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Faces at the Cross: Sermon from Wednesday Evening, March 18, 2020

Sermon: Luke 23.32-43


32Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.


[[ 34Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."]]


And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 38There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."


39One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" 40But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." 42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."


In just a few minutes, we will hear and sing the annunciation, followed by the Magnificat. The Magnificat is Mary’s song, sung when it was clear that she was to bear the Christ child:


“My soul proclaims your greatness O God, and my spirit rejoices in you. . . Great and mighty are you, O Holy One, strong is your kindness evermore. How you favor the weak and lowly one, humbling the proud of heart. You have cast the might down from their thrones and uplifted the humble of heart. You have filled the hungry with wondrous things and left the wealthy no part.”


Do you hear all the great reversals in this song? Weak and lowly lifted up, proud of heart, not so much. The hungry filled with good things, the wealthy, sent away. So many times these great reversals are the hope and expectation expressed of what God’s kingdom is about. And in Mary’s song, you can hear the eager hope and expectation that better things, THE best things are on the way, about ready to start.


In this light, it is easy to imagine that the cross was not something Mary had in mind for her son, the Christ.


And I don’t think that the crowds and religious leaders and even the criminals crucified next to Jesus had the cross in mind for the savior of the nations either. In the light of the day, gazing at Jesus before them and along side them, they cry out;


"If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"

"Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"


But of course, these responses miss the mark. Jesus’ course not about saving himself. The cross is the way the whole world is saved. It is what was needed to destroy death once and for all, to bring life now and forever and ever, to heal, to forgive, to love.


I don’t think that any of us here tonight, either in person physically or in person via facebook, ever thought we would be here in this moment. The speed at which this virus moved from being a problem someplace else to one that has impacted all of us has been astounding. This is not what we had in mind.


We are hurting. We are grieving. We are afraid. We are worried. And maybe we are angry; and maybe we are angry at God. After all, if God is so powerful, how could all of this happen. Maybe the cry of one of the robbers seems to make sense: one of the criminals got it right, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”


But the other criminal has a different response, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”


And Mary gets it right in her singing. The great reversals are what the kingdom of God is about, but the way is through the cross.


Sisters and brothers, what is on your mind tonight, what is in your heart.? Whatever you have going on, Jesus gets it, Jesus understands, Jesus walks with you all the way. This is not an easy time.


But, as we sang at the beginning of this worship: “Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome; Stay with us now, for it is evening, and the day is almost over. Let your light scatter the darkness, and shine within your people.”

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