"Words from the Cross: 'Today You will be with Me in Paradise'"
Luke 23:32-33, 39-43
I would imagine that most all, if not all of us here today are very aware of our own moral failings.
And these moral failings or difficulties are often referred to by some as "our cross to bear."
And sure, we can be good at covering up the pain of our mistakes.
We can mask many things behind a smile, a laugh or even a gruff and tough personality.
We can be so good at covering up our guilt that we might even believe our own denials, or we might think that everyone else is as unencumbered, as unburdened as they look or seem.
Some of us are so aware of our short-comings and our sins that we wonder: "Is forgiveness really available for someone like me?"
(pause)
Some people might wonder why the Gospels seem to spare us many of the "gory details" of Jesus' crucifixion.
I believe the answer lies in the fact that the first readers would have been all too familiar with all the gory details that go along with crucifixion.
They saw it daily.
It was a fact of life.
The first readers of the Gospels would have had no trouble imagining the nails being driven into the hands and then the feet of Jesus.
They would have been very familiar with the hours of bleeding, the flies buzzing around the condemned person's head, the sweat and blood pouring off the person's body, the slow asphyxiation as the person's lungs began to close, and the hungry animals waiting at the bottom of the cross...waiting for a meal.
In Jesus' day as in our day now--with the newest terrorists--crucifixion was more than a way to kill someone.
It was a weapon of terror.
Those who didn't "walk the line" were nailed to a cross...
...the criminals, murderers, those who challenged the system...
...they were put there for everyone to see and internalize: "This is what will happen to me if I don't follow the rules."
Luke spares us many of the gory details, but we are told that Jesus was crucified, "along with the criminals."
And the word for criminals here literally means "evildoers."
And as we are all too aware, that is a word that could very easily describe any one of us.
It's been said that a person is known by the company he or she keeps.
And in life as well as in death Jesus hung out with sinners--people like me and you.
In Luke Chapter 15 we are told that the religious rulers grumbled saying: "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Jesus allowed a prostitute to wash His feet with her tears.
He called tax collectors and ordinary sinful folks to be His disciples.
He touched lepers and ate with people who were considered to be "unclean" by proper society.
And eating with someone in the Middle East in biblical times meant you were willing to call that person your friend.
And Jesus ate with thieves, tax collectors, prostitutes--anyone who would have Him.
And as Jesus lived, so He died.
His companions at Calvary were two criminals.
This is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire Bible.
If Jesus wasn't afraid to befriend criminals, prostitutes, and people who were outcastes...
...how does that apply to you and me?
If Jesus considered "evildoers" His friends...
...are you or I too sinful to be Jesus' friends as well?
We are told that "They also led two other criminals to be executed with Jesus.
When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left."
But before either of the criminals says a word...
...in the verses that follow verse 33 we are told that there are a number of other "characters" at the cross.
The soldiers were there.
"They drew lots as a way of dividing up his clothing."
"The people," meaning a crowd, "were standing around watching..."
"...the religious leaders sneered..."
"...the soldiers mocked him..."
Is it not made clear that every person on the scene was a person in need of forgiveness?
And then to add insult to injury, even one of the criminals who had no status or authority...
...one of the lowest of the low...
...one of the most marginalized, outcaste, left out, cast-offs...
...one of the other guys hanging bloody and desperate from a cross joined in and "insulted him."
And Jesus "put up" with all of it.
Jesus Christ not only entered our world, He enters into the pain and hurt and horror that we see and experience all around us: a world where the good die young and the old grow lonely...
...a world of wars and cancer...
...a world of corruption and pollution...
...a world of recession and joblessness...
...a world where there seems to be such little reason to hope or dream.
When you are down in the dumps, remember that.
For the child who gets bullied on the playground, remember--Jesus has been there and is there with you.
For the person who is cast-off by others as so much human garbage, remember--Jesus has been there and is there with you.
For the person who is mocked and made fun of, remember--Jesus has been there and is there with you.
For the person who is sneered at and looked down upon, remember--Jesus has been there and is there with you.
For the criminal, the accused, the cast-aside, remember, Jesus has been there and is there with you.
For those who think they are too dirty to be friends of Jesus, to be loved by Jesus, to be understood by Jesus--remember, Jesus was nailed to a Roman Cross.
He was mocked as He died naked, bleeding and on display for all to see.
His only companions were two criminals.
One of them made fun of Him.
The other said, "We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.'
Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'
Jesus replied, 'I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.'"
The arrest, flogging and crucifixion of Christ is often referred to as "God's passion."
And this passion is about God's love for you and for me.
As much as Jesus' crucifixion holds a mirror up to humanity's bent toward sin and death, it also reveals God's unending, unfathomable love for you and for me.
God is love, and love is patient and kind and passionate.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never ends.
On the Cross Jesus refuses to give in to the meanness and arrogance that surrounds Him.
If the face of terrible evil and despair, the passion of Christ does not fade.
To the cries for blood from the crowd, Jesus doesn't respond.
To the clubs and whips that beat Him, Jesus refuses to fight back.
To the soldiers who have torn His body to shreds, Jesus offers forgiveness.
To the criminal on the Cross, Jesus promises paradise.
There can be no doubt that the passion of God's love is much greater than the passion of evil and human despair.
Could there ever be any better news?
(pause)
I would imagine that most all, if not all of us here today are very aware of our own moral failings.
And these moral failings or difficulties are often referred to by some as "our cross to bear."
Sure, we can be good at covering up the pain of our mistakes.
We can mask many things behind a smile, a laugh or even a gruff and tough personality.
We can be so good at covering up our guilt that we might even believe our own denials, or we might think that everyone else is as unencumbered, as unburdened as they look or seem.
Some of us are so aware of our short-comings and our sins that we wonder: "Is forgiveness really available for someone like me?"
From the Cross Jesus speaks to everyone of us.
To all of us who are dying on our own crosses...
...crosses of self-hatred....
...crosses of depression and despair...
...crosses of neglect and disrespect...
...crosses of poverty...
...crosses of sexual abuse...
...crosses of senseless violence...
...we all have crosses...
And to everyone of us who asks from our cross: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom..."
...Jesus replies: "I assure you that...you will be with me in paradise."
Have you asked?
Will you ask?
