Luke 23:33-43
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Here’s a question.
Why is it that irony is the best vehicle for communicating the Gospel?
The best.
Why is it, that this is so elusive to so many?
Evidence That Demands a Verdict was the title of a book when I was young. What is it now? The Case for Faith. There’s irony for you, make such a case, that by the time you're done, that faith won’t be necessary. You’ll know.
The blessed rage for certitude. . .
Just started reading The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church by Andrew Root. Looks. . . promising. My wonderful wife saw the title of the book - only the main part, “The Promise of Despair” and suggested that it didn’t sound real uplifting.
Yup.
Looking back on what I’ve preached on this text before, I was interested to see a sermon just a few months after the attacks of 9/11.
I don’t know how that sermon went. I tried to wonder with the congregation at irony and the Gospel.
It seems so long ago, but post nine-one-one some suggested that in light of the heroism we witnessed, that cynicism would be dead.
. . . I have to say it, I can’t help myself. . .
“Yeah, right.”
here’s part of my sermon
I heard an essay on public radio the other day that I thought was striking. The man said that although irony was supposed to be dead now, he kind of doubted that. This writer, whose tools are words, ironically went on equating irony with cynicism without knowing the difference between the two.
I suspect that cynicism arises out of the realities that one faces in our world. We see, over & over, that people, even when they do good things, are often motivated by greed & selfishness. When somebody says “this is going to hurt me as much as its going to hurt you” probably they are simply overestimating their pain, & underestimating yours. We learn, that when one says “it’s the principle that matters” we ought to look carefully at their motives, & wonder what it is that really matters. And when someone says: “it’s not about the money. . .” well, you can finish that one for me. There is the outrageous line by Lily Tomlin that goes like this: “No matter how cynical I get, I can’t keep up.”
...often we assume that the only alternative is a naive optimism.
. . . As one famous philosophical notion put it:“this is the best of all possible worlds.” Yet, finally, we know that such an attitude won’t hold up. It will be dashed by the sad realities of the world around us. And so, we are quickly falling back into the cynicism that was declared dead just a few months ago.
The Gospel gives us another way to approach & understand our world. That is the irony of the cross. Not cynicism, not naive optimism, but the strange working of God, who turns everything on its head, & brings about the unexpected.
How can the irony of the gospel work its ironic transformation when we mistake irony for cynicism, and cynicism for being hip? When we mistake an insane positivism for optimism, and an accurate assessment of our finitude as some sort of defeatist attitude?
Christ the King Sunday seems to me to be an orientation day. Yes, we’re about to finish off the liturgical year, but this day seems more aptly celebrated when we use it to re-calibrate our vision for the coming celebration of the appearance of our Savior King.
It seems to me that Christ the King Sunday invites us to clearly proclaim the irony of God’s King.
King of the Jews, and King of Pilate and everyone else in the story.
King of you and me. And all the world.
King of kings and . . . King of Pain.
How can the baby in the manger ever be considered cute?
Hearing our Gospel for this Sunday, one might well wonder at how one could trivialize this journey that follows the road to this cross? This journey that leads to this King’s proclamation: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
Maybe we can - one more time - proclaim this one who loves and forgives and suffers and dies as our King.
Not that anyone will believe it.
Yet finally, it is the only way.
It is all we have.
How is it, that THIS story, is the most life affirming story you’ve ever heard?
THE
MOST
LIFE
AFFIRMING
EVER
Ironic, isn’t it?
4 comments:
setting aside my cynical bent, let me share this:
Nothing binds or unites people more deeply than having the same hope, the same faith, the same joy and expectation. It is very sad, therefore, when individual believers stand alone. There have always been people who had to stand alone on account of their faith - some of them in prison, for years. But where there is true expectation, people are usually drawn together; their common faith leads to community, and they can strengthen and encourage one another. Standing for God always has a unifying power. Let us pray that we may be gathered together with all those who live in expectation of him. - J. Heinrich Arnold Discipleship
and these too
It is through living, indeed through dying and being damned that one becomes a theologian, not through understanding, reading, or speculation. Martin Luther
The wisest man I ever knew taught me something I never forgot. And although I never forgot it, I never quite memorized it either. So what I'm left with is the memory of having learned something very wise that I can't quite remember. - George Carlin
Truth hurts - not the searching after; the running from! - John Eyberg
I can't help myself, here's another good quote. Hopefully I'll stop soon.
The resurrection cannot be fitted into any view of the world except one of which it is itself a total starting point, because the resurrection is the validation of a protest against everything that there is. It is the same point which I made earlier. The cross is the ultimate protest against things as they are, in the name of what ought to be ... the world as it is is not God's last word. Lesslie Newbigin
The Crucified One is not an abstraction, and he was not crucified for abstractions. Sickness is an abstraction, and he never did eradicate sickness; the sick are not abstractions, and he manifestly did heal them. Hunger is an abstraction, and to the confusion of many social philosophers, he did not eliminate it; the hungry are solid, if empty, and he filled them with good things. He blesses the meek, not meekness; and he blesses the humble, while knowing that humility will be cursed by the proud until the end of the world. -George William Rutler
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. - Douglas Adams
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. - unknown
A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle. - Unknown
Ironically, (I guess), I forgot to include the one exegetical insight that I intended to reference in my post.
I thought David Lose - in his “Dear Working Preacher” post this week - made an excellent point on the reign of God.
It is not a place, nor even our allegiance to this or that ruler that is central, but the way in which God’s rule transforms all of life.
It's not the ruler that changes, but the realm in which we live.
This makes matters a little more complicated. If proclaiming Christos Kyrios – "Christ is Lord," the earliest Christian confession – meant simply giving our allegiance to a different ruler, then most of our lives could remain untouched. As long as we didn't swear allegiance to some Caesar or king, that is, we could more or less conduct business as usual & conceive of faith as a largely private affair. But the kingdom – or, maybe better, realm – of God that Jesus proclaims represents a whole new reality where nothing is the same – not our relationships or rules, not our view of self or others, not our priorities or principles – nothing. Everything we thought we knew about kings & kingdoms, in fact, gets turned right on its head.
Does this get at the issue of power? I find that most all talk of power to be problematic. A member of this congregation whom I hold in highest regard has disagreed with me on this. He really liked a pastor from his early adult years, who said - - (as a benediction or . . . I don’t know what. He said it regularly) - - something, to the effect of “Power to you.”
Yet power is problematic, and power is made known here in a strikingly weak (I’m looking for the right word. “inept” “empty” “non-powerful” “anti-powerful” “powerless” “forceless” ) way.
What kind of “Kingdom” - what kind of “King” - would even call this power?
Good job Underminer! What I find interesting in this gospel reading..this juxtaposition of the two differing kingdoms is how they are in view in Luke’s passion narrative by the two criminals on either side of Jesus. One criminal joined in with the soldiers..his executioners.. in deriding Jesus. “Some Messiah you are ! Save yourself ! Save us !” The Message. The other criminal rebuked the one who derided Jesus and spoke of his just deserts. He seems to understand the differing kingdoms. He simply asks Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Luke spells out what is central to this differing kingdom- God’s kingdom- through the words and actions of its ruler- Jesus the Christ. Forgiveness. (Vs. 34) “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” This criminal gets more than what he asks for..for Jesus “remembers” him and promises “paradise.” Jesus, on the other hand, was where God needed him to be: suffering with the lowly, forced into solidarity with the desperate and enslaved, a healer set among the sick. He was tough on the hypocrites and self-righteous. But he had mercy for sinners. Although the righteous often condemn the lowly and think themselves far superior, Jesus himself accepted death with these low-life companions. Yes, they were criminals who deserved punishment, but the love and mercy of God aren't constrained. God has as much love for the sinner as for the righteous. Yes, nearness in the crucified Christ…compassion…forgiveness…salvation.. eternal life..are gifts given freely by God to us..yes, even us who fail to “get it”…”who know not what we are doing…” who turn away from our neighbor in need.
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