The Living Plus Sign

2 Corinthians 5:14–20

The Preacher:

Long one of the American Baptist Convention’s outstanding preachers, Dr. Charles W. Koller became third president of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Chicago, in 1938. He is presently on leave. A native of Texas, he served in World War I. Dr. Koller holds the A.B. degree from Baylor University, Th.M. and Th.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the honorary D.D. from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. During the eleven years (1927–38) he ministered to Clinton Hill Baptist Church in Newark, its membership doubled and led Baptist churches in New Jersey in numerical net growth. Dr. Koller’s sermon is based on his favorite passage of Scripture (2 Cor. 5:14–20) and unfolds his favorite theme, the Cross.

The Text:

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

The emblem of suffering and shame.

But I love that old cross, where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain.

We have not really seen the cross of Christ until we have seen it as a great plus sign by which God and man are drawn together in holy reconciliation.

Above that cross, a loving Heavenly Father bends down from his throne and offers the hand of reconciliation to an estranged human family. Beneath that cross is the great, confused mass of blundering, sinning, suffering humanity, alienated from God, lost in ways of its own choosing, and divided by those innumerable barriers which sin sets up. Upon that cross, in the form of a Living Plus Sign, is the quivering, bleeding body of the Son of God, the Great Reconciler, who has “broken down the middle wall of partition between us … that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross” (Eph. 2:14, 16).

We have not really seen Christ until we have seen him as the Christ of the cross. Thus we see him through the eyes of Peter who knew him so well and so devotedly, and who emphasizes not his prepossessing personality, superior mind, magnificent character, lofty ethics, or flawless life, but his atoning death (1 Pet. 1:18f.). We see him through the eyes of Paul who emphasizes not the Christ of the wayside, of the seaside, the synagogue, or the market place but the Christ of the cross (1 Cor. 2:2). It is in the cross, primarily, that Christ himself desires to be remembered. How did he spend the last evening with his disciples before his death? Did he devote those brief and precious moments to a review of his life, or to the Sermon on the Mount? On the contrary, he gave a preview of his death, of the Sacrifice on the Mount.

“This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me … This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:19–20). Thus it is the Christ of the cross, primarily, whom we memorialize in the Lord’s Supper “till he come.”

We have not really seen our earthly mission or our heavenly destiny until we have seen it in the light of the cross, that great plus sign on the sky line of Calvary. There, suspended between heaven and earth, is the Living Plus Sign, the throbbing, outstretched form of the Son of God with hands uplifted in a holy prayer of reconciliation: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Beyond the cross, we behold the gates of Paradise swung open, and the angels singing their welcome to the returning, crucified, yet resurrected and glorified Son of God! And who are those that follow in his train? Are they not sinners, cleansed, forgiven, reconciled? We as the people of God move toward a high destiny, but all around us are the lost, the unreconciled, in whom we have a great uncompleted mission to fulfill. Nowhere is the earthly mission of God’s people more perfectly expressed than in the words of the apostle, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). To the reconciled and unreconciled alike, the great plus sign speaks.

TO THE UNRECONCILED

1. The atoning work of Christ is finished. The chasm between the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God has been bridged. The way is thrown open for the lowliest of sinners to come to the throne of grace and receive cleansing and forgiveness.

It was a great day in American history when the first transcontinental railway was completed. A memorable occasion was planned for the laying of the last rail and last tie, and the driving of the last spike along the border between Colorado and New Mexico. A laurel wood tie had been provided, and two silver spikes which represented the two adjoining states. At the appointed moment the two governors stepped forward, and each in turn drove one of the silver spikes into the laurel wood tie. When the last spike had been driven, the assembled crowd broke into applause, while reporters who had tapped the telegraph wires flashed the good news to the world. The great feat had been accomplished which spanned the continent from coast to coast! It was indeed a great day. But it was a far greater day when the reconciling Christ, with spikes driven through his hands and feet, cried out from the cross, “It is finished!” Now angels could flash the news to the ends of the earth, and sinners could forever rejoice, “It is finished!”

2. The great plus sign is still adding! It continues to add souls to the household of God. It makes men brothers through the only means by which the brotherhood of man is ever to be achieved, namely, through the fatherhood of God. There is a sense in which all the sons of men are the sons of God; but in the prevailing New Testament sense not all the sons of men are sons of God by any means. Only “as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). And when, through the new birth, two men have become sons of God, they have by the same token become brothers to one another. To a mixed company of believers, Jesus said, “all ye are brethren … one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Matt. 23:8–9). To a group of unbelievers, Jesus said, “Ye are of your father, the devil” (John 8:44).

The Living Plus Sign unites hostile elements by the only tie that truly binds. After World War I, the Arabs in Palestine and the British soldiers of the army of occupation generally regarded one another as mortal enemies. One of the British soldiers, a devout Christian, visited the reputed tomb of Jesus. As he approached the tomb he was startled to note, just inside the opening, a tall, swarthy Arab warrior with hands folded in deep meditation. The British soldier waited, not wishing to intrude, and not knowing what might happen next. When finally the Arab warrior turned to leave the tomb, their eyes met. The Englishman extended his hand and uttered one word, “Jesus!” The Arab took his hand and responded with the Arabic equivalent of “Jesus.” It was a warm, lingering handshake. Not one further word was spoken, but both men realized that they were brothers, sons of the same Father, servants of the same Master.

3. The reconciling Christ is still at work. The ancient invitation still stands: “Be ye reconciled to God!” He purifies as he reconciles. The sinner could never, in the filthiness of his unforgiven state, be lifted to the holy bosom of the Heavenly Father. Helpless and hopeless, he must look to the reconciling Christ. Dr. Samuel Chadwick of Leeds, England, once announced a service for infidels only. A large crowd came. They would not sing or join in prayer, and the preaching was under constant heckling. After the service, Dr. Chadwick invited any who were interested in further discussion to meet him in the vestry. Nineteen men followed. After long and apparently fruitless discussion, Dr. Chadwick said, “Suppose we grant your philosophy to be sufficient for the man who has moral character, social position, economic sufficiency, and domestic happiness; what will you do for the man who has none of these, whose life has been wrecked by the ravages of wrong living, and from whom all hope has departed?” The lawyer who had become spokesman for the group arose, offered his hand to the minister, and said, “I would bring him to you, Dr. Chadwick, for you have his only hope.” What a tribute to the redeeming, reconciling Christ!

He pays as he reconciles. What the sinner in his bankrupt state could never do for himself, Christ does on his behalf. He gave his life “a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). A pastor came to a new realization of this fact through an almost fatal illness. When he had recovered to the point where he could walk again, he became concerned about the staggering bills that had accumulated. There had been two nurses and two or three doctors, costly prescriptions, and other extraordinary expenses. But in all those weeks of illness he had of course paid nothing. He walked to the nearby business district of his little town and stopped first at the druggist. When he asked about his account, the druggist opened the old fashioned ledger and showed him a long list of items. “You see, it’s a big bill,” said the druggist. “Yes,” said the preacher, weakly, “I was afraid of that. I can’t pay now, but I will pay just as soon as I can.” Then the druggist removed his hand from the bottom of the page, and the preacher saw in big, red letters the word PAID. His deacons had paid the bill. He went to two other places where huge bills had been accumulating. Every debt had been paid. As he walked home, overwhelmed with gratitude, he began to sing in his heart, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

The great plus sign on the sky line of Calvary speaks again.

TO THE RECONCILED

1. “He hath reconciled us,” says the text. We are “redeemed,” says the apostle Peter, not with “corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19). We are “cleansed,” says the apostle John, not by the exemplary life of Christ, but by his sacrificial death, not by his lofty teachings, but by “the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:7).

In speaking of our redemption, the apostle Paul borrows from the vocabulary of the slave market of his day. Some of us have vivid memories of the old market place of horse and buggy days. The first Monday of each month was the traditional “Trade Day,” when every farmer with livestock to sell or trade would bring it to the public square in the county seat. Here, a mule offered for sale would be tied to the hitching rail, where he might stand for hours in the broiling sun. Prospective purchasers might open his mouth to determine his age, prod him in the flanks, drive him around in a gallop to make sure that he was sound of wind, and then perhaps decide that he would not do. This might be done repeatedly before a purchaser was found, and next year the mule might be returned to the same place, and subjected to the same experience. In the slave traffic of Paul’s day, the usual word for such a purchase was “agoradzo” (from “agora,” meaning “market place”). But, in speaking of our redemption, Paul uses the much stronger term “ex-agoradzo,” which suggests the finality of our redemption, our permanent removal out of the market place (Gal. 3:13).

2. He hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Our supreme task is to interpret the Living Plus Sign and to introduce our unreconciled, unforgiven friends to the reconciling Christ. Our motivation is that of the first century: “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). The great divine embarrassment is the prevailing shortage of dedicated men and women to bear witness. How shamefully casual we are! “I don’t want to be tied down.” How familiar that sounds! Our Lord was willing not only to be tied down but to be nailed to a cross for our redemption. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!” The most rewarding of all human endeavors is that of introducing others to the reconciling Christ. “He that winneth souls is wise” (Prov. 11:30), and “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). Without a doubt, the sweetest music in heaven will be reserved for those who have directed others into the great heavenly chorus of the redeemed. There is something intensely personal about the Cross. From each of us, it calls for a response. To the unreconciled, it says, “Come, be reconciled!” To the reconciled, it says, “Go, tell others!” There are said to be 31,102 verses in the Bible, but not one could be more important than this: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). For the unreconciled, nothing could be more urgent than to heed this invitation. For the reconciled, nothing could be more urgent than to convey the invitation to others. It is the world’s only hope.

Comment On The Sermon

The sermon “The Living Plus Sign” was nominated forCHRISTIANITY TODAY’SSelect Sermon Series by Dr. Faris D. Whitesell, Professor of Homiletics in Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Whitesell’s overcomment follows:

A perfectionist in all he does, Dr. Koller’s homiletical work is virtually flawless. Having taught senior preaching in his seminary for some twenty years, he has perfected a plan of untold blessing to hundreds of his students now out in the preaching ministry. His homiletical principles clearly appear in this sermon.

Along with its major virtues of being expository, evangelical, and evangelistic, this message reveals unity, order, proportion and mastery of details in its organization; thoughtfulness, urgency and warmth in its spirit; and clarity, precision, energy and elegance in its style.

The title captures the reader’s interest by painting a unique picture, “The Living Plus Sign.” The introduction holds that interest by three powerful affirmations concerning the centrality of the cross in Christianity and in life. The introduction moves to its climax in a controlling statement or thesis, “To all alike, the reconciled and the unreconciled, the great plus sign speaks.” The rest of the sermon develops the thesis.

Following the two-point sermon pattern of F. W. Robertson, Dr. Koller’s message has two main points each in the form of a question: 1. What does the cross say to the unreconciled? 2. What does it say to the reconciled? To the first question he furnishes three answers which constitute his subpoints: 1). The atoning work of Christ is finished; 2). The great plus sign is still adding; 3). The reconciling Christ is still at work. To his second main question, he suggests two answers: 1). Christ has reconciled us; 2). Christ has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Thus the outline for this sermon cuts a deep and straight channel for the flow of the preacher’s vigorous thoughts.

This sermon speaks to the average American congregation for it addresses both professing Christians and those who make no profession.

Its five major illustrations do their work of changing the pace of thought, illuminating truth, arousing the emotions, and appealing for response. This message leads the hearer to encounter God and creates the mood for decision, whether he be a Christian who should witness to the good news of reconciliation, or whether he be a lost sinner needing reconciliation with God. This is the supreme test of any sermon.

F. D. W.

Samuel M. Shoemaker is the author of a number of popular books and the gifted Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. He is known for his effective leadership of laymen and his deeply spiritual approach to all vital issues.

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