On the way home Little Tree ask his grandpa, "Grandpa, why did those men let Coon Jack talk to them that way? He said, "Well, Little Tree, it's like this. Coon Jack is just an old Cherokee Indian. When they took his land away from Him he hid in the hills and fought to get his land back, but he lost. When the War Between the States broke out, he fought again to get his land back and he lost. Now he's just old and tired of fighting. He has nothing left to fight for. All Coon Jack has is the key to the song book box." Little Tree said, "That night I cried for Coon Jack." The key, just a key, the key to the song book box at the church that's all he had. But it was the key that gave that old tired Indian something with which to hold up his head and say, "You're jealous of me."

That's what the cross means. It means that Christ died for us in order that grace can treat us far better than we deserve -- even when we're old and tired and there is nothing left for which to fight.

They elected him "Man of the Year," second year in a row. Big banquet given by the city fathers. Made mention of all his accomplishments that he had made to the city and to various civic organizations. He went home with his certificate. He had just a little too much to drink as was his habit. He went to his home where no secrets were hidden, where they knew him as he was, not as he appeared in public. To hide the emptiness within his life, he again took to the bottle. Later in the night his only daughter, shaking in fear, hid in the closet as she heard those all too familiar sounds of him slapping her mother. Did Christ die for him? Did Christ Die for Him?

A young lady came to visit Keith Miller once. She had on a halter top and short shorts carrying a little girl dressed about the same way. "Mr. Miller, I've heard you speak on several occasions about the love of God. You've said that God accepts and loves everyone. Is that true?" He said, "Yes." She said, "Your church accepts and loves everyone, is that true?" He said, "That's right." She said, "I'm committing adultery every Thursday afternoon. Now what do you say?" Did Christ die for her? Did Christ Die for Her?

Does Jesus' death on the cross mean what the Bible says it does, that Jesus does give to us far better than we deserve. Just a key. A key to the song book box down at the little church gives dignity to a tired and defeated life. How much more does the love of God in Christ Jesus portray to us the sense of self-worth. He gives us dignity.

Christ died because He knew that we could not live without hope. We can't live without hope. Life becomes a bed of despair and a quick sand of frustration without hope. We cannot live without hope.

In the concentration camps of World War II, the women were taken every day to work. Their wheelbarrows were their skirts, and their shovels were their fingernails. At dawn they left with cardboard shoes walking on frozen ground to work. One such survivor was asked, "How did you ever make it? How did you ever live through that?" She said, "Really I don't know. I do remember, however, on one occasion as I was walking to the place where we were to work, I noticed a house which had a flower box. I noticed in the flower box there was a tulip blooming. I thought all day long maybe on the way back to the barracks I might get to see the tulip blooming. A tulip! A little flower? A tulip blooming? That is enough to sustain one? Hope can exist on such a meager diet, but we cannot live without it.