What Is Good About Good Friday?

Why is Good Friday called "good"? It never seemed to me to be very good at all. This sermon ponders where we can find the good news of the gospel on the day when evil has its way.

A Good Friday sermon is the hardest one for me to preach in the whole Christian year. It’s not because of a lack of material. All four gospels tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion; and each one puts its own spin on that story. I could focus on Jesus’ suffering on the cross; or on Pontius Pilate, who tried his best to wiggle out of crucifying Jesus; or on the Roman soldiers who did Pilate’s dirty work for him. The gospels give us seven things that Jesus said from the cross; so I could concentrate on one of those. And if I’d rather preach from the Old Testament, I could use Isaiah’s description of the suffering servant (53:1-6), or the first half of the 22^nd Psalm (Jesus quoted it from the cross). No, lack of material isn’t the problem. Here’s the problem. My job as a Christian preacher is to preach the good news of the gospel; and, quite frankly, there is precious little good news to preach on Good Friday. On the contrary, Good Friday is the day that evil runs rampant. All the kinds of evil that bedevil our world get to do what they want to do on Good Friday. The evil of political power that runs roughshod over whatever gets in its way is front and center. The evil of religious authority that only cares about its own power has a box seat. And the evil of moral cowardice that runs away instead of taking a stand is there in force. Everyone who was there on that first Good Friday saw the evil. Everybody knew what was happening. Creation itself mourned the overwhelming evil that took the life of Jesus. The gospels tell us that for three hours, the whole land was in darkness.

But let’s think for just a moment about what might have happened on Good Friday. God’s own son came to live among us as a human being. He came to reveal God’s character to us, to interpret God’s law for us, and to show us by his life how we should live. But we didn’t like it very much. In fact, we didn’t like it at all! Oh, some people liked Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness; and the assurance that the last will be first and the first will be last. But the people who were in power didn’t like it at all. The people in power never like that kind of message. In fact, Jesus told a parable about what God expected of us, and about what we actually did.

“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Matthew 21:33-40)

The question hangs in the air. What will the owner of the vineyard do to his tenants? How will God respond to people who ignored the law, mistreated the prophets, and killed his son? What would you do? I know what I would do if I were in God’s place! With all the power of the universe at my disposal, I’d nuke ‘em. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah would pale in comparison with what I’d do to these bums whose lust for greed and power was more important than justice and mercy. The darkness wouldn’t last for just three hours; it would last forever! Heck, I’d crush the whole world in my fist like an eggshell and start all over again!

And that, my friends, is what is good about Good Friday. God doesn’t behave like I would. I respond to evil with more evil. We all do! That’s why the world is in the dreadful state that it’s in today. If somebody whumps us, we whump them back even harder! We allow evil to dictate how we behave. But thank God – yes, thank God! – God doesn’t do that. God’s character dictates his behavior; and God’s character is love; even love for the people who nailed his son to a cross. God didn’t nuke us, even when he had every right to do that. Instead, God used the greatest evil to bring about the greatest good in human history. We can see that good even before Jesus is taken down from the cross. Mark tells us that the centurion who crucified Jesus believed in him when he saw how Jesus died, even as many of us come to believe in Jesus later in life. Luke tells us that Jesus welcomed the repentant thief who was crucified with him into Paradise, just as he welcomes all of us. And John tells us that when Jesus’ side was pierced, blood and water flowed out. Perhaps John is showing us the beginnings of the Christian church, built as it is on the water of baptism and the blood of the New Covenant in Christ.

All of these are the results of God’s mercy that doesn’t return evil for evil, but transforms evil into blessings. And, of course, the greatest blessing is yet to come. On Easter morning, God will raise Jesus from the tomb in resurrection power, the power that defeats evil not by fighting it, but by accepting it and smothering it with love. We see that power wherever love is the response to the evil that is all around us. Oh, it’s difficult to see; and we have to really look to find it; but it’s there! We see it in war-torn countries where doctors treat anyone who is wounded, regardless of whether they are innocent victims or enemy combatants. We see it in the inner cities of our own country, when families of victims of drive-by shootings involve themselves in organizations that help the same troubled youth who killed their children. We see it in the words of Malala Yousafzai, the woman who was shot by the Taliban for advocating for women’s education in her native Pakistan, who said, “If you hit a [member of the Taliban] with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and [the Taliban]. You must not treat others with cruelty… You must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through education.”

Yes, God looked at the fragile eggshell that is our broken world and decided not to crush it by returning evil for evil. Instead, God brought new life out of that egg on Easter morning and defeated evil through the power of love. That, my friends, is what is good about Good Friday. And it is the best news that anyone could ever preach! Love is supreme! Thanks be to God!

Who Is This?

Palm Sunday calls for a choice. How will we respond to this man who is riding into Jerusalem surrounded by shouting people who are waving palm branches? It's a choice that we all have to make; and our decision is based on who we believe that he is. So who is this, anyway?

Come with me for a few moments to a place long ago and far away. We’re going to visit the old West, the West of the late 1880s – the West of cowboys and cattle ranchers and outlaws. We’re going to a little town in Arizona. It’s a quiet place where dust devils swirl and tumbleweeds blow down the main street. The general store is over here, right next to the saloon. Over there is the hotel, the livery stable, and the bank; and way down at the end of the street is the church. Some of the town’s founders are buried in that churchyard. At the other end of the street are private homes. (The saloonkeeper lives in the biggest one.) It’s a town where everybody knows everybody else. And today is market day. The general store is buzzing with activity as people from the surrounding countryside drive their buggies in to fill up their market baskets. The church has scheduled special services for that afternoon; and the hotel is full to overflowing. People are greeting friends that they only see on market days, and catching up on the latest news: who is getting married, who is having a baby, and who has been seen keeping company with someone other than his wife! And then, conversation dies down. All heads turn towards the main street. A group of men is riding into town. One is clearly the leader. He rides in front of the others; and they surround him protectively. No one has ever seen him before. Who is this? That’s clearly the question on everyone’s mind as their eyes follow his progress into town. Is he an outlaw who has come to raise cain during market day? Maybe he even has plans to try to rob the town bank! On the other hand, he might be leading a delegation from the territory, and he is here on official business. Or maybe he is simply a rancher new to the area who is looking for a place to settle down and raise a family. The response of the townspeople to this stranger depends on who he is – and they don’t know that answer yet.

It’s a long way from the American West of the 1880s to the ancient city of Jerusalem, but the situation on the first Palm Sunday wasn’t that different from the one in our little Arizona town. Jerusalem was buzzing with activity – not because it was market day, but because the Passover celebration was in full swing. The Temple was full of worshippers all wanting to offer a sacrifice. The marketplace was full of visitors buying provisions for their visit. The streets were full of people greeting friends who only saw one another during the yearly Passover celebration. Into that scene, a man came riding. He was surrounded by a whole group of people – people who were waving palm branches, shouting “Hosanna,” and laying their coats down in front of him. And the question in the minds of the people watching was a familiar one: Who is this? Just like in our little Arizona town, the response of the people of Jerusalem will depend on the answer to that question.

He might be a king. Kings did ride into cities in just this way. When a king showed up, everyone turned out to swear allegiance to him, and to listen to what he had to say. Kings dictate what we can and can’t do. They set policy for everyone in their kingdom! But this man didn’t look much like a king. Kings ride prancing war horses and are escorted by soldiers with helmets and spears. This man rode a donkey and was surrounded by very ordinary looking people. They had no helmets or spears, just their coats that they were laying in front of him as he passed by. If he was a king, he was a king like no one had ever seen before.

Or he might be a priest. Priests led processions into the Temple during religious festivals; and sometimes the worshippers carried palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” just like these people were doing. Priests offer sacrifices on behalf of the people so that we can approach God with confidence. Priests bridge the gap between the people and God. But this man didn’t look much like a priest. Priests wear elaborate clothing that sets them apart from the people and symbolize their religious responsibility; and they chant psalms as they lead processions. This man was wearing ordinary clothing and looked pretty much like everybody else! And he wasn’t chanting anything. In fact, he was mostly silent. If he was a priest, he was a priest like no one had ever seen before.

And then some of the people recognized him as Jesus, the man from Nazareth in Galilee. They called him a prophet. We knew all about prophets! Prophets take action on behalf of God. They relay messages from God to the people, and they remind those people of their responsibilities. When a prophet shows up, we need to listen! But this man said things like no other prophet had said before. Instead of talking about God’s wrath, he talked about God’s love; and he told his listeners that they should love other people, too. If he was a prophet, he was a prophet like no one had ever seen before.

Those people of long-ago Jerusalem had to decide for themselves how to respond to this stranger who came riding into town. Was he a king? A priest? A prophet? Or was he just some crackpot from the sticks who decided that he wanted 15 minutes of fame?

If he was a king, they should swear allegiance to him.

If he was a priest, they needed to allow him to sacrifice on their behalf.

If he was a prophet, they should listen to what he had to say and change their behavior.

And if he was a crackpot… well, then, they could safely ignore him and his little demonstration.

On this Palm Sunday nearly 2,000 years later, we have the very same decision to make. Who is this man, anyway; and why is he riding into our town?

If he is our king, then we should swear allegiance to him, and live in his kingdom as loving, forgiving people.

If he is our priest, then we should accept his sacrifice on our behalf; although it will be the sacrifice of his own life.

If he is a prophet, then we should listen to what he has to say to us, and believe that his message of self-sacrifice is really from God.

If he is a crackpot, then we can go home and forget all about him.

The decision is yours.

Who is this man, anyway?

Driving Out Demons

Do demons exist? The people in Jesus' time were convinced that they did. Today... maybe not so much. But many of us are possessed by crippling emotions that will not let us rest. Can Jesus help us with that kind of possession? Read on...

Some of you may remember a movie that came out way back in 1973. One of the promotional photos for that movie pictured a man illuminated by a single ray of light as he waited outside a home in murky darkness. That film was The Exorcist. You may even have seen it. Whether or not you did, I’m quite sure that you have heard of it. When it was released, it made quite a stir; and not just because of the special effects it contained. That film brought demons and demon-possession out of the shadows and into mainstream conversation. It encouraged people to think about the subject for what might have been the first time. Questions like these suddenly popped up in conversation: Is demon-possession real? How does a demon take possession of someone, anyway? And the most basic and controversial of all demon-related questions: do demons really exist?

Those were hot topics back in 1973. These days, demons are mostly the property of crackpots and fringe religious groups. One of my favorite crime dramas, for example, recently aired an episode in which the killer of the day was executing young women who he judged were demon-possessed. Of course, he was a few cards short of a deck; and that was the point. But in Jesus’ time, all sorts of behaviors were explained by demon-possession. Medical problems from epilepsy to schizophrenia, from clinical depression to bipolar disease, and all kinds of other behaviors that just didn’t seem “normal” were attributed to demons. People suffering from all kinds of problems were expelled from society, thrown into prison, or even executed, because demons were frightening – and threatening. Anyone who became known as an exorcist was in high demand – and Jesus was known far and wide as just that. This text (Matthew 8:16-17) and many others make that very clear. Jesus not only healed the physical problems from which people suffered; he drove out demons! No wonder that crowds of people followed him and brought their loved ones to be healed.

Now, I’m not going to judge this morning as to whether actual, literal demons exist. Some of you believe that they do; while others of you aren’t nearly so sure. As for myself – well, I can’t prove it one way or the other. I’ve never seen a demon; but then, I’ve never seen the wind, either, and I’m pretty sure that it’s real because I’ve seen its effects. And I’ve seen what happens, too, to folks who are consumed by the effects of problems in their lives that they cannot control. The demons that possess them have very modern names: names like free-floating anxiety… irrational fears… clinical depression… Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Now, every single person here deals with problems like these at one time or another. Who here is never fearful or anxious? Every one of us has days when we feel like we have a grey cloud hanging over their head. That’s just life. But when these feelings grip us in their iron fists and refuse to allow us a moment’s peace – that’s when we need the kind of healing that Jesus offers us.

“How many ways does healing happen?” I quote Steven Charleston, Native American Elder and retired Episcopal Bishop. “I have lost count,” he says. “There is more than one way we can be harmed in this life. We are vulnerable in mind, body and spirit. But for every struggle we face, there is a form of healing. Love, reconciliation, inner peace, wholeness, remission, hope, renewal, forgiveness: the working of mercy is ever present, intricate and lasting. As hard as this life may be, the power of healing is greater. It is the free gift of grace, the strength of compassion made real, the touch of a hand that has guided us since the beginning. Healing is there.”

Did you notice that grace is at the very center of what Bishop Charleston said about healing? That’s because grace is the beginning of healing – and grace is what Jesus offers us without cost and without measure. That grace comes in many forms. When we are anxious, he offers us peace. When we are fearful, he offers us courage. When we are depressed, he offers us hope. When we are fragmented, he offers us wholeness. When we are guilty, he offers us forgiveness. When we are lonely, he offers us love. It is true that the demons in our lives will never completely disappear. Just when we think that we have seen the last of them, one of them will pop up and poke us with a pitchfork. But the good news that I proclaim to you this morning is that Jesus and his healing grace is stronger than any demon in this world or the next. And all you have to do to receive it is ask.