<< Back to November 2001 Sermons

2001
4th November (am) - Crucified people matter to God
LUKE 23:26-49

It is always interesting how certain events are perceived. A variety of people will always have a different take on the same set of events, for example a rugby match - Ireland 20 England 14. When the pilot of our flight to Chicago gave the score to the passengers, there was a great cheer, only if you first understood rugby, and were Irish, or Scottish, or Welsh. Not everyone on the flight had the first clue about rugby. Or another example, American foreign policy - With the family I was staying last week while at Willow Creek, we discussed this, thankfully on the last day. I explained that not everyone in our part of the world agreed with American foreign policy, and particularly the view that America was the policeman of freedom and democracy, which is a view many Americans hold.

A series of events will be perceived in different ways by different people, and that includes events in the Bible, and we must be careful in our perception of biblical events lest we miss the message of God to us contained in these events. The passage of Scripture we read today is no different. For in the story of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, as recorded for us in Luke's gospel, the different players in the story, perceive and so respond to the events in different ways.

I wonder what Simon of Cyrene thought about all that was going on. He was siezed and ordered to carry the cross, and walk behind Jesus. This scene reminds me of the ad on TV for the soft drink 'Dr. Pepper'. You know the ad - 'Dr. Pepper, what's the worst that could happen?' Simon is a tourist in town, probably there for the Passover, and he sees the crowd and hears the commotion, and thinks to himself - 'hey this is worth a look, what's the worst that could happen?' But he is plucked from the crowd. And then as he is carrying the cross for this beaten and tortured man, he maybe thinks to himself - 'Why does this crucifixion differ from all the others the Romans carry out? Why does this crucifixion differ?' Have you ever asaked yourself that question? 'Why does the death of this particular beaten, tortured and humiliated man differ?' Simon of Cyrene.

Then there was the crowd. It is hard to tell who was in the crowd - the disciples, the women from Nazareth, professional mourners, sympathizing onlookers - it is hard to tell. There were definitely women in the crowd, for Jesus turns to the crowd and says to them - Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, weep for yourselves and your children. For the time will come when you say, "Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed." Then "they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when the tree is dry?" What is all that about? It speaks of a day of judgement, when the people of Jerusalem will regret this day. But is this what the people perceive, or are they just a mixture of mournful and curious onlookers? Do they see in Jesus' words a warning of things to come, or are they caught up just following the crowd?

The criminals appear on the scene next, but we shall come back to them. The soldiers are too preoccupied with dividing up the clothes of Jesus to really see what is going on. They are more interested in personal gain.

The rulers, that is the religious leaders come to the fore. They had preceived Jesus as a threat to their position of privilege and abuse. For them the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was dealing with a thorn in the flesh, getting rid of a nasty problem, closing the door on this intrusion. They along with the now interested soldiers sneered and mocked Jesus. In tones of derision they are scathing: He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One ... If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself, They perceived Jesus according to the threat he allegedly posed against them.

Then there were the criminals. I know there are two, and I will consider the second one in a moment or two. The first criminal to speak mockingly accused Jesus as the Saviour; Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us! There was no sincerity in his words or in his tone. He was like the person who when in a tough spot was looking for a way out and calls out to who they consider the most unlikely person. And so he mocks the One who actually can do what he asks of Him. It seems ironic, as if he could never actually believe that Jesus could save him. If only he perceived Jesus correctly.

What about you, here today? How do you perceive Jesus Christ? Do you look on with curiousity like Simon of Cyrene, hoping nothing more would happen? Do you heed the warning of Christ's words of coming judgement, but still do nothing? Or perhaps you are so preoccupied with personal gain, like those soldiers, and your own kingdom, that you never once consider the claims of Christ for your life? Maybe, you are like the religious leaders, so caught up with your rules and regulations, with petty things, with trying to seek God's approval with your good deeds, that you perceive Jesus as a threat to your religion, and your perceived security. The religious people of the day, failed to see that religion could not save them, it could not make them right with God. Is Jesus a threat to your religion? Then I wonder, like the religious leaders, soldiers and first criminal, do you sneer and mock Jesus, do you hurl insults at him, and all those 'born again' people? If you reject the need to be 'born again', you reject the teaching of the Bible.
So how do you perceive Jesus and the cross? With fearful anticipation, with great joy, with total apathy, with focused opposition? For there is a tragedy of greater proportions than all of Shakespeare's tragedies put together, and that is the tragedy of mis-perceiving the cross of Christ, of mis-understanding its meaning, its significance.

Thankfully on that day two thousand years ago, there were two people, two very unlikely people who perceived wisely what the death of Jesus, what the cross was all about.

Remember the second criminal. He rebuked his co-accused of falsely accusing Jesus Christ. He asked his co-accused, Don't you fear God? He recognised his own guilt, and that he deserved to be crucified, and in an act of humility and recognition of the kingship of Jesus, asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into his kingdom. Jesus promised him such.

Remember also the centurion, played in the movie 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' by John Wayne. Surely this was a righteous man, he said. In Mark's gospel, the centurion is recorded as saying, Surely this man was the Son of God. This centurion recognised what was going on here. An innocent man suffered, God suffered on the cross.

Why was this crucifixion different from all the others that the Romans carried out? Because this is the one which makes all the difference, this is the cross on which something of eternal significance was occuring. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ mattered, because it was God's way of showing to the world, that people matter to him. Only the criminal and the centurion recognised this incredible truth. One, a man who probably knew nothing but condemnation all his life from the religious people, the people who were supposed to show him and direct him to God, the other, a man who perceived God as the emporer, not as a suffering man, who offered forgiveness to his oppressors, love to those who treated him unjustly.

The crucified Christ mattered to God, because it was God's way of demonstrating the extent of his love for a fallen, broken, power hungry, status seeking, mockingly cruel world. For this is the crucifixion we all deserve, but Christ has taken upon himself the sin of the world, our sin, your sin and my sin. And Calvary is the place of fateful decision for everyone. The cross of Calvary is the point at which God says to us - you matter to me. The cross of Calvary is the point at which we have to decide if God matters to us, if God matters to us.

For the Cross of Jesus Christ pours judgement on our religion, on our self-seeking attempts to save ourselves. The Cross of Jesus Christ pronounces judgement on our apathy, our mocking, our sneering, a life of ignoring the claims of Christ. The crucified Christ matters to God, because it is the place where we are asked to say 'yay' or 'nay' when it comes to the things of God, and the life he wants us to lead. The crucified Christ challenges us to humble ourselves and recognise what was happening on this particular cross, in this particular crucifixion - an innocent man suffered, God himself suffered, for your sake and for my sake. Thankfully on that day two thousand years ago, there were two men who perceived things rightly, and somehow recognised that this crucifixion mattered, because we matter to the God who sent his Son to die on Calvary's cross.

The Cross of Christ, therefore is an event which is not so much to be discussed theologically as meditated over and pondered, absorbed, not just described. We are not good at meditating in our culture, we are not good at sitting quietly and reflecting for long periods of time. But if we are to see the importance, the eternal and decisive importance of this crucifixion then we must practice the discipline of meditating on the cross, and not just be curious or cynical or apathetic bystanders.

So we are going to do something a bit different this morning. I would like us to spend a little time meditating on the cross, on the crucifixion that matters, and very conscientiously seek to listen for God's word to us.
- I would like you to close your eyes and in your minds eye, I would like you to picture three crosses on a hill, three empty crosses.
- Then on the middle cross of the three, picture in your minds eye, your very own self, hanging there, gasping for every breath, your muscles tiring, and reflect on these words by the second criminal; We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.

Father God, we deserve the punishment for our sinfulness and sinful deeds. You are the Holy God, and you do not tolerate sin, you cannot bear to look upon sin, our sin. Your justice demands that we are punished for our sin.

- Then, on the middle cross of the three, picture in your minds eye, not your very own self, but someone else, a man, an innocent man, hanging in the place where you and I deserve to hang, gasping for every breath, his muscles tiring, and reflect on these words: This man has done nothing wrong ... But he was pierced for our trangressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed ... God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we may become the righteousness of God ... For Christ died for sins once for all.
- Now let God remind us how much we matter to him. Let God remind us how much it cost him to demonstrate his love for us. Let God remind us how much the crucifixion of his Son, Jesus Christ, matters, for our lives both now and for eternity. Let God's love for us touch our lives afresh today.

Finally, let us thank God for Jesus Christ, that he died in our place, and for our sake, that he has died the death we deserve and paid the debt we owed.

Father God, it is overwhelming to us, when we consider once again what you have done for us in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. It is overwhelming to us, when we consider the extent to which you have shown to us that we matter to you.

Father God, it is amazing to us that the crucifixion of an innocent man, your Son Jesus Christ, should matter for all of our sakes. By the power of your Holy Spirit, enable us to see clearly what you have done for us. Enable us to repsond to your love for us, by loving you in return, and seeking to live by faith in Jesus Christ, that what Christ achieved at the cross we would know personally in our own lives, freedom from the guilt and consequences of our sin, life in all its fullness, both now and for eternity. Amen!

Let me say a few final words. It can be overwhelming when we realise perhaps for the first time, maybe for the the one hundreth time, what it meant for Christ to die in our place. If God has touched your life today, and you feel you need to talk about it, or pray about it with someone, I shall be available after the service in the Rienecker Room. This is so important for all of us. I am not going to go to the door, I shall go straight to the Rienecker Room.

If you feel this is not the appropriate time, but you still feel you need to talk, then contact myself or Mr. Bell through the week and we will make time for you.