God at the Mercy of Sinful Humankind
Isaiah 50:4-9 (Main Text)
Philippians 2:5-11(Read entire text pg. 5)
Each text I will use today relates to the suffering of Christ -- from the first inklings of the suffering in the prophet Isaiah, to the long passion narrative in Mark, to the theological reflection of Paul in Philippians. Regardless of the passing of time or the continuing development of our theological skills, no preacher or theologian has put to rest Paul's observation in First Corinthians,
"...the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." [1 Cor. 1:18]
Our Western, rational way of thinking still has a hard time with the notion of a suffering Messiah. It remains a logical puzzle as to just how an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God would allow the Christ (Yoshua Maschiac) to be executed on behalf of willful, sinful human beings. It is absolutely, totally mind boggling! The thought is too much to comprehend! The almighty, all-powerful, holy God of this universe surrenders Jesus Christ, the Word of God Incarnate into the hands of sinful people who plot his arrest, engineer a guilty verdict and mock his agonizing death. If ever, in the history of the world, there was a time when a "wrongful death" suit had merit -- this was it!
And yet... when the soul rending words of Jesus –
"My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me!" –
Pierce a darkened Jerusalem sky... the heavens are silent…
Every parent who has ever lost a child... Every tribe or nation that has ever been destroyed and plundered by a vicious aggressor... Every innocent soul that has ever been falsely convicted and imprisoned can understand Jesus' cry from the cross. All the pages of every book that has been written with titles like, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," or "Where is God When it Hurts?" -- is summed up in the hopeless abandonment Jesus is experiencing.
Just think of it. The brightest light that ever shone, the kindest heart that ever lived, the greatest teacher who ever taught... is,
Forsaken!
By God!
How can that be?
Here's the central thought behind the message for today. It is the world changing truth that can only be understood with the help of the Spirit of God. It is the truth that can changes our lives, our church, our community and our world -- IF... we would embrace it in the depth of our souls:
God surrenders Jesus Christ to the mercy of sinful mankind…so that sinful mankind might be placed
into the mercy of God!
This essential truth is about ultimate justice. How can everything that is wrong be made right? Who has the power to overturn every wrongful conviction, every unjust act and restore the broken lives of all that have been crushed by oppression? It is precisely in the face of the worst possible injustice that the hope for eventual and decisive justice comes. Even in the face of a dark, silent Jerusalem sky, the words of hope come from centuries earlier when the prophet captured the spirit of the One who cried out from the cross when Isaiah says:
"... He who vindicates me is near...
it is the Lord God who helps me..."
[Is. 50:7-8]
The Psalmist expressed it this way:
"For I hear the whispering of many -- terror all around!
As they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
But I trust in you O Lord, I say, 'You are my God.' "
[Ps. 31:13-14]
It is as though Jesus went beyond hope, to the darkness of despair to experience for us what it means to feel abandoned by God. His experience is an affirmation an encouragement that this sense of hopelessness is not a failure of trust in God, but a point at which every human support is gone, and we are forced to the affirmation,
"Our help is in the Name of the Lord." [Ps. 124:8]
To put it crudely, Jesus hits the wall of human effort and achievement and pushes through…to a place where only God's mercy, God's justice and God's promises will bring about hope. It is in the deepest injustice that we learn to depend upon God's justice. It is in the utter failure of human mercy that God’s mercy comes through with healing. And it is in the passion of Christ that we discover the promise of final vindication, mercy and grace.
In the suffering of Jesus Christ, there is the most profound statement of God's love and mercy in the word of God. Ask yourself just how it is that the Almighty God of this universe chose to enter our world. Christ does not come as a conquering warrior king, but in the form of a vulnerable, tiny baby. And now -- near the end of the story of God's intervention into human history we are faced with this amazing picture -- a forsaken, humble servant who is at the mercy of sinful human hands.
In the passage from Mark's gospel, the story is told how Jesus' followers affirm that they are with him to the very end. Peter says, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." I’m sure all the other disciples said the same. Then, when the time came to stand firm -- they crumbled. And Jesus goes it alone!
In the picture of a lonely Galilean carpenter, suspended between heaven and earth on a dark day in Jerusalem, an eternal truth is etched into human history.
"This is how much we are loved!"
In other words, God surrenders Jesus Christ to the mercy of sinful humankind so that sinful humankind might be placed into the mercy of God! This is the most incredible example of "winning by losing"… in the history of history. God does not conquer our hearts by coming to overwhelm with strength, but rather wins our hearts by coming to overpower with grace.
Scripture answers the question, "How do we respond to such a love?" The Apostle Paul, writing about the humiliation, suffering and death of Christ says to Christian people: (Read entire text Phil 2:5-11)
"Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus!" To put it another way, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." [NIV]
When Jesus was faced with the merciless judgment of sinful people, his attitude was way beyond remarkable. Where most of us would respond to such undeserved treatment with indignation and anger, Jesus responded with... humility and obedience. God responds to the attitude of Jesus this way.
"Therefore God also highly exalted him..."
Christ has provided a model of how we bring a merciless world to a merciful God. It’s not an easy way, but it’s a sure way. It’s a way that goes against the grain of our human nature, but a way that is enabled by the Christ who dwells within His people.
Mark these qualities down. Humility and obedience. We humbly trust that God will make right what is wrong and that love and mercy will finally overcome hate and cruelty. We quietly and obediently imitate the example of Christ trusting in the ability of God to "highly exalt" that which is right. For sure... these are not qualities that are highly valued in our world today. "Might makes right," and "Look out for number one!" The passion of Jesus Christ is a potent counter cultural assault on the worlds upside down values. And when we receive wrong for what is right and cruelty in return for mercy, we look to the passion of Christ and the promises of God for the victory that will come as surely as the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. We cling to the words:
"...He who vindicates me is near...
it is the Lord God who helps me. [Is. 50:8-9]
"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'you are my God.' " [Ps. 31:14]
On Friday there was a Procession of the Palms where Christ is jubilantly welcomed into Jerusalem. And yet, just beyond the shouts of praise and the joy of the procession, the enemies of Christ were making preparations to eliminate this One who came to save them. Many of those who so readily welcomed him with loud voice and celebration would soon be joining the demand for his death. The celebration would turn into condemnation and the procession would lead to His prosecution.
From the summit of the Mount of Olives, Jesus could see the outline of the Holy City clearly -- spiritually as well as physically. Even as the crowds cheered, Jesus wept over the sight of Jerusalem, it is important that we also see Jerusalem clearly. Not the physical Jerusalem of old, but the Jerusalem that is our world today -- a world that still brings pain to the heart of God.
Some years ago, I had to help a fellow soldier who had been seriously injured. He had to apply for disability. He had no church background and considered himself "agnostic at best." Over the weeks he had a ton of questions -- most, of which were some form of, "How could God let this happen?" "Why do bad things happened to good people?" and -- "Why me?" (He did not like the response, "Why not you?)
And neither do we!! Do we?
Eventually, the conversations turned more to the emptiness the man felt and the desire he felt to have his family -- especially his children -- have some kind of spiritual foundation. The long and short of the story is that he made a conscious commitment of his life to God and asked to be baptized. It was the issue of how Christ did not come to remove us from a suffering world but to share our suffering -- to suffer with us and somehow for us that brought him to the point of desiring to become a Christian. Although he was not comfortable with showing his emotions, he embraced me and with tears in his eyes, said, "What a plan!" Indeed. While we will never fully be capable of wrapping our minds fully around the atoning work of Jesus Christ, we can look at the wonder of the Suffering Servant of God who gave himself, "...for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sin." And we can say “What a plan!”
May God give us grace to follow Christ in his passion and faith to trust in his promises. And when all is done may we at last have been faithful to bring a merciless world into the merciful hands of God. God Bless.
