In T. S. Eliot''s classic writing, MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL, there is a revealing scene when Archbishop Thomas Beckett goes back to the cathedral knowing that King Henry II has pronounced him to die. Knowing that he will be murdered, Beckett goes back to the cathedral. Out of respect for the Archbishop some of the guards of the cathedral lock the doors. However, the Archbishop cries out, "Unbar the doors! Throw open the doors. I will not have the church of CHRIST which is a house of prayer, a sanctuary, turned into a fortress. The doors of the church must be open even to our enemy. OPEN THE DOORS!"

Someone says to the Archbishop, "You would close the doors against the lion, the wolf and other beasts. Why not against the beasts contained in the soul of damned men--who damn themselves to beasts?" The Archbishop declares, "We have fought the beasts and have conquered. Now is the TRIUMPH of the CROSS. NOW, OPEN THE DOORS! I COMMAND IT! OPEN THE DOORS! (1)

When Christ ascended into Heaven, leaving a 33 year history of God trying to speak to humanity, what did He leave behind? What is the Triumph of Jesus, to a world that scorned His coming and chose to worship Him only when He was gone?

Without further chit-chat I want to share for your consideration the TRIUMPH of the Cross and its relationship to Pentecost.

FIRST, THE CROSS REMINDS US OF GOD''S IDENTIFICATION WITH ALL OUR HURTS.

Today, I share a story that takes place at the end of time. It seems all the people who had ever lived were brought before God, to be judged for their life on earth. They were assembled together before the throne of God. However, they were not a submissive crowd. They were mumbling and grumbling among themselves. They had complaints to make. It was like a meeting of the Annual Conference or an Administrative Board.

One of the groups was made up of JEWS who had suffered great persecution. Some had died in gas chambers and concentration camps. How could God judge them? What could He know of their friendship? "Who is God, that He should be our Judge?" they cried.

Then there was a group of SLAVES who had suffered all kinds of indignities. How could God judge them? Then there were HOMELESS PEOPLE who had no place to lay their heads. How could God know how they felt? Then there were POOR FOLKS, toiler workers who had never been able to make ends meet. There were SICK ONES AND SUFFERERS, all kinds, each with a complaint against God! How could God judge them? they thought. How lucky God is to live in heaven where all is goodness and light--no tears, no worries, no fears, no hunger, no inhumanities.

So a commission was appointed to draw up the case against God! It was simple. Their conclusion was that before God could judge them, He must first endure what they had endured in their troubled world! So, instead of God judging them, they judged God!!! And the verdict was that they sentenced God to live on earth as a man and to be submitted personally to the painful, agonizing, troublesome hard knocks of life.

The particulars were set forth. They shouted them out:

"Let him be born a Jew!

Let him be born poor!

Give him hard work to do!

Let him be rejected by his people!

Give him for friends only those who are held in contempt!

Let him be betrayed by one of his friends!

Let him be indicted on false charges,

Tried before a prejudiced jury, and convicted by a cowardly judge!

Let him be abandoned by his friends!

Let him be tortured!

Let him be lonely!

Let him die at the hands of his enemies!"

As each group announced its sentence on God, cheers of approval went up from the throng. Then, suddenly, there was quiet, a long silence. No one moved. No one uttered a word or made a sound. There was silence in heaven...and then someone shouted out loud, "GLORY HALLELUJAH! GLORY HALLELUJAH! NO PROBLEM, FOR GOD HAD ALREADY SERVED THAT SENTENCE." (2)

That is why we can hope in God. For our God speaks not from a big, easy chair--but from an OLD RUGGED CROSS.

SECONDLY, THE CROSS IS THE MESSAGE OF TRIUMPH BECAUSE IT LEADS US HOME TO GOD.

Let me tell you a story that happened in England. There was a little girl in the city who lost her way. She just wandered around in the streets of London, crying heart-brokenly, piteously. An English bobby saw the child wandering and stopped her to ask her why she was sobbing. The child answered that she was lost and did not know how to find her way home. The bobby said to her, "Do not cry. Sit down here by my side and we will find where you live, where home is." So the bobby sat on the curb of the street and the little brokenhearted girl sat by his side. He said, "Now, I am going to ask you some places in London and you tell me if you recognize any of them. Piccadilly Circus?" "No." "Westminster?" "No." "Charing Cross?" "Ah," said the little girl in her tears, "Yes, yes. Take me down to the cross and I can find my way home from there!" (3)

How true for all humanity, for all mankind, for our hopes and our hearts, and our lives! Take me to the cross and I can find my way home from there.

In Stroudsburg, PA, there is a tomb to an unknown Union soldier who died fighting in the Civil War. When President Abraham Lincoln heard of it, he had the tomb inscribed "Abraham Lincoln''s Substitute. He died that I might live."

You see, that Cross represents my substitute. Jesus died in my place. It is that simple.

THE FIRST GREAT WORK OF THE CROSS IS TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF HELL INTO HEAVEN BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, AS WE JOIN OUR VOICE WITH THE PENITENT THIEF ON THE CROSS, "LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM." Christ can do that for, as I have already pointed out, he has shared our every hurt--but yet leads us home to the throne.

Today, my preaching task is to relate the work of the cross to the experience we know and celebrate as Pentecost in the Christian church.

I believe the great work of the Holy Spirit demonstrated at Pentecost is to get God out of heaven and into you and me, because Christ by his glorious ascension is no longer limited by time and space. Christ can now live and reign over each and every one of us.

The Book of Acts demonstrates in a very persuasive way the power, the purpose, and the presence found in the life of the early church, because of empowerment and reliance on the Holy Spirit--not human power or performance.

I believe the reading I shared today from Acts 1:1-8 clearly demonstrates that the life of a Christian is not lived in the strength of the flesh. The life of a Christian is to be lived in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. The work, ministry, worship and witness of the church is to be done not in our own resources, energy, ingenuity, strength, talent or wisdom, but in complete dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

One Sunday I went home and watched the Philadelphia 76'ers play the Chicago Bulls on national television. That day the 76''ers were soundly defeated by the Bulls. After the game, Charles Barkley gave his observations and opinions on why they lost. Barkley offered no excuses but simply stated, "We deserved to lose." Then he said something that struck me, and I knew it was a great illustration for Pentecost. Charles Barkley said, "WE PLAYED WITH NO SPIRIT TODAY." Whether it is in the world of sports or in the work of the church, when we don''t have the spirit something is sorely lacking that allows us to go out in power to claim victory. So whether it is in the stadium or the sanctuary, THE SPIRIT MUST BE MOVING THROUGH US--AND SURROUND US.

Let me share a personal word here. In my work as a pastor, it is so easy to just go through the motions and forget the energizing power of the Holy Spirit. I do another baptism, bury another parishioner, perform another wedding, make another hospital call, attend another meeting, and pretty soon it is easy to get a cold spirit and a cold heart.

The only way a cold heart and a cold spirit can be transformed is moving close to the warming altar of Almighty God. I share this because I believe the same thing happens regardless of the life''s work we do.

Let me close today with this illustration which so ably describes what I think happened on the Day of Pentecost. The REA was launched in 1935. REA means Rural Electrification Act. The country benefited from the power available through electricity, but the power companies couldn't afford to run the power lines out to the rural areas because of the cost. REA stepped in.

It meant a tremendous amount to farmers. Electricity would change so much of the drudgery of farm work. People were taught how to wire their houses and barns. In the meantime, poles were being set, and wire strung. One man, who had wired his house in anticipation, noticed that the light bulb he had screwed into a ceiling socket some months ago began to glow all of a sudden; light filled the room with a brilliance no kerosene lamp could ever accomplish!

The man rushed outside, ran down the road and shouted the good news at the top of his lungs, "The power is on! The power is on!" (4)

SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST. And its purpose was to equip the saints who had been delivered from death to life by the cross, and to build up the Church.

For by one spirit we were all baptizes into the one body. Be willing. Be eager. Be ready.

As you come to rededicate yourself to the Lord today, remember. Because of the triumph of the Cross, THE POWER IS ON! When the power is on, you will always see a "wider" world of witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Cross reminds us: THE WALK WITH CHRIST IS A WINNING WALK.