Kyle Idleman - Grace from the Cross

Many of us grew up in church observing the season of Lent leading up to Easter. The tradition of Lent was not established in Scripture. It actually originated in the fourth century as a way to help people prepare their hearts for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Its evolved some over the years, but one of the practices of Lent is to give up something during the days approaching Easter. If you grew up observing the season, you may be familiar with this question:

What are you giving up for Lent?

What are you going to say no to? What are you going to swear off or let go of ? People give up soda, smoking, swearing, watching TV, eating candy, and the list goes on. Lets be honest: for some people Lent is more about going on a diet than getting closer to God. And Ive noticed a lot of people give up something for Lent that they wont miss very much. This year, for Lent, Im giving up exercise, or Im giving up the use of an alarm clock.

Whether you have traditionally observed the season of Lent or not, I want to challenge you to give up something as a way to prepare for Easter. In the days that lead up to Easter, Im not going to ask you to give up movies, or the internet, or Sour Patch Watermelons.

Instead, I want to challenge you to give up something much more personal. Something that maybe youve been holding on to with a white-knuckled grip. As we prepare for Easter, would you be willing to let go of your shame? Would you release the guilt that has been weighing you down? If you are carrying around shame and guilt because of something youve done, would you be willing to give it up for Lent?

I cant think of a more appropriate way to celebrate the greatness of grace this Easter than to receive forgiveness for what you have done and experience Gods grace in your life.

To help us let go of these things and fully experience the greatness of Gods grace, I invite you to consider some of the last words of Jesus.

It is universally common to attach special significance to the first and last words a person speaks. Parents anxiously await the first understandable syllables their toddler babbles, trying to capture them on video or an audio recording. Similarly, loved ones keeping their bedside vigil during the dying hour of a family member will strain to hear an expressed need or a final request.

The four Gospel writers are consistent in their historical narrative of the event that transpired outside of Jerusalem for six hours on a Friday over twenty centuries ago. By all their accounts Jesus did not say much in his final hours of life on earth. His silence and solitary suffering make the words he does speak that much more impactful.

In the final hours of his earthly time, as Jesus hung on the cross, he made seven statements. These seven sayings do more than reveal the depth of his pain; they declare the greatness of his grace. So lets lean forward and listen carefully to the words Jesus spoke from the cross.