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Lenten Lesson 4 -- A divine interruption
McCOOK, Nebraska -- After what may have required years of saving; after a journey of from 800 to a 1,000 miles from what is present-day Tripoli, Libya, to Jerusalem, along with his two sons; Simon of Cyrene suddenly found himself at the center of a "divine interruption," according to the Rev. Bruce Lester, pastor of the McCook Evangelical Free Church.
Lester addressed a Lenten audience of 113 Friday afternoon at First Congregational Church during the fourth Community Lenten service.
"Was it a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time?", Lester wondered. "Or was it the right place at the right time?"
Setting the scene as mid-morning in early spring, Lester explained that Simon found himself in the midst of a large, disorderly crowd at or near the city gates. Roman crucifixions were public spectacles, with Roman soldiers carrying signs while they lead the condemned to the place of execution.
"The signs served two purposes," said Lester: as public notice of the crime committed; and as a warning to anyone who might be tempted to perpetrate a similar crime against the state.
The spectacle itself was an interruption to the sojourning Simon, who presumably had planned his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for years, bringing his sons with him to share in that unique experience, joining perhaps as many as 2 million fellow Jews in the Passover celebration.
Three of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, give Simon of Cyrene precisely one verse each, their accounts similar, but each including a unique hint as to how things may have transpired that day.
Matthew reported in Matthew 27:32: "And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to go [with them], that he might bear his cross."
Mark introduces the sons in his account in Mark 15:21: "And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go [with them], that he might bear his cross."
And Luke seems to allude to the possibility that Simon initially resisted when he writes in Luke 23:26: " And when they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus."
"They compel, they laid hold of him," said Lester. "The heavy hand of a Roman soldier fell on Simon's shoulder, and his life is suddenly and dramatically interrupted."
The cross beam, which Jesus had been carrying, was now stained with his blood from the wounds inflicted as the Roman soldiers scourged him earlier in the day. And Simon was suddenly in the company of known criminals, hearing the jeers of the crowd, feeling the sticky blood transfer from the beam to his back, smelling the sweat of men compelled to actively participate in their own deaths.
"Helping a man to carry the cross of his own execution is not quite the same as say, carrying Tigers Wood's clubs," Lester warned. It was an embarrassment. It was chaotic. It was humiliating.
And it was life-changing.
Carrying the cross had at least three immediate effects on Simon, Lester continued.
"First, it brought him so close to Jesus that he could hear him breathe, hear any whispered prayer that Jesus may have spoken," he said, He could smell his sweat, perhaps even hear his heart pounding.
This "divine interruption" may be at once the worst and the best thing that ever happened to Simon, Lester allowed. "Divine interruptions, even those disguised as tragedies and traumas, are designed to draw us closer to Jesus, close enough so that we too can hear a whisper from God.
"Secondly, Simon was compelled to follow Christ, Lester said.
"When we choose to follow Christ, we choose to walk in the same direction that he is walking, and we choose to match his pace." Sometimes, that pace is really fast, Lester allowed, and sometimes it is very, very slow.
Whether fast or slow, it is important that we don't run ahead or try to take a short cut, thinking we have better route than the one Jesus has prepared, just for us.
"Match him, step for step, step by step," Lester advised.
On this day, at this moment of "divine interruption" Simon became part of the "greatest story ever told," Lester said.
"Did he know Jesus? Had he heard that Jesus was the Messiah, the King of kings?"
Scripture doesn't tell us, Lester continued, but we do know, willingly or not, on this day he served the Lord.
"And we can surmise that it changed not only him, but his family as well," Lester said, offering the passage in Romans 16:13 where the apostle Paul says, "Salute Rufus the chosen in the Lord."
What impact did the day have on Rufas and Alexander, named in Mark's gospel, so that Paul counts Rufas as a close friend and co-laborer for Christ?\
"I believe this is the same Rufas named by Mark," Lester said. "This day, this 'divine interruption' in Jerusalem changed Simon and his family forever."
We all have a story, Lester said. "I wish we had time to tell them all.
"Does your story have a 'divine interruption,' that includes tragedy or some other traumatic event?
"Was what was at first the worst thing imaginable now, by the grace of God, the best thing that ever happened to you?" Lester asked.
"It's the power of the cross," he concluded, "don't take it for granted, don't let it become so familiar that you forget what Jesus has done on that cross. Don't forget to ask God what he wants you to do in response to what Jesus has done for you on that cross."
The weekly service concluded with the congregation singing "The Old Rugged Cross," led by the worship leader, the Rev. Clark Bates, pastor at McCook Christian Church and accompanied by Joyce Hershberger on the organ.
A luncheon of sandwiches, salads and cakes, prepared by the women of McCook Evangelical Church, followed in the fellowship hall.
The 2011 Community Lenten service "The Personalities of the Passion" continues Friday, 12:05 p.m., at First Congregational Church with the Rev. Dr. Mary Hendricks, pastor at St. Alban's Episcopal Church exploring the personalities of the two thieves.
A free will offering to support the work of the Red Willow County Ministerial Association is accepted at the entrance to the sanctuary. A second offering is accepted in the fellowship hall to help offset the cost of the food.