Rev’d Jonathan Gale
Jeremiah 23: 1 – 6
Restoration after Exile
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Colossians 1: 11 – 20
11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled* you* to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.*
The Supremacy of Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in* him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in* him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Luke 23: 33 – 43
33When 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. 34Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’* And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And 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!’ 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38There was also an inscription over him,* ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding* him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah?* Save yourself and us!’ 40But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into* your kingdom.’ 43He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
Doctors tell us that one of the most neglected parts of our bodies is our feet. They are out of sight and often out of mind. And yet if our feet are not functioning well our mobility is affected, and that can be serious. We don’t have to wander around staring at them, but we do need to be aware that their health is important.
Likewise there are aspects of our faith that are foundational and that can easily be forgotten and it is good at times be both re-examine and be conscious of that which is crucial to the flourishing of our faith.
At the heart of Christian faith is the cross and it is good to relook both the reason for and the nature of the cross in our lives, because it is the cross that makes it possible for us to relate to God.
There really is only one appropriate response to meeting God and that is to have an overwhelming sense of inadequacy (call it sinfulness) and to fall down in worship.
When Isaiah saw God in the temple he cried “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6: 5)
When John saw a vision of Jesus on Patmos we read 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. (Revelation 1: 17)
The thing about it is this. God is so “other”. When Isaiah saw God in the temple seraphs were flying about saying
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The word for holy in Greek is hagios which literally means ‘different’. This is very far removed from the over-familiar Christianity we can slip into if we’re not mindful or our origins.
When that which created us, meets us, we should be in awe. Not only should we be in awe but we should be very slow to try and domesticate God, to attempt to tame him as though we had created him.
It was the Rev’d Doug St George whom I heard once saying that God had made man in his own image and ever since man has been trying to repay the compliment.
Paul makes this point in writing to the church in Rome. He says But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ (Romans 9: 20)
It reminds me of a sermon I heard from Bishop Peter Atkins in 2010. He began by saying “I really get annoyed with people who say that all God is, is love.”
He certainly didn’t think that God was not loving, but he was annoyed at the cheap grace that was often pedalled in the church, at the sense that we had tamed God into a household pet, always ready to do our bidding.
When we begin to see God as there to do our bidding, we fail to understand exactly what Jesus achieved for us on the cross. Paul tells us in our reading from Colossians: 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.*
To accept that we are in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, we have to understand that we were in bondage to darkness.
14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.* There are two words to notice here: redemption and forgiveness.
If you are redeemed, you’re bought back. Someone has paid a price for you. In other words you were a slave. And what were you a slave to? Well it tells us. Paul refers to the forgiveness of sins.
Some people can’t accept that we were sinful. They also find the idea of redemption, God paying a price for you, as barbaric.
Well, it is barbaric. It’s a matter of life and death because as Paul again tells the Romans For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6: 23)
Because God is holy, sin cuts us off from God who is the source of all life and goodness. There is nothing more barbaric than death. This has less to do with morality than it is a technical matter. Separated from where life comes from leads to death.
In our reading this morning Paul also says to the Colossians, 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
One only has reconciliation where there has been separation. And Jesus paid the price to release us by his blood shed on the cross. He made peace through the blood of his cross. Where peace is needed enmity must have existed before.
Yes, the sinless Christ had to die to appease the anger of God against sin. This is not an anger against us, you understand. It is God’s anger and sorrow that that which he so loves is ripped from relationship with him and headed for alienation with all its consequences. Again Paul tells the Romans Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! (Romans 5: 9)
And to the Corinthian church God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
I frankly am staggered at the overweening pride of people who somehow think they know better than God. “We can’t have an angry God!” “Really? Why not?” Our best source of knowledge of God comes from the Scriptures and they are full of the anger of God.
Thank God the love of God impelled him to put into place the death and resurrection of Jesus so that we might escape the death that is, as Paul says, the wages of sin. Thank God that God is not only angry, he in infinitely loving too and can’t bear to see us lost. Hence Jesus dying on the cross. Hence the big deal about Jesus rising from the dead defeating sin and death! Wonderful!
And thank God that he has not only saved us in Christ but has given us the ministry of reconciliation, The Good News, whereby we might bring others to know God too. We are both saved from the consequences of sin and saved for a ministry of reconciliation.
Let’s see the disposition of this angry God as he dies on the cross. Is he yelling out against wicked humanity for placing him up there? He has a right to do so. Is he defeated with a sense that all is lost? That would be understandable.
Luke 23: 33 – 43
33When 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. 34Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’* And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And 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!’ 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38There was also an inscription over him,* ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding* him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah?* Save yourself and us!’ 40But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into* your kingdom.’
And it is these words that I would like us to take home with us today …
43He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
Let us pray
Loving God, your Son Jesus took our place and, though sinless, nonetheless died. Thank you for his immense sacrifice on our behalf. Thank you too that he rose from the dead, defeating sin and death, thereby paving the way for us to be reconciled to you. Thank you. We worship you and we give ourselves over to you, acknowledging that we now have a ministry of reconciliation – good news to share with others.
Amen.