When Tragedy Becomes a Tourist Attraction

A Change of Plans

• Trip recap: Dead Sea Scrolls (Isaiah 40:8) → Gettysburg → 9/11 Memorial
• Central question: what happens when tragedy becomes familiar? Have we done the same with the cross?

1. Time Can Turn Tragedy Into Scenery

• James 4:14
• Gettysburg illustration; 9/11 illustration
• Application: casualty numbers vs. named individuals
• Questions on comfort with death/violence as entertainment

2. We Can Become Spectators of Suffering

• Luke 10:30–32 (priest and Levite — “saw him”)
• Modern application: media consumption of suffering
• Cultural examples: content, entertainment, documentaries
• Church application: marriages, grief, addiction, lostness in the congregation
• Conviction questions

3. We Can Become Too Familiar With the Cross

• Isaiah 53:4–6 (primary text)
• Hebrews 4:12 — living Word still cuts here
• Cross was an instrument of execution, not decoration
• 1 Peter 2:24 — “our sins,” makes it personal
• Contrast: Gettysburg/9-11 question (“how could they”) vs. cross question (“what does my sin have to do with this”)

4. The Cross Is Not Someone Else’s Tragedy

• Romans 5:8 — “for us”
• Two truths: seriousness of sin / greatness of love
• Callback line: Scrolls → Word preserved; Gettysburg → war is costly; 9/11 → evil is real; Cross → why we need a Savior

5. The Danger Is Walking Away Unchanged

• 2 Corinthians 5:15
• Key phrase: “The tragedy is not that we leave the place. The tragedy is that we leave unchanged.”
• James 1:22
• Practical response: repentance, faith, surrender, obedience, forgiveness, holiness, love, sacrifice

6. Have We Turned Calvary Into Christian Scenery?

• Cross imagery everywhere vs. hearts untouched
• Convicting contrasts (wear the cross / won’t carry one, etc.)
• Luke 9:23 — Jesus called followers, not admirers

The Cross Is Not the End

• 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
• Contrast: Gettysburg/9-11 dead remained in graves; Jesus rose
• Promises re-emerge from the resurrection: love, presence, hope, salvation, eternity

Conclusion — What This Trip Left Me Thinking About

• Recap: Scrolls, Gettysburg, 9/11, Calvary
• Final questions on familiarity/numbness
• Final call: repent, believe, follow, don’t walk away unchanged