“A new beginning through Christ’s reconciling love” - Proper 29C

A sermon delivered at my field education site the Sunday prior to Advent, 2007. In the sermon, I also attempt to address the issues of reconciliation in Northern Ireland, a topic I researched during my January 2008 term as an independent study topic.

This morning, we are blessed to witness Rachel and Harrison celebrate a “new beginning” in the saving waters of baptism. We, who witness Rachel and Harrison’s new Christian life, also participate in a “new beginning” as we renew our baptismal vows. Next week, we will again encounter a “new beginning”: another new Church year and another new season of Advent; a new opportunity to live through the 4 weeks of preparation for the coming of Christ, so we are perhaps a bit startled with images of “endings” this morning. The Gospel lesson presents a striking image of the end of Jesus’ life. And today, we mark the end of our Church year. As we journey through these “endings,” we find that every “ending” creates a new “beginning,” and every beginning presents an opportunity to create something new through Christ’s reconciling love.
Many years ago, when I was in grade school (trust me, many years ago), I became aware of some very disturbing “endings” in Northern Ireland. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, the hate and distrust between the Protestant Unionist party and the Roman Catholic Nationalist party only grew stronger. As a young boy, growing up in the safe environment of Connecticut, I was confused by this distant conflict. My ethnic roots are Irish; I was a Roman Catholic, as was everyone else in my family, except my Protestant Grandfather…and I certainly didn’t hate him. I didn’t understand why people who grew up together and shared the love of Christ could hate each other; fight each other; even kill each other.
The conflict of Northern Ireland is, in fact, a deeply complicated situation, created by seeds that were sown hundreds of years ago and fueled by fear, discrimination, and revenge. Battle lines in this conflict have been drawn through nearly every facet of life; consistently influenced by religious convictions. In the book, “The Politics of Past Evil,” Ronald Wells highlights this point as he writes: “In Northern Ireland religion energized ideologies about society, the nation, and ‘the other,’ but religion also became captive to those ideologies…Religion provided a way to mark boundaries of the mind and spirit as much as political boundaries did.”[1] Boundaries of the mind and spirit exist when our personal prejudices and ideologies shape our understanding of how God works in our lives. If we cannot discover the reconciling love necessary to remove these boundaries, we unknowingly create barriers that end our relationships with others and prevent “new beginnings.” The boundaries of the mind and spirit are exactly what we hear in this morning’s Gospel lesson.
Luke paints a vivid picture of Jesus’ crucifixion and the responses of those in attendance. In the midst of the turbulent events of the day, the people stand in silence. But the religious leaders and the soldiers deride Jesus and challenge him to save himself. If Jesus is the Messiah of God, (they reason) then saving himself from the agonizing end of death on the cross would be an easy feat. “He saved others; let him save himself.” “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” For Luke, the act of “saving” is important business. Luke uses the Greek word (sw,zw) “sozo”, meaning “to save” 17 times in his Gospel, emphasizing that Jesus Christ is the savior and reconciler of humanity, bringing us back into relationship with God. The problem with the religious leaders and the soldiers is not the use of the word “save;” the problem is the boundaries of their mind and spirit, which prevent them from comprehending the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion, his resurrection, and his message to us that we must follow him.
If we look closely at the actions of those present at the crucifixion of Jesus, everything is upside-down. The people are those who have followed and supported Jesus…and they have nothing to say. The religious leaders and soldiers speak with sarcastic confidence in their mockery of Jesus, but their words ring true. Jesus is the Messiah of God. Jesus is the King of the Jews. The first criminal derides Jesus, “save yourself and us;” Jesus does save us all. So, what do we make of this upside-down world that Luke presents to us? Where is the Good News in this apparent tragic end of Christ?
First, we can better understand the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion by reminding ourselves what He taught his disciples earlier in Luke’s Gospel account. As Jesus first tells his disciples of the type of death he will suffer, he also teaches them: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” We again hear Luke’s use of the word “save,” but this time we hear it from Jesus and are taught the proper “saving” power of Christ. The leaders and soldiers mockingly use the word “save” from their positions of “earthly” power: they have “saved” their way of life, but have eternally damaged their future. Jesus, through his death on the cross, has seemingly met his final end. However, in losing his life, he has saved us and created an entirely new beginning. Luke explicitly tells us of this new beginning: at the moment of Christ’s death, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. The curtain veiled the Holy of Holies so that only the Priests could see what was hidden behind it, but Christ has torn it open and created a new beginning for all of us.
We also hear the humble request of the second criminal to Jesus: “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Remember me, that’s all he asks; but “to be remembered” in the Bible is deeply personal. For example, in Genesis 9, God tells Noah He will remember his covenant when He sees a rainbow and never again flood the earth; and in Luke 1, Mary sings in the Magnificat that God has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy. God remembers because God desires a faithful relationship with us. And to be in relationship with someone means to seek communion. Communion involves forgiveness, compassion, and the desire for unity. As we experience the uncertainty of passing through our “endings” and seek to grow “new beginnings” in the fertile soil of charity, Christ beckons us to follow Him. Jesus responds to the second criminal and blesses him abundantly: “today you will be with me in Paradise.” The death and resurrection of Christ mark a new beginning, and the blessing of the criminal is Christ’s expression of reconciling love.
For the people of Northern Ireland, the “endings” they face are admittedly extremely difficult ones. Their terrible “endings” have been inflicted thousands of times, through multiple generations; each generation seeking to achieve at least some retribution for the suffering of their ancestors. But Christ shows us a different way. Christ shows us power through apparent weakness; relationship through forgiveness, reconciliation through love. Christ’s way is a difficult way for us. It is difficult because we need to overcome our selfish desires; we need to have the courage to put an “end” to what we want and seek a “new beginning.” In the midst of the great suffering in Northern Ireland, there have been courageous people who have consistently expressed Christ’s reconciling love and forgiveness through their actions, breaking the chain of violence and revenge. There is a long road of forgiveness and reconciliation ahead to ensure a lasting peace in Northern Ireland, but recent events give great hope for the future.
Jesus also invites us to travel the promising road of Christian discipleship. The journey along this road is marked with many “new beginnings;” some of these “beginnings” may be small, some might be large, but all of them are significant to our relationship with Christ and with each other. This morning, Rachel and Harrison will experience a new beginning in Christ through the waters of Baptism. The coming season of Advent is a new opportunity for us to reflect on our relationship with Christ and with others. A time to reflect on the things that stand in our way – desires that need to die so that we “might live no longer for ourselves, but for him who died and was raised for us. [And] if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; behold, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:15, 17) AMEN

[1] Ronald A. Wells, Chapter 7 “Northern Ireland: A Study of Friendship, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation,” of The Politics of Past Evil: Religion, Reconciliation, and the Dilemmas of Transitional Justice, edited by Daniel Philpott, (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006), 196.