Good Friday: God's Loving Arms Forever Outstretched

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (NRSV)

See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him
--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals--
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22 (BCP., p. 610)


Hebrews 4: 14-15 5: 7-9 (NRSV)

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

John 19: 16b-36 (NRSV)

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

"They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots."
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Blog Reflection

This Christ is a man who himself lived with tension and contradiction and inner conflict.
He is a man surrounded by friends who yet withdraws to be apart in the desert.

He is a son and yet he separates himself from his family and asks “who is my mother and who are my brothers?”

He stays alone with himself through long nights of prayer but still journeys on on a road that he knows will bring him to suffering and to death.

He is the redeemer who on the Cross holds together the vertical, pointing towards God, and the horizontal, arms outstretched to the world.

In Christ all things will be brought together.

In Christ all things will be well.  (Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality, Esther de Waal p.39,40).

I once did Lectio Divina on the following words from Thomas A Kempis' The Imitation of Christ.  "The Cross is always ready and waits everywhere, for you" (p. 93).

What is it like to look back on life and discover instances when we may have found the Cross waiting for us, and the arms of our loving Savior with His arms outstretched?

When I was a Church Music major at Eastern Nazarene College between 1988 to 1994, I saw the health of my Church Music Professor decline very rapidly.  It declined due to Lu Gehrig's Disease.  In February of 1994, he lost his battle with the disease and died.  When I began attending college in the Fall of 1988, he was a healthy man.  He had a Master's Degree in trombone, and a magnificent tenor voice.  When he conducted the Messiah every December, performed by the Choral Union, he was masterful, full of gesture and life.  By the time he died, he was lucky if he could raise his arms off his electric wheelchair to scratch his nose.

One summer while I was there, I needed help to pass my sight singing proficiency exam that was to be taken at the beginning of the next school year.  I had failed it four times.  The exam to be given me was my last chance, or I would not get my degree.  One day, I woke up really late for my on campus summer job.  I did not have time to take a shower.  I was miserable all day.  After work, I went to work with him on my sight singing practice.  I was just about in tears. Prof. Howard heard my story compassionately.   After I finished, he just about laughed himself to death.  He told me that if he had told his wife over the phone that he was about devastated because he woke up late, did not take a shower and all that, his wife would laugh for about 15 minutes.  He said that his wife would eventually say: "So what!!" My professor continued: "You were able to wake up and live another day.  You got to go to work without getting fired.  You were able to do what you could. You did what you were suppose to do."  Before I forget, I did pass the exam in the Fall.

I was thinking about this today as I was meditating on what Good Friday is all about. Here was a man, who was literally losing all the ability to move the muscles in his body voluntarily, yet he was telling me to cheer up and get on with life. He told me with no bitterness or sorrow for himself.  His main concern was encouraging me. 

On Good Friday, Jesus Christ is God's remedy for our sins.  God knowing that we could not accomplish our salvation unless God intervened on our behalf, did more than that.  God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, became the punishment our sins deserved.  He suffered a most agonizing death to restore us to friendship with God.  All that Jesus suffered on this most holy of days, was God acting in our place, so that God can look upon us all through the blood of God's Son and see us forgiven and liberated to live our lives in friendship with God and one another.  We are the one's who sinned by being so immature.  But, God through life and death of Christ showed us the Way (See John 14:6) back to God's Self.

It is not enough to come to this day after five weeks of fasting, prayer and alms giving to go back to the way we were.  As people baptized into Christ Jesus, we have shared in His death and resurrection.  By the power of the Holy Spirit that came on Pentecost because of Christ's resurrection, we are enabled by God's grace to grow in holiness through our relationships with others.  Including, but not limited to the marginalized, poor, oppressed, and the physically/psychologically challenged.  

The Cross is not the Christianists excuse for targeting women, LGBT people, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, African Americans, Liberals, etc.  The Cross is not a progressives excuse to not forgive and pray for Christianists who chose to hate in the Name of Christ.  The Cross is not a reason for the conviction to justify the closing down of planned parenthood offices nation wide, or targeting abortion doctors to murder.  The Cross is not our emblem to deny health care to the sick and vulnerable.  Nor is it the justification for drone missiles killing whole families in Pakistan, or targeting Americans suspected of being terrorists.  The need for a Savior who died on the Cross, is not our scapegoat for not being good stewards of the environment, our possessions, our sexuality, our families and children.  The Cross on which Jesus died, does not mean the Judaism has been superseded by Christianity and therefore is no longer a valid bulwark of faith. 

The Cross is our reference point for "the path of God's commandments" so that "our hearts may overflow with the inexpressible delight of love" (vs. 49, Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, p.165).   The love by which the loving arms of God are forever outstretched to embrace all who long for God's mercy and salvation, is our reason and text book for embracing one another in charity and hope.  

As we pray throughout the day, let us all take time to ask God to recreate new hearts in us by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11).   That we may love God, others and ourselves with a holy and life-giving love.   The kind that welcomes all, offers reconciliation and recreates the face of the earth.

Amen.

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, p.221).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p.99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Good Friday: Our False Self Meets Divine Love Crucified For Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (NRSV)


See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.
Just as there were many who were astonished at him
--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals--
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.



Psalm 22  (BCP, p.610).


Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 (NRSV)

The Holy Spirit testifies saying,

"This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds,"
he also adds,

"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

John 18:1-19:42 (NRSV)

Blog Reflection

Thomas Keating in his book The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience wrote the following about Philippians 2:6-9.

To become sin is to cease to be God's son-or at least to cease to be conscious of being God's son.  To cease to be conscious of being God's son is to cease to experience God as Father.  The cross of Jesus represents the ultimate death-of-God experience:  "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"  The crucifixion is much more that the physical death of Jesus and the emotional and mental anguish that accompanied it.  It is the death of his relationship with his Father.  The crucifixion is not the death of his false self because he never had one.   It was the death of his deified self and the annihilation of the ineffable union which he enjoyed with the Father in his human faculties.  This was more than spiritual death; in was dying to being God and hence the dying of God: "He emptied himself, and took the form of a slave...accepting even death, death on a cross!"  The loss of personal identity is the ultimate kenosis (page 62).

All of those things that we think make up who we are, today, meet the Divine Reality.   Even our emotional comforts through which we claim our identity are not an end in and of themselves.  If Jesus Christ did not claim any thing to be the source of His greatness as being God, then our false-selves are really baseless.   

The path to being our true-selves is found in letting go of our false-selves.   Our true-selves are not caught up in useless labels, our belongings or even the things we enjoy.  Those things are all temporary, and they are means to our true-selves.  But, they are not an end.   They are evidence of God's presence in our lives.  However, the moment they become our god, or lead us to making ourselves a god, that is why they are false.  

On this Good Friday we remember that Jesus was crucified for us.  In that agonizing death, with all it's humiliation and injustice, Jesus surrenders everything including His relationship with God into God's hands.  "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit."   In these words that we pray every night at Compline, we surrender ourselves into God's hands with confidence, because Jesus prayed these words from Psalm 31 on the Cross.

Jesus gave His life out of love for every human being.  One of my favorite prayers I use during Matins (Morning Prayer) so very often is the one found on page 101 in The Book of Common Prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.   

The crucifixion and death of Jesus is our reason for loving and including all people in the life and ministry of the Church.   There is no justification to scapegoat any person for any reason, if we take seriously what this day means.   All efforts to even suggest that the Jews killed Jesus are nothing more that an attempt to blame others for the fact that our sins are what killed Jesus.   Our refusal to love others as Christ loved us, which by the way is a commandment of Jesus we heard last night; is why Jesus was crucified.   If anyone seriously believes that Christians should lord ourselves over any person because we are Christians, then we have missed the message of Good Friday.   It was not Christ's divinity that He held on to to die to save our sins.   It was His divinity that He crucified and handed over for our salvation and redemption.

In the crucifixion and death of Jesus, our false self meets the divine love of God in Christ.  Because Jesus Christ is our Lord, Savior and Redeemer.  God's love for us in Christ was so strong, the God did not even spare God's own Son, but handed Him over for us all. (See Romans 8:32).   May God's love for us in Christ, be our reason to love others in Christ's Name.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer. p.221).

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.100). 

Good Friday: The Loving Arms Of God Forever Outstretched

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (NRSV)

See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him
--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals--
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22 (BCP., p. 610)


Hebrews 4: 14-15 5: 7-9 (NRSV)

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

John 19: 16b-36 (NRSV)

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

"They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots."
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Blog Reflection

The image of the Prodigal Son has been returning to me over and over again this past Lent.  First, by way of Henri J.M. Nouwen's book The Return of the Prodigal Son.   Second, I found this theme returning to me as I read two books by Esther de Waal.  The first of her books was A Life-Giving: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict.  The next book was Seeking Life: The Baptismal Invitation of the Rule of St. Benedict.  Last, but not least a book by Claudia A. Dickson entitled Entering the Household of God: Taking Baptism Seriously in a Post-Christian Society.   In each of the titles I have mentioned, the authors in one form or another refer to the outstretched arms of Jesus Christ on the Cross as the arms of God forever outstretched to receive the most wretched of sinners. Such was the meaning of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

As I was doing my Lectio Divina today, I read the following amazing words in Thomas A Kempis' The Imitation of Christ.  "The Cross is always ready and waits everywhere, for you" (p. 93).

What is it like to look back on life and discover instances when we may have found the Cross waiting for us, and the arms of our loving Savior with His arms outstretched?

When I was a Church Music major at Eastern Nazarene College between 1988 to 1994, I saw the health of my Church Music Professor decline very rapidly.  It declined due to Lu Gehrig's Disease.  In February of 1994, he lost his battle with the disease and died.  When I began attending college in the Fall of 1988, he was a healthy man.  He had a Master's Degree in trombone, and a magnificent tenor voice.  When he conducted the Messiah every December, performed by the Choral Union, he was masterful, full of gesture and life.  By the time he died, he was lucky if he could raise his arms off his electric wheelchair to scratch his nose.

One summer while I was there, I needed help to pass my sight singing proficiency exam that was to be taken at the beginning of the next school year.  I had failed it four times.  The exam to be given me was my last chance, or I would not get my degree.  One day, I woke up really late for my on campus summer job.  I did not have time to take a shower.  I was miserable all day.  After work, I went to work with him on my sight singing practice.  I was just about in tears. Prof. Howard heard my story compassionately.   After I finished, he just about laughed himself to death.  He told me that if he had told his wife over the phone that he was about devastated because he woke up late, did not take a shower and all that, his wife would laugh for about 15 minutes.  He said that his wife would eventually say: "So what!!" My professor continued: "You were able to wake up and live another day.  You got to go to work without getting fired.  You were able to do what you could. You did what you were suppose to do."  Before I forget, I did pass the exam in the Fall.

I was thinking about this today as I was meditating on what Good Friday is all about. Here was a man, who was literally losing all the ability to move the muscles in his body voluntarily, yet he was telling me to cheer up and get on with life. He told me with no bitterness or sorrow for himself.  His main concern was encouraging me. 

On Good Friday, Jesus Christ is God's remedy for our sins.  God knowing that we could not accomplish our salvation unless God intervened on our behalf, did more than that.  God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, became the punishment our sins deserved.  He suffered a most agonizing death to restore us to friendship with God.  All that Jesus suffered on this most holy of days, was God acting in our place, so that God can look upon us all through the blood of God's Son and see us forgiven and liberated to live our lives in friendship with God and one another.  We are the one's who sinned by being so immature.  But, God through life and death of Christ showed us the Way (See John 14:6) back to God's Self.

It is not enough to come to this day after five weeks of fasting, prayer and alms giving to go back to the way we were.  As people baptized into Christ Jesus, we have shared in His death and resurrection.  By the power of the Holy Spirit that came on Pentecost because of Christ's resurrection, we are enabled by God's grace to grow in holiness through our relationships with others.  Including, but not limited to the marginalized, poor, oppressed, and the physically/psychologically challenged.   

The Cross is not the Christianists excuse for targeting women, LGBT people, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, African Americans, Liberals, etc.  The Cross is not a progressives excuse to not forgive and pray for Christianists who chose to hate in the Name of Christ.  The Cross is not a reason for the conviction to justify the closing down of planned parenthood offices nation wide, or targeting abortion doctors to murder.  The Cross is not our emblem to deny health care to the sick and vulnerable.  Nor is it the justification for drone missiles killing whole families in Pakistan, or targeting Americans suspected of being terrorists.  The need for a Savior who died on the Cross, is not our scapegoat for not being good stewards of the environment, our possessions, our sexuality, our families and children.  The Cross on which Jesus died, does not mean the Judaism has been superseded by Christianity and therefore is no longer a valid bulwark of faith. 

The Cross is our reference point for "the path of God's commandments" so that "our hearts may overflow with the inexpressible delight of love" (vs. 49, Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, p.165).   The love by which the loving arms of God are forever outstretched to embrace all who long for God's mercy and salvation, is our reason and text book for embracing one another in charity and hope.  

As we pray throughout the day, let us all take time to ask God to recreate new hearts in us by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11).   That we may love God, others and ourselves with a holy and life-giving love.   The kind that welcomes all, offers reconciliation and recreates the face of the earth.

Amen.

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, p.221).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p.99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Good Friday: The Cross is Our Reason To Love, Not Hate!

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (NRSV)

See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him
--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals--
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22 (BCP., p. 610)


Hebrews 4: 14-15 5: 7-9 (NRSV)

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

John 19: 16b-36 (NRSV)

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

"They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots."
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 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." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Blog Reflection

Unless we have a heart of stone, it is very difficult to read the words of the passion and death of Jesus without feeling that sense of shame in what human beings are capable of.   The praise and jubilation that the crowds shouted to receive Jesus into Jerusalem with palm branches strewn about, has become a call to crucify the Son of God.  The fickleness of the human heart has shown all of it's true colors. 

The Good Friday event of the crucifixion of Jesus is more like a mirror of what humankind can be like.  Yet, as we recall all of the terrible things that happened on Calvary today, we also remember that this is how God showed God's unconditional and all-inclusive love for all of us.  Even those of us who crucify Jesus through our sins.  

In today's meditation from Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey Through Lent, Albert Holtz, O.S.B., writes about his experience during the Good Friday Service at Fatima Parish in Santa Cruz.   The people gathered in the congregation bring their palms that they carried and waved from Palm Sunday.  For them, it is a reminder of how they and all of us, shouted "Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!" on Palm Sunday, and today on Good Friday we with the crowd shouted: "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!"   When they walk forward to venerate the Cross the carry the palms with them, reminding them that they too are as much able to welcome God with a song of praise, as they are to crucify Jesus again by their sins.

Fr. Holtz also reminds us of the palms in another place in the Scriptures.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.  They cried out with a loud voice, saying

"Salvation belongs to our God
      who is seated on the
      throne, and to the Lamb." (Revelation 7: 9-10).

The reason we are among those who can wave palm branches as we celebrate the saving power of our God, is because of Jesus Christ who "became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross" (Philippians 2:8).  The writer to the Hebrews notes that our High Priest knows all about our human suffering and that we should approach the throne of grace to find help in time of need.   In Jesus Christ, God has identified with the totality of our human experience to the point where all of us are among God's beloved, with whom God is well-pleased. Even as Jesus cries out, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23: 34).

The need for scapegoating other people is over.  God has shown unconditional and all-inclusive love for every human being.  The reason Jesus can call us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being, with God's help, is because Jesus Christ has showed us the way to do that.  The commandment Jesus gave us at his Last Supper last night, to love one another as he loves us, is one that Jesus with God's help, has fulfilled.

No amount of prejudice towards another individual because of race, religion, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, language, culture, health status, wealth status, political affiliation, or any other reason, is acceptable. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, shows that God has loved each and every one of us, without exception.  God's love has gone to such length's that "God did not even spare God's own Son, but handed Him over for all of us.  Will God not also give us all things with Him?" (Romans 8: 32).  Therefore, any attempt to exclude someone who is not like ourselves from justice, equality, and inclusion, is another shout to crucify the Son of God again. 

The Cross is not a reason to target lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people to take away human rights protections or marriage equality.   Good Friday is not an excuse for George Zimmerman to shoot 17 year old Trayvon Martin.  The events of Good Friday are not a cause for zeal for Christians to target Jewish people and Muslims to suggest that there is no salvation for them, unless they convert to Christianity.    The message of the Cross that is the power of salvation, does not bless the countless protests at Planned Parenthood clinics all over the country today.  Jesus did not cry out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" so that States all over the United States should pass invasive vaginal ultra-sound requirement bills for women. 

Good Friday and the death of Jesus on the Cross should give to us the inspiration to show compassion and mercy towards every human being.  We should be using this occasion as our very reason why we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.   We should insist that the meaning of the Paschal Mystery is to celebrate the amazing love of God, that stretched out the arms of Jesus on the cross, to let all of us know that God embraces every human person, without exception.  Our response to that love, should be to follow Jesus' example.

When I survey the wondrous Cross where the young Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the Cross of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.  (Hymn 474, Hymnal 1982).

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p. 99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p. 101).


O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).

Good Friday: By His Bruises We Are Healed. Or Are We?

Scriptural Basis


Isaiah 53: 1-9 (NRSV)

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.

They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Blog Reflection

The events of Good Friday are every person's story of life and death. 

Just a few moments ago before I began writing this blog, I completed my yearly Stations of the Cross that I do on my own.  You can find an internet copy of the Stations of the Cross at this link.

As I prayed through those Stations that are so heart wrenching, we contemplate the steps and actions of Jesus as he experienced his passion and death, I was also made aware of how much our world, our Church, our communities remain broken and wounded. 

This past year we have heard Jesus being given a bad name by those who practice Christianity from the point of view that Christianity supercedes all other religions.  The cross on which Jesus died out of love for all of God's people has become a weapon that somehow justifies actions and rhetoric that is so cruel and vicious, and hateful, that there remains no responsibility for the wanton destruction of religious based bigotry. 

Our reading from Isaiah today says that "by his (meaning Christ for Christians) bruises we are healed."  Yet all around us in the Christian Church we see wound after wound inflicted on those who are not Caucasian, male, straight, wealthy, healthy, speak and write a particular language and on the list goes.  Are we healed through the bruises and wounds of Christ's death upon the cross?  Or not yet?

We have read the accounts of the Pastor who burned the Quoran. The remarks made about Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ, women and many others. Has the cross really been a source of healing, or has it been used as an excuse?

If we see and understand the death of Christ on the cross as being the opportunity and reason to become inclusive and to work for justice and equality for all people, then the cross is a source of healing.  The death of Christ that we recall today, with all of its horrible imagery, becomes the story of Christians.   People can believe in the goodness of what Christ did on the cross, because the fruits of the Crucifixion become real and visible and believable. 

If on the other hand, the cross is the reason to scapegoat, hate, destroy individuals and communities that we despise because of our own bias, then the events of Christ's death are nothing more than a fable, another legend.  Another piece of artwork on the wall that is nice to look at.  But, what does it really mean?

The Stations that I made reference to earlier invite those who pray them, to meditate upon the suffering of the world around us.  Especially third world countries and communities.  Places like South Africa where HIV/AIDS is the story of pretty much every man, woman or child.  Places like Libya where war and an evil dictator have been tearing apart the lives of real people for decades.  Yet we cannot be looking too far across the oceans to see suffering and oppression.  Here in the United States we have been hearing of tremendous political and social violence and oppression towards a woman's right to choose, LGBTQ people, the poor, the sick, the immigrants, youth and others who want the power to vote for people to represent the issues that are important to them. 

How is the death of Christ upon the cross going to become real where political, religious and social oppression and suppression are the way of life for so many people?   Didn't the death of Jesus end that kind of thing?

Among the things we need to remember is that Jesus was crucified on the cross, to pay the price for the sins of the world, yes.  But as the author of a blog post in Enlightened Catholicism wrote:

For almost 2000 years, believers have found hope and light in recognizing the primacy of the Incarnation. God’s overflowing love wants to embody itself in and for others. Jesus is the first thought, not an afterthought. Does this remarkable belief make any difference in our lives? Absolutely, especially for those of us whose faith has been shaped by images of atonement and expiation.

First, the perspective of creation-for-Incarnation highlights the rich meaning of Jesus. He is not Plan B, sent simply to make up for sin. As Duns Scotus emphasized so well, God’s masterpiece must result from something much greater and more positive (God’s desire to share life and love). Jesus is the culmination of God’s self-gift to the world.

Second, the focus on the Word made flesh helps us to appreciate the depth of our humanness and the importance of our actions. Rahner’s marvelous musings on our life in a world of grace give us renewed understanding of the biblical phrase “created in God’s image”—along with many implications for how we treat all our sisters and brothers in the human family and the earth itself.  (Jesus shows us how to be fully human, to touch and act from our own shared divine life, not necessarily to save us from our fallen humanity.)

Third and most important, our alternate view offers us a new and transformed image of God. Many people suspect that the dominant perspective of God demanding the suffering and death of the Son as atonement somehow missed the mark. (Ya think?)

Indeed, Rahner gently says that the idea of a sacrifice of blood offered to God may have been current at the time of Jesus, but is of little help today. Rahner offers other interpretations of how Jesus saves us, emphasizing that God’s saving will for all people was fully realized in Jesus through the response of his whole life.

 

Other contemporary scholars, including Walter Wink, are more direct. He states that the early disciples simply were unable to sustain Jesus’ vision of the compassionate and nonviolent reign of God. Overwhelmed by Jesus’ horrible death and searching for some meaning, the disciples slipped back into an older religious conviction that believed violence (sacrifice) saves. (This implies the early disciples never got the point of the resurrection, which is Jesus's culminating statement about the truth of humanity.)

The emphasis on Jesus as the first thought can free us from those images and allows us to focus on God’s overflowing love. This love is the very life of the Trinity and spills over into creation, grace, Incarnation, and final flourishing and fulfillment.

What a difference this makes for our relationship with God! We are invited into this divine dance. Life and love, not suffering and death, become the core of our spirituality and our morality.

I believe that central to the idea of experiencing that new life through the cross of Christ is to become active in loving others as Christ loved others.  The experience of Jesus' death and resurrection should cause us to come to a new life where there are no excuses for scapegoating or reasons for promoting violence and oppression.  On the contrary, the crucifixion should open our eyes to the wonder of God's unconditional and all inclusive love for all humankind. 

This love is one that sees God's goodness in homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender people as well as heterosexual people. The love of God does not see us according to our labels or the prejudices of Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics.  It is a love that cries when LGBT youth take their lives because of bullying by peers and family alike. It is a love that feels anger when Muslims are investigated for trying to make Sharia Law the laws of the United States. Even though many Christianists are all too happy to see to it that the Christianist view of the Bible is made the law of the land.

The death of Christ on the cross should mean that by his bruises we are healed.   And through the Sacrament of Baptism and the faith of the Christian religion, indeed we are healed.  But, in the matter of living what our Baptism means, in the matter of "seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves" we a long way to go.  In regards to "striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being"  the Christian Church (and this means all of them, Catholic, Episcopalian, etc) has a long way to go.

That is why we return year after year to this holy day of Good Friday.  It is the day to remember that Christ suffered greatly for all of us, so that we might experience God's saving power and love one another as Christ has loved all of us.

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, page 276).  

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 99).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. (Book of Common Prayer, page 101).


Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 123).


Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 124).

Good Friday: Everyone's Day

Today when we recall that Jesus Christ gave his life for all the world, we pause and reflect on what it all means.  Some of the greatest hymns about today include "Were You There," "O Sacred Head," and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."  But when all is said and done the important thing to do today is to remind ourselves that this is everyone's day.

Today every one of us was at the event that crucified Jesus Christ.  Today, everyone who has ever betrayed a good friend and everyone that has ever been betrayed by a good friend was there.  Today, any person who has ever stood by and accused someone of something they did not do and held them to the last punishment was there.  Any person who was ever falsely accused with no way to defend themselves and get out of it alive was there.  Any person who has ever laughed and mocked someone in severe pain and anguish was there.  Any person who has ever been laughed and mocked at while they were in severe pain was there.  Any politician who has maneuvered to get someone that was a nuisance to them out of their way was present on Good Friday.  Any one who has been the victim of political maneuvering was there.  Any person who has had a deep prejudice towards someone and made sure that person was crushed beyond recognition was there.  Any person who has experienced prejudice and was handed over to the will of those who discriminated against them was there.  Any person who has ever washed their hands of their own responsibility to do the right thing was there.  Any person who has been the result of someone washing their hands so as to excuse themselves from doing the right thing was there.  Anyone who has abandoned their best friend at their most desperate hour was there.  Anyone who has been abandoned by their best friend at their most desperate hour was there.  Anyone who has ever turned their back on the person who did them the greatest service was present on Good Friday.  Anyone who has gone out of their way to make someones life better and then been back bitten and experienced shameful behavior from those that they serviced, was there.   Anyone who ever killed someone was there.  Anyone who was killed was there.

Today all of us were there when Jesus experienced his passion and death.  In Jesus Christ, God experienced everything that we know.  When Jesus was met by the injustice of all that happened to him, he did not turn away from it.  Jesus met injustice and experienced it out of love for all.  Jesus experienced the totality of human suffering and offered it as the way in which God would save us from our sins.  In Jesus, God served all of humankind through God's unconditional love.  Jesus asked God to forgive us all.  Jesus held nothing back. 

In going through this horrific passion and death, Jesus did so many things.  Much of it we will never completely understand.  Among the many things Jesus did was bring the face of God to suffering, death and injustice.  God had experienced all of these and many other things through Jesus.  God gave a name and face to those who experience injustice, prejudice, betrayal, pain and ultimately God won. Because in the death of Jesus, God showed all of these things that they do not have the final word.  They may exist, but they do not ultimately win when God becomes their victim.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people continue to experience great prejudice often at the hands of religious individuals and institutions.  We continue to work hard to change hearts and minds about what being LGBT means.  Sometimes we succeed. Other times not so much.  The pain and anguish we often feel when we loose laws that we had gained after so much hard work, is something that God understands all too well.  Sometimes life just does not make sense and we just cannot understand all that's happened.  In the death of Jesus, God understands us all too well.  I think what God would like all of us to see is that no matter what we do or what we experience God wants to be there with us.  God never wants us to walk through all that we experience without God being there with us.  In Jesus, God has put a name and face on us, and everything that we humans could ever know and not quite understand.  It is God's way of saying that God does understand and it is okay to cry and get mad when life falls apart.  But, just as the death of Jesus on the Cross was not the end, so we can go on and through trusting in God we can continue to work towards the day when there will be equality for LGBT people.  God will be there with us when everything works out.  But, God will also be there when we lose and we think we just cannot do anymore. 

Today when we remember that Jesus died on the Cross, we remember that God never gave up on us.  God kept on loving us even when we had turned our backs on Jesus in his most desperate hour.  Jesus still considers us his friends, even if we have ever denied him as Peter did.  When Jesus saw us from the Cross as he hung there suffocating, Jesus told us that he had stretched those arms out to embrace all of us, even though our sins put him there.  Jesus loved us all.  Jesus was killed because he loved differently.  Love for Jesus did not stop with our sins or even those times when we have been unkind to him through our lack of charity towards someone else.  Jesus has told us that it is okay to love differently.  Jesus tells LGBT individuals who want to love Jesus back, that he is just delighted in each of us, and wants us to live in relationship to God through him. 

Before I close this blog post, I want to join all those who condemn the idea of spreading the notion that the Jewish people killed Jesus on this day.  All forms of anti-Judaism are to be condemned and avoided by all who call themselves Christians.  The Jewish people are a people of faith who are part of God's work in progress just as any group of people.  All Christians would do well to ask God's forgiveness for any way in which we have behaved towards the Jewish people that has denigrated them and caused them harm.  Because the Christian faith is about healing and reconciliation, all Christians should seek ways to bring about the work of healing and reconciliation with all peoples including LGBT and the Jewish people.  We offer them our sincere wishes for a good Passover. 

May all of us this day and every day, know of God's boundless love for every one of God's children.

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, adn given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the Cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.  (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, Page 221).

Lord Jesus Christ,  you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the Cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name.  Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, Page 101.)