Luke 23:34: Father, forgive them, for they do
not know what they do.
Luke 23 New International Version (NIV)
Verses 1-3, 13-25,32-34
Forgive to
Live!
23 Then
the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And
they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our
nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be
Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked
Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said
so,” Jesus replied.
13 Pilate called
together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and
said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to
rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for
your charges against him. 15 Neither
has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to
deserve death. 16 Therefore,
I will punish him and then release him.” [17] [a]
18 But the whole crowd
shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”19 (Barabbas
had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release
Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But
they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he
spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no
grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then
release him.”
23 But with loud shouts
they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts
prevailed. 24 So
Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He
released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder,
the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
32 Two other men, both
criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.33 When
they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with
the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus
said, “Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they are doing.”
+++
Ash Wednesday begins
the spiritual season when we read the scripture with more determination to get it right. Ash Wednesday
reminds us to take God seriously,
because God is not playing around. God means business!
The 23rd chapter
of Luke starts off with legal details you might find on the front page of the
Mercury and at the top of the 6 o’clock news. Jesus was named as a criminal.
Politicians provided the usual false accusations, a few lies, and definite criminal
charges. The day of execution was set, and life went on as usual.
If you have ever been
falsely accused, lied on, or misunderstood, you know how Jesus felt. He felt
awful, stressed, sad, hoping for a way to make it all go away, to escape the
distress, to have his life get back to the way it was.
If you have ever
misunderstood someone, falsely accused, told a lie on someone, or prepared for
the day of their execution, you know how the chief priests, rulers, and the
people have felt through the ages. They felt like they were in Hell, far away
from God, guilty, proud, arrogant, and out of control.
As Christians, we gather
as innocent victims and we have been guilty perpetrators. Welcome to Ash
Wednesday. Welcome to the cross where the cleansing blood of Jesus flows for every sinner. Welcome to the
Throne of God’s grace and mercy where none of God’s children will leave without
showers of blessings, mercy and forgiveness.
James B. Comey,
director of the FBI said last week that criminal
suspects routinely lie and declare themselves to be innocent. Lying is so common, Comey
says, that we assume that a lie is eminent and we develop many flavors of
cynicism. Our cynicism, however, is a lazy mental shortcut that convinces us
that stereotypes are true.
My sister tells the
story of one of her three boys who disobeyed her. The evidence was in the
kitchen – perhaps a box of cookies had been opened or some such offense. (We
have to monitor children well, don’t we?. One mother keeps her food locked in a
closet because her children are at a stage when they are out of control and
they have ransacked the pantry on too many occasions.) Anyway, my sister
confronted the three children who were sitting around on a Saturday morning
watching television, asking who was the guilty one. No one confessed. She
paused a moment and went on to something else during which time she said the
still small voice of the Holy Spirit spoke to her heart and told her which
child was guilty. They had all expressed their innocence, but the one that my
sister suspected – the one who was often the guilty one, was not at all the one
who turned up guilty that day. She said she was so shocked, and if it had not
been for the work of the Holy Spirit in her heart and later in her son who was
proved to be the guilty one, she would not have understood who was guilty and
who was not.
Ash Wednesday begins
the season of truth telling, of coming clean, of confession. Ash Wednesday is a
day we intentionally seek the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We especially need
the Holy Spirit’s help to forgive like Jesus forgave, saying as he hung on the
cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
I want to say, “Yes
they do know what they are doing, Jesus. They know very well they are as wrong
as two left shoes. They are wrong and they simply do not want to be right.
Jesus you know I am telling the truth, so why would you say, they don’t know
what they are doing?”
Well, it is true that
we usually know when we are doing wrong. What we don’t know is what we will
know one day. Scriptures say that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That will be the day that many will say, “If
I only knew then, what I know now, I would have worshipped God and got my life
together sooner.”
We do not have to
concern ourselves with those who bow above the Lord and not below the Lord. We
just need to remember that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess….we need to remember as that song says, “In His time, in His time, He makes
all things beautiful in His time.”
What must occupy our
time, and talent, and energy is doing what Jesus did on the cross: pray for
those who do not submit to the Lord of Lords and the kings of kings, pray for
those who bring us hurt, harm, or danger…
Our natural
inclination is to revenge and rage against neighbors who refuse to cut their
branches that are leaning over our fence, dropping sap onto our cars, or terrorists
who come into our country in wolves clothing, or drivers who drink and drive.
Who is it that has
hurt you? Harmed you? Endangered you or your loved ones?
What’s their name,
where do they live, what do they look like? Bring them to this altar. Put them
under the cross. Remember to refrain from screaming obscenities at them. Hold
back from trying to give them what they deserve. By the power of God, let’’s
forgive them. Let’s get all that yucky, gunky attitude out of our system and
leave more room for the sweet, sweet spirit that we find in a place of worship.
Let it go, forgive them, and watch God work to heal and fill us to overflowing
with the healing love that changes lives. Pray for them. Picture them in the
loving arms of Jesus. For, God loves them more than we will ever know.
A woman asked me to
visit her home and pray for her son who was a heroin user and a heroin runner
in the neighborhood. She was desperate because she was in her second marriage
and her husband was threatening to leave her because he did not want to live in
that chaos. She was torn between her son and her husband.
I got to the door and
began to be overwhelmed with God’s love for this young man, this sinner, this
misfit, chief among the least, the last, and the lost. For the first time ever,
I took off my shoes to pray through the house because I realized that the
ground on which I stood was holy ground. She begged me to keep my shoes on
because she had found several used hypodermic needles on the floor that were dropped
after he shot himself with heroin. But, I was too overwhelmed. It was as if I
was weeping God’s tears – so great was God’s love for this one whom others
referred to as worthless, lousy, the very scum of the earth.
No matter what we
think or feel about those who have hurt us deeply, endangered us, caused us
great grief, agitation, and loss – God is just as in love with them as God is
of us. God forgives them as quickly as God forgives us. A couple days later our
prayers were answered as he went to jail where his addiction could be treated
and his chaos contained.
Ash Wednesday begins
the season of dying to ourselves, giving up our lives for divine examination.
So, let’s think about any way WE
may have hurt our Lord, harmed God’s people, endangered others, harbored
hatred, failed to love. Let’s think about the ways we have fallen short of the
glory of God. Let’s think about the bountiful love God has for us in spite of
our faults and failings.
If we think about it
long enough, we will forgive, and we will find new life. Let it be so today and
forever. Welcome to Ash Wednesday. Amen.
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