We are now in the middle of what the Christian tradition has understood as the Triduum. On Maundy Thursday we remember the institution of the Eucharist by our Lord Christ and His betrayal. Today, Good Friday, we remind ourselves again of the perverted trial that found Him guilty and sentenced to be crucified and to die. Tomorrow, we will focus more on the fact that He died and was in the tomb for three days before our Father raised Him from the dead, vindicating Him and all He taught and did as the Messiah. For those of you new to the liturgical style of worship, these patterns are repeated so that we do not forget, that we better each time when we gather for worship and remember His Death, proclaim His Resurrection, and await His Coming in glory.
Like all the days this week, I sometimes am tempted not to preach and teach. What more needs to be explained in our readings, particularly in our reading of the Passion twice this week? Sometimes, I am crazily tempted to let us sit in silence for some significant time and to wait on the Holy Spirit to pull out for us those things we need to know or to inwardly digest. But after very little work this week, I found myself drawn to the 4th Servant Song of Isaiah as the focus of this homily. I worry that part of it is because I did exclusive preaching from the Gospel Lessons this Lent, but I will let you all be the judge whether I discerned God well this day or not.
Isaiah, for those of us who have forgotten, Isaiah was called to prophesy by God around the 700s BC. Isaiah is sometimes thought by Christians as the first significant prophet, probably a combination of biblical illiteracy and the size of his book. Isaiah is often credited as being the first prophet who foretells the coming of Messiah and as the lucky prophet who gets to tell Israel that it will be carried off by the Assyrians.
Our reading today is known, as I said, as the 4th Servant Song of Isaiah. Isaiah has four songs that speak of the Suffering Servant as the one sent by God. Early Christians were quick to not how the songs, but especially this song, pointed to the work and person of Jesus of Nazareth. Those of us who participated in the Stations of the Cross over Lent and those of us who have been to worship services this week can no doubt see the reasons why. There is the double meaning of the Servant being lifted up in 52:13, just as Jesus was lifted up both on the Cross and by God for His faithfulness. Jesus was held of no account by so many of the powerful in 1 Century Judea that 53:3 seems explicit enough.
Some of the verses are more familiar to us because of their use this week or in liturgies like Stations. Verses like 53:5, 6, and 7 certainly fit that description. And those of us who have studied the Gospels or paid attention to the Passion narratives this week have heard that the trial was a perversion of justice. What horrible thing or things did Jesus do? He gave Bartimaeus back his sight. He raised Lazarus from the dead, causing the powerful to want to kill both Jesus and Lazarus in John’s Gospel. To make quick work of it, Jesus has given everyone those signs that the prophets, including Isaiah, had used to describe the future Messiah or Son of Man so that the future generations would recognize Him. That we are here today remembering His Death on the Cross, we know it was a miscarriage of justice and that most of those in power failed to recognize Him.
For the most part, the verses use 3rd person singular verbs and pronouns,and 1st person plural verbs and pronouns. He was this, and he was that. We esteemed Him not, and He was wounded for our transgressions. In fact all but verse 53:10 uses those pronouns and verbs, which makes that verse stand out all the more, even in English. 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. On this day, as we remember the Death of the Lord, we are reminded that His death was not without purpose. We are reminded that we are making an individual choice to make His life an offering for sin. We choose ourselves to make that offering.
One of those divisions which keep the Church separated in various denominations is the question of how we are saved. Some denominations argue that our salvation is worked out in community; other denominations argue that salvation is an intensely personal event. In fact, we can say that one of the great separators of the Western Churches and the Eastern Churches includes this understanding. The East argues that salvation takes place in the corporate setting. In the West, the argument is far more personal. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Those of us in Anglicanism, unsurprisingly, realize it is a bit of both. We may not be sure of how the percentages are divided, but we are confident that everyone needs to make a public declaration of faith, what we call baptism, and work out that walk with God in community. We will restate those Baptismal vows in a few short weeks, so there is no need to do so today.
Isaiah apparently realizes the danger of the he and we language and the importance of the I language. Most of this song speaks of our need for Christ to have died for our sins, that Christ suffered because of us all. If we skip verse 10, we miss the fact that is was my sin, your sin, and the sin of everyone we meet in the world that necessitated God undertaking salvation in this way. But make no mistake, my sin and your sin caused this event to be needed.
Wondrously, Jesus thought you and I of such value that He underwent that false trial, He experienced the shame and humiliation, He felt that guards punch as we read just now, He lived through the pain of those nails being pounded into His skin, He heard the mocking cries of those whom He came to save, and He determined to hang on that cross until His death, that we might offer His Body and His Blood as THE offering for our sin, as THE offering that restored us to our Father in Heaven.
Of course, the Gospel being the Gospel, our choice to offer His sacrifice for our sin offering individually also does more. When we choose to make Him our sin offering, He sees His us as His offspring, He realizes that the will of the Lord is prospering, that His death was full of purpose. Individually, through all of those choices we make for ourselves, a community or family is created. He sees us as His own; He gathers us in that saving embrace from that terrible Cross; He makes us righteous and able to stand before our Lord.
Certainly, as we remind ourselves of the teaching of Isaiah and our Lord’s love of each of us, this day rightly drives us to our knees. Our Lord died for each one of us that we might become children and heirs, to use the Apostle’s words. Reminded of that wonder and desperate need, you and I are being made ready to celebrate with joy God’s Resurrection of Him that glorious Easter morning. But for a couple days, we intentionally remind ourselves of our own need of a Savior and God’s willingness to send One, and we rightly marvel that He thought us worth this suffering and death, and that He called sinners like us into a community at this time and in this place, to proclaim His message of pardon and peace to those around us.
In His love,
Brian+
No comments:
Post a Comment