Good Friday, 2012

JOHN 18:1 – 19:42

BY DEFINITION CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CERTAIN THINGS. THEY BELIEVE THAT CHRIST WAS GOD AND MAN, AND THEY BELIEVE THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE ONLY SAVED BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS. AND IN OUR PRAYERS, WE SAY THINGS LIKE “DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH”. GREAT THEOLOGIANS HAVE COME UP WITH MANY DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT HOW THIS WORKS. THE TWO BIG ONES ARE FIRST, THAT JESUS RANSOMS US FROM SATAN, WHO OWNS US AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE. SATAN ACCEPTS THIS TRADE, BUT IS FOOLED BECAUSE HE CAN HAVE NO HOLD ON JESUS, WHO IS SINLESS. THE SECOND IS THAT JESUS DIES IN OUR PLACE, BECAUSE THAT SATISFIES GOD THE FATHER FOR THE SINS WE HAVE COMMITTED. I'M NOT SURE I LIKE EITHER THEORY. THE FIRST IMPLIES THAT SATAN IS THE RIVAL OF GOD, WHEN EVEN IN HELL HE IS STILL GOD'S CREATURE, AND CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT GOD'S PERMISSION; THE SECOND SUGGESTS THAT THE FATHER IS LIKE ONE OF THOSE VOLCANO GODS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC, DEMANDING A HUMAN SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO KEEP HIS TEMPER UNDER CONTROL. BUT IT IS A GOOD QUESTION. HOW IS IT THAT THE DEATH OF CHRIST, THIS HORRIBLE DEATH WHICH WE'VE JUST HEARD ABOUT, SOMEHOW MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO ENTER ETERNAL LIFE?

I GREW UP IN MONTANA, AND OUR CATHEDRAL WAS NAMED AFTER SAINT HELENA. IT HAD IN A RELIQUARY A FRAGMENT OF THE TRUE CROSS. AS YOU MAY KNOW, SAINT HELENA, THE MOTHER OF CONSTANTINE, SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND TIME IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND THE TRUE CROSS. SHE EVENTUALLY RETURNED HOME WITH A LARGE PIECE OF WOOD WHICH SHE HAD FOUND, AND THE AUTHORITIES AGREED THAT IT WAS THE TRUE CROSS, AND SMALL FRAGMENTS WERE DETACHED AND SENT ALL OVER THE WORLD. SOMEONE ONCE REMARKED THAT IF ALL THE FRAGMENTS COULD BE GATHERED TOGETHER AND REASSEMBLED, THE CROSS WOULD BE TALLER THAN THE TALLEST REDWOOD. BUT THE IMPULSE TO HAVE AT HAND A RELIC OF THE CROSS IS A GOOD ONE; IN SOME WAY IT PUTS US IN TOUCH WITH JESUS.

AND THAT'S WHY WE VENERATE THIS CROSS TODAY – IT IS A SYMBOL OF THE CROSS ON WHICH JESUS DIED.

BUT THERE MAY BE BETTER SYMBOLS. IF YOU GO DOWN ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, YOU MIGHT FIND A LEAN-TO MADE OF DISCARDED BOARDS IN WHICH A BROTHER LIVES. THAT'S THE CROSS. IF THROUGH YOUR SELFISHNESS OR ANGER OR NEGLECT YOU'VE CAUSED SOMEONE YOU LOVE TO SUFFER, WELL, THERE'S THE CROSS. IF YOU'VE BEEN TOO BUSY TO VISIT SOMEONE WHO IS SICK OR SHUT IN OR LONELY, SOMEONE YOU USED TO KNOW AND LOVE, THERE'S THE CROSS AGAIN.

MAYBE OUR CHURCH IS THE CROSS. YOU AND I HAVE NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE BEEN MADE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF CHRIST THROUGH BAPTISM, NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE RECEIVED JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST, NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE DROPPED OUT AND NO LONGER GATHER TOGETHER WITH US AROUND THIS ALTAR. WHEN WE DON'T CARE, WHEN WE DON'T ASK WHY, WHEN WE DON'T INVITE THEM BACK, THERE'S THE CROSS.

MAYBE WE'VE VOTED FOR SOMEONE WHO PROMISES ALL THE RIGHT THINGS EXCEPT TO BE IN FAVOR OF ABORTION; AND WE SAY, THE GOOD OUTWEIGHS THE BAD. MAYBE AMONG THOSE CHILDREN WHO WILL NEVER LIVE, NEVER KNOW LOVE, MAYBE IF WE LOOK HARD, WE WILL SEE THAT THERE IS THE CROSS.

JESUS SPENT MANY YEARS OF HIS LIFE AS A CHILD, A YOUNG MAN, A CARPENTER; THAT DID NOT SAVE US. JESUS SPENT HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TEACHING AND HEALING AND GATHERING TOGETHER A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO LATER BECAME THE CHURCH; THAT DID NOT SAVE US. BUT WHEN JESUS WAS CONDEMNED AND NAILED TO THE CROSS, WHEN HE WAS HELPLESS AND WRITHING IN PAIN, WHEN HE KNEW WITH CERTAINTY THAT HE WOULD DIE, REALLY DIE, AND WHEN HE DID DIE, BE DEAD AS DEAD CAN BE, NOT SORT OF HOVERING OVER A DEAD BODY LIKE A GHOST, NOT RETIRING INTO THE TRINITY TO AWAIT THE RESURRECTION – THAT WAS WHEN JESUS SAVED US.

IT SAYS IN OUR CREED THAT HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. WE ARE TOLD THAT THE WORD REALLY MEANT THE AFTERLIFE, WHERE THE SOULS OF THE JUST AWAITED HIM. BUT I THINK HE REALLY DID DESCEND INTO AN ALL TOO FAMILIAR HELL, THE HELL OF TORMENT, OF NEGLECT, OF NOT HAVING ENOUGH TO EAT, OF BEING TORTURED, OF BEING IMPRISONED, OF BEING A REFUGEE, A RAPE VICTIM, A TEENAGER WHO IS BULLIED INTO COMMITTING SUICIDE, A WIFE OR HUSBAND IN A LOVELESS MARRIAGE, THE HELL OF A PARENT WHO LOSES A CHILD.

JESUS TOLD PHILIP “IF YOU SEE ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER”. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT WHAT WE DO FOR THE LEAST OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WE DO FOR HIM.

SO HOW DOES JESUS SAVE? IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. FROM THE CROSS HE INVITES US TO JOIN HIM. HE CALLS US TO COME TO HIM. HE SAYS, “WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE.” HE TELLS US THAT THE MEASURE WITH WHICH WE MEASURE, THAT WILL BE THE MEASURE THAT WILL BE USED FOR US. HE LOOKS DOWN FROM THE CROSS AT OUR LACK OF CONCERN, OUR BLINDNESS TOWARDS THE POOR, THE SUFFERING, THE UNBORN, THE LONELY, THE AGED, AND HE SAYS “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO.”

JESUS BECOMES MAN, BUT NOT JUST ANY MAN. JESUS BECOMES MAN WHO IS REJECTED, WHO IS IN PAIN, WHO IS CUT OFF, WHO IS HUNGRY AND THIRSTY AND WITHOUT SHELTER, WHO IS PUT TO DEATH BEFORE BEING BORN. THAT MAN ON THE CROSS IS ALL THAT. WE ARE SO USED TO OUR BEAUTIFUL CRUCIFIXES THAT WE FORGET THE REALITY, THE REPULSIVENESS OF HIS DEATH, NAKED, BLEEDING, WRITHING, CRYING OUT IN PAIN; THE SWEAT OF DEATH POURING DOWN OVER HIS FACE.

AND HE SAYS, “COME TO ME, EASE MY PAIN, MY SUFFERING, RELIEVE MY LONELINESS, HOLD ME AS I AM DYING – JOIN ME ON MY CROSS – AND WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL RISE WITH ME.” AND THAT IS HOW HE SAVES US.