Good Friday 1998 | John 18:1-19:42

*Good Friday Sermon , preached March 24, 1995, at Saint Leander's Catholic Church

I have never understood the crucifixion. From infancy I have heard and believed the Gospel of Christ, and yet the logic of the the whole crucifixtion scene always seemed to elude me. It seemed cruel, I thought, for God to want Jesus to suffer. It seemed so unlike the God Jesus himself preached. How could I reconcile the God of wrath my childhood religion taught with the loving Father of Jesus' teachings? It just didn't seem to jive. And what did "Jesus died for your sins" mean, anyway? How does an historical event 2000 years removed have the slightest bearing upon my life today? What are the cosmic mechanics involved? What exactly happens on the metaphysical level?

I asked my pastor about it once, and he said it was something I would have to "take on faith." Yes, I understood that faith was important; I just thought it would be more convenient if it also made sense. I stopped asking pastors questions like this, and for years I scrambled through commentaries and systematic theologies trying desperately to find a suitable explanation. What I found were a lot of words, but few answers.

Then I ran across a Catholic theologian who used the phrase "the mystery of redemption." That's it! Of course! There is no human explanation: it is a mystery. I didn't understand it because it was not possible to understand it-it was a fact that was beyond human comprehension.

That satisfied me for a time, but I still had a lot of questions. And I still have a lot of questions. One of the things I have discovered is that the reason the Bible's stories are powerful is because they are not just events that happened once-upon-a-time, but are "snapshots" of things which are true for all time.

For instance, in the book of Genesis we see Jacob wrestling with God. It's a great story but it is more than just a story. It is a "snapshot" of what is true in our own lives. We all wrestle with God. We all struggle with our faith, and with issues of meaning, and justice, and judgement. Jacob's story is powerful because it is our story as well.

It is the same with the crucifixion. As Christians, we certainly believe that it was an historical event, that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man who was really betrayed, really beaten, really murdered; and yet what is the message, what living truth does this gory crucifix embody in our own lives, in our time?

The secret, I think, is in Jesus' own actions. In the passion narratives we are told that Jesus was mocked, spit upon, struck, and tortured. But did he say "Enough of this, I'm out of here."? No. Jesus stuck it out. He stayed and took it. He did not abandon us, regardless of what we did to him.

All the way to Calvary, Jesus remained with us. And even when we had nailed him to a cross, he did not leave us alone. As the old evangelical hymn says, "He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free." But did he? He did not.

Even though he felt betrayed, he did not betray us. Even though we cursed him, brutalized him, spit on him and murdered him, he stayed with us until his dying breath.

Are we any different than the folks who crucified him? I'm not. Perhaps many of you are not. We are still poeple who are motivated by fear, we still make decisions based on what others are likely to do to us, and think about us. And this is my message to you today, folks:

It is the same yesterday, today and always. Even though we curse him, even though we brutalize each other, even though we are poisoning the earth, God stays here with us. Even though we torture one another, even though we operate out of fear and mistrust, even though we betray our brother with a kiss, or a shady business deal, or a bag of crack cocaine, God does not abandon us. That crucifix on your wall is a snapshot of what is true for all time. No matter what we do to him, no matter how we grieve him, no matter how much pain and suffering we cause to ourselves and others, GOD IS WITH US ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. That crucifix is a covenant of God with us: I am not going to abandon you. I am not coming down off of this cross until its over. I am here to stay!

He is still there, friends, remaining in union with all flesh, your flesh, my flesh, bearing our pain, our suffering and our sins until the end of the world, when this earth gives up her last gasp and says "It is finished." He is here and he is not leaving. He is here and he is not giving up. He is here and he loves you enough to remain on the cross of your hearts and minds and souls no matter who you are, what you have done, or what you may ever do. Despite our ghastly offenses, God remains enfleshed among us. "God has wedded himself to humanity, has united his divine essence with our inmost being 'for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health' for all eternity....The fact is the fact: we have been given union with God whether we like it or not, want it or not, know it or not." And God is not going to leave us or let go of us. Ever.

Jesus is not giving up on you. He is not going to pack it in and go home when the going gets rough. He is not going to abandon you when you fall. He is not going to reject you when you do something you know is wrong. He is God. He is the lover of our souls who has wedded himself to us forever. He is the One who says, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

Amen.