even when we stumble, Christ has taken away our sin. Encourage one another to live a blameless life. We hold each other accountable, and submit ourselves to the accountability of another so no one can lead us astray from the truth that God loves us and we are God’s children. That’s pretty powerful. It means allowing ourselves to be asked by one another, “how is it with your soul” and having the vulnerability to honestly answer. Apologizing when we have hurt one another. Seeking forgiveness when we stray from our Heavenly Parents love towards us.

Being in a family is a great honor. It may not always feel like it - at times it may seem more like a burden then a gift, but it is none the less a gift, given to us so we have someone to identify with, a lineage to draw strength from, a group of people to guide us along our lives. And that is what we are given with the church, not just this church, but the church universal. What an awesome gift to treasure. What are you going to do with it? How are you going to thank God for the gift of being a child of God? Will you continue to fight and stray? Or will you submit yourselves to the bonds of love beyond our understanding in order to transform the world together? Amen. 

Christ the Victor: Easter Sermon Mark 16: 1-8

This is it, my friends. For the past six weeks, we have been talking about the last 24 hours of Jesus life, ending with his crucifixion on Good Friday. We have sat together, yesterday, exploring his death and reflecting on where our hope comes from in the midst of the seeming defeat of the day after, Saturday, when we join the disciples in asking what our lives are like now that Jesus is truly gone. But now we have arrived at the day of all days, the highest day on our Christian calendar - Easter Sunday, when we proclaim that death does not have the final word and that Jesus is victorious!

Jesus died around three o’clock in the afternoon on Friday. As the Sabbath was about to start at sundown, in a mere three hours, no one had time to properly prepare Jesus for burial. Instead, Joseph of Aramathea, a member of the Sanhediran, volunteered to give Jesus’ followers a place to lay the body of the one whom they loved. He and Nichodemus, brought over 100 pounds of precious oils and salts to prepare the body, but simply left them to be applied until after the celebration of the Sabbath.

Sunday morning, at the breaking of dawn, three of the women who had followed Jesus approached the tomb with more spices. They intended to give their Lord the proper burial he deserved. No one else had dared to visit the tomb over the Sabbath - Pilate had went as far as to post a guard in front of it at the prompting of the Jewish leaders to make sure that Jesus’ followers did not try to come and steal his body in order to claim that he had risen. The eleven were in hiding, fearing their own arrest and sorely disappointed themselves for abandoning Jesus in his time of need, just as he had predicted.

But the women were brave as they went to honor Jesus memory that morning in the best way that they knew how - by burying him properly. So Mary the mother of James, Mary Magedline, and Salome took their spices and went to the grave. As they approached they started to wonder who would roll away the heavy stone for them. But a surprise awaited them at the tomb that morning as the sun rose in the sky - the stone had already been rolled away. A stone too heavy for one or two grown men to roll on their own was aside and a young man, in a white robe, a messenger from God, was there and told them that Jesus has been raised and that he had been raised! Just as Jesus predicted!

They were commanded to go and tell the disciples, telling them that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. They would have to leave their place of hiding in Jerusalem and follow Jesus, once again. But instead the women did not tell anyone, because they were afraid.

Each of the four gospels tells the story slightly differently, but they share one central tenant in common - the idea that Jesus had been raised from the dead was unbelievable to those who heard it. Even to those who experienced the empty tomb with their own eyes and heard the messenger from God. Jesus had told them time and time again that this would be the case - that the grave would not even be able to hold him three days, but they still did not believe it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that possibly the most important story in the gospels spoke of this unbelief. Because there are times in my life that I don’t understand the Resurrection either. Times when I struggle with the empty tomb because I did not see it with my own eyes; times when I have to remember that even those who saw the tomb had doubts.

But that is part of our faith story as well, isn’t it? Even in the midst of unbelief we are beckoned to believe the unbelievable, because we worship a God who does not simply do what we expect or what we want or even what we are able and willing to believe. We worship a God who is bigger then our expectations! We worship a God who is found in the midst of the absurd and through that absurdity transforms people! Praise God! We only need to look as far as the disciples to see this transformation in the face of doubt - even though the disciples initially wrestled in their own way with their guilt and then their disbelief that Jesus was alive, they went on to leave their place of hiding in the upper room and proclaim Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection so boldly that they were willing to die for it - and most of them did. They were compelled to tell the story! And that leads me to ask, on this celebration day, if we, too, are compelled to go and tell the story! The story of who Jesus is in our lives and what the cross and empty tomb means in our lives. Are we willing to be unlike those whom we have studied the past several weeks, who were silent out of fear - the Sanhediran members who knew that those in their group were doing the wrong thing, the disciples that fled from Gesthme, Peter who denied Jesus three times, Pilate going with the crowds instead of what he thought was right, the people in the crowd who joined the cry to crucify Jesus and let Barrbas go, even if it wasn’t what they believed. Are we willing to stand up and boldly proclaim our story with Jesus, even if we don’t have it all figured out, even if we do not believe every little detail. Are we willing to share our story, Easter people!

At the Good Friday service this week, I asked the following question - why are you here? Why are you at this service? Now I ask you the same question today. Why are you here, this Easter morning? Are you here because Jesus’ resurrection means something to you! Then share your experience with Christ the Victor with others! For the past five weeks at Mainesburg we have been having a Spiritual Direction group, where we re-discovered that our stories matter. It is how we can share our faith with others. Its not about having a list of facts about Jesus straight or presenting a good argument. It’s about sharing our stories of faith, even in the midst of unbelief.

I may have doubts, friends, but at the end of the day, the cross and empty tomb mean something to me. The empty tomb may not be as easy to portray in a picture or on a piece of jewelry, but it is just as important to our faith as the cross, for they go hand in hand. With the empty tomb, Jesus conquered death so we can say, “death where is your victory, O’ death where is your sting?” The empty tomb gives us hope, even in the midst of hopeless situations. It is why we can sing, as we have time and time again through this Lenten season that “we have a hope in Jesus that all things will be well in the Lord!” The empty tomb proclaims into the darkness that God has victory over the powers of evil and sin and all that separates us from God. Does that excite you? How do you embrace that and make it a reality in your lives?

I can remember the first time the idea that Jesus conquered the grave truly excited me. One of the first concerts I ever remember going to as a whole family was to see Carman. Now I’m not sure if Carman even still performs any more, but he was a Christian pop singer in the early 90s. My dad used to play his cassette, yes cassette, tapes for us in the car when we traveled. Carman performed at the Bryce Jordan Center when we were little and sang a song that I had heard time and time agin. I don’t remember the title, or even all of the words, but the song captured Jesus’ agony on the cross and final breath, followed by Satan’s celebration that Jesus had died. The arena went almost completely dark as the voice of Satan rejoiced. But then slowly, and softly at first, before gaining momentum and volume the Rocky music started to play signifying Jesus rising from the grave. The lights came back on and you could hear Satan howl in the pain of defeat as Jesus conquered death and the grave. For himself. For you. And for me. It caused my spine to tingle. Jesus conquered it all for you and for me! The arena started to cheer and praise God! And in that moment I understood that Jesus meant so much more then just the cross, for Jesus showed his love for us on the cross, and showed his power and our ability to have eternal life with the empty tomb.

Friends, is that good news for you? If it is, would you please share it? Not in a pushy way, but in a way that is you telling your story, your experience. For God gave humanity an uncontinable gift with the empty tomb, but we still must choose it. We must choose to let go of being slaves to sin and death. And there are those that we know, those whom we love and care for, who do not even know that they have a choice. Why would you keep that good news from them? We are forgiven and offered a priceless gift. What a message to share! Because of that we truly have a hope in Jesus. In the words of Frederick Buechner, a theologian, “Resurrection means the worst things in life will never last.”

Brothers and sisters, we are a Resurrection people! We gather in community week after week to remind each other that the worst things in life will not last and we have a hope that sometimes doesn’t seem to make sense and sometimes seems absurd, but we believe it in anyway. In fact, our faith stands on it. Even when we doubt, even when we do not understand, we gather as a statement that the life, death, and resurrection of Christ matter and that on this day, the third day, all of the injustice in the world and power of hell, were defeated We gather together to live out our faith, and transform lives with our service and message. I can think of nothing else so exciting. I can think of nothing else that has transformed the world in such a powerful way. My hope and prayer, today, is that it excites you to be part of that story as well. Amen.

Good Friday

For the past five weeks we have been exploring the last 24 hours of Jesus life. We have sat with Jesus at the table of his last meal. We have listened to him cry out in agony in the garden. We have realized that it was the righteous who sought to take his life, the most religious of the most religious. We have been shocked when Jesus went before Pilate and did not defend himself and dismayed when Pilate gave into the requests of the people to crucify Jesus and let Barabbas go. We have covered our eyes at the pain and humiliation Jesus faced when he was flogged, mocked, and struggled to carry the beam of the cross he would hang on up Calvary.

We have now arrived at the climax of the last 24 hours for Jesus. In less than six hours Jesus would be dead, but the agony on the cross awaits him. By nine in the morning, Jesus was nailed to the cross. The 75-100 pound beam he had carried, the cross beam, was placed horizontally on the post that the Romans kept on the hill for their crucifixions. While not all victims had their arms nailed to the cross, some were tied, Jesus had nails driven through his palms or wrists. His feet were nailed, one on each side of the vertical post. And he hung there naked. Bleeding from the flogging. And exhausted from his trip up the hill carrying the beam, even after Simon of Cyrene was forced to help him.

Jesus was just barley hanging on for life when he got on top of Calvary that day. Remember that the Romans had the same goal with every punishment they inflicted, to cause the maximum amount of pain for the longest period of time. They wanted to teach everyone else watching a lesson - that this was not an honorable way to die - so that they would avoid doing anything that could lead to such a punishment.

Those watching were close enough to touch Jesus. The cross would have only been six to nine feet off of the ground, with the victim only hanging two to three feet from those watching. Mary was close enough to almost touch the cheek of her baby boy. Can you imagine the agony Jesus felt, dying in front of his mother like that? Could you imagine being a parent and watching your child struggle so much to die? There is a spiritual that has the following words that capture Jesus’ emotional pain on the cross, “Take my mother home... I’ll die so easy. Take my mother home. I’ll die this death on Calvary, just take my mother home.” Can you see the pain in Jesus eyes? A pain too deep for words.

The physical and emotional pain were not the only ways that Jesus suffered that day. The humiliation that had haunted him all through the trial, sentencing, and flogging continued. The Romans nailed a sign above him that contained their mocking cry, “King of the Jews.” They cried out to him, “You who said you could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, prove yourself to us now by coming down off of the cross.” And “You saved others, now save yourself.” Can you hear the taunting cries?

Three hours upon on the cross, and a darkness came over the land. A pitch black that should normally does not eclipse the noontime sun. The darkness continued for three hours, until around 3 o’clock in the afternoon Jesus uttered his last words, as recorded by the Gospel of Mark, “My God, My God, why have your forsaken me?” Words from Psalm 22, though Jesus may have not been thinking of that Psalm in particular when he cried them. He may simply have been crying out what he was thinking.

Have we not all had times in our lives when we felt that God had abandoned us, or if not abandoned us then not listening to us? But instead of hearing Jesus’ cries and identifying with how betrayed and abandoned he felt, those listening thought that he was crying out for the prophet Elijah. Some even thought that there was a possibility that Elijah would come and take him down off of the cross. A sliver of belief in the midst of so much unbelief during the last 24 hours. Some one thinking that Jesus just may be the Messiah.

But Elijah did not come, for that was not God’s plan for that time. Jesus gave one last agonizing cry and the breath of life escaped him. It was finished. Jesus was dead.

All through out my childhood, there was a community wide service to commemorate this day on the Christian calendar. A three hour long service to commemorate the seven last words, or phrases of Jesus life as portrayed by the Gospels. Mark’s account was always the hardest to wrestle with. The idea that Jesus, who was the son of God, and is one with God, would feel abandoned by God. Jesus, the one we find our hope in, utters words of total defeat.

One of the ways that Christians have reconciled this cry is to say that Jesus had the sins of the world placed upon him on the cross, which caused God so much pain to look at, that God turned away. I struggle with this view of the cross and attempt to explain Jesus’ cry, because it is not my experience with God. I believe in a God who walks with us through the most painful situations in life, never turning away or letting us go. But I also know that it our humanness we cannot always perceive this, cannot always understand, which causes us spiritual pain. In this cry we see Jesus’ humanity coming through. In the darkest hour of his life, he felt that God was silent. But friends, I find hope in that. I find hope in having a savior who understands me even when I feel God is absent or I am upset with God, because he was there on the cross that day. And Jesus reminds me that I can still have faith in God even when I feel abandoned, which he modeled by still having the faith to cry out to God.

For me that is one of the beautiful things of the cross. Jesus loved me, loved us, enough to die for our transgressions, but it is also him deeply identifying with any pain I may have because he faced it all that day - physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual pain. All on that cross that day. So any type of pain that I may experience in this life, Jesus has walked through and Jesus understands.

Of course the message and meaning of the cross can be different for other people. For some it was Jesus substituting his life for ours, as the perfect sacrificial lamb, an illusion to the Jewish celebration of Yom Kippur, when the sins of the people were placed upon a scapegoat, to be released and never seen again. In other words, Jesus took our place. For others it is a reminder of the depth of human sin and the vastness of God’s love. For others a restoration in relationship. A sacrificial offering.

The cross can mean something to us at different stages in our life. It can mean all of these things to us and more simultaneously. The power of the cross is bigger then any of us can probably ever understand in our life time. But if you leave this service tonight I want you to understand one thing about the cross, it is a symbol of God’s love for us. Jesus died a horrific death on this symbol of injustice and torture, but he did it out of love for us and obedience to God, and that means something to us. It is not the complete story of our faith, because Good Friday means very little without the message we will hear in a few days of Easter, but it demonstrates the power of love. Love of laying down ones life, not only for those whom love you, but those who hate you. A love so powerful that it changed the course of human history, and tore the curtain in the temple. A love so profound, that even those who crucified Jesus that day caught a glimpse of it, as the centurion proclaimed, “Truly this man was God’s son!” The solider saw Jesus dying that day, maybe even was one of those who mocked him, and did not understand what was happening. But at least one solider stood there, watching Jesus struggle, looking into his eyes, hearing his last cry to God, watching him breath his last breathe and was changed. That, brothers and sisters, is the power of the love of the Cross! Even those whom hated Jesus were moved by him and his offering of reconciliation.

I want you to take time this evening to think about what the cross means to you. Why does it matter to you? I also want you to take time and think about what ways you need to ask for forgiveness, this evening, to restore your relationship with God. What sins you want to leave at the cross tonight and not pick up again, by the grace of God. We may never fully understand the power of the cross, but we recognize it tonight for what it is - God conquered the malice and hatred the cross represented and replaced it with a love that conquers all malice.