IRRESTIBLE INVITATION

Conversations with the Pastor

Day 9   Why We Still Preach the Cross?

What a comforting request made by Jesus on the cross that day. That day was an awful day. The images are just horrific. A thief hung on his left side. A thief hung on his right side. His mother and some friends were standing somewhere in the crowd. The soldiers were mocking him while they were fulfilling their responsibilities. The religious authorities had gathered too. And of course, there was the crowd. And you know the thing about the crowd that struck me was that they were not there to advocate for human rights, or women’s rights, or gay rights, or civil rights. They were not complaining about climbing up the hill to Calvary, or the noon day sun. They were just there, to observe maybe? All those people, in the crowd, women, and men, and children, perhaps even grandchildren too. None tried to take Jesus down from the cross. [Some would say that it was God’s will for Jesus to be on the cross so no one was suppose to try to get him down; ok, that may be so.]

Still there was no opposition to any of these crucifixions. Those who might have been expected to put up some kind of resistance disappeared, his disciples. They resisted Jesus too, you know, earlier in his ministry. Remember when Jesus had to rebuke Satan when Peter tried to stop him from talking about his death. And then there was the other time when a sword was drawn and an ear was cut off a slave. They WERE the resistance. But I am not saying that Peter and the other disciples should have been there. I am just making an observation about who was taking a stand against the opposition that day at Calvary. Not even Jesus’ earthly daddy was there that day. It just seems as if everyone accepted Jesus’ sentence or his fate that day. He was only on death row for a few hours and then the execution.

It was at the execution, while he hung on that cross till his death that he breathed the most passionate words in all of Christendom: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” I used to think that ‘them’ and ‘they’ meant the people who were gathered there at the cross that day who participated in the crucifixion, and it may be correct to think that. [Forgive those people, Father, who have crucified me today.] What if we use ‘them’ to refer to all the people, those gathered there that day, those who could not make it for any number of reasons, those who were afraid to go and then all the other people, us included. What if ‘them’ meant ‘us’, you and me? If that were so Jesus would have just asked his Father to forgive you and me. And isn’t that what Jesus was actually doing on the cross anyway. He was securing our forgiveness so that we would not be burdened by the power of sin and be welcomed into the joy of everlasting life, beginning here on earth.

Even though we might not have been there that day we were certainly on Jesus’ agenda. He wanted us too to have life and to have it more abundantly. He wanted us to live free from the power of sin and from its consequences. What an awesome God we serve that he loved us so completely, long before we entered this world. It’s like the couple who died and left an inheritance to their children, and to their children’s children even though they had not met their children’s children. God’s love is that complete. It includes ‘them’ two thieves on the cross, ‘them’ who had gathered there that day, and ‘them’ who were not even born yet, including us. Yes, I think ‘them’ includes us.

And the interesting thing about this request for forgiveness is that it includes those persons who were doing what they were doing while they were doing it. It feels like a kind of present continuous tense of the verb, ‘doing’. And even though they were continuing to do what they were doing there is this loving God whose Son made a request that his Father be merciful to those who were doing what they were doing but did not know what they were doing while they were doing what they were doing.

For those gathered at the cross that day with their hammers, nails, and swords, they did not know that they were crucifying the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that the crucifixion of Jesus was a one-time sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And for those others of us who might not have been there and are still doing what we are doing, there is the possibility that what we are doing could have adverse effects on those around us who can both see what we do and suffer directly from what we do. And even there God’s loving forgiveness has reached. God is an awesome God. And God’s loving forgiveness lasts from generation to generation.

This forgiveness is the gracious gift of a God who acknowledges that we suffer in a state of burdensome disconnection from each other [us and God]. God’s forgiveness unburdens us and allows us to rise up and pursue life in all its fullness. It is not given so that we might return to being oppressed by our sin or guilt or whatever the circumstances may be. It is given so that we may live more meaningful lives. Receive God’s forgiveness and live.