Gordon E. Ellis
Good Friday
April 14, 2006
A GOD IN TEARS
A couple of DECADES ago now, archaeologists opened up a GRAVE in Jerusalem, VERY near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the church built over the TOMB of Jesus. And after doing CARBON tests on the CONTENTS of this TOMB, scholars decided that this PARTICULAR tomb was USED, and then SEALED off, right around the time of Jesus’ CRUCIFIXION, somewhere between the years of 25 and 35 A.D. And according to the CUSTOM of those days, there was BURIED in this tomb, not ONE body, but SEVERAL. They found the body of a WOMAN, who had obviously died during CHILDBIRTH. And NESTLED in her ARMS was the MANGLED body of her newborn INFANT. They also found the body of a CHILD, who looked to be about 11 or 12 years old. He was missing an ARM, and they deduced that the boy had PROBABLY died from loss of BLOOD when his ARM was SEVERED, undoubtedly as a form of PUNISHMENT, maybe for STEALING. WHO knows? A FOURTH body was the body of a young man in his early 20’s who had been STRANGLED to death. Digging further, they discovered the bodies of 2 MEN who had been executed by CRUCIFIXION. And FINALLY, the LAST body was the body of a woman who had been STONED to death. And we know that most COMMONLY, in THOSE days, WOMEN were STONED to death for the sin of ADULTERY.
SO, do you see my POINT in telling you all this? NOTICE that not ONE of these people, not a SINGLE one in that entire FIRST Century TOMB, died a NATURAL death! EACH and every one died a VIOLENT death! And WHAT that tells ME is that VIOLENCE, and violent DEATH, was a way of LIFE for the people whom JESUS knew BEST: the people with whom He WALKED and TALKED, the people with whom He ATE and WORKED, the people whom He LOVED and HEALED and treated with COMPASSION. Yes, it was INTO a VIOLENT world that Jesus CAME and ministered. And ULTIMATELY, as we know, even HE did not escape a VIOLENT death.
However, even though VIOLENCE was a way of LIFE, JESUS would NOT condone it! In fact, HE even dared to speak about ANOTHER way of living, one that does NOT turn so easily to VIOLENCE. He DARED to talk about LOVE! And He DARED to SAY to people: love EVEN your ENEMIES, and PRAY for those who PERSECUTE you! And not only did He SAY these things; He actually LIVED them!
You know, friends: TODAY is a SOLEMN day! For Christians, this is the MOST solemn day of the YEAR. And PARTIALLY that’s because, ON this day, we contemplate the HORRIBLE death of the One whom WE call our LORD and SAVIOR, the One who was so UNDESERVING of such an AGONIZING end. But it’s MORE than that! THIS day is made even MORE solemn because, AS we contemplate the DEATH of Jesus, we are reminded of His LIFE, and EVERYTHING for which He STOOD. AS we contemplate His DEATH, we are REMINDED of how He embodied LOVE and PEACE and JUSTICE, and HOW He would NEVER turn AWAY from ANY of these life-giving VALUES, EVEN when it meant His OWN violent DEATH on a CROSS. Yes, THIS is a SOLEMN day, because WE understand, all-too-well, WHAT He said, and HOW He LIVED and died; BUT, we do NOT understand well ENOUGH what it IS in US that makes us DISREGARD His teachings and example. And we DON’T understand WHAT it IS in US that makes us turn so EASILY to VIOLENCE, particularly the kinds of violence that we all TAKE for GRANTED and find ACCEPTABLE -- and even EXPECT -- such as the violence of NAME-CALLING and LABELING; the violence of JUDGING and giving COLD shoulders and silent STARES; the violence of ENVY, GREED and JEALOUSY; and the violence like taking ADVANTAGE of people. Yes, THESE are forms of violence that NONE of us can avoid taking responsibility for. And BEYOND that, there’s the violence for which we are CORPORATELY responsible, because we ALL condone it, if ONLY by our SILENCE. It’s the violence that we see on TV and in MOVIES. It’s the violence that we hear in our MUSIC and see on our STREETS. It’s the violence that’s done to the POOR in other lands, as corporations and governments make decisions and choices that perpetuate their poverty. It’s the violence that WE do as a NATION out of FEAR or GREED, prejudice or HATRED, even though we LABEL it with GOOD names.
Yes, friends: THAT’S what makes this day SO solemn. It’s because, AS we look at the innocent JESUS, the Lord of LOVE, DYING on a CROSS, it’s like looking in a MIRROR at OURSELVES and our OWN violence! And it FORCES us to look at ALL the crucifixions of Christ that are STILL happening TODAY -- everywhere around the globe -- crucifixions that WE, in one way or another, are RESPONSIBLE for, EITHER because we quietly CONDONE it, OR because we somehow actively PARTICIPATE in it. And it’s not EASY to look at the HUGE disparity between WHO we SAY we are and WHO we REALLY are. It HURTS to SEE it!
But the crucifixions today are MANY! We CANNOT deny it! Let us give you just a FEW examples. And AS we DO, we hope that YOU will prayerfully reflect upon OTHERS that YOU see happening either in the world, or in your OWN life. And AS you THINK of those crucifixions, JOT them down on the POST-IT note that’s in your bulletin. We’ll use it LATER. And AS each clipping is STUCK to the cross, let us SAY: God, FORGIVE this crucifixion!
EXAMPLES OF CRUCIFIXIONS
Let’s take a MOMENT now, during the quiet music, to CONTEMPLATE these CONTEMPORARY crucifixions…. And AGAIN, as you THINK of more, JOT them down.
In a MOMENT, I’m going to ask EACH of you to bring your post-it note FORWARD and to very PRAYERFULLY stick it on the cross. But BEFORE I do that, let me tell you a story.
I once had a FRIEND named Michael Manson, who was a RABBI. And as a BOY in Europe during the 1940’s, Michael was TAKEN, along with his FAMILY, to a NAZI concentration camp. The REST of his family did NOT survive that concentration camp; they all DIED there. But SOMEHOW, Michael DID survive it. LATER, he came to the U.S. and studied to be a RABBI. And I once ASKED Michael: Michael, HOW did you EVER survive such an ordeal without going absolutely CRAZY. And HOW in the world did you KEEP your FAITH?
And he replied: Well, EVERY time I looked at those GAS chambers, and EACH time I saw another suffering JEW, I saw in my MIND an image of GOD, and God was KNEELING there in TEARS. And that IMAGE of a GOD in TEARS gave me STRENGTH and HOPE!
Well, friends: IF we believe that even GOD can WEEP, as we have seen JESUS do at the tomb of his friend, Lazarus; then we must ALSO realize that the tears of God did NOT just FALL on first century ISRAEL. AND, they did NOT just fall as JESUS hung there on that CROSS in Jerusalem. NO! The TEARS of God ALSO fell as MILLIONS of Jews and others were dying in the Nazi DEATH camps! AND the tears of God STILL fall TODAY -- with EVERY crucifixion that STILL darkens God’s glorious creation! Yes, friends: today is a SOLEMN day, because our GOD is STILL a God in TEARS, and WE are a part of the CAUSE. SO, let’s prayerfully and SOLEMNLY bring our CRUCIFIXIONS forward and STICK them to the CROSS, knowing that AS we DO, God is WEEPING. AMEN.