THE END                                                                                                                Intern Pastor Doug Holtz

Luke 23:33-43                                                                                                       Zumbro Lutheran Congregation

Christ the King Sunday                                                                                                            November 25, 2007

 

“…today you will be with me in Paradise."

 

The end. I had not thought of the depths those two words could imply when I chose them for a sermon title. But it hit hard yesterday as I left the church after the men’s Bible study; with all the friends and relatives of Esther Matthews gathered for her funeral. There the words were on the sign. The end. I really wanted to take those words out, cover up the sign, do anything to change that reality. I wondered how those words would ring in the ears of those who may have already doubted their faith. But it does recognize the finality we all feel when we consider death. Maybe that message was supposed to get my attention. Perhaps yours as well.

 

The end. Isn’t today the end of the church year, the big celebration, Christ the King Sunday? When I think of Christ the King, my mind immediately goes to an image of flowing robes, royal thrones, angel throngs surrounding Christ as Lord of all. I think of an all-powerful ruler who on the last day will come back with blasting trumpets and bright light, strong enough to make the earth tremble and mountains collapse into the sea. But here we are staring through scripture at the crucified Christ, at the end of his human life. This is how it ends? This is how we are supposed to remember “Christ the King?”

 

And then I have to wonder if my questions aren’t the same as those of the people present at the crucifixion. After all, people were proclaiming him as “King of the Jews,” but Christ did not fit that image of wealth and splendor for them. Even his crown was made of only thorns. He was to those people a goon, someone to be mocked, and someone to be despised. Some of the crowd must certainly have come to see a show. They knew of or maybe even saw the miracles Christ performed and wanted to see if he would do it again.

 

Why doesn’t he just save himself? He brought people back from the dead and healed many from their diseases. Why is he still up there? He can do anything he wants, can’t he?

 

Yes, he can.

 

And he could have done anything he wanted in that instant; but his love for us is so strong that his choice was to take our punishment for us. He could do anything he wanted and he chose to die on the cross for us, saving us from the eternal darkness of our sin. Jesus didn’t come into the world to save Jesus, he came to save us.

 

Golgotha must have been a terrible place, so terrible in that day that all four gospel writers call it by name in describing the death of Christ. It must have been well known as a place of doom and despair that just the name, no other description, was enough. The ground would have been stained by the blood of many others before Christ. We have no idea how many others were being crucified in that garden. I suppose three would be more than enough. It was a bleak place to say the least.

 

We have a crown of thorns here in this place as well. Why here? Why in this place where we sing praise to God, hear the word proclaimed, and come to celebrate the feast of life? Today I’d like to use it as a grim reminder of our sin. We too put the crown of thorns on Christ. In our sinful lives, we keep adding spikes to the ring of thorns.

 

Take a moment to imagine yourself among the people in that garden. All of the anger, all of the fear. We are all sinful, we all mock Christ by with our sinful ways, so we really all are there. There to join the angry mob. There to add our own insult to injury. Every time we go against God’s word, it is as if we serve Jesus some sour wine and shout “prove that you are the King, save yourself!”

 

So what if he done just that, saved himself? Could we blame him if he had just said that enough is enough and soared back to his father and let us fend for ourselves? After all, people did not appreciate what he was doing; in fact the people he was saving by being on the cross were mocking him; people just like you and I. They were led by the religious leaders of the day; Christ was a threat to the power and control they had built for themselves.

 

Control. We all fight for control. Everyone wants to work their way up to the top. Toddlers throw tantrums just to see if mom and dad might bend a bit. Children push boundaries to see just how much control they have earned. Teens live their lives asserting themselves to gain independence and control of their lives, often making foolish and sometimes dangerous decisions in the process. And I don’t imagine anyone would argue if I said that we adults really aren’t any better. When we come to the end of a part of our lives, we want it to be on our own terms.

 

“Let go and let God” the bumper sticker says. It’s a great saying but we know that it is easier said than done. We want to control our lives to the point that often we want to control what God does in our lives! The stubborn humans that we are just can’t seem to let go of our own glory enough to let God guide our way. We want things on our terms, in our own time. We insist on building our own Golgotha by turning from God.

 

That often changes when we face death ourselves. How many times do we see people on their deathbeds make profound statements of faith? They can feel the Holy Spirit working in their lives so closely that they know God is right there with them. Many turn everything over to God as their lives slip away, letting him carry them to their final resting place.

 

Why is God suddenly so near to these people? Why now is he finally so close to them after a life of suffering and sadness? Listen carefully to what I’m about to say:

 

God… never… moved!

 

The gospel never tells us whether or not the mocking criminal heard Jesus’ promise to the other. I fear that he didn’t—that he was probably too busy coming up with some other rotten words with which he could mock Christ. And we don’t listen well either, even when he calls to us we are often worrying or fretting about this or that to take the time to listen.

 

But there Christ is on the cross, just as always capturing the hearts of those who need him most. He helped the poor, the blind, the lame, even the dead. This time it’s the criminal he helps, the criminal who in turn creates a stunning model for us. The criminal knows he deserves the punishment he is getting and also recognizes that Christ has done nothing wrong. The criminal, staring “the end” in the face, has the faith to ask Christ to remember him when he returns to the Father.

 

And Christ answers that plea, “today you will be with me in paradise.” Look up at the crown of thorns again. But this time stop focusing on the thorns, and now just like the repentant criminal focus on the crown of glory amidst the thorns. That crown of glory that brings the peace that surpasses all human understanding. Christ wore that crown of thorns and died on that cross for you….   And for me.

 

Listen carefully to hear his words above all the shouts of mockery and hatred, all the negative messages in this world. Listen carefully as Christ promises “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

 

In this world of anger and hatred, we are invited to share in the glory of God the Father. In this world of darkness, we are invited to come to the light of Christ. This needs not be an end of life experience. Indeed we are created new every day to live in the light! What ever are we waiting for?

 

Christ came into the world and died on the cross so that death didn’t have the power to say “the end.” The words Christ said to the criminal hanging next to him are words he gives to everyone who repents. That promise of eternal life is for all of us. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” With those words in our hearts how can we help but give praise to God, to turn everything over to him.

 

We know that Christ will be waiting for us with joy when our earthly years draw to a conclusion. God will bring us in glory to paradise! At our life’s end. Give God the glory. The end.

 

Then again, as we celebrate today with Vienna, Adam, and Gavin, and remember our own baptisms, could it be this is just the beginning?