Palm Sunday, cycle C

LUKE 19:28-40

YOU'VE JUST HEARD THE PASSION OF LUKE READ. I DON'T WANT TO ADD A LOT OF WORDS. BUT I WOULD CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO THE STORY OF THE GOOD THIEF, A STORY WHICH APPEARS ONLY IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, SO YOU ONLY HEAR IT EVERY THREE YEARS. HERE WAS A MAN WHO HAD LIVED A LIFE AS A CRIMINAL; WE DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT HE DID, BUT MAYBE HE STOLE THINGS; MAYBE HE WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LAY IN WAIT FOR TOURISTS ON THE ROADS AND BEAT THEM AND STOLE FROM THEM – LIKE IN THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. AND MAYBE HE WAS A REVOLUTIONARY. IN ANY EVENT, HIS LIFE WAS A LIFE THAT THE ROMAN JUSTICE SYSTEM DECIDED SHOULD BE ENDED. AND HIS DAY COMES, AND HE IS HANGING ON THE CROSS, KNOWING HE WON'T BE COMING DOWN ALIVE.

HE'S HEARD OF JESUS; WHO HASN'T. AND WHEN THE OTHER THIEF JOINS IN THE GENERAL SARCASM AND MOCKING OF THE CROWD, HE SAYS, “WE DESERVE WHAT IS HAPPENING”. THE FIRST STEP WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE IS TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE SINNERS – ABJECT SINNERS, EVEN IF OUR SINS ARE LITTLE. BECAUSE GOD IS FIRST, AND WE PUT OURSELVES FIRST. BECAUSE GOD IS SO GREAT AND WE ARE SO SMALL; BECAUSE GOD MADE US TO BECOME SAINTS AND WE SETTLE FOR DOING JUST ENOUGH TO GET BY, JUST ENOUGH TO HOPEFULLY MAKE IT TO HEAVEN.

THE GOOD THIEF GOES ON TO SAY, “BUT THIS MAN HAS DONE NOTHING, HE IS INNOCENT.” THE SECOND STEP IS TO RECOGNIZE THAT JESUS, THE SINLESS ONE, THE WORD OF THE FATHER FROM ALL ETERNITY, BECAME A MAN, AND DIED ON THE CROSS FOR YOU AND I. HE HAD NO SIN BUT TOOK UPON HIMSELF OUR PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS, FREEING US FOREVER FROM THE SENTENCE WE WERE UNDER. BECAUSE OF HIS INNOCENCE AND HIS DYING FOR US, WE BECOME SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF HIS FATHER, SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD HIMSELF.

THE GOOD THIEF SAYS, “JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM”. THE THIRD STEP IS TO HAVE FAITH. THE GOOD THIEF MAKES AN ASTOUNDING ACT OF FAITH IN THIS STATEMENT; DESPITE HIS SINS, DESPITE HIS IMMINENT DEATH, DESPITE NEVER HAVING A CHANCE TO MAKE UP FOR ALL HIS CRIMES AND SINS, HE PUTS ALL HIS FAITH IN THE DYING MAN NEXT TO HIM. AND THAT IS SO HARD FOR US TO DO. WE HAVE A LOT OF FAITH IN OURSELVES; WE PLAN FOR OUR SECURITY, WE ARE “SELF-RELIANT”. WE THINK WE CAN GET INTO HEAVEN BY BEING GOOD, BY DOING GOOD THINGS – BUT TO RECOGNIZE THAT OUR ONLY HOPE IS IN THE MERCY OF JESUS – THAT'S HARD TO DO, BUT DO IT WE MUST. THE GOOD THIEF IN DESPIRATION PUTS ALL HIS HOPE IN JESUS.

AND THE GOOD THIEF HAS DONE THIS ALL PUBLICLY. HE HAS THROUGH HIS WORDS PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO THOSE CROWDS WHO ARE MOCKING JESUS. AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, BECAUSE JESUS SAYS THAT “WHOEVER ACKNOWLEDGES ME BEFORE OTHERS, I WILL ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN; BUT WHOEVER DENIES ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ALSO DENY HIM BEFORE MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN.” YOU CAN'T BE A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST IF YOU DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS LORD – BEFORE MEN, NOT JUST HIDDEN AWAY SOMEWHERE IN YOUR HEART.

SO LET US LISTEN TO THE GOOD THIEF TODAY, AND ASK HIM, WHO WE KNOW IS IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS, TO HELP US, SO THAT SOMEDAY WE MIGHT HEAR THOSE WONDERFUL WORDS, “AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”