November 25, 2007
Christ the King Sunday, Luke 23:33-43
Today is the Reign of Christ Sunday. Today is the last day of the liturgical year in the Christian church. It is a day when we celebrate and give thanks and praise for Our Savior Jesus the carpenter from Nazareth, who lived and died so that we may live freely and love wastefully in this life and in the life to come. Next week is the start of Advent, which begins our preparation for the coming of Jesus. So today serves as a bit of a bookend. We know that the crucifixion is not the end of the story. It is only the end of part 1 and the beginning of eternity.
But today we look at the end of Jesus’ life on earth as told in the Gospel according to Luke. And it is both a story of terrible agony and inexpressible joy. Our Gospel reading, tells us that they brought Jesus to a place called the “Skull”. The writer of Luke does not use the name “Golgotha” or as it is called in the King James Version “Calvary”. It is believed to be so named because it was the shape of the area. Sometimes the place is referred to as a hill outside Jerusalem. We do not know if it actually was a hill, but we do know that the Roman authorities wanted these crucifixions to be in an obvious place—a place where many people passed by either entering or leaving the town. Because one purpose of this style of torture and death was to serve as both a deterrent to future rabble rousers and as a reminder of the power and brutal retribution of the Roman Empire.
The author of Luke does not give us the details of Jesus’ execution--The early readers of this Gospel would have been familiar with crucifixion---. But we do know that it was an extremely cruel form of putting to death those whom Rome found to be either a criminal or politically inconvenient. In this Gospel, after being stripped of his clothes and being nailed to the cross, Jesus asks his Father in heaven to forgive those who had tortured him and now stood by reviling and mocking him. In this Gospel, the people stand by quietly, but the religious leaders and the soldiers jeer and tell him to come down from the cross, to save himself, if he is the Messiah.
In this Gospel story we learn that two criminals were crucified with Jesus. One took up the taunts of the soldiers and the leaders. He said save yourself and save me if you are the Messiah. He is desperate, and at the end of his life he has given up hope and redemption and now fears only death. The other criminal looks at the silent crowds and then sees that this man being crucified beside him is very different. His first reaction is to rebuke the other criminal “Do you not fear God?” Then he turns and calls Jesus by name. He asks for forgiveness and Jesus tells him “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
One criminal believed that this was the end. He had been caught, tried and now he would suffer an endless death. He believed that this was all there was. He may have been a faithful Jew at one time, but in this--his time of trial, he looked and saw only bleakness. So he looked at Jesus and in a mocking voice told Jesus to save him “if you are the Messiah!” He was defeated. Life for him was over and darkness surrounded him.
The other criminal saw something in the face of Jesus as “beyond.” He knew that he would suffer and he would die. But that was not the final note in his song. He saw in Jesus another day, another place to be made new and to live again. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He too was suffering, but he saw another time another place. He believed in the truth of Jesus and that through Jesus he would come to a place where he would suffer no longer nor be denied mercy, but welcomed into love and wholeness.
A couple of weeks ago we were honored at the seminary I attend to receive a visit from Bishop Gene Robinson of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Many of you have heard of Bishop Robinson through the news as the first Bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church as a gay man living in a committed relationship. We wanted to hear from him as a Christian who loves Jesus and as a leader of our church. Bishop Robinson told us a story of his work as a Canon of the Ordinary in the Diocese of New Hampshire where he was sent to mediate in churches that were in turmoil. He knew going into these situations there would be people who were intractable in their ideas. He knew he would walk into places of worship and places of holy relationship where the fiber of the community had been torn apart. People would have made their stand on belief or issues or organization and they would have set their heart against their brothers and sisters in Christ. He never knew whether they would be more vicious against each other or against him. He developed a practice of saying to himself as he drove to the churches “I am going to heaven.” “I am going to heaven” if when I leave the church they can talk to each other again and are moving forward in faith “I am going to heaven” or whether their anger increases and their separation grows, “I am going to heaven.” This he said allowed him to calm his anxiety so he could truly be of help to the people in these churches. He saw something beyond this moment or this mediation. He saw the face of Jesus and he knew that he was loved and Jesus would welcome him into paradise. He found a strength that comes through the loving peace of Jesus that allowed him to see beyond the current conflict and pain and be of service in God’s kingdom on earth.
In life we are often called into spaces and events in which we are saddened, disappointed, even trapped in a spiral of pain. As Christians we have choices about how we react to this pain and disappointment. We can see it as if this is the end. We can let this time and space define who we are as humans. We can settle into this emotional and physical trauma. We can say this is who I am. This suffering defines me. This is all I am. I am alone and I am not up to this task. I am a failure. I have reached the end of my worthiness.
Or we can look beyond the trials of life and say, right here and right now I am suffering and I am in pain! “Jesus help me! Jesus have mercy on me.” And then we can look and see the face of Jesus and know that we are not alone and this is not the end. This is not the sum of who we are or are capable of being. In Jesus there is always an “and”. There is always a tomorrow. This is not how this story must end. This story will go on and I am loved and I will be in paradise with Jesus.
A friend who is a part of my prayer community recently sent me this message. (By the way if you are not actively engaged in a group of people who you can read Scripture and pray with, I heartily encourage you to start this practice. It can feed your soul and fill up your life with hope.) She sent me a quote, which says: "The will of God would not lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you."
There is something beyond this pain and this anger. There is the face of Jesus who reminds you-- that you are forgiven-- that you are loved. There will be another day and Jesus will be there standing with you. Jesus will welcome you in and hold you fast. For while today we may stand at the cross, we are also children of the resurrection.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus looked on the soldiers, the leaders, and the silent crowd who stood by and witnessed this mockery of justice and said “Father forgive them.” He turned and redeemed the criminal who hung nearby. As Jesus walked through his life and even as he hung on this cross in agony, he never forgot who he was and whose he was. He laid his pain on his loving God. My prayer for you and for me today, and tomorrow, and for all our days is that we will ,through God’s grace, in our times of trial look into the Face of Jesus and ask “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” And Jesus will respond, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Amen.
JZ