St. Luke 23:37-43
Divine Service
Last Sunday of the Church Year (Proper 29)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

When we look at a parable, we always think of asking: “who am I in this parable?” Our Gospel lesson today is not a parable. Still, you and I are in this story. We might wish to rush to place ourselves alongside Jesus as the so-called good thief. We figure that we believe – we are no further away than “great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.” But the truth about us is that we are the ones gladly crucifying God's Son Jesus every day.

Now, I am certain that you want to take exception to the use of the adverb “gladly” when it comes to your own crucifying of God's Son Jesus. You would prefer to substitute another adverb such as “inadvertently” or “accidentally” or even “mistakenly.” But all of those adverbs would be a large bit of self-deception on your part. God knows that I, too, would like to substitute a more innocuous adverb that would allow me just one last smidgen of personal dignity. But that is not the truth about me, and it is not the truth about you.

We gladly crucify God's Son Jesus every day as we gladly embrace our own autonomy. We gladly embrace something other than God's kingship or God's lordship. There are even those within scholarly circles in the church that cannot quite accept the biblical terms “king” or “Lord” and would rather substitute “reign” – a softer, less emotionally charged word than “king” or “Lord.” Such self-deception puts us firmly there at the foot of the Lord Jesus' cross as one of those who are taunting and jeering.

Oh, yes, we would like our God not to be king or our Lord – to be a sort of kind and gentle old grandfather figure that says, “Aw, shucks, I'm sure you really don't mean any harm by ignoring me. I'm sure you really feel bad about throwing me out of your life. I'm sure that deep down inside you don't want to be a selfish person who really clings to whatever other gods offer you the greatest pleasure or comfort. I'm sure you really don't want to be such a control freak that you can't bend the knee to me. So, what the heck, you can do whatever you want without any consequences. It's all fine by me.”

But, of course, that's not the God that we have. God's grace is not cheap. Grace is not God's winking at the fact that we occasionally feel guilty for continuing to be so selfish. Grace is not God's overlooking our desire to keep on being a law unto ourselves, because, after all, we really can't imagine that a loving God would ever damn anybody to hell!

So there we are at the foot of that cross every day. There we are gladly crucifying God's Son Jesus again and again and again, because we are just too busy or just too preoccupied or just too distracted or just too, let's say it, selfish to acknowledge that Christ Jesus alone is Lord and King.

All those books that are supposedly tell-alls about the ‘real’ Jesus – they're nothing but the same old shams, the same old self-deceptions. The authors, whether they teach in a religion department or think all religion is hocus-pocus, are not original thinkers. In fact, they’re quite unoriginal thinkers. From the Garden of Eden up until today, we humans have simply said to God: “Nah, I'd rather do it my way, thank you very much!”

It's always easy to see that foolishness in others, isn't it? But to say to God, “Yes indeed, Father, I gladly crucify your Son every day,” now that's not something most of us have the honesty to admit.

You think money is yours to control. You gladly crucify Jesus.

You think your body is yours to control. You gladly crucify Jesus.

You think your calendar is yours to control. You gladly crucify Jesus.

You think the Bible is yours to control. You gladly crucify Jesus.

You think it really doesn't matter to God that you are so selfish. You gladly crucify Jesus.

The crowds taunted Jesus: “He saved others; let him save himself!” As if to say to Jesus: “You think you're so powerful and so mighty. Look at you now, Jesus. See who's in charge, Jesus.” That's you and me every day. That's the truth about us.

Are you too strapped financially to return a portion of what God has placed in your hands?

            That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

Are you too stubborn to support the budget of the congregation?

            That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

Are you too busy with all the other activities that are supposedly going to make you or your child a better person? That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

Are you too tired or too bitter or too sad or too confused to come to worship?

            That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

Are you too mad or too hurt or too afraid to forgive someone?

            That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

Are you too lonely or too foolish or too needy or too self-indulgent to say no to the things God says are bad for you?       That's you gladly crucifying Jesus.

We do it every day. We add our voices to the crowd at Pilate’s court. We get out the nails and the hammer. We gladly nail God's Son Jesus to the cross. And we invite God's judgment upon us for rejecting His Son and rejecting His Lordship and saying ‘No’ to His Kingship. That's the truth about us. And we can't save ourselves!

The Lord Jesus said of His enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” But is that really you or really me that He is speaking about? Because isn't the truth about us that we know exactly what we are doing even when we lie to ourselves or try to ignore that still small voice called a conscience that asks “What are you doing?”

You are going to die. I am going to die. We are going to face the God whose Son we gladly crucify, and we are going to have to answer for our lives. That's what Scripture teaches. That's the Christian faith. We said it earlier today: “He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.” (Nicene Creed)

On that day the only person in the crowd that I want to be is the thief on the cross. The one who admits the truth about himself: “we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.” He knew that he deserved to die; he knew that he deserved to be separated eternally from the Father, because he gladly ignored you and gladly crucified Your Son Jesus day after day after day.

Now I know Christians that will object to that kind of talk. Again it's still trying to hold on to the last shred of the sinner's dignity by saying something like this to themselves: “I really improved along the way; I really turned out to be a pretty good person” and so forth. It's all lies dressed up in God talk about the miracle of grace and so forth.

You and I gladly were in that crowd that day. We gladly nailed God's Son Jesus to the cross. We gladly went on our way glad to be free to do whatever we damned well pleased. And God's Son Jesus had to die for our sins. He was innocent. He was without sin. He took the punishment we deserve every day and, eternally, at the end of our lives.

The truthful thief said: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he was promised that he would be in Paradise with Jesus that day. There wasn't time for the thief to be baptized, and so his admission of guilt and his desire to be saved was enough. But for you and for me the Lord Jesus says that we are to be baptized into His death and resurrection. We are to confess our sins and admit that Christ alone can save us. We are to learn all that He commands and follow Him in lives of humble service. That's what it means to be a disciple.

Now, of course, the old sinner in you and me, all dressed up now in baptismal robes, seizes upon the grace of God as some kind of slogan: “I love to sin. God loves to forgive sin. Such a deal!” It's the sinner in you and me still trying to cut a deal that will keep the sinner in us from dying. Foolishness! As Paul commented to the church at Rome: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it” (Romans 6:1b-2)

But, then, the only antidote to sin is death, and none of us will be free from sin until we finally die. But the daily prescription for sinners like you and me is to be drowned in the waters of Baptism.

We can never eliminate that old sinner.  We're stuck with that old sinner until the day we draw our last breath. But the Kingship of Christ is such that it comes, as Luther says, “...when the heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit so that by His grace we may believe His holy Word and live a godly life, both here in time and hereafter forever” (Explanation to the Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer, Small Catechism).

So, then, today we come on bended knees before the Crucified King saying: “Have mercy on me, a sinner” and “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And He comes in bread and wine to our empty uplifted hands to nail our sins to His lonely cross and to fill us again with the power of His endless life. So that when we leave this place, forgiven and at peace with God, we may indeed be accompanied by the only One who can fight for us daily and the only One who can deliver us at the last from every evil. When you and I are drawing our last sinful breath, may we hear His sweet voice saying: “today you will be with me in Paradise!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus..

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