The Fourth Sunday in Easter

Rev. Tommy A. Thompson
Ezekiel 34, Revelation 5, John 10
4th Sunday of Easter
The Noble Slaughtered Lamb Shepherd

I’m a big fan of good sequels or movie series.  I love movies such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia.  You finish one movie and already begin anticipating the next…how the story will continue…guessing which themes were really important in the current film that will be developed and given greater meaning in the next.  I find sequels to be exciting…they keep us on our toes with anticipation…we can’t wait to see what happens next.

I think the best way to understand John 10 is to see it as a sequel of sorts.  With Scripture, we easily read the entire chapter and assume it’s all always flowing immediately.  But many times, even one chapter of Scripture can be divided and be a retelling of occurrences that happened at completely different times.  John 10 is like this.  It is a Part I and a Part II.  Maybe the movie could be called “From Tabernacles to Dedication: The Shepherds Point of View.”

Part I of the sequel is set in the fall, during the close of the feast of tabernacles: John 10:1-21.  Part II of the sequel is set a couple months later, in the winter during the feast of dedication: John 10:22-42.  But, even though this chapter marks two separate events and two different settings, they are put together in one chapter in John’s Gospel because they belong together…like a great sequel.

In order to understand either Part of the sequel, one thing is required…just as if you were watching Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings.  You must watch all of the films in order to understand the happenings of each part in the overarching story.  The same for John 10.  In Part I of John 10, Jesus reveals himself as the Good Shepherd or the Model, Nobel Shepherd.  He goes into much detail describing himself as this Shepherd and outlines for his audience what his shepherding is like.  And this first part of John 10 is beautiful as it is.  But when we understand the purpose of it, it’s meaning is opened to us like never before.  Jesus isn’t speaking of himself as the Good/Noble/Model Shepherd simply because he thought that would be a great way to describe himself.  No, there is much intentionality on Jesus’ part.  Like a fine film producer, he is anticipating part 2.

As we said earlier, Part 2 of the John 10 is set during the Feast of Dedication.  During this celebration, the theme of Messiahship was profound. The very purpose for this gathering was to remember the ‘rededication of the temple’ as result of the heroic action of Judas Maccabees in the second century BC, who carried on his father’s zeal, fighting against the infidels, reclaiming the holy city for the people of God, rededicating the temple, and fortifying its walls once again. It was such an important victory for the people of God that it marked the beginning of the feast of dedication/Hanukkah that Jesus and the people of God are gathered for in the Gospel Lesson some 200 years later.  And since this time, the militaristic victories of Judas Macabees had formed the way the people of God understood the long-awaited Messiah.  As much as anything, they expected the Messiah would resemble Judas Macabees and bring ultimate victory to the people of God and that it would happen as result of him being a mighty warrior in battle.

So this feast, the one Jesus is attending at the end of John 10, awakened hopes for the coming of the Messiah probably more than any other.  But the idea was that this Messiah would be the mightiest of all...even mightier than Judas Maccabees who its hard to imagine without also imagining the war and bloodshed he and his army brought upon those who opposed & defiled the law of God!  …  What is important to remember that the feast of dedication is heavily shaped by the militaristic victory of the people of God through the heroic and zealous efforts of Judas Maccabees.

Let’s go back to Part I of the two part story of John 10.  Jesus, like a great movie producer, sets the stage perfectly for the unfolding drama of Part 2.  He knows the theme of Messiahship is going to come into sharp focus at the upcoming feast of dedication which is only a couple months away.  He also knows which readings from the bible will be read at that future celebration.  And one of them was the same reading we just heard: Ezekiel 34.

Jesus knew what he was doing all along.  Before the celebration of the dedication of the temple, where Messiahship and Ezekiel 34 would be the central, He reveals himself to be the fulfillment of the hopes of Ezekiel 34.  He is planting seeds for further growth and development in the hearts and minds of all who are journeying closer to the celebration.  They’ll have to sit with those words for a while, and when Ezekiel 34 comes into focus at the upcoming feast, his words will come back to them heavily…and they will seek him out and the story will continue to unfold.

Months before it happened, Jesus knew that during the feast of dedication, they’d be focusing upon the scripture that blasts the corrupt leaders of Israel for being shepherds who fail to feed the sheep but instead feed themselves! He knew they’d be hearing the scripture that blasts the crooked leaders of the people of God for not strengthening the weak, not healing the sick, not binding up the injured and not bringing back the strayed...for ruling God’s people with harshness and allowing them to be scattered and devoured by predators...Jesus knew that the prophecy would be read that promises that God himself will rescue his sheep from the mouths of these shepherds who are more like predators!

Ezekiel 34 gave the people of God ruled by greedy and fat leaders hope: God will search for his sheep and seek them out....He will gather the scattered...he will feed them with good pasture...he will see to it that they lie down in good grazing land and feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel! The hope of Ezekiel 34 is that God will be the shepherd who finally gives his people rest and pasture...and no other! He will seek the lost, bring back the strayed, and strengthen the weak while destroying the fat and the strong!

The pivotal verse of Ezekiel 34 is verse 23 where God promises, “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.”

The promise made is that these promises will come to fruition through the successor of David’s everlasting throne being anointed as King over Israel once and for all...the promise of deliverance will happen through the enthronement of God’s Messiah.

And once the new shepherd/King/Messiah is set up/enthroned to feed God’s people, a new age...a new creation will come to fruition...an age where the wild animals, those who manipulate the people of God and whose rule is venal and vile are absent...where there are no longer places of danger in God’s creation, for the sheep may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. There will be an abundance of blessings for the Messiah’s flock...trees of the field yielding their increase and God’s people resting in security on their own soil...For God will break the bars of their yoke and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them! When this happens, they will know that the LORD is their God and is with them and that they are His people....His sheep, the sheep of His pasture...

This is the promise of Ezekiel 34, one of those promises proclaimed by the prophets that is the ultimate hope of the people of God...and just a couple months before that text becomes the focus of attention, Jesus stands before the Jewish people and proclaims:

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Imagine how Jesus’ words would have brought disorientation and a multitude of emotions upon those who heard him! The feast of dedication is coming...the time when the people of God celebrate the rededication of the temple, the cleansing of corruption and the promise that God would bring about ultimate cleansing and renewal amongst the people of God!

Now Jesus is interpreting Ezekiel 34 in such a way that he becomes the fulfillment! This makes him either God or the Messiah or both. Jesus’ words stick with them for the months that lead up to the feast of dedication....they’re awaiting a Messiah...they know God will be Shepherd...but they expect it will happen in a blaze of militaristic glory reminiscent of the victory of Judas Maccabees...but this Jesus claims he is this Beautiful, noble, model shepherd, words reserved for God & His Messiah alone...and he claims that this new era will be brought in not by militaristic might but by self-giving love?!

Oh the questions that Jesus left them with...some wondered if he was insane...others believed he must be saying something of note...i mean he did recently just heal a man born blind... And the plan works to perfection.  Those words did stick with them.  They couldn’t stop the potency of those words from striking them at their very core.  I bet they couldn’t wait to see Jesus again. So, when the time had finally arrived for the feast of dedication and they heard that Jesus had been spotted on Solomon’s portico, they asked him the question that he had anticipated the whole time, “Are you the Messiah?”

And Jesus responded, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them everlasting life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Now Jesus has done it...he has not only made claim that he truly is the Messiah, but also that he truly is God. This Messiah for which Israel is waiting for the new age to come to fruition is standing right in front of them...The Father has given his sheep over to the one who is one with the Father. It is revealed that the Messiah is one with God…that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father and yet that the one God is undivided!

And this Messiah brings in the new age identified in the Greek as “everlasting life”--the new age that is without end wherein the whole creation would be made new as proclaimed by Ezekiel!

But this new creation...the new age would come to fulfillment not by Jesus riding in with cavalries to command and conquer but by his laying down his very life and taking it back up again. It is through this act of self-giving love and none other that the fulfillment of Ezekiel 34 reaches its consummation! “For God will break the bars of their yoke and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them! When this happens, they will know that the LORD is their God and is with them and that they are His people....His sheep, the sheep of His pasture...

Oh, the people of God didn’t understand how strong those yokes were! Militaristic might cannot break the iron bars of the yoke of sin and death that has its tight grip around God’s flock! It has tried and failed time and time again! But the love of God has won our victory! The iron bars have been broken! The chains are gone! Our hearts are free! Its time to rise up and follow the risen one who has conquered by self-giving love! For the Lamb is the Shepherd and the Shepherd is the ever-slaughtered Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon us who are in the tombs has bestowed life! Alleluia! The bars of our yoke have been broken and we are saved from the hands of those who enslaved us: Sin, death, and the grave! Alleluia!

The Shepherd has arrived and his kingdom is non-violent...his kingdom exalts the lowly and casts down the high and mighty from their thrones! The Shepherd has arrived and he tells the truth! For his people know, now that the iron bars of their yoke has been broken, that He is their God and that they are His people...That they are His sheep, the sheep of His pasture, which is none other than the age to come, the new creation which knows no end!

And this kingdom will last! Because John, in Revelation, is granted a vision of our future and in that future it is not Judas Maccabees or anyone like him who takes center stage! No! At the center of the vision of fulfillment stands not Judas Maccabees or any other military war hero, but instead, the slaughtered Lamb who has won true victory...who has taught us that the most powerful force in the universe is the self-giving, self-sacrificial love of God in Jesus Christ! Listen as John reports what he sees when he gets a sneak peak into the future fulfillment:

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and hone and power and might e to our God forever and ever! Amen!”
Then one of the elders addressed me saying, “Whoa re these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. they will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

What a picture! The Slaughtered Lamb is the Noble/Model Shepherd for which the entire creation has been waiting! The way of the kingdom is the way of the Messiah who gave his life for His sheep and has taken it up again! Our way is love...our way is the cross! For He has called our name and we have followed him to the font where our robes were washed white in the Lamb’s self-giving blood! Now there is nothing, no nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, for we have been bathed in it and its fragrance remains upon us forever!

He has called us out of the world’s sheep pin and into the new creation, the life of the world to come! And even as we live in this age that is passing away, confronting it with the new and enduring way, and as a result experience hardship and persecution, let our eyes gaze past this age that will not endure to this vision of the throne where the Lamb at the center of everything shepherds his people, guiding us to the springs of the water of life and wiping away every tear from our eyes!

The Messiah has taken his throne! The New Creation has been inaugurated! Go and live the polity of the Kingdom to its fullest--the way of the cross, the self-giving love that has broken the iron bars of our prison once and for all, no matter the cost, for our Shepherd leads us!

Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead! Trampling down death by death, and upon us who were in the tombs, bestowing life! Alleluia! Amen.

The Third Sunday in Easter

The Rev. Tommy Thompson

Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36b-48

3rd Sunday in Easter

22 April 2012

“Resurrection: Creation’s Destiny”

These words I’m about to read, written by Joel Stein of the New York Times, were quoted on one of the insulating sleeves that goes on a Starbucks cup: “Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.”  

silence...let em sit with that for a bit...

Have you ever stopped to think about our future destiny?  Do you avoid the issue altogether so that, along with it, you might avoid the embarrassment of having to discuss things that seem so foreign?  

Just what is the Christian’s ultimate hope?  

For many years, many of us have sang songs that make a claim as to the what of Christian hope, like: “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be...”  or “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart...”  or “I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away...”  and yet another, “then he’ll call me some day to my home far away, where his glory forever I’ll share.”  

Do you hear the consistent theme of these songs?  They all make the claim that the future hope is heaven and that heaven is not here but somewhere far away.  They all seem to suggest that the future hope of Christians is to escape or fly away from the world wherein we live.

If we were to continue exploring literature and music about heaven, we’d be able to add other themes to the list as well.  Such as heaven is a place of disembodied spiritual bliss.  Disembodied because those who first thought up this kind of understanding believed that the body (or physicality for that matter) is bad but the soul, or spirit, is good.  Many believe the body is actually the prison of the soul or spirit and that death is good because death frees the soul from the body and allows the eternal soul to go to heaven from whence it came.  

Somewhere along the way, heaven also got located.  “Where is heaven?”, a child asks.  Pointing to the sky, the adult says, “Up there.”  Hence the association with clouds...and of course we cannot leave out the harps that come with the clouds.  

You know, I wonder if this is why there is so much confusion in the church concerning Easter.  I mean it just doesn’t make sense that Easter would be the most important and festive day and season of the year if the body/physicality/matter is the problem.  I mean if we are meant to escape the body and enter into spiritual bliss...if the body is simply the jail cell of the soul, then why celebrate its resurrection of which Jesus is the first-fruits...right?  

So we sing songs about a disembodied spiritual bliss that we call heaven, yet we confess in the Nicene Creed that “we look for the resurrection of the dead” and in the Apostles Creed, that we believe in “the resurrection of the body.”  

To confuse matters even more, when we read the New Testament, we hear that the Apostles’ main purpose was to proclaim/to witness to the reality that Jesus had risen bodily from the dead and re-appeared to his disciples, making them eye-witnesses of the new reality. The resurrection is all over the New Testament, as a matter of fact.  Not only is it all over the New Testament, but it was the topic of conversation in much religious debate in the first century Jewish world.  

If resurrection is what we confess in the creeds, which we had long before we had a bible, and that the hope of resurrection that we confess in the creeds is all over the place in the Bible, then where did this whole idea of disembodiment and escape come from?  

It came from the thought of various philosophies including the opponents of the author of the first letter of John who were quite persuasive concerning their gnostic ideas about the inherent evil of physicality/matter.  And that’s why John worked so hard to remind the early church that this kind of thinking is NOT in line with the Christian story of salvation.  The Christian narrative reveals that God created the heavens and the earth and that God saw it is very good.  If God has blessed physicality, why are you joining the gnostics in claiming that it is evil or that you would need to escape from it?  You might even reply, “Well originally, yes, physical creation and bodily existence was good...but then came sin...because of sin we need to escape the body.”  But the Bible doesn’t tell the story of how God gave up on creation in response to human sin.  Instead it tells the story of how God has been working toward the creation’s healing and restoration.  God has not and will not abandon his project of creation; instead he sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem it from the evils of sin...to restore it...to beautify it...to fulfill it.  

 Thus, for the Second person of the Trinity to become human...to take upon himself our physicality...to live as one of us without sin...to give himself over to death and then overcome death through resurrection, is to redeem physicality--bodily existence-- and to inaugurate the new creation.  

You see, resurrection is everything. The Triune God has not given up on us or the physical creation he spoke into existence.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is the proof of this reality!  We are not called to escape the world but to receive the world as God intended when he created us in his image and likeness and made us stewards of it.  

The bible names Jesus as “the first-born from the dead.”  It names his resurrection as the “first-fruits” of the new creation. Both of these phrases suggest that Jesus is not the last to rise from the dead the but the first.  “First-born” suggests that more siblings exist.  “First-fruits” suggests that more fruits are to come.  

Brothers and sisters, we are those siblings!  We are that fruit!  Christ has risen; therefore we too shall rise.  This is the Christian hope.  This is the hope of God’s world...not soul flight...not disembodied spiritual bliss up there somewhere....no, that is platonic philosophy at best and gnosticism at worse...Resurrection is Christian faith.  And that is why the author of 1 John tells the early church, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.  What we do know is this:  when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” 

And how is Jesus revealed after His resurrection?  Not as a disembodied spirit flying in and through worlds unknown, but in a real, physical, redeemed body.  While different in some aspects from the physicality we experience this side of resurrection, in Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances during these forty days after his resurrection, Jesus is nonetheless physical and his post-resurrection life is lived in perfect continuity with his life before his resurrection -- the prints on his hands, feet and side as visible proof.    

Listen to what Jesus says to his disciples who don’t what to think about his resurrected body, “Why are frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is me -- it is really me!  Touch me and see.  For a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”  Touch me and see...feel the flesh and bones...God has raised Jesus from the dead.  Physicality has been redeemed.  And just in case seeing and touching isn’t enough, Jesus asked for some fish and he took it and ate it in their presence.   If he were not really human -- really physical, the fish would’ve just fallen to the ground.  But Jesus ate and enjoyed the fish  in His new body.  And that part blesses me so dearly...When Christ returns and the dead are raised, we still get to eat meat!  Alleluia!  

Do you get what Jesus is doing in these post-resurrection appearances to His doubting apostles?  He is making sure they understand what and who it is that they, as the church, are to witness to...and it is not to disembodied spiritual bliss.  No, it is to bodily resurrection...That physicality is redeemed...that sin’s curse has been reversed and the whole creation is being made new.  

What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him...

So let us sing songs of resurrection, because heaven is not the end of the story.  Let us sing songs of our ultimate destination -- the new creation that will know no end.  Let us proclaim to the Joel Stein’s of the world that there is something much brighter and much more exciting than even a luxury hotel in store for those who, in faith, become children of the resurrection!  

Because we’ve got more than clouds and harps to offer to the world!  Alleluia!  

Amen.

The 2nd Sunday in Easter

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
The 2nd Sunday in Easter
15 April 2012

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!  We greet one another with these triumphant words throughout Eastertide. We begin our times of worship together every week during these fifty days of feasting with these words of hope, and joining the early Christians, we  are invited to greet one another with these words even as we bump into one another as we go through the mundane tasks of every day life.

But what does it mean?  What do you mean when you say, "The Lord is risen, indeed” or “In truth, He is risen?”  What are we really confessing when we say this?  If you haven't made sense of it all immediately, that’s okay...you're in good company...

On the first day of the week when Mary Magdelene went to the tomb and found that the stone had been removed, she didn't run to the other disciples and announce to them that the Lord had risen from the dead.  A rolled away stone hardly meant that Jesus was risen from the grave...rather, it likely meant that maybe someone had come and took the body away.  Mary was deeply saddened.  She ran and told the disciples that someone had taken away the body of Jesus...she did not immediately believe that Jesus was risen from the grave.

When the disciples arrived at the tomb, it is reported that one believed, but then it tells us that they did not yet understand the Scriptures that teach that Jesus rose from the dead...they returned to their homes perplexed at all that had taken place...they did not immediately believe or understand that Jesus was risen from the grave...

When the other disciples went home, Mary stayed behind...weeping...sad...imagine how you'd feel if someone you loved dearly had been buried and only a few days later someone took their body?  This is how Mary felt...she was already grieving because Jesus had died..but the thought that his body had been taken...oh how she must have felt...

Mary did not believe when she saw the stone rolled away; she did not believe when she encountered the two angels...and then Jesus appears...and she thinks he's the gardener...That's a lot to happen...but Mary still doesn't understand that Jesus has risen from the grave...

It was only when Jesus called Mary by her name that she recognized his voice...the voice of the Good Shepherd, whose sheep recognize his voice when he calls their name.  Mary still didn't have all the pieces put together...but she knew her Lord was standing before her...she had encountered him who was dead only a few days ago...something happened to Jesus that had not happened to anyone else...this takes time to understand...

The same day, that evening...The disciples were all gathered together and Jesus came into the room and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."  At this moment the Scripture does not tell us that the disciples all immediately believed that he was risen from the dead. It was only after the risen Lord showed the disciples the marks on his hands and his side that the text tells us, "The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord."

This is the trend in John's Gospel.  No one immediately understands and believes that Jesus has risen from the dead...resurrections just did not happen...and they especially didn't happen to just one person in the middle of history.  In the first century Jewish mind, the holy mystery of resurrection was the ultimate hope of most all Jewish believers; except the resurrection was something they believed would happen at the end of history and to all the people of God at the same time--not to one person in the middle of history.

Jesus’ resurrection upset the equilibrium. It wasn't something just anyone could figure out. There was no nice scientific formula that helped you understand what had happened and what it meant. God had done in Jesus what Israel thought he would do for all of Israel at the end of history and this was not immediately apparent to anyone!

Why, then, are we so hard on Thomas?  We call him "doubting Thomas."  And he gets this name simply because he wasn't with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them and showed them his hands and his side.  It took them seeing the marks to believe and rejoice in Jesus standing before them.  Why should we expect anything more from Thomas?  St. Thomas is not the odd ball in John's Gospel or in any of the Gospels. St. Thomas is the typical disciple.  It takes time to understand and comprehend the breadth of what happened after Jesus was crucified and buried.  Resurrection is something that happened for the first time in Jesus.

So if any of us gathered here today are having a hard time understanding or trusting that Jesus rose from the grave, we are in good company...it’s okay.  God doesn’t think less of us!

Yet, at the same time, God is not satisfied with resurrection remaining a complete mystery. It will always be mystery, but it was meant for us to comprehend well enough that we might joyfully participate in the new reality it has opened. And that’s the point to these post resurrection appearances in John’s Gospel.  They do not exist to center upon the doubt of disciples such as Peter, James or Thomas.  Instead, they have been handed on to us to reveal God’s heart.  God desires that each and everyone would encounter the Son following his resurrection. Because it is the encounter with the Son of God that sparks faith...not stones rolled away, angels, bodies passing through locked doors, or anything else! Faith begins in the encounter with the risen one and that’s why the risen Lord appears to doubting disciples.

Just as God didn't leave Thomas to his own reason to figure it all out, so God does not abandon you in your confusion and doubt.  The same God who encountered Mary, Peter, Thomas, and the rest of the disciples following his resurrection seeks to have an encounter with you so that you may believe that Jesus is risen from the dead...And belief begets life...Those who encounter the risen Lord and finally see him for who he is, the symbols of his power made plain to us as we gaze upon those scars that made possible our redemption, are compelled to continue in the mission of Jesus Christ: we confront the powers of the world with the loving, self-giving power of God...The books of Acts happens all over again and again as disciples who were once timid. fearful and even cowardly begin to give bold testimony to the resurrection of Jesus to all and any who will have ears to hear.  And in that testimony, the risen Lord reveals himself again and again and the cycle of belief begetting life continues till he comes again.

The resurrection...it’s not the easiest pill to swallow.  It is something that cannot be reasoned...resurrection is only understood by those who have encountered the risen one...who have gazed upon the wounds that we ourselves have inflicted...who are seized by the love that endured those scars....and who tap into the very power that those scars represent...the power of love which overcomes sin, death, and the grave.

Today if you don’t yet “get it.” Don’t worry...you are in good company...God has time for you. Take comfort in Peter’s words to the church, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith--your salvation!”  Or better yet, Jesus’ words to Thomas. “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Chrysostom's Paschal Homily

The Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom

If any are devout and loves God,
Let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast!
If any be a wise servant,
Let her enter into the joy of our Lord with rejoicing! If any have labored long in fasting,
Let them now receive their recompense.
If any have worked from the first hour,
Let them today receive their just reward.
If any have come at the third hour,
Let them with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour,
Let them have no misgivings;
Because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.
If any have delayed until the ninth hour,
Let them draw near, fearing nothing.
And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour,
Let her, also, be not alarmed at her tardiness.

For the Lord, who is jealous of his honor,
Will accept the last even as the first.
He gives rest to the one who comes at the eleventh hour,
Even as to him who has worked from the first hour.
And He shows mercy upon the last,
And cares for the first;
And to the one He gives,
And upon the other He bestows gifts.
And He accepts the deeds of both,
And welcomes the intention,
And honors the acts and praises the offering.
For this reason, let all of us enter into the joy of our Lord;
Receive your reward,
Both the first, and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival!
You sober and you reckless, honor the day!
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted
And you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is full-laden; let us all feast in extravagance!
The calf is fatted; let no one go away hungry!
Let us all enjoy this feast of faith!
Come and receive the riches of loving-kindness.

Let no one complain of his poverty,
 For the Kingdom of God, the new creation, has been revealed.
Let no one weep for his iniquities, 
For pardon has shown forth from the grave.
Let no one fear death,
For the Savior's death has set us free.
He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.

By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.
He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.
And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry:
Hell, said he, was embittered
When it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain.
It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, O death, and you are overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead,
Is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominion
Unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Good Friday 2012

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
Good Friday Year B
6 April 2012

“Why Did He Have to Suffer Like This!?”

This past Sunday, the Sunday of the Passion, I shared the story of an occurrence that I will never forget...It happened one Saturday in Barnes & Noble.  My wife Leslie was in her favorite section, thumbing through a few of her favorite authors, and I was in the Religion and Philosophy section, getting lost in a few of my own.  There were many people there that day...but there was one father and son who really caught my attention.  They walked right past me as I was sitting in the floor reading a book in the religion section.  The little boy saw an image on one of the covers that mesmerized him.  It was the icon of Jesus’ passion...it showed the crown of thorns that had been plated on Jesus’ head and did not hide the blood that flowed from his brow...Jesus’ face was the very definition of agony and sorrow.  It was not a pleasing picture, as it shouldn’t have been...it was very truth-telling...Jesus’ death as an experience of deep agony ... deep suffering.

The little boy saw the picture and stared for a moment and then looked at his dad and said, “Dad, what happened to that poor man?!”  His dad looked somewhat embarrassed because of how loud the boy had said it, and especially because of who he said it about...talking about Jesus in public is scandalous you know...his dad, under his breath, said, “that’s Jesus on the cross.”  The boy said, “Why did he have to suffer like that?  Why?! Tell me.”  The dad just kinda kept walking, picking up his pace, urging his son to keep walking with him...i mean the place was full of people...he didn’t want to get into all that right there in barnes and noble...its far too scandalous!  But the boy wouldn’t stop.  He repeated, “What did he do to deserve it?”  and then , “Dad, did they ever catch those people that did that horrible thing to him?”

On Sunday our focus was upon that brilliant question offered by one of those Jesus has told us to pay close attention to -- the little ones.  In an attempt to answer the boy’s question, we stood as if on the other side of the window and gazed through to see all the suspects in hopes that we would identify who was really responsible for the suffering and death of Jesus.  There were many suspects who were analyzed, but in the end, we were invited to stop looking through the glass....to stop identifying potential suspects, and instead turn and look into the mirror...and then, at that realization, we had to tell the little boy the truth -- he did it.  I did it. You did it. We did it.  We all are responsible for the death of the Son of God, and it is the most horrific crime ever committed.  As the hymn we opened with today said so poignantly, “I crucified Thee.”

Today our focus is on the other question the brilliant boy so daringly asked.  Why did he have to suffer?  Why did Jesus have to die?

There have been many attempts in answering this question.  There are many theories or metaphors out there that attempt to help us understand the suffering and death of Jesus and how it relates to our salvation.  And because of this, we must be very careful not to take one theory or metaphor too far. We must remember to take each metaphor for what it is...one metaphor alone cannot sufficiently answer the question, “Why did Jesus have to die?” ...

I think it best that we allow the metaphors or theories of atonement to co-exist side by side so as to attempt to tell the story as a whole. There are many ways the death of Jesus is portrayed, and all of the portrayals, together, reveal as much light as is needed for us to respond to God’s gracious initiative.  

And Hebrews is one of those portrayals that doesn’t leave many stones left unturned in it’s efforts to deal with questions such as the one the boy in Barnes & Noble asked that day.

In Hebrews, we get a holistic portrayal of the “why” of Jesus’ death and how his suffering and death relates to our salvation and the rest of the events of his life. One would be hard pressed to read Hebrews and still believe the only event in the life of Christ that matters is his death or not have that one metaphor he or she has held on to for so long be shaken and challenged.  Today, the author of Hebrews does what any response to this boy’s question HAS TO DO...Hebrews demonstrates the continuity that exists between Jesus pre-existence as Son of God, His incarnation, His life, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.  It is not simply Jesus death that has brought to us salvation...it is the whole story.  If we start and stop with the crucifixion, Jesus is nothing but another would-be victor of the Roman Empire who was revealed to be a criminal and a phony.  Our response to the boy, then, would be: Jesus was one of many who was crucified outside of town for claiming to be someone he wasn’t.

Jesus is truly God and fully human. To truly help the young boy know why Jesus had to die, we must begin here.  When the author of the Hebrews Epistle talks about the death of the Christ, he cannot cease to talk about the incarnation of the Son.  I think this is what draws me to this letter more than anything else.  Hebrews looks at the little boy and says, “He had to suffer this way and die because he loves you. Because He loves you so much, he came down and did not shun the virgin’s womb, but has identified with you in your human struggle fully and completely. In that struggle, he has opened to you the gates of everlasting life.”  I think that’s really a summation of what Hebrews is all about.

I love the way Hebrews 2:14-18 lays it out: “Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is , the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.  For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.  Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement of the sins of the people.  Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”

We whose hosannas were the worst april fools joke of the day this past Sunday, who later on shouted crucify him, are the passion of the Son of God. As result of our sinfulness, God the Father looked on us not with anger or hatred but with love and compassion, in sympathy.  And he turned that sympathy into more than even empathy when he took upon Himself our human flesh to live our life to the fullest, yet without sin.  He took evil on head on -- for us.  He knew how bad evil had its grip on us...that’s why he went through with it from beginning to the end.  So that his sinlessness would overcome our sinfulness...so that love would overcome hatred....so that the everlasting life of God would overcome the everlasting death of human sin and unrighteousness!   That’s why Jesus chose to die...why God believed he had too...because that’ s just how strong God’s love is for us!

We are the guilty party, yes, and though it is the most horrible of crimes, it is not a bad thing for us to embrace the fact that we are all guilty.  Jesus died because that’s what evil does to those who don’t get with it’s program...  BUT, he died because in his death, he reveals to us the true power of God that God’s been trying to get into our thick skulls from the very beginning.  He dies because power is not what we thought it was.  And in his death true power is revealed...it is the only power that will last -- self-giving, other forgiving and receiving love.  Jesus has known this love since before the foundation of the world -- he is the exact imprint of the life of God, as Hebrews makes clear.  Now, love crucified reveals to us the very heart of God.  To embrace our guilt is to embrace the truth that he willingly submitted himself to our evil and twisted trial and persecution, the whole time in order to forgive us and restore us.  That’s real justice...the restorative justice of the Triune God!

On the cross, God is revealed most fully for who God is...and he ends up not being a mean God who demands retributive justice, but, instead, humility who offers grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy...who exclaims “forgive them for they know not what they do.”  God turns out to be the God of restorative grace...the God who makes what was old brand new...who reinvigorates and repurposes that which was decaying and lost.  

So on Good Friday, we are called to confess our sinfulness and our guiltiness.  Because in that confession and realization, we experience not retributive justice but restorative grace...the restorative justice of resurrection into the new creation opened to us by Jesus’ incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost.

That’s what our priest has done and is doing for us.  We who killed Jesus were the whole time His mission, His passion.  God the Father called/appointed Him to be our Great High Priest -- our representative.  Even though, or especially because, we didn’t know how to follow him, he offered the perfect sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the whole world -- his very life.  And that offering of love overcame sin and the sting of death once and for all.  I believe one of the oldest songs the church sings sums it up perfectly when it exclaims that Christ has trampled down death by death and upon those in the tombs has bestowed life.

As we live now, in the time between Christ’s resurrection and everyone else's, we, like the original hearers of the Hebrews Epistle, will be tested in every way because of this confession in Jesus Christ--the source of our salvation.  The response we’ve offered to the little boy through Hebrews will get you in trouble in this world that still holds on to it’s power which is really weakness and it’s wisdom which is really foolishness.  The first readers of Hebrews were being disowned by family, beaten, kicked out of the places of worship they knew their whole life and even killed because of this very confession & response.

And sisters and brothers, when we let the crucified One be the center of our life together, the age that is passing away will treat us as it did Jesus and his early followers.  When, not if, this happens, we are invited to remember and live in the whole life of Jesus summed up in this amazing invitation:

“Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every way has been tested/temped as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

That invitation is enough until Christ comes again.  Amen.

Maundy Thursday 2012

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-17
5 April 2012

“The Farewell of All Farewells”

Goodbyes are never easy.  But when we have opportunity to prepare for a good bye and take advantage of that opportunity, our words are chosen very carefully.

It was only a couple years ago that I was given the opportunity to preside over not only the funeral but also the death of my grandfather...my papaw.  There are many things that he and I would usually say to one another, mostly cutting up and having fun...but in those last moments there was a lot of silence...and when something was said, it certainly was not trite.

When we are saying goodbye to those who mean a lot to us, we choose our words carefully.  Depending on your role in the relationship, your words will differ.  If you are going away on a long trip and leaving your children behind, you are going to say words to your children that will linger in their minds...words that give the opportunity for action that will make the absent parent proud.  Words that bring comfort in the midst of grief...words that the children can withdraw from their memory bank when the sadness seems impossible to bear.

If you are on your deathbed and have the opportunity to say farewell to those who will be surviving you, your words will likely be more meaningful and to the point than anything that has ever come out of your mouth.  These folks gathered around the bed are hanging on every word and they will not forget them.
 In the Gospel Lesson for Maundy Thursday, we get the opportunity to listen in on the most important farewell address that has ever been said.  The Lesson beings “Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

Up to this point in the Gospel of John we’ve only heard it reported that Jesus hour “had not yet arrived.”  Now, his hour has come.  It is time for his mission to come to its climax and fulfillment...it is time for the power of God to deal with the evil powers of this world once and for all...and of course, as was disclosed to us on Passion Sunday, that power takes the form of humble, self-giving, other-receiving love...power that is contrary to everything we’ve ever been taught about power...power that overcomes sin, death, and the grave...and this we learned, is the very nature of God--to humble himself and pour the fullness of Himself into the other.

So, this is Jesus’ farewell address to his beloved disciples, and to his body, the church.  It is a bit different than any other farewell that has ever been given.  The majority of those addressed by Jesus’ words live on this side of the resurrection.  And we know that this is not the farewell of a dead man.  No, this is the farewell of the resurrected One who knows he must ascend to His Father and our Father, whose palpable presence will pass over into the sacraments by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is a farewell that names how the risen and exalted Christ continues his mission even after He has passed beyond the veil...a farewell that prepares his people for the continuation of his mission once they receive the power of God that is the Holy Spirit of God.

So this is a unique farewell address, yet it is a farewell address.  If ever our ears perked up to our Master’s voice, it should be now.  What comes out of his mouth from John 13-17 is for the sake of our cooperation with grace in continuing his mission in and for His world.

So just what does our Teacher, our Lord have to tell us before he departs to the Father?

Well, he doesn’t immediately say anything at all...instead, God the Word incarnates Himself in the action that we get to see...to observe...to have engrained into our imaginations.

“During supper, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.”

At this moment, the image of what happened in Bethany just a few days before was brought to the front of the disciples’ imaginations ... so strongly that the pure nard that was poured on Jesus’ feet tickled the hairs of the disciples nostrils.  What Mary had done to prepare for the Lord’s departure is now what the Lord does to prepare his disciples for the same.  She poured out that which symbolized everything that she had...right there at the feet of Jesus Christ that would soon bear the marks of our redemption.

Now Jesus demonstrates to us the meaning of His passion. Because He is God, he takes the form of a slave ... Even though he is human, he takes the form of servant, and in so doing, our redemption is procured.  Because he is God, the Teacher washes the students’ feet.  Even though he is human, the Master receives the servants’ feet into the warmth of His towel to wipe them clean for a new and meaningful journey.  In this act of washing, the meaning of his glorification through the cross is made clear to us...he washes all of his disciples’ feet without exception; yes, even Judas, his betrayer.

Peter could not understand this holy incarnation of God’s nature in the Son of God.  He argued, “You will never was my feet.”  The evil powers that govern the world of darkness has formed even the closest of Jesus’ disciples well. Peter has been taught that the powerful sit down to have their feet washed...but Jesus knows Peter must be washed...he knows he must be the recipient of His selfless service if he is to have a share in the same.

And this is just what Jesus’ intends to command through this holy sign act that is the beginning of his farewell...Not simply an invitation but a command.

“Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am.  So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.  Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”

Sisters and brothers, farewell addresses are not filled with empty words and meaningless phrases.  What Jesus says here, he wants us to take to heart more than anything else...because these, of all words, are the words he chose to reveal through this humble act of service.  The one thing he has to say to us is this.  You want to be great, then become the least and wash the feet of your sisters and brothers, and yes, even the one who betrays you.  And in doing this you have a share in me and I in you.

What would happen this Easter if we came through these Great Three Days heeding Jesus’ words by the power of the Holy Spirit?  Maybe those who hunger and thirst for God in their lives outside these walls will begin to start a new rumor about us...about a new kind of power that transforms?  Just maybe the selfless love that flows out of this parish and into the world will draw God’s people to the table where He fills them with the self-giving and other-receiving Love of Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.  Amen.

The Sunday of the Passion

The Rev. Tommy Thompson
The Sunday of the Passion
April 1, 2012

“Who Is Responsible For this Crime of Crimes?”

As should be clear, Palm Sunday is not all we make it out to be.  You know, on this day so many churches get so confused and celebrate one week too early.  The liturgy today alone should demonstrate to us that the Hosannas of the crowd is nothing but sinners celebrating what they want Jesus to be...their own projections of what Messiah is suppose to be.

What the Passion Narrative has revealed to us is that as soon as God shows us what Messiahship is truly about, our Hosannas turn quickly into “Crucify Him!” “Crucify Him!”  Today is not a day of deep celebration...it is a day where we are reminded, as we were on Ash Wednesday, just how deeply sinful we human beings are.  We are not called to celebrate Palm Sunday...we don’t pull out all the stops today...that would be the celebration of our sinfulness.

Today is the beginning of a difficult journey.  It is the time we begin to embark on the journey of Jesus’ passion.  Jesus passion...his agony, his suffering, his death...that’s what today is about...that’s what Holy Week is about...which reminds me.

_________________________________

A few years ago, Leslie and I were just having a good time in Barnes and Noble.  She was in the girly section and I was in the Religion and Philosophy section, getting lost in a few good books.  There were many people there that day...but there was one father and son that caught my attention.  They walked right past me as I was sitting in the floor reading a book in the religion section.  The little boy saw an image that mesmerized him.  It was the image of Jesus crucified...it showed the crown of thorns and blood coming from his head...Jesus’ face was the definition of agony.  It was not a pleasing picture, as it shouldn’t have been...it was very truth-telling...Jesus’ death as an experience of deep agony ... deep suffering.

The boy saw the picture and stared for a moment and then looked at his dad and said, “Dad, what happened to that poor man?!”  His dad looked somewhat embarrassed because of how loud the boy had said, and especially because of what he said it about...talking about Jesus in public is scandalous you know...his dad, under his breath, said, that’s Jesus on the cross.  The boy said, “Why’d they do that to him dad!?  Why?! Tell me.”  The dad just kinda kept walking, picking up his pace, urging his son to keep walking with him...i mean the place was full of people...he didn’t want to get into all t hat right there in barnes and noble...its too scandalous!  But the boy didn’t stop.  He said, “What did he do to deserve it?” then , “Dad, did they ever catch those people that did that horrible thing to him?”

Wow, what a question!  When I head the boy say all this, I wanted so badly to be able to sit down with him and talk about it for a while...  “Did they ever catch those people who did that to him?”  That’s a good question...a question worth our time if for anything for the sake of the boy who asked such a brilliant question.

_______________________________

In order to answer the boys question, “did they ever catch em?”, we first must ask, “who are they?”  Who is it that is responsible for the death of the God-man?  You ever asked that question?  Many of us think we got it figured out...but that boys’ honesty...his desire to know about the One depicted in that one image in that Huge store with all those books, is what we are invited to become like this morning....We don’t have it figured out...Who killed the Son of God?

Maybe it was Judas!  We might as well begin there...history has given Judas most of the blame, hasn’t it.  Dante has Judas in the mouth of the beast in the lowest, darkest, most fiery place.  After all, it was Judas, one of the twelve, who was close enough to Jesus to betray him...It was Judas who made a deal with the chief priests for his own material gain.  It was Judas who betrayed the Son of God with a kiss, which caused Jesus to be handed over to those who would eventually kill him after torturing him...maybe it was Judas...

Or maybe it was also those chief priests?  I mean they wanted Jesus dead all along...they’d been plotting how to make his death a reality for some time.  Maybe it is the chief priests who are responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth?

Or maybe those disciples who couldn’t stay awake at the place called Gethsemane?  A time when the Lord was in such need of support, when His heart was so heavy, when his whole being was “very sorrowful,”  they slept and couldn’t stay awake with him.

If not them, how about those bystanders who bore false witness against him, saying “We heard him say, “I Will destroy the temple this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another, not made with hands?”

These bystanders continue through the narrative to provide false witness with the motivation of cruelty being brought upon the Son of God.  It must be their fault he was beaten, spat upon, and crucified!

But there are other characters in this story who might have something to do with it...

That high priest...who mockingly interrogated Jesus...it seemed that no matter what Jesus would say, the high priest would make it a charge against him.  As a matter of fact, when he questioned Jesus and Jesus bore true testimony, he ripped his clothes and accused the one who is God of God and Light of Light to be a blasphemer!  And The high priest and his council condemned their Creator as deserving death.  they spat on him, covered his face and struck him and mocked him saying “Prophesy! Prophesy!”  It must be these religious leaders who are responsible for the death of Jesus!

Or maybe someone that was as close to Jesus as anybody.  Peter.  After Jesus was given up to the chief priests and authorities, he was found warming himself in the courtyard. When a maid saw Peter and recoginized him, she said, “You also were with the Nazarene Jesus!”  And Peter denied it not once but three times.  The one who told Jesus before he was handed over that “Even if i must die with you, I will not deny you.”  Now denies any relational status with the humble Jewish rabbi from Nazareth.

there are alot of characters in this story that are suspects in this horrible crime.  Are there any others?  Ah, there’s Pilate, who in his cowardice made a deal with the people...who allowed the popular vote of sinners to determine the outcome of the Son of Man.  In his cleverness, he thought he had washed his hands of the matter, but did he really?  He offered to the blood thirsty crowd, “What shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?”

And that leaves us with the crowd.  The ones who had the opportunity to make the vote in Jesus’ favor, but craving blood, violence, twisted self-satisfaction, passionately exclaimed, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

The romans soldiers had their part, scourging Jesus, leading him away clothing him in a purple cloak, plaiting a crown of thorns on his head and saluting him, “Hail! King of the Jews!”

The struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, knelt down in mocking homage to him, stripped Him, and led him out to be crucified!  They offered him wine mingled with myrrh...they divided his garments among themselves...they cast lots for the them...and made a jeering inscription above his head, “The King of the Jews..”  and the Son of God, the one through whom all things were made and redeemed was crucified between two criminals, who also derided him...

There were even those so called innocent bystanders, who laughingly shouted, “Behold He is calling on Elijah...”  Wait let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down...

__________________________________

Who is responsible for love crucified?  Who is the culprit?  The One who is called “love” is hanging upon a cross with criminals...the boy asks, “Who did this to him?  Why?  Did they ever catch those people?


Who’s guilty of this horrible crime?

You are!  I am!  We didn’t just dramatically read the passion Narrative this morning for kicks...we shouted crucify him!  we mocked him...we derided him...we spat upon His Holy face! We crucified the Son of God...love was crucified because of the evil produced by our own sinfulness...by our neglect of being and becoming all God had in mind for us from the beginning.

That’s the truth the father didn’t tell his boy that day...the correct answer would’ve been, “Son, you did it! And I did it.”  Our sin put him there.
___________________________

But the good news is that this is not the end of the story...For those who did this to Jesus, you and me, are at the same time the passion of the Son of God.  He knew us more than we know ourselves.  He took upon our flesh for the purpose of redeeming it, and love marched all the way to Golgotha and took all our evil sinfulness had to throw at Him, humbly, lovingly!

Today, I beg you to confess your guiltiness before the divine court.  I beg you to acknowledge your sinfulness, your culpability...

We don’t like to confess guiltiness; especially when it is of such great magnitude (I mean this is the worst crime ever committed...the crucifixion of our Creator).  That’s why criminals hope to have the resources of hiring great defense attorneys who will hopefully get them out of the punishment their crime deserves.

We don’t like to confess our wrong doing ... especially as we have lived for so long under the so called “justice of retribution...” the penal justice system...we know we’ll get what the court says we deserve...

but i beg you...confess you guiltiness before the divine court and experience true restorative justice that comes to you in the form of divine mercy and love that flows from the wounds you caused on the body of the Son of God...mercy, love, and forgiveness flows from the water and the blood...

I pray we give ourselves up...that we let ourselves be caught, because God caught us long ago, in that garden when we forfeited life, communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...your confession will lead to dying with Christ to your sinfulness and raising with Him in love to newness of life, to everlasting life in the new creation!

Because the One who you killed offered Himself for you...he is the priest and He is the victim.  And from the cross he named your forgiveness.  Will you admit you did it?  Will  you confess humbly so that you might receive mercy, and come Easter morning celebrate like never before, that “LOVE CRUCIFIED AROSE!”

Amen.