Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Last Sunday of the Church Year
Nov. 21, 2010
Luke 23:27-43
Justly

In the name of Jesus, the Lord of the Church, Lord of the entire church year that concludes today, amen.

It’s always about Jesus. The church year ends today and the new year starts next Sunday. And the Lord Christ is at the beginning, the middle, and the end. Advent, Christmas, and Easter is half of the year that celebrates the great festivals. The long season of Pentecost celebrates the movement of the Church under the watchful eye of God, led by the eternally present Holy Spirit. Whatever the time, whatever the season, we live, move, and have our being with the Lord.

When we reflect on the church year, we do notice movement, traveling, journeying. Within the life and ministry of Jesus, we see the movement of our life. We notice the journey that our life takes, with its twists and turns, ups and downs, times of rest and times of great energy.

The Gospel lesson for the last Sunday in the Church Year is a familiar lesson. It is a portion of the passion of Christ from Luke’s gospel. And Jesus is moving, traveling, and journeying. He is moving from the place of his trial and conviction and sentencing to the place of his punishment, the place of his death, to the place that in Aramaic is called the Skull. Jesus is moving toward his crucifixion.

Women are weeping for him. That’s nice. An outpouring of sympathy for a dead man walking. But our compassionate Lord doesn’t receive the compassion of the weeping women. Weep for yourselves. Weep for your children.

Even on the way to his bloody painful death, Jesus would not let an opportunity for teaching pass by. Jesus looks at the women and says to them, “What I am doing, I am doing for you and for your children. What I am doing is to spare you from this in the future. The days are coming and people will ask the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them, but it will be too late. What I am doing, carrying this cross, carrying your sin and shame, I do it for you.”

Eventually the journey is completed and Jesus, along with two other criminals, arrive at Calvary, Golgotha, the place of the skull. His arms are stretched out and the nails are driven into his hands. His feet are placed on top of each other and onto a small support and a nail is driven through both feet. The thorny crown that was jammed onto his head remains in place. The purple robe that covered his bloody back is removed and his open wounds are exposed to the rough wood, and whatever flying insects are present in the middle of the day. And this is the way that the king of the Jews is treated. And the King of the Jews said, “Father, forgive them.”

Jesus was treated shamefully, beyond shamefully. His trial was anything but fair. One who had eaten with him, walked with him, served with him…betrayed him. His punishment was harsh. He was whipped 39 times with a whip with leather straps studded with jagged bits of metal and bone. The Prince of peace was treated with malice and hatred and prejudice. People wanted the Lord of life dead. But all of this took place justly.

The two criminals who were crucified with the Lord are interesting characters. Both of these criminals were looking out for themselves. But the vision of the two criminals was not the same.

The first criminal joined with the mockers and the scoffers- “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!” This felon couldn’t see beyond his own nose. His vision of life was so temporary and so finite. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die is way we talk about it. For this dying criminal, it might be steal, pillage, and plunder for tomorrow the Roman cops are going to take you down.

The dying criminal who was mocking Christ didn’t care if Jesus was who he claimed to be. The dying criminal was only concerned about himself. What did the criminal have to lose? I’m dying, slowly and painfully. I’m going to suffocate before too long. If this guy next to me is so special, let’s see some magic! Save yourself and us!

The other criminal spoke up for Jesus. Jesus wasn’t about to waste his breath replying to his mockers and scoffers. When Jesus opened his mouth to speak, it was to say what many people, then and now, still consider unbelievable.

The kindly criminal turned on the other- “We’re getting what we deserve! This man has done nothing wrong. You and I have done all sorts of things that were wrong. We’re here justly. We’re here receiving the reward for our actions. We are cashing the paycheck that our sins earned. No matter how slowly, the wheels of justice do grind, and we are caught in the middle of those wheels.”

Both the criminals, the crude and the kind, were getting what they deserved. Justice was being served. Jesus hung in the middle. And according to the criminal, he was getting what he didn’t deserve. But still justice was being served.

Jesus knew that he was where he needed to be. Hanging between the two thieves, Jesus knew that he was destined to be in this spot. From the moment Jesus left his home in heaven, he knew that he would end up here. He was born to die. He was baptized to die. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, cast out demons, taught the multitudes in order that He would be in that spot. He gathered the Twelve, gathered other disciples, sent them out in order to hang on the cross. In the most blessed exchange, Jesus became our sin.

Jesus became my lying, your greed, our sloth and fear and timidity. Jesus became our infidelity and abandonment and abuse. Jesus became our sin and hung on the cross. And we received the pardon of all our offenses. We received the welcome of God’s children. We received the righteousness of Christ. We received what the compassionate criminal received.

As Jesus hung on the cross, as Jesus commended his spirit into the Father’s hands, as he cried out “It is finished!” and breathed his last, we received the kingdom. Today, you will be with me in paradise.

This Last Sunday of the Church Year brings things to a close. It opens the door a crack and allows us to peer into what is coming. It is the Kingdom of God and of His Christ. And He, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit shall reign forever and ever.

In no way do we deserve the Kingdom of God, Paradise, our Father’s mansion, a seat at the heavenly banqueting table. According to our view of justice, we are lost sinners who should be condemned to everlasting death and torment. But that is our view of justice. That is not the Father’s view. Justice is found at the cross as the price demanded for our sinful rejection is paid by our Redeemer and our Savior.

We are here justly, here in church, here hearing the Word, here opening our hands to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. We are here justly because we need to be justified. We cannot justify ourselves, and so we have today’s Gospel, the eternal Gospel that needs to be proclaimed to everyone.

Jesus Christ received no justice in his life. All so that we would be justified, today and forever. SDG