Sermon for Good Friday I REMEMBERED THE LORD
Theme: Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies… In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Buried and entombed in the belly of the great fish, Jonah remains confident in God the Father’s promised act of deliverance. “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD,” Jonah said. “I am driven away from Your sight, yet I shall look again upon Your holy temple.” Dear Christian friends, With our sanctuary repainted, and before we start hanging everything back onto the walls again, it might be a good time for us to pause for a moment. We should think about and discuss the different ways we might decorate this room in which we receive the gifts of our Lord’s Good Friday crucifixion. In particular, we might discuss whether we could add to our sanctuary a crucifix, that is, a cross with our Lord Jesus Christ hanging upon it. Empty crosses, such as we already have here, are fine church appointments. Many Christians associate an empty cross with the resurrection of our Lord, and that is a good thing. But the resurrection, as you know, is only part of the story. In a certain sense, the resurrection could also be called the resolution to the story; the post-climax dénouement, to speak in literary terms. The resurrection is merely the result and the outcome and the proclamation of the one truly profound event, namely, the death of God. The resurrection is really not much more than God’s big, neon sign, pointing you to the cross. You may feel surprised that the resurrection is not the most important or profound miracle of Holy Week. However, it is not as though resurrections had never happened prior to our first and greatest Easter Sunday. Lazarus (John 1143-44), Jonah (Matthew 12:40-41), the son of the widow at Nain (Luke 7:11-15) and the Israelite thrown into Elisha’s tomb (2 Kings 13:21) all show that anybody can rise from the dead, given the right opportunity. Not anybody can die on a cross for the sins of the whole world. Only God can do that and it happened only once. “The word of the cross… is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The blood Jesus shed on the cross has purified and cleansed you of all your sins (1 John 1:7). Paul does not concern himself with preaching the Christ having been resurrected. But what does Paul say? “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). God’s prophet Jonah clearly believes in the resurrection from the dead. This is why, even in the waning moments of his life, Jonah confidently says, “I shall look again upon Your Holy Temple,” and “You brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God” and “What I have vowed I shall [yet] pay.” Jonah not only believes in the resurrection, but he also believes in the source, the power, and the author of the resurrection. Stated another way, Jonah believes in the crucifixion. This is why Jonah also prays, “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD.” · “I remembered the LORD.” These Words speak Israel’s hope. These Words confess faith in the divine promise that extends all the way back to Eden, where God swore to crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:23). Jonah might not have known that God would die specifically on a cross, but Jonah hoped in the crucifixion, just as certainly as you do. Jonah hoped in the crucifixion because Jonah knew that, when Eve’s offspring crushed the serpent’s head, the serpent would turn and crush his heel. · “I remembered the LORD.” These Words express Jonah’s confidence that the resurrection will take place because God will act in a way that causes and enables the resurrection. Jonah says, “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” and the crucifixion of Jesus is the LORD’s great act of salvation. “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) · “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD.” These Words make me want to carry a crucifix with me at all times, so that when I sit by the bedside of a dying Christian, I can hold before his or her eyes the dying body of Christ, the fountain and source of this Christian’s resurrection and life. I think you and I both should wrap around a crucifix the hands and fingers of those who are near death, so that the resurrection promise will be again impressed upon them while life is “fainting away.” And I think we should consider a crucifix for our sanctuary. It does not have to be high above the altar, even though that would be a good place for it. The crucifix could be a much smaller size, perhaps placed below the larger empty cross we already have placed above the altar. Or, the crucifix could be our processional cross. Or, we could hang a crucifix on the side of the pulpit. Who knows? Maybe God’s Christians will decide that more than one crucifix would be in order. ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
