Throughout the ages believers have meditated upon the seven
sayings of Christ on the Cross. Joseph Haydn put them to music in 1787 for
the Good Friday service at the Grotto Santa Cueva in Spain. John Edmunds’
writings on these words of our Lord were published in London in 1855. Their
impact upon our lives remains just as powerful today as when they were first
uttered. In the post-Resurrection life of the Church, these words are more
than mere statements to be remembered and pondered. In a day when the followers
of Christ are commanded to take the Church outside of the walls of their respective
buildings, we must truly be the church to our neighborhood, community, and
global family. These words of our Lord demand a response from every believer.
Our holiness tradition has always emphasized the believer’s participation
in the tapestry of faith woven by our Heavenly Father in an effort to reach
a needy world. When we join ourselves with the mission revealed in Christ’s
seven sayings and respond whole-heartedly to them, the results are joy and
a purpose for living.
Luke, the beloved physician of Antioch and missionary companion
to the apostle Paul, gives us a methodical presentation of the life of Christ
“so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught”
(Luke 1:4). The Roman dominated world was ruled by Tiberius Caesar during
the ministry and crucifixion of our Lord. Palestine, viewed as an unruly and
turbulent province, was under the authority of the emperor, instead of the
senate. It was governed by an appointed procurator, Pontius Pilate. The people
of Israel had looked for the coming of Messiah, but Jesus was rejected by
the leaders of Israel, who forced the sentence of death upon Him. From this
world-view, we are thrust into the focused view of Christ’s crucifixion
upon the cross.
Motivated by His love for us, the Creator allows himself to
be judged by the created. Betrayed, beaten, and humiliated, our Lord makes
His way down the Via Delarosa. We read and reread the messianic prophecies
contained within the 22nd Psalm to understand the thoughts and emotions of
our Lord. We then must shod our feet with the sandals of Simon from Cyrene
and allow the coarseness of the cross timber to grate our shoulders. We divide
all the sounds around us from the wails of the devoted women to the harsh
taunts of the Roman execution detail. We sense the heaviness of those whose
hopes for a free Israel have been dashed; for this was to be the Messiah that
would bring freedom from foreign control and return the splendors of David’s
reign to a renewed land. We feel the rock and sand under our feet and smell
the sweat-laden blood. The very nature and character of Jesus is displayed
when on the path to Golgotha, He addresses those who are mourning for Him
and says, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves
and for your children” (Luke 23:28). He is, in the midst of His pain,
so sharply focused upon our human need and our separation from our Holy God.
He is truly resolute in His love and purpose.
Our pain is somewhat eased as we enter this fourth week of Easter
celebrating our risen Lord. We know that victory will result and that the
Cross is not the final punctuation of a truly sinless life. We know the borrowed
tomb will once again be empty. We know the Spirit-filled Church will rise
out of a band of 120 and turn the world upside-down. With hope on the horizon,
we can study and meditate upon these words spoken on our behalf. Christ spoke
these words through His pain. This act ripped the temple curtain in two. His
actions on the Cross led one criminal to seek His favor and for a centurion,
who watched Him die, to say, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
(Mark 15:39).
Great thought has been given to what our last words might be
if we were truly given the opportunity to orchestrate the events surrounding
our departure from this life. Trusting that the canonized words of our Lord
possess not merely an insight into His thoughts at the point when they were
uttered, we must acknowledge their transcendence and their power upon our
lives today. We must meditate upon their order and purpose. Ultimately, we
must not be mere hearers of the Word, but also doers!
Too often the Church has become guilty of group think and has
viewed those outside the community of faith as the enemy instead of the object
of our love and mission. We have looked through our church windows and bemoaned
the fact that too few are finding their way to our doors. We have misidentified
the Church as a building instead of a Body of alive, vibrant, transformed
people. Our heritage is rooted in mission, compassion, and radically transformed
lives unashamedly serving Christ in the power and passion of His Spirit. We
long for healing and a reason for being. There is hope in these words of Christ.
After being betrayed, beaten, ridiculed and nailed to the cross,
Jesus cries out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing” (Luke 23:34). Our original sin makes us all co-conspirators
in the need for Christ to die on the cross. God’s answer to our need
is a resounding cry of forgiveness and healing. To those who have failed God
and others, He offers forgiveness. To those carrying the weight of guilt,
He offers forgiveness. To those who have fallen over and over again, He offers
forgiveness. This cry of Christ covers every failure and short-coming on our
part.
As recipients of forgiveness and having been transformed by
His grace, we can extend forgiveness to others setting both of us free. We
can forgive parents who had forsaken their duty. We can forgive spouses that
wandered from their vows. Anyone that has hurt us and have been hurt can be
set free by Christ. We can be free from the control of our past wounds and
needs.
Christ also spoke to the repentant thief on the cross and said, “I tell
you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
God’s promise of a future is available to everyone no matter how bleak
things may appear. God still offers hope, healing and transformation with
a future. For this criminal, his death sentence became the doorway to eternal
life. This is a powerful message of hope for us and for those we care about.
What do these statements mean to us? They are a high calling
and a challenge to faithfully embrace the calling and accept the commission
that comes with these words. We must be agents of forgiveness to a world in
need, especially those who are ignored and trivialized by society. We must
receive and then extend hope and forgiveness through proclamation and compassion.
We must accept our part in the commission to make disciples and thus fulfill
the calling of the church and “go” to where the people are at
just as Christ put on flesh and came to us. We must accept the sending role
of the Church as missional agent in a hurting world.
(For the full manuscript of this sermon
go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
As we plan this service, we understand that this may be a powerful
opportunity for people to experience great healing through receiving and extending
forgiveness. Much prayer is recommended prior to this service as many may
have to move through their pain to experience and receive forgiveness. In
our society where the normative family is blended, there exists much brokenness,
dysfunction, and hurt. As we receive the words of the first saying of Christ
on the cross, “Father, forgive them, form, for they do not know what
they are doing.” We must cry back to Him, “Father, I accept Your
forgiveness and I extend forgiveness to those who have hurt me.” During
the one time when no one would question Christ for being self-absorbed, He
still chose to think of us first. This compels us to reach out to others all
the more, especially we who have labeled ourselves a missional people.
Christ’s second saying from the cross was to the repentant
criminal, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
We must again cry out, “Father I accept my part in the mission of the
Church and extend the good news of the gospel to all who will listen and receive.”
Christ commissioned all believers to share the plan of salvation with respect
and gentleness. It is the reason that missions has been at the core of who
we are since our humble beginnings a hundred years ago. We must continue in
the sending words of Great Commission. We must never stop our corporate and
individual proclamation of God’s message of love to the world. Christ’s
great sacrifice calls us all to an equally great response in dieing daily
for the sake of the gospel. We must proclaim Christ to our world.
