GOOD FRIDAY - Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42 - 21 March 2008 - A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Suffering, Sacrifice and Redemption

 

INTRODUCTION - Avalanche game

 

Recently my son’s favorite hockey player in the world, Peter Forsberg, came back to Colorado and is playing again for the Colorado Avalanche hockey team. It was probably a foregone conclusion, then, that we would end up at an Avalanche game, as we hadn’t yet been to our one game for the year. I got online, found a relatively good deal on tickets, and Julia, Zach, Sam - one of Zach’s good friends - and I found ourselves sitting in our usual seats, nine or ten rows from the top of the arena, about this time two weeks ago.

 

If you know anything about the NHL, you know that it is the only professional team sport that allows fighting. Some would argue that it is even encouraged. Yes, players get put in the penalty box for fighting in hockey, but there is rarely any tougher sanction than that. If you say anything about how ridiculous it is that grown men have to square off at each other on ice skates, you will hear profound things like “it’s always been that way” or “it’s just part of the game” or “if you don’t like it, go find another sport to follow, you wimp”.

 

Anyway, not too long after the Avs game started and the first few legitimate hard hits had been dished out, a man sitting immediately behind me starting yelling, “Fight! Come on, fight!” Being hockey fans, but not fans of mayhem on ice, Julia and I both cringed a little. But then I got even more disturbed, because suddenly I heard another much younger voice yelling “Fight! Fight!” At that point I turned around to take a look. The father was probably in his 30's. And there next to him, not more than 8 or 9 years old, was his son, yelling right along with him.

 

Hopefully by now you are asking yourself, “Does this hockey story have anything to do with Good Friday?” I admit that my mind works in funny ways sometimes, but yes, I think this story has a whole lot to do with Good Friday.

 

GOOD FRIDAY AND THE CULTURE - THEN AND NOW

 

The events of Good Friday - Jesus’ early morning arrest, the joke of a trial, all the abuse he suffered, and finally, his death on the cross - say a lot about the world then and the world now. In some ways the world hasn’t changed that much. We don’t nail people to crosses anymore, but capital punishment is still alive and well in the world, especially in our own country, where more people are put to death - by far - than in any other industrialized, developed nation. More than that, though, just as the crowd in Jesus’ time and the Romans of Jesus’ day were enamored with violence and intimidation through the use of force, so are we.

 

I have always thought it appropriate, on at least two levels, that the congregation gets to shout “Crucify him! Crucify him!” when we read the Passion Gospel together on Good Friday.

 

First, it takes us back to that time. We become part of the scene; we are onlookers - we are suddenly there. Saying these words makes us recognize that we may very well have gone right along with the crowd, had we been there. Shouting “crucify him!” helps me to look at the things I do that separate me from other people. Perhaps I even get a glimpse of how I look down on some people, or the times when I might look at some people and consider them less than human in some way, or at least not children of God in the way that you and I are - don’t you know. And if I think long enough about it to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah, I can start thinking about the things I do that push God out of my life, or even the things I do that damage the cause of God.

 

Second, when I shout “Crucify him! Crucify him”, I find myself right in the middle of the predominant view in the culture. I ask you this: how different is it - really - to yell “Crucify him! Crucify him” than it is to go to a hockey game and within minutes of its starting find yourself yelling “Fight! Come on, fight!”? It fits with the dominant cultural view, which is that we need to respond to violence with more violence, or, if you prefer, we need to be the aggressors and act before someone acts violently towards us. We’ll somehow send a message to criminals if we make them fry. “Don’t mess with Texas.” Isn’t that what the bumper sticker says? Don’t mess with the U.S., either, or you’ll be sorry.

 

There are tons of messages in our culture about all this, and this is the bottom-line message: There is such a thing as redemptive violence. But you know what? I say it’s a big, fat lie. I’ve never seen it to be true. I think there are times when we need to defend ourselves. I think there are some wars that may need to be fought, when all other better options have been exhausted. World War II comes to mind. But most wars are not like World War II. Most wars are about killing other people for stupid reasons. Mostly, we are in love with violence, and we seek to justify our actions by talking about defending our freedom, or “defending our turf” - as the case might be.

 

THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS

 

I am not at all convinced that there is something called redemptive violence. On the other hand, I am completely convinced that there is a force for good, a force for transformation in the world, and it is called redemptive suffering.

 

That is what Good Friday is about. Jesus, as he did throughout his life, showed us a different way, a way out of the chaos and darkness. And it is the way that leads to real transformation and growth, when it comes to learning how to love. And that is what the kingdom of God is about. It may not always be what the kingdoms of this world about. But the kingdom of God is about love and service and sacrifice and new life and transformation.

 

Jesus, an innocent man if there ever was one, took on all the violence and terrible abuse that they laid on him, and did nothing. Did you hear what I just said? He didn’t retaliate in any way, whether physically or with abusive language.

 

This is the old, original meaning of the word “passion”. It means the condition of being acted upon by outside influences. Jesus let them act. Boy how he let them act! He didn’t pray that God would rain down fire and brimstone on his abusers. He just stood there and took it. Then he fell down and took it. And finally, he let them nail him to the cross, and he took it some more. He promised paradise to the repentant thief and asked his heavenly Father to forgive his abusers for what they were doing. And he took it some more, until he died.

 

He suffered. He sacrificed. He gave up his life, so that others - all who would be attracted to a new, redemptive, loving, life-giving way - might live. He sacrificed his life, so that we might learn his ways.

 

Jesus had this funny habit of teaching things and then living them out. He was - in this way - perhaps the ultimate person of integrity. What was it he said, not too long before he was betrayed and arrested? It was this: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you... I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” (John 15:13-14, 16)

 

And then, not much later, he did exactly that. He committed the greatest act of love - the one he had just talked about. He laid down his life for his friends. His was an example of service, suffering, and sacrifice. And because we know that his crucifixion was not the end of the story, we also know that his was an example of redemptive suffering.

 

To redeem: “to get back”... as in - to be given back your life. “To set free”... as in - we have been set free, been given real freedom, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. “To make amends or atone for”... as in the prophetic words of Isaiah: “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases... he was wounded for our transgressions; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

 

CONCLUSION

 

Will we accept this amazing love, this amazing sacrifice, this healing, this new way and new life that is offered to us? Or will we be like sheep that continue to go astray, who continue to turn to our own way? Instead of accepting and rejoicing in this great sacrifice of God, and seeking to follow our Lord all the rest of our days, will we pervert justice, and call evil good?

 

I know this: the closest thing to the Gospel at a hockey game is not the fights that sometimes break out. It’s when a defenseman slides prone across the ice, and places his body directly in the path of a puck that has been launched at 100 mph. He lets that puck hit him at full force, and literally “takes one for the team.” And sometimes, after that happens, you see that defenseman limp off the ice, or even miss a few games.

 

Funny thing, though. You never see a hockey fan stand up and yell, “Suffer! Suffer! Sacrifice your body for the team, so that you risk not being able to play for the next six weeks!” It may sound quite silly. But if you and I really want to walk the way of the cross, and follow in our Lord’s footsteps, we should be way more enamored with sacrifice and suffering, and cringe more when a nearby conversation or the public discourse turns to seeking revenge or advocating for retaliation. We should be way more enamored with people who give up cushy lifestyles so that they can get down and dirty helping the overlooked people of our world, and we should try to develop the habit of speaking out against those who rush to intimidate others through threats of violence.

 

Jesus went to the cross for you and me. That is the bottom line. And the way he entered into his death - willingly - and the example he gives us to follow, is a big part of the reason that we call this day “good”. He shows us another way - a much better way, a really good way. Thanks be to God!