More_Than_Conquerors

Sermon preached by the Reverend John E. Kitagawa during the Third Hour of the Good Friday Liturgy, on Friday, 2 April 2010, at

St. Philip’s In The Hills Parish, Tucson, Arizona

MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US

Wisdom 2: 1, 12-24; Romans 8: 28 – 39; John 19: 25b-42

Meditating on the Scriptures for this hour, I had a small but significant “aha” moment when I connected verses from two different passages. The first is from the Book of Wisdom:

Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance (Wisdom 2: 19).

The second from the Gospel of John seems like a direct response to the test in the first:

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” (John 19: 26-27).

Keenly aware of the tests and traps set by Pharisees and Scribes throughout his ministry, Jesus deftly avoided them. Sometimes, Jesus managed to use these challenges to turn the tables on his opponents. Now, hanging on the Cross, suffering excruciating physical pain, abandoned by all but a few close friends and family, Jesus’ penultimate act is an act of care, gentleness and love. Love is not just what Jesus talked about. This kind of act exemplifies that Jesus is love.

Today’s Wisdom passage is well chosen for Good Friday. Throughout, there is a sense that God’s representative cannot be authentic and real, and certainly cannot speak for God. There must be something under the veneer that betrays his common humanness, frailty and imperfection. And there were, in fact, elements whose opposition to Jesus was grounded in similar lines of thoughts and motivations. Theologian Richard Holloway offers a succinct and provocative explanation:

… [human beings] cannot allow God to be God, to be himself as he is without their control and consent. That God they will always kill. The killing of God is a permanent human activity[1].

Many scholars suggest the reason for Judas’ betrayal was his disappointment that Jesus was not

the kind of Messiah he imagined and desperately wanted Jesus to be. With this in mind, Holloway intends, I think to leave us with a stark choice. We can be among those who try to define and control God, and thus be aligned with those who would kill God. Or, we can be among those who try to know God as God self-reveals, and then try to follow as best we can the loving and sacrificial example the Incarnate One has demonstrated. It is our choice to make.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says,

“It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19: 30).

Volumes have been written about the meaning of these final words uttered from the Cross. It is all speculation since none of were there, and no recording devices existed. Could they be words of despair and defeat? In what I have read, I see a consensus that Jesus meant something like this:

It is consummated. It is accomplished. It is achieved. It is finished[2].

The “it” is his earthly mission. Having ensured that his mother would be cared for and loved; Jesus sensed everything he needed to do was completed. He was free to let go. In his mind, he had laid the foundation, formed and prepared his disciples to pick up where he was leaving off.

The disciples had observed Jesus’ ministry. They had learned through his parables. They saw Jesus demonstrate God’s love through healing acts and acts of love. In the Gospel of John, Jesus engages the disciples in an extended conversation just before his death. I commend for your reading and meditation Chapters 13 through 17, sometimes referred to as the “Last Discourse”[3]. These chapters contain Jesus’ extensive review session with the disciples. They provide a loose outline of how to pick up where Jesus leaves off. Listen to some of the headlines:

A new commandment to love one another as Christ has loved us (Chapter 13).
Knowing Jesus is the way to understand and know God (Chapter 14).
The gift of the Holy Spirit will inform and empower ministries (Chapter 14).
Disciples are connected to Jesus just as branches are connected to a vine (Chapter 15).
Disciples are likely to encounter opposition. Be of good courage (Chapter 15).
Jesus, having a sense of completed work, prays for the disciples and their future (Chapter 17).
Jesus prays for those who would come to believe through the disciples’ ministry (Chapter 17).

For those who try to know God as God self-reveals, and who want to follow the example and loving ways of Christ, “it is finished” is the signal to get busy and get to work. It’s our time, our moment to act in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example, using gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon each of us. Jesus regards us as worthy and ready just as we are right now.

My purpose today is not to dismiss theologies that emphasize the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Nor do I want to divert attention from the power of the Cross to transform lives. Nor am I in denial about the pain and anguish of this day. However, more than any Good Friday, I experience a sense of Christ’s confidence that plain, ordinary disciples can participate meaningfully, just as we are, in Christ’s loving, healing, and redeeming work. The small “aha” connection I made at the beginning of this meditation, revealed yet again, in such simple terms, the authenticity and depth of Jesus’ loving character. He practiced what he preached. His actions gave credibility to his preaching. His outer actions were congruent with his inner being.

During last night’s Maundy Thursday liturgy, we re-enacted Jesus’ foot washing—something a theologian has dubbed the ministry of the towel[4]. Foot washing is a great example of the way Jesus practiced what he preached. In his cultural setting, such role reversal was thought to be impossible. Masters simply did not take on the roles of their servants. Yet, that is exactly what Jesus did to press his point about loving one another. The point is even sharper when you consider Jesus washed Judas’ feet, and then shared bread and wine with him—knowing all the while that Judas would betray him. Jesus did these things to leave a deep psychic imprint that disciples then and now would recall, and re-enact both literally and figuratively. Through the simple example of Jesus washing their feet, the disciples learned no act of love, no servant ministry, could be considered beneath them. In symbolic terms, Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished,” signals that it is our turn to engage in the ministry of washing feet, both literally and figuratively.

In order to be in a deepening and more meaningful relationship with God, we have to let God be God. It seems such a simple thing, yet it is also a frightening thing. It is scary because we have to give up the temptation to define God in our image. We have to forgo the illusion of control. And, we have to be open to and accept what God self-reveals to us. We have to let go of old truths in order to accept new truths and experience new life. We have to allow and trust God to work graciously and redemptively within us, taking the risk that God will lead us to places we have never before considered. Yet, when we allow God to be God, when we are open and accepting, when we trust God, we receive great gifts and we can do greater things than we could ever ask or imagine. Furthermore, as today’s Epistle reminds us, however great the obstacles, or challenging impediments may be,

… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8: 37).

So, do not wait. Do not hold back. Individually, none can pick up everything where Jesus left off. Bound together in community, informed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can make a big difference in the lives of fellow parishioners and of people in the larger community.

AMEN.