Monday, June 16, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Years ago God laid the desperate need of young Native young people on our hearts, and ever since we have been involved with some very special Indian friends. And our summers on the reservation with our "On Eagles Wings" team have given us some moments of unforgettable joy - and some moments of pain and sorrow, too. One of the toughest of those moments was the summer when we heard about Johnny's sudden and tragic death. Johnny was a Lakota young man who we had worked with and had really come to love. In the providence of God, our team was headed for Johnny's reservation in South Dakota when we heard about his death. His parents actually delayed the funeral a couple of days so the "On Eagles Wings" team could be there. His Mom said that some of the best days of his life had been with our team.
After the funeral service, everyone went to the burial. It was in a field in a remote corner of the reservation. When the casket was lowered into the grave, the men began to step up one-by-one and they each shoveled some dirt on top of it. It was a moving expression of respect and farewell. Johnny's older brother, Jeremy - who was also part of our team - stood at the head of his brother's grave. Native men don't readily show their feelings, but there was no mistaking the pain and grief on Jeremy's face. But he did have something to lean on. Someone had planted a large, wooden cross at the head of the grave. And I'll never forget that scene - with Jeremy, in his deep soul agony, standing at his brother's grave, just hugging the cross.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You Today about "Holding Onto the Cross."
I'm talking to someone today who is going through a deep agony of soul right now. Something has happened that is almost unbearable. And the people around you are either unable or unwilling to be what you need in this dark valley. Your world is shaking. It feels like there's not much you can hang onto right now, except what Jeremy hung onto at his brother's grave. You can hold onto the Cross of Jesus. In that awful moment by his brother's grave, it seemed as if that cross was literally what was holding Jeremy up when everything else was caving in.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 53:4-5. They're about Jesus and your pain. "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." If you belong to Jesus Christ, you have a Savior who knows all about sorrow, about being crushed. He's a Savior who still carries the wounds from the cross where He bled and died for our sin.
When you bring your breaking heart to His cross, you look up at a Savior who understands the darkest feelings you have. In the words of the Bible, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15)." There is no feeling, no agony, no struggle so deep that Jesus can't feel it - and understand it - and help you carry it.
I had to move a very heavy couch not long ago. It was too heavy to carry alone - like what you're going through right now. But the cross of Jesus is your assurance that Jesus is there to grab the other end of this unbearable burden and help you carry what you cannot carry alone. In fact, He will carry you when you can't walk any further.
The cross tells you that Jesus will keep loving you when you have nothing left loveable to offer Him. And He will not abandon you for even a moment. He will give you His grace to get through this moment and give you His power to heal what earth could never heal.
If you've never given yourself to this awesome Savior, would you do that today? Consider letting this be your first day experiencing His love for yourself. Go to our website. There's some help there that's helped many other people begin their relationship with Jesus. It's yoursforlife.net. I urge you to go there.
As you stand on grieving ground, don't try to stand on your own. Lean all your weight on the cross of Jesus, where He suffered all the agony of a sin-ravaged world. He is the Savior for times like these.