It’s the end of the year.
The church year, that is.
Next week, we begin anew, with a new year in the life of the church … and we’ll start all over again … though no one ever steps into the same river twice.
We’re different today than we were a year ago.
Time moves on.
Things happen.
And we’ll discover a little bit more about Jesus Christ.
And what it means to live for him.
To abide in his word.
Grow in his grace.
The grace of our LORD Jesus Christ.
But today, we end a year.
We end at the lowest point.
Jesus dragged off to a place called the Skull, crucified between two thieves.
The lowest of the low.
Utterly rejected by the powers-that-be.
Betrayed by one of his own.
Denied by another.
Accused of crimes he never committed.
The verdict is handed down.
“Crucify him.”
Leaders scoff.
Soldiers mock.
One of thieves revile him.
And the people stand by, watching.
It doesn’t get any lower than this.
.
A place called the Skull.
A place where humanity fails.
Religion fails.
Government fails
Everything and everyone fails the Son of God, save one man.
The second thief.
The second thief defends Jesus.
Who would expect a dying man to rise to the occasion?
But who knows?
Whoever this man was, he saw Jesus for something more than just another condemned man.
He asks to be remembered.
Remembered when Jesus comes into his kingdom.
And here they are, dying on their crosses.
Condemned and rejected.
Yet the second thief sees in Jesus a future.
A world that could be.
And asks to be remembered.
When we think about it, it’s astounding.
The other thief rails and rants.
Do something Jesus.
Get us outta here.
Save us.
Save yourself.
Be a hero.
Reminds me of the first set of temptations.
After Jesus was baptized.
When the Spirit takes Jesus into the wilderness.
To be tempted.
Tempted to take the easy way out.
Tempted to save his own skin.
Satan offers the world to Jesus, but Jesus says, I’ll do it God’s way, not yours.
It says that Satan left him, only to wait for an opportune time [Luke 4:13].
And here it was.
The opportune time.
As bad as gets.
A place called The Skull.
A hideous way to die.
But Jesus says, I’ll do it God’s way.
Into my Father’s hands, my life.
I’ll run the race to its end.
I’ll not drop out.
I’ll not turn around.
I will give my life to the world.
I will not call upon legions of angels to defend me.
I will not resort to the tactics of empire.
I don’t have to win.
I will let the world think I’m the biggest loser.
So that the world will find real victory.
The second thief understands.
Is this not a moment of grace?
The second thief sees through the cloud of his agony and pain … he sees a world as it might be, he sees something of God in Jesus.
To the second thief, Jesus says: Truly I tell you, today you will be me in Paradise.
Three years earlier, when Jesus preached in his hometown, things got ugly real fast, and they tried to kill him then and there.
And all along the way, a rising tide of hostility.
Not from the people whom Jesus healed and helped and held, but from the powers-that-be.
Every healing brought Jesus a little more hatred.
Every parable brought a little more rejection.
Until the final few days in Jerusalem.
When the powers-that-be would take no more from him.
They flexed their muscles and showed the world just how powerful they are.
A little shock and awe.
Yet in the moment of their victory, Jesus offers a remarkable prayer: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
If anyone heard this, I can only imagine the response.
We don’t know what we’re doing?
Are you kidding?
We know full well what we’re doing.
We’re putting away a troublemaker.
A disturber of the peace.
You overturned our tables, and now we’re overturning yours.
We don’t like your kind.
You broke too many rules.
You ruffled our feathers.
We know how to deal with folks like you.
We string ya’ up on a cross.
For all the world to see.
This is what happens to troublemakers.
Yes, we know full well what we’re doing.
But in reality, they didn’t know.
They didn’t know that all of this is playing into the hands of God, for a mighty purpose – the salvation of humankind.
In this bloody moment of defeat and degradation, God is at work.
So that folks like you and me would look at the cross, and see the glory of God.
Love divine, all loves excelling.
That we would kneel at the foot of the cross and leave all of our junk there.
Fountains of mercy flow from that cross.
Fountains of hope and peace.
They didn’t know what they were doing.
Working hand-in-hand with God, for the salvation of the world.
In Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ,” there’s a remarkable moment when Jesus dies.
Satan is there, at the place of the Skull, and falls to his knees and howls to the high heavens … Satan knows that in the moment of death, when the Son of God descends into the dark pit of hell, the Son of God brings light and healing.
Satan howls, because the last thing Satan wants is for Jesus to die like this:
A perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Satan hoped that Jesus would beg and whine and cry and curse.
But Jesus offers forgiveness instead.
And to the second thief, Jesus offers Paradise.
No wonder Satan howls.
The pretense of hell is exposed.
There is nothing left in the repertoire of death.
Satan knows, the game is over.
It’s all over but the shouting.
A lot of moves left, but the handwriting is on the wall.
Satan has bet it all.
And lost.
Jesus gave his life.
And won it all.
We end the year with some simple reminders.
There is no greater power in the world then the powers of forgiveness and hope.
War and rumors of war abound.
Pestilence and famine.
And all the ills of humankind.
But don’t be fooled by what you see.
Don’t give in.
Don’t give up.
God is at work.
With forgiveness.
Forgiveness in the face of great crimes.
And to a man near death,
A man who didn’t ask to be saved.
But only to be remembered.
God bestows hope.
So here we are today.
20 centuries later.
Time marches on.
In some ways, we’re all of the characters who gather around or near the cross that day.
Are we not the thieves who have committed our share of crimes against God, and against one another?
Does not a part of our soul rant and rail at God as the one thief did?
Does not a part of our soul turn to God with humble faith?
Are we not the leaders, convinced of our own self-righteousness.
Do we not have our tables set up nicely, and who wants Jesus to come in turn a few of them over?
Are we not the soldiers, just doing our duty, going about our business, living our lives, never questioning what we’re doing?
Are we not the people standing by, watching?
We’re all of that and then some.
But we’re bathed in the forgiveness of God.
And we’re given hope, that even today, we might see something of Paradise.
A realm of goodness and decency.
Where life is fair and folks are treated with dignity.
Where peace has more than a chance.
Where religion is just.
And government works for the welfare of all.
We end our year at the lowest point.
The Son of God dies a hard death at a place called the Skull.
But in that dark moment, bright light.
In the worst of times, the best of times.
Hope dashed … hope born anew.
God at work.
LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, when you come into your kingdom, remember us. Remember us, we pray.
Amen.
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