Main Idea: Indifference to the life-changing message of Jesus is broken only by the power of the cross.

There is something deeply and powerfully compelling about the Cross of Jesus Christ. Again the words of Chris Tomlin remind us, "Mighty, Awesome, Wonderful, is the Holy Cross. Where the Lamb laid down his life to lift us from the fall. Mighty is the power of the Cross." Paul would remind the Corinthian Christians that in the Cross of Christ God had chosen, "things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful." (I Cor. 1:27) There is always something deeply and powerfully compelling about the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Today we come again to discover those whom Jesus viewed from the cross. Luke began his record of Jesus’ crucifixion by telling of a crowd of people leaving the city of Jerusalem toward a place called "Golgotha," or "The Skull Hill" or in Latin "Calvary." Jesus was at the front, being driven by soldiers attached to the Roman garrison there in Jerusalem. One week before he had entered Jerusalem on a donkey heralded as king and worshipped by the multitude. Now, six days later, he is leaving the city at the mercy of a mob that screamed for his death.

In our messages we have viewed some that Jesus no doubt saw as he made his way to the cross and others he saw as he looked out from his cross. We have studied Simon from Cyrene, the women who grieved and watched and the criminals who were crucified with him. Today we pause to examine the soldiers who crucified him.

Who were the soldiers? We don’t know specifics as to troop and regiment, only that they were assigned to the governor’s palace. Being a Roman soldier was a point of pride for a man of Rome. A Roman boy was educated in the art of war from the very earliest part of his life. A soldier spent at least ten years in training for his role in the army of Rome. Discipline was the key factor that held the army together. Cowardice was the unforgivable sin for a soldier. It was permissible for a commander to flog or behead any soldier who fled in battle or simply failed to obey an order. The daily labor of the Roman army was so hard that often the soldiers considered battle a relief. The training led to a core of brave and devoted soldiers who were familiar with death and brutal spectacles of punishment and conflict all for the glory of Rome. (Caesar and Christ, p. 34)

Duty for a Roman soldier in Judea was not ideal service. It could be compared to the current difficulty of duty being assigned our US forces in Iraq. There was no other nation that so despised the Roman presence as the Jews. A Roman soldier was a walking target for the "scarri." They were Jewish zealots or as we call them today "insurgents" committed to seeing Israel freed from the armies of Rome. These were simply soldiers. They carried no religion except that of the emperor. They could care less about the teaching of Jesus or the confusion of some supposed violation of the Jewish law. They were, you might say, indifferent to the claims of either the Jew or Jesus. They were on duty. They were just following the orders given them by Pilate.

What role did they play in the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus? They were part of the plot to arrest Jesus (Jn.18: 3, 12), participated in his initial mocking (Luke 22:63-65), called the battalion together to watch the sport of mocking, beating and humiliating Jesus placing on him the purple robe and the woven crown of thorns then beating him with a reed (Jn.19: 1-3). They scourged him—which, was a merciless beating designed to nearly kill a person before they were crucified. They then nailed him to the cross and played dice for his clothes while he pled with the Father for their forgiveness (Luke 23:34). They would pierce his side with a spear to insure that he was dead (Jn. 19: 34). At last they would release his body to a man named Joseph who would bury Jesus in a borrowed tomb.

As far as Jesus was concerned the soldiers were indifferent. They did not torture Jesus or drive the nails in his hands because they opposed him! They did what they did out of sport or entertainment not anger. These soldiers were merely the tools of the Roman government and the anger of the Jews. They were indifferent. To them, he was just another Jew. This was just another execution.

There was one soldier, though, who was moved out of his indifference, for which all of this said something to him that he had not expected. It was the centurion who commanded the platoon that was carrying out the execution. To be a centurion was a special place of honor and leadership. They were as other soldiers hardened by battle and discipline but at a much higher level. For the centurion seeing men die or seeing men crucified was nothing new. He may have been the witness to countless crucifixions and observed the deaths of hundreds. Yet something changed him. As he watched and witnessed the death of Jesus there was the unmistakable compelling of his heart that this was no ordinary criminal but that somehow God was involved. The words of Jesus, his response to the mockers, the way he suffered, the events of the darkness and earthquake as well as the last words of Jesus as he died all had a profound effect on this hardened soldier. Luke said when he "saw what had happened, he praised God and said, ‘Surely this man was innocent.’"(Luke 23:47) Somewhere the power of the cross broke through this man’s hardened indifference and transformed him.

When you look at the soldiers’ indifference and the transformation of the centurion, what does this say to us? What is the point of connection for you and me? I believe it is this: Indifference to the life-changing message of Jesus is broken only by the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. When you examine the facts of the story and you see the callous disregard for Jesus by the soldiers and at the same time the amazing statement of faith and praise by the one centurion you are left with no other conclusion. The indifference of the centurion prior to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion was broken only by what he viewed, heard and experienced as Jesus died on the cross.

If there was anyone who understood the life-changing message of Jesus and the power of the cross that communicated that message it was Paul. He would write the Corinthian Christians and say, " For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God…God's way seems foolish to the Jews because they want a sign from heaven to prove it is true. And it is foolish to the Greeks because they believe only what agrees with their own wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense" (I Cor. 1:17-18, 22-23). Then in I Corinthians 2:2-5 he said, "For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom."

Paul knew that there was in the very cross itself a power that no human words could match. That’s why he denied trying to use any influence of his own ability and skills to seek to persuade people of the truth of the life-changing message of Jesus because if he did he would diminish the power of the cross. He knew that it was the very power of God. It may seem to everyone else as absolute foolishness but he knew it was the reality of God’s power. So he determined that he was going to limit himself to a shear dependence of God’s Spirit speaking through him and to, as he said, "concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross" (I Cor. 2:2). Paul knew that the indifference that people demonstrated to the life-changing message of Jesus would only be broken by the power of the cross.

The vast majority of people in America and our community today have the same attitude as the soldiers: They are indifferent to the life-changing message of Jesus. To be indifferent about something is to feel that something doesn’t matter one way or the other. It is a general lack of interest in or concern about something. That is a perfect way to describe the people who are the largest portion of persons lost in our nation today. They are indifferent. The fastest growing segment of our population are called "unchurched and unclaimed" Americans. They are growing larger because most of what we do as a church is aimed at other Christians who are willing to change their church affiliation. The result is that there has been and continues to be little success in impacting the indifferent. George Barna, the research expert on spirituality in America said, "Unchurched people are not just lazy or uninformed…They are wholly disinterested in church life—often passionately so. Stirring worship music won’t attract them because worship isn’t even on their radar screen. More comfortable pews cannot compete with the easy chair or the bed that already serve the unchurched person well. Church events cannot effectively compete with what the world has to offer…Until…a life-changing, practical encounter…is made; focusing on features, programs and benefits other than such life-shaping encounter is more likely to lose ground than to gain it." ("Guess Who Is Not Coming to Dine With Us," p.22-23, A paper by James Slack)

If indifference to the life-changing message of Jesus is such a critical problem, what is our response? First we need to understand that being indifferent isn’t an option concerning the life-changing message of Jesus (Luke 23:34). While Jesus was bleeding from his sufferings and pleading for the forgiveness of his persecutors the soldiers played games at the foot of the cross. They were totally unconcerned about Jesus or his mission and purpose. While they may have seen this as their choice, it really isn’t a choice we get to make. Jesus said early in his ministry, "This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you're not on my side, you're the enemy; if you're not helping, you're making things worse." (Luke 11:23, Msg)

When it comes to the person of Jesus Christ and his life-changing message there is no neutral ground. While a person may claim neutrality with respect to Jesus they have to make a decision. To claim indifference to Jesus is to oppose him. Jesus said, "If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy." These soldiers would have claimed complete indifference to Jesus, yet they participated in his death. So some may be denying their persuasion about Jesus one way or the other yet just the same are considered in opposition to Christ. While the life-changing message of Jesus stands boldly clear, they still are content to play games, to be entertained by the cross of Jesus.

Do the indifferent claim hostility toward Christ? No, they simply do not care. Do they know that by their indifference they are considered in opposition to Christ and his kingdom? No, because they presume that indifference is acceptable. Yet their indifference is going to leave them in eternity hearing one clear statement from Jesus: "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:23). Indifference isn’t an option concerning the life-changing message of Jesus.

If being indifferent isn’t an option, then what can break a person from the stranglehold of their indifference? I believe this passage shows us that indifference is broken by what people see and hear about the cross (Luke 23:47, I Cor. 1:17-18, 22-23). For a time the centurion was just as indifferent as the soldiers under the cross. Yet something spoke to him. Something connected with him deep within that shocked and surprised this hardened veteran. What changed him was what he saw and heard at the cross. When that cross was fully exposed to him by God’s Spirit the icy grip of indifference was melted and he was able to praise God for the reality of what he saw and heard.

Recently in our Men’s Morning Bible Study I had a thought go through my brain that really wasn’t related to what Guy Kochel was teaching. I was thinking about the work on Huntington and reflecting on the number of people whose lives have been changed. How people on drugs and alcohol have been set free, homes and lives restored and hope reborn in people. While I thought about that I began to wonder where there is another "Huntington". Yet this time I don’t mean another area that is so obviously in need of hope and help but is there a place where people are just as in need but whose addresses are just like yours and mine. You see the people that are being reached on Huntington are desperate for hope and they know it. The people with addresses like yours and mine are just as much in need but they don’t want to admit it.

The problem with people whose addresses are just like yours and mine is that everything we might do to impress them doesn’t impress them. Stained glass and new buildings may be attractive but they don’t convict. Our music, whether organ or keyboard may be entertaining but they don’t compel. The preaching may be interesting but it doesn’t transform. If it did, then our church and every church would be full! Does that mean I quit preaching or we quit worshipping or using buildings? No, it just means we recognize that the indifference that grips people’s lives who are lost today will only be broken by what people see and hear about the cross of Jesus Christ. And some how, some way, some place that message has to leave this place and connect with the lives of the indifferent.

There’s one more thing and it’s this: it is not acceptable for us as the church to be indifferent to those who are indifferent about the life-changing message of Jesus. What people see and hear about the cross depends on what believers let the Spirit of God do and say through them. (Luke 23:47; I Cor. 2:2-5) This is what it all comes down to: the indifference in people’s lives is broken down when they come face to face, side by side, with a person who has determined that nothing is going to change a person other than the cross of Jesus. That is not going to happen in here because 99% of the time the indifferent aren’t here. It is going to happen only out there where we live and where we work. It happens when a believer has spent so much time and focus on the cross of Christ, that they are so filled with the power of God’s Spirit that they get close enough to an indifferent person to influence their life one step further toward the life-changing message of Jesus!

When that is our mindset then it changes everything we do here. It changes the worship opportunity Wednesday night called "Such a One as This" to a moment when you could bring and include someone to see and hear the life-changing message of Jesus. It no longer is something for the convinced but for the unconvinced. It changes the way you see Easter worship from an activity just for you to something that may move someone one small step closer to being persuaded about what you have already lived out. Our whole problem—yours and mine—is that we are indifferent to those who are indifferent. If we stay indifferent they will as well. If they are ever broken from their indifference it will be because their life has encountered someone who has seen the cross and their life is different—so radically different that there is no other explanation.

Recently the city of New York released the partial tapes of 130 phone calls made to 911 on September 11, 2001 from the World Trade Center. While the 911 dispatchers did what they were trained to do—provide calm until help arrived—they were unaware that the one thing they needed to do was to tell them to get out of the building. The city had such a grip of bureaucracy and layering of responsibility that phone call after phone call was passed off from one agency to another. One caller was put on hold for eleven minutes while he was shuffled back and forth. A dispatcher let a fire department office phone ring 15 times before they gave up. Call after call was passed from one department to another—police, fire, ambulance—but the caller almost never received the most vital instruction of all – to get out of the building! ("Tapes of calls to 911 show 911 confusion," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 4/02/06).

When it comes to those who are indifferent believers are not free to say, "Well, that’s someone else’s job!" No, it is ours—all of ours. They must hear the vital instruction from us: "Go to the Cross because you’ll never get out of this world alive!" When will we stop being indifferent to the indifferent who play games at the foot of the cross? Indifference to the life-changing message of Jesus is broken only by the power of the cross!

Sunday, April 9, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org