John 19. 31-42
Life ends – and life begins – on the cross!
The preacher described it as awesome! Overwhelming! Grander and more glorious – actually, he said glorious-er – than anything we could, possibly, imagine! Using the vision of god’s throne from the book of the revelation, he sketched a picture of heaven that made your soul drool! Twenty-four elders! Dressed in white! Crowns of gold on their heads! Cherubim! Seraphim! Flashes of lightning! Crashes of thunder! Bursts of red and green! Holy, Holy, Holy sung by angels! And in the center of it all, was god! Sitting on the throne! With the lamb close at hand. The lamb, said the preacher, who wants you – YOU – to be in heaven with him! And the congregation was with him! Every word! Every syllable! Every letter of the way! Amen! Amen! This is most certainly true!
Of course, that’s what most of us believe. Faith’s about heaven! Life after death! EverAfter happy! We believe not so much for the here-and-now, as for the there-and-then! You’ve seen the billboards. Read the bumperStickers. “Jesus is the way!” “Heaven or hell? The choice is yours!” “Eternity is hell without him!” And the preacher made the most of it. Speaking of heaven, he said, “This! THIS is why we’re here! This is the rhyme! This is the reason!
But tonight … Tonight, that preacher’s church is empty. The lights are off. The doors locked. And everyone is waiting for Sunday morning. Everyone is waiting for the joy of easter. And for all intents and purposes, it’s as if this day – this moment – never happened. In the church of popular opinion, easter trumps goodFriday, every time. The alleluias overshadow the sacrifice. The lilies eclipse the suffering. Unfortunately, they are not alone.
Make no mistake, though. This is why we are here! This moment! This day! God soLoved the world that god gave Jesus not to rise, but to suffer and be crucified and die and be buried and to descend! It’s not easter that shows us god; it’s goodFriday! It’s the cross! But that’s not the way most of us look at this. When we do look at this. I grew up with the same prejudice, the same bigotry, toward the cross. I was told that we hang “open” crosses on our walls – like that – and around our necks – like this – because we believe in a “resurrected” Jesus. In a Jesus who lives in heaven and, no longer, hangs on a cross.
We’re just like that preacher. Peeking through the window of heaven. Hoping to catch a glimpse of god. Hoping against hope, to see – if only for a moment – the kingdom and the power and the glory. To see god seated on the throne! Unmoved! unchanging! Unassailable! Immortal! Invisible! In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes! Fingers clinging to the sill! Arms aching! As we try to hold on! As we try to pull ourselves up! And the truth is, god’s not there! God’s not there! In heaven! On a throne! But god is here, hanging on a cross! God is here, lying in a tomb! Today, heaven becomes the place of a skull! A cross becomes a throne! And gold and gems replaced by thorns! Today, god’s power is god’s weakness! And god’s glory is god’s amazing grace!
It’s funny. The preacher sounded so sure of himself. So certain. And yet, tonight, the pews are empty. No one tells the story. No one hears the sound of the wind in the shingles. The creaks and the groans of the building. No one sees the fading light. But this … THIS is god! Unexpected! Unimagined! Faith isn’t about what’s up high and far away! Faith’s not about what lies at the end of the rainbow! Faith is about this moment! Faith is Christ and faith is Christ crucified! This – all this – is what we believe in! This is what we stake our life on! It’s not the angels. The myriads of myriads. The thousands of thousands. It’s the body and it’s the blood. Broken and shed. For us! For all of us!
It’s not heaven that inspires us! It’s not easterMorning that changes the world. It’s this! Here! Now! This is the kingdom! This is the power! This is the glory! Not what’s above us, but what’s among us and between us! Right under our noses! Right before our eyes! And anything else – everything else – is nothing more than a shiny object. That distracts! That distorts! That seduces and tempts! Suffering under Pilate! Crucified! Dying! Buried! Descending! That’s the gospel! The goodNews! Well, that and “for you!” For you and for all people!
Run to the tomb on sundayMorning and there’s nothing to see. The grave is empty. Only the shroud that veiled him in death. But sitting here. Together. In the valley. Among the shadows. This is where that soLoving brings us! This is where the soLoving reveals god! Here, heaven and earth touch! Here, heaven and earth join! Creator and creation! Lover and loved! The poet was wrong. It’s not in Bethlehem that the hopes and fears of all the years meet. It’s here. Prospering! Lifted up! Exalted! On the cross!
This – THIS – is the hour! This – THIS – is the day! When everything changes! The hour and the day when it all becomes new! THIS is the awesome we’ve been looking for! This is the overwhelming for which we’ve waited! More grand, more glorious – glorious-er than anything we could imagine! More grand and more glorious – glorious-er – than even heaven! So please, don’t be confused! And don’t be distracted! Today – tonight – we see the face of god! Today – tonight – we look into god’s eyes!