Palm Sunday, 04/01/2007

Sermon on Luke 22:14-13:56, by Walter W. Harms

WHO HAS FORGIVENESS?

Psalm 130:3-5 3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. (KJV)

The young man had been in prison (yes, he was a member of the church of which I was the pastor. So much for my effectiveness!). He was more than reluctant to return to worship because "everyone knows what I did and where I have been."

I assured him that most people were so self-interested, they didn't
care, and no one would even mention it or think badly of him.   (And
they didn't.) After all, well, after all, if the Lord kept the tally of sins, none of us would be able to be in his presence. We would all be crushed to dust and ashes.

If there is anything that we can learn from the passion of our Lord is that God forgives. Jesus who is God in-the-flesh reveals the heart of God on the cross when he utters words, recorded only in the narrative of his life written by Luke: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Those Whom Jesus Asks the Father to Forgive

The list of people who need forgiveness is long in this reading.

There is Peter. Braggart, swashbuckling, cocky, too ready with the sword, denying coward. "Father, forgive him."

There is Judas. Thief, betrayer, money grabbing schemer. Yes, even for him, there could have been forgiveness. Yes, even for him, had he repented. "Father, forgive him."

There are the religious leaders.   Smug, we've-always-done-it-this-way
folks, afraid to change, afraid of losing their position, unwilling to examine God's continuing call to repent, in bed with the politicians, liars "we have no king but Caesar," hypocrites. "Father, forgive them."

There is Pilate. Coward, unwilling to risk, disregarding the facts that he knew Jesus was innocent, peace at all costs even if innocent blood is shed. "Father, forgive him."

There are solders. "Just followed orders," gamblers, hardened to compassion for anyone because then they would be sissies or worse, humiliating the weak and helpless, mockers. Do you know what it takes to drive a spike through a human hand? More than once? "Father, forgive them."

There are the thieves between whom he was crucified.   Scum, thieves,
robbers, killers perhaps, low life, thugs, gangster, made-men, persons who took advantage of the weak and powerless, one a mocker to the end and one a realist at the end. "Father, forgive them."

There is the centurion. Seeing a miscarriage of justice, the innocent paying a price for what? "Father, forgive him."

There are those beating their breasts and then leaving. The
spectators: "Oh, isn't that a terrible thing," the uninvolved, those who have eyes but see not, the priest and the Levite on the way to Jericho, those willing to do anything as long as it looks good on the resume. "Father, forgive them."

There are the women who stay to the end and witness the entombment.
Salt of the earth folks, helpful but helpless, the bewildered, the groupies who can find no help but in getting close to those they consider powerful. "Father, forgive them."

The not-there other disciples, except John. "When the going gets tough, they desert." If this is going to help me up the ladder of life, OK, but if this doesn't turn out, don't expect me to stick around and pick up the pieces. I never really thought this Jesus thing was a
good idea.   I believe in God and aren't we all going to get to the
same place anyway? "Father, forgive them."

There are those of us who live in the suburbs. Who have fled the untidy, the hourly workers, the immigrants, the problem schools to the "other side of the tracks." Lovers of the symbols of success: the latte, the high end SUV, the 5,000 square foot home, the swimming pool for those oh-so-private parties, the children in Gifted and Talented and on the best athletic teams, abs like a six pack, wrinkle free at 43, the yearly trip to Vegas and Sandals, self-indulgent boasters of "how well I, I, I have done it." "Father, forgive them."

Those of us with secrets that we wish we didn't know. The indiscretion on the our of town business trip, the affairs before God gave us this mate, the worries that the money won't last, the failure to make it to the top of the whatever chain we wanted to climb, the lack of motivation, the depression because it's not working out like we wanted, the happy face when behind it is sadness, deep melancholy about life and the future. "Father, forgive them."

Those of us who find God hard to believe is good. Those chronically ill, the child who is mentally challenged, the wars and it battle scars-refugees and amputees, those mentally scarred by trauma, violence and perversions. "Father, forgive them."

Those who believe "I" can and must do it because I can find the way to live life the best way all by myself. I can change if I want to. I don't need any help, much less this God-stuff. "Father, forgive them."

Did you not find yourself in one or more or all of these descriptions?
"Father, forgive them."

The plan of God is fulfilled. The Sinless dies to free the sinful.
Whether you are a Peter, a Judas, a Pilate, an urban or suburban dweller, religious or not, spiritual or not, you are forgiven, because as Jesus said: "they do not know what they are doing."

        But when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
        Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
        That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
        He bled and died to take away my sin;
        Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
        How great thou art! How great thou art!
        Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
        How great thou art! How great thou art!

It's always been that way, from everlasting. "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them. Even if one rose from the dead, they would not believe!"

3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm
130:3-5   (KJV)

And we wait, until we are with t his Forgiver, until we are with him in Paradise, and then until our third day comes. Amen

Walter W. Harms

E-Mail: waltpast@aol.com

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