Luke 23--First Word

Throughout Lent, we will be looking at the 7 last words of Jesus.  Technically, it is the 7 last statements or sayings of Jesus, but somewhere along the way, they became the 7 last words.  They come from all 4 of the gospels.  Matthew and Mark have the same phrase, verbatim.  “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani, My God, my God why has though forsaken me.”  They both have both the Aramaic that would have been spoken and the Greek translation.   Luke has 3 and John has 3.  No one gospel has all 7 sayings.  There is a traditional order to the sayings, and that is the order we will follow, but it is merely a best guess since no gospel has all of the sayings. 

                Dying words are important and powerful for the simple fact that they come at the end of life.  They often provide a window into the soul.  Sometimes the words reveal fear, sometimes peace, sometimes love.  They can reveal where someone is physically, or emotionally, or mentally. 

                In the coming weeks, we will be looking more closely at the things Jesus said while on the cross and we will seek to understand him better, appreciate the significance of his sacrifice and draw closer to him throughout Lent.  We have a new focal point during worship to help us keep the cross central in our minds as we hear these sacred words.  Hopefully, some old understandings about the cross will be solidified and clarified and some new understanding may be exposed. 

                Today’s word is: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  It is a simple phrase, yet it is packed with meaning.  The first thing worthy of mention is that it is a prayer. In the middle of his suffering, after being beaten, mocked, and tortured—the first words across Jesus’ lips were a prayer. I’m pretty sure most of us would not have been so gracious.

·         Some of us would have hurled insults. 

·         Some of us would have sworn a blue streak

·         Some of us would have done it in true style and thrown insults covered in curses. 

·         Others of us would have simply asked, “Why? Why me? Why this?”

·         Some of us would have begged for mercy. We would have asked for release, for pardon, whatever might have been necessary to make the suffering stop.

It is the rare person who offers a prayer first and foremost while being persecuted.  And Jesus was that person.  You could argue, “Well, he was divine, he was supposed to do that.” But you have to remember he was fully human. The thing that makes him so special is that despite being God—he lived as a man and experienced all that we do.  And he showed us what it means to live the best in each of us. Jesus shows us that the best of our nature is to pray for those who persecute us, even while they are hurting us physically and emotionally.  That doesn’t mean we tolerate abuses and make it ok.  It simply means that when we live with Christ in our hearts that we are more inclined to pray, to seek God’s redemption and mercy for the other, than we are to wish them harm. 

The second thing worth mentioning is that even as a prayer, Jesus said these words aloud.  They were loud enough to be heard and overheard. “Father forgive them.”  Them.  All of them.  The soldiers. The Sanhedrin. The Pharisees. Father forgive them. The disciples. His family. His best friend. Father forgive them. The onlookers.  The criminals. Those that sneered. Those that mocked. Father forgive them. Them. All  of them . No matter their status. No matter their rank.  Father forgive them.  No matter their gender. No matter their religion. Father forgive them. No matter their doubt. No matter their beliefs. Father forgive them.  No matter their faithfulness. No matter their sinfulness.  Father forgive them. No matter their role in his crucifixion.  Father forgive them for they know not what they do. No one could have fully understood that day what it was that was about to transpire.  No one fully understood who Jesus was.  No one fully grasped what it would mean for him to die.  And certainly no one would understand what it would mean for him to be resurrected, for him to live again after death had fully taken hold.  Forgive them for they know not what they do.  Jesus wanted those people to hear his prayer. He wanted God to forgive them.  And it was critical that they know that. It was essential that they understood that part of the significance of the cross is forgiveness, for all of them. Not just for the disciples. Not just for a chosen few. Not just for the Jews. But for them, all of them.  Forgiveness for everyone.

Not only were those words meant to be heard on that day, but they were meant to be repeated often enough so that they were deemed worthy of recording, worthy of being included in the gospel story.  Jesus wanted us to hear this prayer.  He wanted us to know that we are forgiven people.  Even in the midst of our sin, Christ prays for us: Father forgive them for they know not what they do.  Not that we aren’t aware of our sinful behaviors, most of us are.  But that we don’t understand fully the consequences of our sin. That we don’t comprehend fully how damaging our sinful behaviors are.  We need forgiveness.  No matter who we are. No matter what we have done. No matter our doubt. No matter our belief. Christ asked that we would be forgiven.

We talk a lot about forgiveness in the church.  Even preaching about it today sort of feels a little odd since we spent so much time last week in prayer asking for forgiveness.  But once a week forgiveness isn’t even often enough.  Forgiveness is to be a daily discipline for us.  It is a sacred action. In some ways it should be worthy of being a sacrament.  But, in essence, through baptism and communion, it is.  Through the sacraments, we receive God’s grace, we receive God’s forgiveness.  And because we have received, we should be willing to share it. 

        Last week, we sang “Freely, freely”.  The beginning words to the hymn are, “God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name. I’ve been born again in Jesus’ name.  And in Jesus’ name, I come to you, to share his love as he told me to. He said, ‘Freely, freely you have received, freely freely give.”  Forgiveness and grace are not simply meant for us.  Once we have received, we are meant to give.  Even in the Lord’s prayer, we are taught to pray for both the giving and receiving of forgiveness.  “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”   Forgive us Lord as we forgive others. Forgive us in the ways we forgive others. Forgive us while we are in the midst of forgiving.  Our forgiveness, in more than one scripture, hinges upon us forgiving others.  

A More Excellent Way

A couple of weeks ago, we heard Wesley’s description of a Methodist.  In essence, it was, a perfect disciple.  And while we could appreciate the ideal, most of us would be put to shame if compared to a true Methodist. 

                At the beginning of his ministry, John Wesley held a pretty hard line about good Christians and what you had to do to qualify.  As is often the case, ministry taught him a few things.  Wesley “softened” a bit over the years.  Not in a bad way, but in a way that made room for the realities, pitfalls, and shortcomings of being human.  As Wesley gained some perspective in practical ministry he moved from an idealist perspective to one that was more feasible. 

                Some might say Wesley lost his salt, that he lost sight of the truth. But I’d have to disagree.  I think Wesley found the truth.  The truth is that a classroom theory often loses touch with the complexities of reality.

                I know because it happened to me.  In seminary they teach you a lot. You study the Old Testament for a year, you study the New Testament for a year.  You study Christian history, systematic theology, preaching, teaching, worship, administration and more.  And in the practice of ministry classes like preaching and worship, you explore endless possibilities of how to do things. You use a dozen different hymnals, dancers, poets, all types of choirs and musicians.  In classes on mission and politics you study how to change the world—one life and one law at a time.  In most cases you learn some sort of ideal of how things should be if the Gospel were lived perfectly and the church weren’t riddled with conflict.       All of that tends to make you very hopeful—which is a good thing. But it can also set you up for a fall. 

                When I entered full time ministry, I was shocked that my church looked nothing like the one I had prepared for.  My church had hurts and wounds and resentments that lasted years. It had a trend of decline rather than growth. It had orange carpet on the floors and the ceilings.  It wasn’t a bad church by any means—the people were amazing.  But it wasn’t always what I expected.  And I had been trained to institute MY ideas, but I quickly learned it wasn’t about me.  I couldn’t run roughshod with all of my ideas because my ideas hadn’t taken into account the uniqueness of my people. 

                If the seminary connection isn’t helpful, think of it this way…at an early age most of us saw Disney movies and we learned a very romantic and problem free version of relationships and love, right?  And depending on our parents’ relationship, we may or may not have had that notion challenged.  Later we began to think we might fall in love—that we might have our own love story.  And we thought we’d get married and have all that romance and beauty.  And then when we got married, we were confronted with the reality—love can be wonderful and sweet and full of romance, but it can also be frustrating, hurtful, and fraught with problems.  There is sickness, there is debt, there is hardship and family conflict…none of which were featured on the big screen of love.  In essence, we were prepared for something different than the reality of love and marriage. 

                I think in some ways, Wesley had a similar problem.  Early in ministry he held to an ideal so strongly that he neglected the individuality of the people.  But time taught him that life and ministry and discipleship weren’t always ideal.  John still sought after the highest standard, but with a lot more room for grace and encouragement. 

                Toward the end of his life, he wrote a sermon called “A More Excellent Way” and in it he describes two ways of being Christian.

1)      The general way

2)     The more excellent way

The general way was good—you avoided sin, sought to do good, and followed the commandments.  The more excellent way included all of that and added the idea of Christian perfection where you strive to have the mine of Christ.