The Shadows Begin …
Behold the life-giving cross, on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.
Behold the life-giving cross, on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.
Behold the life-giving cross, on which was hung the Saviour of the whole world.
Silence for Meditation
Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement.
Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being;* therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right* spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing* spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Psalm Prayer:
Blessed Saviour, at this hour you hung upon the cross, stretching out your loving arms. Grant that all the peoples of the earth may look to you and be saved; for your tender mercies sake. Amen.
The First Word Luke 23:33-34 “Father forgive them;”
When 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. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing
Reflection Song Loving and Forgiving (words by Scott Soper)
Homily Father forgive them
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. These are Jesus’ first words from the cross. What powerful words. What awesome words. Sometimes we do things that are wrong but we don’t see the consequences immediately. Those only become evident after the fact.
Such simple Examples are:
mistakes made driving being distracted for moment that causes an accident
harsh words said that can not be taken back
negative or poor attitude to what some one is doing/trying to do
Mistakes happen in our lives. We do things we sense may be foolish and harmful but we really don’t comprehend how foolish and harmful our actions may be.
When Jesus was being crucified the soldiers just thought they were doing a job, the religious leaders thought they were framing another religious fanatic who was becoming too popular. We begin our journey by looking closely at the first words of Jesus from the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
This first sentence from the cross is a prayer. It is not unusual for Jesus to pray but to do so at this time shows us how important prayer was to Jesus and even here from the cross, in great pain and agony, Jesus teaches us to pray. Jesus begins his words not to any who were looking on but up to God and Jesus began his prayer, “Father…”
Jesus’ choice of the word, Father, reveals his closeness to God. The use of a parental term indicates the intimacy that Jesus feels in this relationship. Some scholars suggest that Jesus’ whole life can be summarized by that one intimate word, Father. Jesus was the first person in the Bible to use the familiar equivalent of “dad” or “daddy” to begin his prayer life. In our prayer lives, we are invited to address God closely and warmly as we would when talking to our parent. We are to pray intimately to God in all circumstances. When the pain is the worst, that is when we often pray the most. Jesus did the same. When we are in our worst pain, we call out to God to help us handle this situation.
The second word from the cross is the word, “forgive.” Rather than calling on God to damn and punish those people below who were crucifying and killing him, Jesus’ heart was full of compassion for them, rather than rage. The normal thing was to swear, curse, use foul language at his tormenters but Jesus’ heart was just the opposite. Jesus called out for God to forgive his tormenters rather then to punish them.
Now, forgiveness of people killing you is not easy, it is not easy to love our enemies and mean people. It is comparatively easy to forgive friends during an argument or forgive parents for seeming to be so ridiculous or forgive children for doing inappropriate things. That kind of forgiveness is somewhat easy. But it is not easy to forgive your enemies and those people who kill you. That was not easy for Jesus. But that is what Jesus did from the cross. To be able to love you enemies is a miracle. By forgiving in this moment Jesus lets go, he lets go of the sin around him, our sin. I am sure you have all heard the illustration, at some point, about a person putting their hand into a jar. The hand just fits through the opening. The Person reaches for something in the jar, makes a fist and discovers that they can not pull their hand back out. They finally realize that the only way to get their hand out, without breaking the jar, is to let go. Likewise, forgiveness allows us to let go of the things that will hold us in place, frozen or unable to move. Prisoners, if you will, to past mistakes, bitterness, wrong doings. Here Jesus shows us to let go, he epitomizes forgiveness as he lets go of our sins. Jesus is looking up to God in his first word from the cross and asking God to forgive these people. To let go of their sins.
The third word from the cross is the word, “them.” Who are they? Them refers to all the soldiers who have whipped and nailed him, all the religious leaders who have accused him, all the gawkers in the crowd who were just watching, all the disciples who ran. And them refers to you and me. We often pray, “Father, forgive me for…” We are forever asking God to forgive us for the things we know we did wrong, for the right things that we didn’t do, for those things that we didn’t’ really comprehend how stupid they were to do at the time. “Father, forgive me.” We need of God’s forgiveness. Often, we don’t have time for God or pray as we ought, or love as we could. We live lives that are far too busy and we forget. We realize that we could do better. Today we also pray, Father, forgive us. Forgive them, but also forgive us.
The soldiers, religious and political leaders and on lookers may not know who it was they were truly killing in this crucifixion They may not have gotten it. But are we any better today? Do we get it?
If we don’t feed the hungry of the world while we all eat well then we don’t get it that we are killing Christ who lives in those starving people. If we don’t visit the long term care facilities in our neighborhoods and those elderly people slowly die of loneliness while we are too busy then we don’t get it that we are neglecting Christ who lives in the bodies of our aging elderly friends.
It is when we omit the call to care for the least of the children of God that we fail Jesus and what he has taught us. And we don’t know what we are doing. We don’t know really comprehend what we are doing when we have little time for God, when we are too busy living our lives. Our voices cry out as well, “Father, please forgive us, for we too don’t really know what we are doing.”
That day on the cross, even though the crowds below him did not confess or repent or even admit guilt, Jesus called out to God, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus’ forgiveness and love from the cross was pure grace, and it was freely given. It was given as a gift to people who did not deserve the gift. And so it is with us. This first word from the cross is pure grace for you, me and the world: Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.”
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:12-14
Silence
Hymn There is a Green Hill
The Second Word Luke 23:39-43 “Today you will be with me in Paradise”
That day on the cross, even though the crowds below him did not confess or repent or even admit guilt, Jesus called out to God, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus’ forgiveness and love from the cross was pure grace, and it was freely given. It was given as a gift to people who did not deserve the gift. And so it is with us. This first word from the cross is pure grace for you, me and the world: Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do.”
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:12-14
Silence
Hymn There is a Green Hill
The Second Word Luke 23:39-43 “Today you will be with me in Paradise”
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Reflection Song Jesus Remember Me (Taize)
Homily Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise
I decided to Google “Death Bed Conversions” just to see what I might get as I started this reflection. I was amazed at the list of articles, videos, and research results. Some of it was a spoof, some of it was serious, and much of it was hard to believe. What about it, can death bed conversions be real? Well, Jesus’ encounter with one of the criminals on the cross gives us an indication it can happen. Personal suffering can bring about a number of responses from the person suffering and this part of our passion story highlights two human responses:
1) We can rail against God and say, "If you are such a great and powerful and loving God, why am I in this hellish mess?"
2) Or we can acknowledge that we are sinners and don't deserve any good thing, and cry out for mercy and help in our time of desperation.
2) Or we can acknowledge that we are sinners and don't deserve any good thing, and cry out for mercy and help in our time of desperation.
The world is full of those who rail against God in their self-righteousness and presume that the creator of the universe is obliged to make their life smooth. But there are only a few who own up to the fact that God owes us nothing, and that any good to come our way will be due to his mercy, not our merit. The two thieves represent these two ways of responding to suffering and relating to Christ in suffering. These responses are not new for us, we have either been the ones who react in such a way or know of someone who reacts in this manner.
Notice how similar these characters are. Both are suffering the pain of crucifixion. Both are guilty of crime ("We are receiving the due reward of our deeds," v.41). Both see Jesus, the sign over his head ("King of the Jews," v. 38); they hear the words from his mouth ("Father forgive them," v. 34). And both of these thieves want desperately to be saved from death.
But then the ways divide these two thieves into two categories of people. The first thief says, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" What a picture of a spiritually destitute, worldly man. It is a matter of total indifference to him that he is suffering "the due reward of his deeds." To him right and wrong, praise and blame, good and bad are of no interest: his one objective is to save his earthly skin. He might even believe Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews. But, it's only a matter of convenience to him: he'll take anybody as king who can get him off the cross. That's the way one whole segment of humans relate to God in suffering. Suffering interrupts their own private worldly goals and pleasures. So why not try God; if you are king, then get me out of this mess. The thief had no spirit of brokenness, guilt, penitence or humility. He could only see Jesus as a possible power by which to escape the cross. He did not see him as a king to be followed. It never entered his mind that he should say he was sorry and should change.
But notice the other thief: this one is the one Luke wants us to be like. First, he is not sucked in by the other fellow's railing. And if we are to follow this example, we will have to stand our ground and not be sucked in by the people all around us who say, "If your God is so great and loving, then why are we suffering? Why is the world paralyzed with fear of Covid 19? Why isn’t God doing anything? "Why doesn't he come down off his helpless perch on the cross and do something?" The first thing the repentant thief does is not get deceived by all this talk. "But he rebuked him saying, 'Do you not fear God?"' This is the second thing about this penitent thief: he feared God. God was real to him. The penitent thief admitted that he had done wrong: "We are receiving the due reward of our deeds" (v. 41). The penitent thief knew that he was guilty and deserved punishment. He had no desire to save face any more; he had no more will to assert himself. He was here and laid open before people who came to observe and mock those who were being justly punished and laid open before the God he feared and there was no way to hide has guilt. Think about this: There are people right now who are in trouble. But instead of laying down their self-righteous defenses, they are devising every possible means to finagle and distort so as to appear innocent and cool. The penitent thief gave it up. It's a hopeless tack, anyway, before an all-knowing God!
The penitent thief did not only admit to wrong and guilt, he accepted his punishment as deserved. "We are under the sentence of condemnation justly." This is the real test of humility before God. Many will mouth the confession of sin: "God be merciful to us miserable sinners," but when some trouble comes, they get angry at God. And this anger reveals that they do not really feel undeserving before God. They still feel, deep down, that they have some rights before God. There are not many people like Job, who, when he lost everything, said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:21) But this penitent thief did become like Job in the last minutes of his life - he took his suffering without complaint, and feared God.
The penitent thief acknowledged Jesus' righteousness: "This man had done nothing wrong." It didn't make any difference to the first thief if Jesus was right or wrong. Right or wrong did not enter into the equation. If he could drive the get-away car -- that's all that mattered. He just wanted out of the predicament that he now found himself in by whatever means necessary. But it matters a lot to Jesus if we think his life was good or bad. Jesus does not want to drive a get-away car; he wants to be followed because we admire him. We must say with the thief: "This man has done nothing wrong." This man only does what is good. This man only speaks the truth. This man is worthy of our faith and allegiance and imitation.
And then, the penitent thief goes a step further and acknowledges that indeed, Jesus is a King. "Remember me when you come into your Kingdom." Even though he is suffering now, Jesus has the mark of a King. For those who have eyes to see, he has a power here on the cross -- a power of love. And then penitent thief does another thing. He fears God, admits wrong, accepts justice, acknowledges the goodness and power of Jesus. And now, Now he pleads for help. "Jesus, remember when you come into your Kingdom." Both thieves wanted to be saved from death. But look how differently they sought their salvation: the first said "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" and the second said "Jesus, remember when you come into your Kingdom!"
What motive does Jesus give us to follow in the steps of the penitent thief? There is a fearful silence toward the railing thief: there is not a word recorded of Jesus speaking to him. It does not tell us if there is even a final pitying glance. What is recorded tells us that no promises are made to the railing thief, no words of comfort. No hope. But to the penitent thief Jesus says: "Today you will be with me in Paradise." This was almost too good. There would be no delay. Today the Spirit of Jesus and the renewed Spirit of the thief would be in union in Paradise.
Death bed conversion, what do you say to bring a person to faith, to offer comfort, to offer hope? If there is time to say only one thing, what do you say? The one thing that Jesus chose to mention to the repentant thief on the cross "You will be with me today."
Title: Give me Jesus: Source Afro-American Spiritual
Copyright: Public Domain
Copyright: Public Domain
Hymn Lord Jesus Think on me
The Fear and Feeding of the Sheep
We have nothing against Jerusalem;
in fact, it's the place to be
on a sunny Easter morning.
It's Golgotha we fear;
and yet, we've been to church enough
to know the way to Jerusalem
leads through Good Friday.
Keeping covenant
means keeping covenant under a cross
as well as by an empty garden tomb.
What we'd like to do, of course,
is wave palms and shout Hosanna
and then rest up for the Hallelujah chorus.
We dismiss the others as religious fanatics,
who wallow in the woe of Holy Week!
O Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God,
feed us!
Ann Weems
Kneeling in Jerusalem 1992
Thank you, Karen. I will enjoy your reflections. I miss working with you.
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