Tony Evans — The Relevancy of the Cross
A very poor man one day was given a free cruise, given a ticket for a free -day cruise. He was very poor. He had never been on a cruise before. And he went on the ship and it was beautiful. The food was wonderful to look at, the entertainment. The -day was now over. It was time for him to leave.
On his way off the ship, the captain saw him and said, "Sir, how was your cruise?" He said, "It was lovely. It was beautiful." He said, "But you don't look very happy." He says, "That's 'cause I'm, like, real hungry." The captain said, "Real hungry?" "Yeah, I'm real hungry. I didn't have any money to buy any of the good food on the ship."
The captain said, "Oh, didn't they tell you that the cost of the food is in the ticket for the cruise? You spent all this time having been given a free ticket and not maximize the benefit that the ticket has to offer."
A lot of folks spend a lot of time talkin' about the cross, the free gift of eternal life, never maximizing all that this gift has to offer. And so I want to conclude our time by helping us to remember the cross.
God instituted something for us not to forget what the cross is, why the cross is, and what the cross does. We know it as Communion. People do it, but many do not yet understand it and why it's significant.
For many, it's a ritual that they do, depending upon their particular religious bent, once a week, once a month, maybe even once a year. But I'd like to take you back to the cross one more time.