Communion Message
(The cross made all the difference)
November 27-28, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 

Matthew paints for us a very tender picture in the closing moments of the day of the cross where he writes; Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. 

It's significant that all the four evangelists tell the deed of Joseph of Arimathea. We can understand why it was so indelibly impressed on their memories, and was deemed so worthy of record because the day Jesus died had been one of long sorrow and deep shame. From the midnight hour in Gethsemane until Christ bowed His head in death, there had been the awful contrast between love and constancy and pity and sacrifice on one side; and on the other, betrayal, denial, desertion, and derision. But then at the close of it all there is this brave and beautiful deed. It's the touch of tenderness after a day of unrelenting hate and cruel wrong, and so with glad and reverent hearts the evangelists penned the story that tells that even in so dark a day there was light at eventide. But now consider with me the doer of this beautiful deed, Joseph of Arimathea. His mind and his spirit are made very clear to us because each evangelist, each gospel, adds some revealing trait about Joseph. You see Joseph of Arimathea was a man of means, a refined mind, and of high social position. He was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and he was held in good repute among his fellow counselors. He stood marked out from many by his high and serious mind, his incorruptible passion for justice, and his native goodness of heart. He wore all through his years the white flower of a blameless life. 

And we are told another revealing thing about Joseph of Arimathea. It says that he waited for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was the phrase into which had been condensed all the high hopes and the holy ambitions and all the dreams of a better state. And all the visions of the reign of God among men foretold by the prophets and the psalmists, and to wait for the kingdom of God was to be one of that band of devout and playful men and women who were steeped in the spirit of the Old Testament, who had a sure faith in God and who waited for the hour to strike when the Messiah would come and the will of God would be done on earth as it was in heaven. It was that kingdom for which Simeon and Anna waited and hoped to see before death would seal their eyes. And thus, he waited, that is he meant that in his heart Joseph, there was a noble discontent for the corruptions and the miseries and the bondages of his time, and an unquenchable longing for the reign of righteousness and peace and joy, Joseph of Arimathea. 

But one evangelist takes up his dark pen and he makes one stroke on the portrait of this pure and saintly man, and this is what he tells us; he shrank from joining in fellowship with Jesus. Now it's the one blot on his character. Yet we need not judge him too harshly for you see the cost of following Jesus for Joseph was much greater than it was for Andrew or for Matthew or for Nathaniel. Like another rich young ruler his wealth and his power and his charm held him back. And then he knew the relentless hate and the remorseless persecution of the Sanhedrin. He knew the intense fanaticism of the Jews and for the fisherman from the lake to follow Jesus that roused no keen feeling, but for a ruler, a man of conspicuous public eye, vision, to believe on Him would raise a storm of passion which would have swept him out of his place of authority with his nation. So he did not come out, and he did not stand beside Jesus scorning all loss and braving all convenience. Awh, what he missed, but the deep love for truth in him that the engrained chivalry of the soul, the high sense of his duty would not permit him to sit in silence when the guilty plot by Caiaphas was hatched, and the treachery of Judas was hired. It was this man, rich, cultured, and of conspicuous social position that moved from his silence to a heart of bravery. 

It says by another evangelist he boldly went to Pilate and he asked for the body of Jesus. But you see something wonderful had happened to Joseph of Arimathea. Before the cross, admiration, fascination, and interest even so much as saying, I'll be His disciple, but with a caution that made him walk in the shadows. But at the cross it's all changed. Something happened there as he stands at that scene and he sees this beloved man, the Son of God, dying there on that cross for the sins of all mankind, and old Joseph of Arimathea changed from silent believer to a bold proclaimer and made his way, used his means, and he provided for Jesus a place to lay in death. The cross made all the difference. The cross changed him. It will do that if we let it. You can't come to the cross, you can't in a moment of meditation sit there and contemplate the vast dimension of love displayed by Jesus Christ for us and not be moved. You can't do it. That's why here at this church at every worship service on Sunday morning we place the cross, as it were, right in the middle of our worship service. Because when those emblems that bespeak the work of Christ on that cross pass in front of you, you must examine your heart to see where you are with almighty God. There's something about that cross that causes us to scrutinize and examine our own heart and soul as to how we stand before God. And I'm thankful each Lord's Day that this communion service becomes a time of dramatic change for many. We silently, with the emblems of the cross, kneel together and contemplate again what Jesus Christ has done for us. And I'm praying that this moment before the cross Jesus will touch your life like He did Joseph of Arimathea.

Would you kneel with me please? Lord Jesus for many of us we may have lived many years of our life as a silent admirer of You. We were fascinated by Your life dear Jesus. We knew a lot about You, but we never really knew You, and then came the day when we were confronted with the cross and its claims on our life. And then something happened inside of us just like it did for Joseph, when we realized that there on that cross dear Jesus You died as the Savior of the world and You died to provide forgiveness and cleansing from all of our sins and to give unto us the gift of eternal life. Your act of immense love amazes us. We didn't deserve it. We still don't. We're sinners. We walk the pathways of disobedience so often. We fail You so miserably so much. But we can come to this table and know that these emblems which we hold tell us how much You really love us, and how much You want to forgive us. The bread tells us that in Your body You took our sin. You paid its penalty. And the cup tells us that You shed Your precious blood for our cleansing. That's amazing that You'd love us so much dear Jesus. And the cross has changed us, and we thank You for it. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. With all of our heart, with everything inside of us, we say thank you Jesus. We love You and we thank You for loving us. And everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet the folks that have come to worship with us. Can we do that?