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Lenten Lesson VI -- A divine interruption
Interruptions can be a simple annoyance or a life-changing event, according to the Rev. Bruce Lester, pastor of the McCook Evangelical Free Church.
For Simon of Cyrene, it was definitely the latter.
Lester addressed a congregation of 131 Friday afternoon during the sixth 2006 Community Lenten service at Memorial United Methodist Church.
Three of the gospel writers mention Simon of Cyrene, the traveler pressed into service on that long ago day of crucifixion, commanded to carry the cross of Jesus.
Following a journey of more than 1,000 miles (Cyrene is located in North Africa), Simon and his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, experience what Lester called a "divine interruption."
Jesus, Lester recalled, had endured a sleepless night, mock trials before the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod, been beaten, and then scourged. Now, on the road to Golgotha, with a crown of thorns embedded in his head, he is exhausted, utterly spent.
"Presumably, he had fallen under the weight of the cross beam numerous times," allowed Lester, "before the Romans sought someone to bear his burden."
Simon's divine interruption could be attributed to his being in the wrong place at the wrong time, "Or," said Lester, "in the right place at the right time."
Simon, who had probably saved for years to make this Passover journey to Jerusalem with his sons, could not have welcomed this intrusion, this interruption of his plans.
"How would you have felt in his place?" queried Lester. "Would you have been excited or exasperated?
"Would you have wanted to have such a close association with a condemned criminal?"
Imagine the possible and altogether likely emotions faced by Simon. Embarrassment. Guilt by association.
"This must be my lucky day," Lester imagined Simon saying, words that easily conveyed his sarcasm and cynicism.
"Maybe it was," Lester immediately countered.
There is no evidence that suggests that Simon knew Jesus beforehand, Lester maintained. But this event brought him close to Jesus in a way few ever experience.
"Close enough to hear Jesus whisper 'thank-you'," Lester asserted. Close enough to smell the sweat. Close enough to touch the blood. Close enough to know the heart of Jesus.
"Divine interruptions are designed to do just that," Lester revealed. "Bring us close enough to hear God's whisper."
This interruption brought Simon close enough to follow in Jesus' steps, close enough that he had to match Jesus' pace. Close enough to be a part of the greatest plan in the universe.
"And although Simon didn't know Jesus beforehand, you can be sure he made it his business to find out all he could about him afterward, especially after word of the resurrection got out," Lester said.
And it changed his life and the lives of his children.
"In Romans 16:13," Lester explained, "we read an admonition from Paul to 'Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.'
"How many men named Rufus do you suppose there were in that time?" Lester questioned. "Is this the same young Rufus in Jerusalem, now grown and serving the apostle Paul?"
Simon's story is only one of hundreds of stories showing the power of the cross to change lives. It is changing lives even today, Lester maintained, asking, "What has the cross done for you? And what is your response to the cross?"
The Rev. Steve King from First Congregational Church gave an inspiring performance of the song "I've Just Seen Jesus."
Evie Caldwell returned as organist and the Rev. Jeff Thurman served as worship leader.
The Lenten series will close Friday with the annual Procession of the Cross departing from the First Church of the Nazarene shortly after 11 a.m., and arriving at Memorial United Methodist Church at 12:05 p.m., for the traditional reading of the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St. John.