Sunday, April 1, 2007
Mark 15:25-41
Senior Pastor
We are following Mark’s account of these last hours in the life of Jesus. Today we come to a very climatic moment for which Mark gives us a very specific time marker in this passage: It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. (v. 25) We will focus on this more intensely on Thursday and Friday of this week during our special services, but let’s take a little time now to explore this path of discipleship that leads through suffering and death to resurrection, and if embraced by us, to our experience of God’s grace.
One of our United Methodist Bishops, Robert Schnase, reflects on this dynamic as he considers the inevitability of death and its relationship to God’s grace. He suggests that, “If you or I were to die today, in seven years we would be remembered with fondness. Our families and friends would still feel the pain of our parting.”
“In seventy years, we would be a dim memory in the minds of very few.”
“Seven hundred years from now, there would be no trace of our names on any surviving civic or church record. No tombstone could be found to list us.
“Seven thousand years from now, there may be no record even of the 250-million-member society of which we are part. And seven thousand years is like a drop in the endless ocean of time.” (Ambition in Ministry, p. 122 ff).
Bishop Schnase says to contemplate such thoughts sends a
cold trickle of fear down into our souls.
We recognize the power of the comparison of humans to the dust of the
earth. We put so much importance on our
personal strivings and contributions, problems and pain, yet we will all come
to the same end, as will all of our efforts.
We return to dust. It is a stark
fact of life that one day we will all die.
And nothing can protect us from that ultimate reality. And further, within a couple of
generations after our deaths, no earthly memory will remain whatsoever of our
lives.
It is a sobering perspective. Schnase suggests that there are several possible responses. We can become cynical and bitter and conclude life has no meaning. Some choose this path. Or we could become overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear and hopelessness that the end is imminent. Others become incensed, railing at the injustice that all lives reach the same conclusion, given enough time.
This is the sting of death “If our significance derives from what we do, then what happens when we realize that our works do not have the power to outlive us, that they too are swallowed up in death?”
“Life finds its value from beyond our earthly lives, or not at all. Meaning and purpose are not created by us, but received by us; not dependent upon our works, but accepted by our faith. The purpose of life comes from beyond ourselves. The value of our lives, whether we die young or old, infirm or productive, comes gift-like from God alone. Our ultimate significance grows out of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
“All of us are loved enough for Christ to die for us.” “Confrontation with our own mortality swings us full around to the necessity of grace.” (p. 123)
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in
two, from top to bottom. Now when the
centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he
said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (v. 37 – 39)
The background for our
understanding the significance here is once again important. Mark tells us that the Romans, spurred on by
the temple authorities, have crucified Jesus.
Then when Jesus dies on the cross the first thing Mark tells us is
that the temple curtain was torn.
What was this curtain?
It was the curtain that
separated the inner most part of the temple called the Holy of Holies from the
rest of the temple. It was considered
the place where God resided. Being the home
of God, it was the most holy of all places and nobody could enter there except
the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. The temple and the priests mediated connection with God for
everybody else.
But now, knowing the
background, we can see the symbolism of Mark.
He is saying that through Jesus Christ we have immediate access to
God. Access is no longer limited to the
temple and the temple authorities. The
curtain has been torn in two, from top to bottom. God’s very nature has been revealed in the loving actions of
Jesus.
Then notice the very next
sentence Mark records is that the Roman guard, who is a non-Jew, a gentile –
one who would not have access to this God in a temple, this God of the Hebrews,
this man is the first to proclaim that this Jesus of Nazareth is God’s
Son. The curtain is torn and a
gentile sees the revelation of God in Jesus. Can you sense the radical twist this is in the story of God’s
people?
But it is not enough to
say Jesus died for us or even to say this is God’s Son. Remember the repeated teaching Jesus did
with his disciples about his suffering and death and this path of discipleship,
which included servanthood and suffering and death as the way. We are to not only recognize Jesus as a
revelation of God’s suffering love for us, but we are to follow that path. We are to be the body of Christ in our
living and dying.
I
don’t know the author of this story but a couple of you have sent it to
me.
The
author writes: One day, when I was a
freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. I
knew his name was Kyle. It looked like
he was carrying all of his books. I
thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
He must really be a nerd."
As I was walking along, I
saw a bunch of kids running toward him.
They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him
so he landed in the dirt. His glasses
went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness
in his eyes. My heart went out to
him. So, I jogged over to him as he
crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really
should get lives.”
He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" A smile broke out on his face.
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I
asked him why I had never seen him around.
He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private
school kid before.
We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I
asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends tomorrow? He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more
I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with that
huge stack of books again. I stopped
him and said, "Boy, you are really going to build some serious muscles
with that pile of books everyday!"
He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years,
Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about
college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and
I was going to Duke.
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a
problem.
He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football
scholarship.
Kyle became valedictorian of our class.
I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up
there and speak. Graduation day came. Kyle looked great.
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in
glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved
him.
Sometimes I was jealous! Today was one
of those days.
But, I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said,
"Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one)
and smiled. "Thanks," he
said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began, "Graduation is
a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings,
maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give
them. I am going to tell you a
story."
I
just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day
we met. He told of how he had
planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't
have to do it later and was carrying all of his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little
smile.
"Thankfully, I was saved. My
friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this bright, handsome, popular guy
told us all about his weakest moment. I
saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. He had never told me that story. Not until that moment did I realize what had
actually happened.
Today
begins Holy Week. We remember
especially this week the path that Jesus took. It is a time of reflection and self-examination. It is a time to assess where we are on this
path of following Jesus. What needs to
happen in your life to be ready to follow him more closely, to risk a little to
serve another, to suffer with another, to surrender your will to God’s
will? As you choose to follow Jesus,
know that God will work through you
too.
Jesus’
choices reflected the love of God.
Kyle’s
best friend’s choices reflected the love of God.
Do
your choices reflect the love of God?
9
a.m. – Jesus Crucified 4/1/07
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
…the inevitability of death and its relationship
to God’s __________.
…within a couple of generations after our ____________,
no earthly memory will remain whatsoever of our lives.
“Life finds its value from ____________ our earthly lives,
or not at all… Our ultimate significance grows out of the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
v. 37 – ____
…the first thing Mark
tells us is that the temple curtain
was ________.
God’s very nature has
been revealed in the loving
actions of __________.
The curtain is torn and a ______________ sees the
revelation
of God in Jesus.
…it is not enough to
say Jesus died for us…
but we are to ____________ that path.
My __________ went out to him.
Kyle became valedictorian of ______ class.
He told of how he had planned to ________ himself…
We remember… the ________ that Jesus
took.
Do
your ______________ reflect the love of God?
Kid’s Question:
Whose actions reveal to us the nature of God?
“Life finds its value
from beyond our earthly lives, or not at all.
Meaning and purpose are
not created by us, but received by us;
not dependent upon our
works, but accepted by our faith. The
purpose of life comes from
beyond ourselves. The value of our
lives, whether we die
young or old, infirm or productive, comes
gift-like from God alone.
Our ultimate significance grows
out of
the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.”