This is the week we give out the dice for our little crosses that the members
are building during Lent.
John 19:23-24 + More than a Gamble + Rev. Charles Lehmann
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
With the cross throwing shadows over their shoulders, four Roman soldiers
were rolling dice. Though the prize they were playing for was Jesus' robe, they
had already nailed the Robe of Righteousness to a bloody cross. Jesus was
nothing to them. He was just another condemned criminal. Messiahs came and
Messiahs went. That was the way of first century Judea. The centurions were
on the clock. They were civil servants, simple executioners. They were just
waiting for the three criminals to die so that they could go home to the
barracks.
These centurions probably didn't request the crucifixion detail. It wasn't
exciting work. If crucifixion were practiced now as it was then, we would
probably see an episode about it on "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel. It
was hard, messy labor. It would take lots of scrubbing for the Centurions to
get the blood off of their armor and the stench of the corpses out of their
tunics. But, at the same time, for these soldiers crucifixion had probably
become routine. These soldiers might have done this all the time. They were
centurions in Palestine, and most of the people weren't Roman citizens. When
one of them committed a crime, crucifixion was the normal punishment. As
brutal as their job was, the centurions were probably bored by the tedium of it
all.
They needed some way to pass the time. So they played an idle game. They
gambled for Jesus' tunic. But it was no great prize. It was a long piece of
woven fabric, but it was also soaked through and stained red with our Savior's
blood. The prize wasn't important. It was all about the game. It was all
about the distraction. They were waiting for the criminals to die or for
permission from their commander to break their legs.
David prophesied of this day when he said, "Dogs encompass me; a company of
evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet--they stare and
gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and they cast lots for my
clothing." David wasn't talking about himself. David was a prophet of the
Most High. It was given to David to see what was hidden from the centurions.
The centurions saw a condemned man, nearly dead from earlier torture. They saw
an interloper. They saw someone who had claimed to be a king and was being
shown by Rome that He was nothing better than a slave.
The Roman centurions had not seen Jesus' healings. They had not witnessed
his raising of Lazarus from the dead. The saw only the man whom they had
scourged, mocked, and nailed to the cross. They did not see the Lord God, the
Creator of the Universe. He was hidden from them. He was so well concealed
from these soldiers that they were bored. And in this way, these Romans are no
different from us at all.
What are you seeing now? You do not come into this place and see our God
come to you in heavenly glory. There is no thunder and lightning that
accompanies your public hearing of the Word of God. What you see is even more
ordinary than what the centurions saw. They at least had the spectacle of the
crucifixion. You have only words. God is hidden in normal sounds made when
our lips move and our vocal cords vibrate. It's nothing magical. It's nothing
earth-shattering. It's just physics. Air particles move in a certain way and
then bump into your eardrums and your brain interprets all of it as sound, and
then after a bit more processing, words.
But God is there. God comes down from heaven and invades your life through
those simple vibrations. Sometimes we are tempted to think that it's something
other than words that will do the Lord's work in us. We want to make the
experience of worship into something more memorable, something that can hold
its own with this month's blockbuster at the theatre. Certainly the way we
worship does confess. Pastor Patrick and I wear vestments because they confess
our office. We are not here speaking to you our words. We are not here to
develop a fan base or hear your praise.
We are the Lord's men. We come with words, and God comes to you in those
words just as He says He does. Those words will endure in your heart and your
mind for eternity. They are not subject to the whims of some emotional
experience. They are not fleeting moments of pleasure that do not endure.
They are not lots cast for a condemned man's clothing.
As the Roman soldiers gamble for the Lord's tunic, they are missing two
very important things. First, they are not listening to the Lord's words.
Even on the cross, bloody and dying, Jesus reveals Himself in His words. He
prays to the Father to forgive those who murder Him. The one who hangs on the
cross is not just another would-be Messiah. Forgiveness is not the way of men.
We desire justice. We demand recompense. But Jesus reveals Himself as the
Savior of the world, even of those who murder Him by asking for His father to
forgive the gambling centurions.
Second, the centurions don't realize that while they play a petty game to
fight over the tatters of the Lord's robe, they are ignoring what they should
really be desiring. Salvation unto them has come! Hanging on a tree, glorious
with love. His joy is His death for their salvation. Only one of these
soldiers will win the game. The lot will fall to one of four and he will take
home his bloody prize.
But Jesus is for all four of them. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains,
pours for them the lifeblood from His sacred veins! As the centurions turn
Golgotha into Caesar's Palace, Jesus is rigging the odds for all of them.
There's no need to bet when the win is guaranteed. No matter how great their
debt of sin, the Creator of the Universe has comped a room for the centurions
in the New Jerusalem.
Jesus has promised that He would go and prepare a place for them. As He
hangs upon the cursed tree, He does just that. He forgives the centurions'
sins by bearing their full weight. When later, on this day of crucifixion, the
veil of the temple is torn in two and the earth bursts open, the centurions
will see creation confess what is really happening. God has lived among men
and died for them. The grave has lost its power, and it cannot hold its dead.
Christ has given Himself to all, and the number that shows on the face of the
dice doesn't matter.
And so, dear Christian... your salvation is not in doubt. Though you might
sometimes seek something a bit more exciting than the simple words by which
your Lord has promised to come, your Savior will still come to you in His
ordinary ways. He has still washed away all your sins in Word-filled waters.
He will still speak words of life into your ear. He will still feed you with
His body and with His blood.
The casting of lots and the other gambles we take in our lives pay off only
with the possibility of hope. You might get that big payday. You might go
home several thousand to the good. But you could also lose your car, your
house, and your retirement. Some of the gambles we take could cost us our very
lives. And, in the end, dear friends, gambling always favors the house. This
is why it is such a wonderful thing that your salvation is not a gamble. It's
not as if there's one robe and you have to hope against hope that the lots fall
your way.
Jesus Christ, the Robe of Righteousness covers each of you. He was placed
on you with God's name. And where God's name is, there is He. He has claimed
you as His own. He's not going to bet with your eternal salvation. Nothing
can take you out of your Savior's hand.
In the 17th century a French mathematician named Blaise Pascal decided to
bet on his salvation. To him, it was an easy decision. If he lived as if God
existed, he stood to gain everything: Eternal life and salvation. If he lived
as if God didn't exist, he stood to lose everything and suffer eternally in
hell. He chose to believe. It seemed to be the safer bet. But Pascal's wager
rises out of unbelief. Though it might seem reasonable, though it might appeal
to the way we think the world works, our salvation cannot be reduced to a
problem in symbolic logic or a few entries on a statistician's chart.
While the centurion's gambled, Jesus dealt with them with a sure and
certain word, His own. While they hoped for the possibility of winning a bet,
Jesus gave to them freely all that they needed for life and salvation. It is
no different for you, dear Christians. Your Savior has died on the cross to
win your salvation. He has risen from the dead so that you may live with Him
for all eternity. His life is yours, and you don't have to bet on it.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Assistant Pastor, Youth and Education
Peace with Christ Lutheran Church
Fort Collins, CO
http://wickedbutforgiven.blogspot.com/
http://believeloveprayfight.blogspot.com/
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