Good Friday: Watching and Waiting at The Cross

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,

either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

 The Passion story, as solemn as it is, is still the Gospel, still good news for us, in any season or time of the year. This day we read John’s (18: 1-19:42) long Passion narrative. John records that while Jesus is the one captured, tried and crucified, it is the major players in the story who fall apart. Meanwhile, those who lack power, the minor players in the drama, are the faithful ones. They are the ones who keep company with Jesus at the foot of the cross.

This Good Friday we reflect on the seeming powerlessness of ones who keep vigil. There was nothing any of Jesus’ faithful followers could do. But they do not leave this dying and tortured man. They stay by him till the end. For those of us who want to be a success, find solutions for difficult situations, the ones standing at the cross are wasting their time in a lost cause. To those who measure their lives by achievement and successful waiting is frustrating? The cause is lost, they can’t save him. We are reminded at the cross, that ultimately we can’t save ourselves from the real “challenge” to our life that is sin and death. The One who can save us is there in defeat, united to all the world’s innocent victims. The watchers at the foot of the cross must have been a comfort to Jesus. Rather than bear the stares of the indifferent or hateful onlookers, he could look upon those near him. He is aware of them and as the dying often do, he expresses concern for the ones he is leaving behind. I believe these watchers were God-sent for him?

So we honor today those who keep vigil with the dying; spouses and families of those dying of cancer; night nurses who just sit with a dying patient; hospice visitors to the homes of terminally sick people; family, friends and strangers outside execution chambers; clergy and church volunteers who bring the sacraments to the sick; parents of dying children; third world parents who watch their little ones waste away from malnutrition and inadequate health care. Each of these watchers who keep vigil are God-sent. God stood at the foot of the cross that day in those faithful ones. When one comes into the room to sit with a dying person, God enters too reach out, to hold the hand of the afflicted; to sooth their brow; to offer a sip of water; to adjusts a pillow; to call the nurse when the needed; or to give spiritual comfort or communion. In the face of death because of Christ's death we face death with hope and not fear.

The ancient brutal form of capital punishment has become the central symbol of our faith, and paradoxically, a symbol of hope. Now, the cross, or crucifix, takes different shapes and forms in Christian religious art. I possess a number of crosses of different shapes and sizes. But, I frequently feel a small cross in my pocket on my rosary; sometimes it gives me strength to just hold that little cross. Many of us probably have crosses in our homes, or cars of different shapes and sizes. Some of us deal with chronic illnesses or pain. Some are dealing with disappointment and rejection. Many of us are dealing with grief from different kinds of losses. Many people suffer emotionally from anxiety, stress, worry, depression or have financial concerns. Some of us are un-or under-employed. For some, aging is a difficult and painful experience. For some, there is the pain of relationships failing and others have been seriously harmed by addictions of some kind. We all know the pain and vulnerability in being human. These issues might not be as violent or bloody as Christ's crucifixion, but they are nonetheless share in the mystery of his cross. Good Friday calls us to take on Jesus' approach to the cross. Whenever and however the cross (pain or suffering) enters our lives, we who are united to Christ are to embrace it, and carry it. Sometimes we will need to be humble enough to ask for help in carrying our crosses and when we see other people struggling with their, we should try to help them. At the cross pain is given meaning, despair is vanquished by hope and love makes the burden bearable. In the letter to the Hebrews we read; "Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame." (12:2) May our faith give us this faith-vision as we wait in joyful hope for the future coming of our brother and saviour Jesus the Christ

Night Time Talk about Day Time Truth

Torah

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,

either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

Lent 4B: Night Time Talk about Day Time Truth

We are half way through Lent, but our Scriptures are looking ahead to Good Friday, when Jesus the “Son of Man” will be “lifted up.” The phrase 'lifted up' comes from the Book of Numbers (21:4-9), when the Israelites grumbled against Moses in the desert they were punished by bites from poisonous snakes. To help them God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and place it on a pole and “lift it up.” Anyone bitten by a snake needed only to 'look' at it to be healed. That healing snake on a pole prefigured Jesus Christ and became a symbol of salvation. As Jesus says to Nicodemus in the gospel for this Sunday (John 3:14-21), “The Son Of Man must be 'lifted up', so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” John uses "looking” as a symbol for faith. So, to “look” on Jesus is to have faith in him and to “have eternal life” (eternal life is in - the present tense - for the believer it begins now).

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Possibly, he wanted a quiet time with Jesus. Maybe because he did not want others to see him associate with Jesus or maybe he is a symbol of the world in darkness to the truth of who Jesus is. Nicodemus seems to have accepted the light offered to him because later in the gospel he will speak on behalf of Jesus and purchase spices for his burial. This great conversation is filled with faith and judgment. God is making a revelation to the whole world, that everyone, who “lives the truth” and “comes to the light,” will eternal life. The passage reflects the experience of the gospel writer’s community. Not everyone responded to God’s grace and accepted the offer God made in Jesus as “people preferred darkness to light.” John's time seems to be a lot like our own. This would have caused discouragement in the early Christian community, just as similar discouraging events cause pessimism and discouragement in the church today. However, Jesus is the light to the world and his life a revelation of God to all. We believers, are to be light bearers whose deeds bear witness to truth and God.

John has a tendency to use words and phrases that have double meanings. The term “lifted up” refers to his death on the cross. It also means his resurrection from the dead and his being raised to glory at God’s right hand. So, those who look to Jesus upon the cross are not only healed of sin, but receive the same eternal life that Jesus has now. John also provides us with the famous verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.” Believers repeat this phrase not as a slogan, but as a word of truth and assurance. When we have sinned, or realize our deeds have not reflected the light of God, this verse offers prayerful assurance for us. It is a prayer of confidence in God’s love and assurance that we can be forgiven, not through any merit of ours, but because we can look upon the One who was raised up on the cross and so we can come out of the darkness of sin to the light of Christ and his love.

Our daily headline news affirms, that many choose deeds of darkness, yet, God’s love without limits is there for an undeserving world. God does not just love the good people of the world, or the chosen over the rest. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is for all the world. If this is true then we cannot look upon anyone as unlovable, for they have been embraced by Christ as he stretched out his arms on the cross. Even those who openly reject him, or are preoccupied by their own ego plans, are still loved by God. Like the Israelites in the desert who turned their back on God and suffered correction. God still loved them and offered them healing if they 'looked' upon the serpent Moses raised up on the pole. 'Looking' implies seeing with the eyes of faith. So with faith we look at an image of Christ on the cross to see the way God sees and loves. We can see the unlovable and sinners with love. We can see hope in situations that others call hopeless. We can see Christ in the stranger and the neglected. We can see eternal life in our sacramental rituals: the pouring of water (Baptism), the breaking of bread and shared cup of wine (Eucharist), an anointing with oil (Sacrament of the Sick) and a word of forgiveness (Sacrament of Reconciliation). We can see because Christ was been lifted up on the cross. The cross continues to reveal God to us, as one who shares our joy, pain and our death. God has joined us in our lowest moments of life to raise us up to newness of life. Jesus, has been “lifted up” and NOW we look upon him for “eternal life” which has already begun for us.

Sermon Extra 3- Living in Faithfulness.

 Maroubra Presbyterian Church.

Living in Faithfulness.

Pastor: Rev. Johnnie Li

Good Friday  Maroubra Presbyterian Church

We are a Reformed Church at Maroubra Junction in Sydney, close to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and holding to the Westminster Confession of Faith as our doctrinal standards. Our traditional worship is simple and dignified, focusing on the exposition of God's Word. Over the past 20 years or so we have the joy of fellowship with overseas students attending UNSW, building them up in the Reformed Faith.


My wife, Jessica and I had chosen the church to attend a Good Friday Service since our own proved too inaccessible that day.

I am presenting it here as a Sermon Extra because I was impressed with the passion  and Scholarship of the Preacher.

As a non-denominational Community it behoves us to pass on the thoughts and perspectives of others on the Christ Story.

Br Andrew