Sermon: Cross Words 1 - Forgiveness (Luke 23: 34)

Dr Catherine Calderwood had been regularly on the news in Scotland. As Chief Medical Officer, she had been front and centre of the campaign urging people to stay at home during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday, however, she was in the news for a different reason. Despite advising people to stay at home, it turned out that she had travelled to her holiday home, on two separate weekends. Under pressure, she apologised, and then last night resigned her position.

There was a disconnect between her words and her actions. She had told the public to do something, but had failed to do it herself. Today, as we come to the first of the cross words, we find that there is no inconsistency in the Lord Jesus. He practices what he preaches.

Back in Luke chapter 6, Jesus says this: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.’ (Lk 6:27-28).

As we hear those words, who is it comes to mind? Your enemies; the people who hate you; the people who curse you; those who ill-treat you. And when you hear of how Jesus wants you to treat them - love, do good, bless, pray for - you think, surely not! That’s impossible!

And yet that’s exactly what Jesus goes on to do, having been arrested, and beaten, and flogged, and now nailed to the cruel cross. He doesn’t speak up to defend himself, or to plead for himself. He doesn’t open his mouth to threaten or curse or accuse. He opens his mouth to love his enemies; to bless them, and to pray for them.

Even in the midst of the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, Jesus loves his enemies. He prays for them. And he prays in this way: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’

Who are the people he’s praying for? Who are the ‘them, and they’ in his prayer? Most immediately, he was praying for those who nailed him to the cross - the Roman soldiers. They were just doing their job, following their orders. They had crucified many people, and this was just another working day. They didn’t know that this man on the middle cross was the Son of God.

Beyond that, Jesus was praying for all involved in the crucifixion. Several weeks later, Peter preaching in Jerusalem, would say to the crowd: ‘You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead... Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.’ (Acts 3:14-15,17)

And ultimately, Jesus was praying for you. You see, we too have gone our own way. We too have rejected God, we too, by nature and by choice, are his enemies, and we have crucified the Lord of glory.

Yet see how precious the Lord’s prayer is. He loved his enemies, and prayed for them. And his prayer is for their forgiveness - for our forgiveness.

Isaiah chapter 53 is an amazing chapter of prophecy, speaking of the crucifixion seven hundred years before it happened. And the chapter closes with these words: ‘For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’ (Is 53:12) On the cross, Jesus bore our sins. He took our burdens. But he also prayed for the sinners.

As you trust in Jesus, you find that his prayer is being answered, as you receive the forgiveness only he can provide. He who bore your sins has prayed that you would be forgiven. The sin that makes you his enemy can be forgiven, so that you become his friend.

Jesus demonstrates love for his enemies. He practices what he preaches. We can be forgiven. And that’s a glorious truth.

But the forgiven are also called to be forgiving. As we receive God’s forgiveness, we are to pass it on. In 1 Peter we read these words: ‘To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed.’ (1 Pet 2:21-24)

As we receive the forgiveness Jesus provides, we also have his example to follow. Think back to the people who came to mind earlier. How might you treat them differently, in light of the forgiveness of Jesus?

The first cross word is a word of forgiveness.

Jesus says: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on the Monday of Holy Week, 6th April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sermon: Psalm 51 You are my Salvation

Here’s a sentence I didn’t ever think I would say: ‘I would have to agree with Elton John.’ While there’s lots of things I would disagree with him, I think he got it spot on when he sang ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word.’ Just think of the last time you were in the wrong - and you try to argue your way out of it; your inner lawyer jumps to your defence to give reasons or excuses. Lots of other words come to mind. Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

If that’s true for us, then it seems to be even more so for those in the public eye. Politicians, sport stars, celebrities all seem to find it hard to say sorry when they’ve been caught out and the scandal breaks. There’s that special, ‘I’m sorry if anyone was offended’ which they don’t mean; and the statement which says I’m sorry I’ve been caught - rather than being sorry for what I’ve done. Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Over these next few weeks, we’re looking at some of the Psalms from David’s life. Today, in Psalm 51, he’s saying sorry to God. The superscription - the little capital letters at the top of the Psalm - tell us when this Psalm was written: ‘when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.’ We heard the story in 2 Samuel 11-12. David had spied Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and she was pregnant. Her husband was away fighting David’s battles, so David brings him back to try to cover up his involvement. Uriah is more honourable, so David resorts to murder. He thinks he has gotten away with it. No one knows. It hasn’t made it into the Sunday World or the Jerusalem Times. ‘But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.’

God sends Nathan to speak to David, exposes his sin in his parable of the little lamb, and David is convicted. Psalm 51 is David’s response - not a polished press release, or a hush-up, say little public apology. This is a no-holds-barred confession, saying sorry to God. In it, we see what the writer of the hymn ‘Beneath the Cross of Jesus’ says: ‘two wonders I confess: the wonders of redeeming love and my own worthlessness.’ We see our sin, and our Saviour.

As we dive in to the Psalm, we’ll take it in blocks of three verses each as we see the request, the root of the problem, restoration, the result, and the wider application. So first, verses 1-3, the request. David knows that he deserves nothing, so he doesn’t ask for justice. None of us could stand if God gave us what we deserve. David asks for mercy: ‘Have mercy on me, O God.’ God, I don’t deserve anything, I need your mercy. But he can ask for mercy because of who he is speaking to - ‘according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy.’ He knows that God is full of steadfast (covenant) love, and full of mercy. So he requests God’s mercy, to ‘blot out my transgressions.’ - to wipe them away, to get rid of them. He needs to be cleansed and washed from, do you see, his transgressions, iniquity and sin, because they are ever with him, ever before him. He can’t sort himself out. He can’t clean himself up - if you have dirty hands and you wipe your face, you just get dirtier... So he makes this request for mercy.

He need this request because he then addresses the root of the problem: his sin, which brings separation from God. Now, having heard from 2 Samuel, verse 4 sounds strange. ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned.’ And you want to shout out, but David, what about Bathsheba and Uriah? But David is right. All sin is ultimately against God - whatever our sin of choice might be, and whoever suffers, it is ultimately against God - not just a breaking of God’s law, but a breaking of God’s heart. You see God delights in truth in the inward being, God is justified in his words and blameless in his judgement. But we can’t stand because v5 we were brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin. We don’t start off pure and holy and then learn how to do evil. We are born in and into sin, we’re corrupt already, following our parents and our first parents, Adam and Eve. Our sin runs up against this holy God, and this is the root of our problem. So what do we need? What did David need?

Restoration (v7-12). We need to be restored, as God deals with our sins - to cleanse, wash, blot them out (7-9), and then makes us new in verse 10-12. ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ This isn’t something we can work up in ourselves - we need God to do this work of creation and new creation in us. A clean, new heart, not ruled by sin, but listening to God. By giving us the Holy Spirit to fill us and change us. By restoring in us the joy of salvation. You see, it’s only when you realise the depths of your sin that you know the joy of salvation.

This restoration isn’t just taking away my sin, it’s also adding more than we ever had before. So, say that you owed the bank a massive sum of money. Forgiveness is the bank manager cancelling your debt. So you don’t owe any money, but you don’t have any money either. But this restoration that God provides is as if that friendly bank manager not only forgave your debts, but then put a million pounds in your bank account. We don’t deserve it, but God restores, gives us more than we could ever imagine.

And this restoration leads to the result of verses 13-15. When we have been restored, we want others to experience that joy as well. ‘Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.’ Our message can never be ‘you’re so bad, you need to repent’ - but rather it’s ‘I’m so bad, but God forgave me, and he’ll forgive you too.’ Look at what God has done for me! Another result will be that we praise the Lord - ‘my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.’

David doesn’t say, I’ll sing perfectly in tune. He says I will sing aloud of your righteousness. So sing up, or at least make a joyful noise! Don’t just stand there, waiting until the hymn is over so you can sit down again. Sing out your praise to God!

The final verses might seem a little bit contradictory. You see, verse 16 says that God doesn’t want sacrifice or burnt offerings, but verse 19 talks about God delighting in sacrifices and burnt offerings. So which is it? Does God want sacrifices or not? Verse 17 gives us the key: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.’

God had given the sacrificial system in the first place. The whole range of sacrifices laid out in Leviticus point to Jesus. But in David’s day it would be easy to bring a bull to be slaughtered because that was what you did. It was an external act, on the outside it might look like you’re turning from your sin and turning to God, but who could tell?

God desires truth in the inward being (6). God sees what’s on the inside. So what matters most is the broken spirit, in sorrow at our sin, really, truly sorry, and turning to God in repentance and faith. In a moment, we’ll say the words of the confession. You could probably say it without looking at the words, and without thinking. But have you really confessed? God is looking for the broken spirit, not whether you say all the right words in all the right places.

When Nathan comes to David, David is convicted of his sin. He sees himself as he really is. His transgressions, iniquity and sin. His innate sinfulness. His inability to help himself or save himself. And it breaks his heart, for having offended against a holy God.

Yet in this Psalm, he also sees his Saviour. The God who sees and knows and acknowledges the cry of a broken heart. The God who cleanses, heals, and restores more than we have lost. The God who is holy. The God who is steadfast love and abundant mercy. The God who would give his own Son, in the death on the cross, where his holiness and mercy meet, and our sins are forgiven, our debt is paid, and we are given his righteousness, credited to our account.

So come today, with your heart broken for your sin. Whatever you have done. Whatever burdens you bear. Whatever guilt you carry. Lay them down. Come in confession. And come to the table, to remember his love and receive his grace.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 9th August 2015.

Sermon: Luke 23: 34 Cross Words: Forgiveness

A person’s dying words can say a lot about the person. When life is coming to an end, it’s as if everything is intensified, what really matters is brought out. The story goes of one death row prisoner in the state of Utah, who was about to be executed by firing squad. Asked if he had any last requests, he wanted a bulletproof vest. In a slightly different vein, the novelist and all round witty Oscar Wilde declared as he lay on his death bed: ‘Either this wallpaper goes or I do.’

Dying words say a lot about a person. Through this Holy Week, we’re going to listen in to Jesus’ dying words - his cross words. They’re not cross words, in that they’re angry words, but rather, they’re the words spoken from the cross. What do these words tell us about Jesus? What do they mean for us?

Tonight we begin with the first of the ‘words’. In our reading we heard of the events leading up to the cross. Jesus had been arrested, and tried by Pilate (and Herod). Pilate declares that he is innocent. He has done nothing wrong. So Pilate proposes to ‘punish him’ and let him go. But the crowd are whipped up, crying for his crucifixion. So Pilate agrees. Jesus is led away in the greatest miscarriage of justice. An innocent man, who had done nothing wrong, facing the death penalty. The sinless one, being slaughtered by sinners.

They make it to the place of the skull. And Luke simply tells us that ‘they crucified him.’ Those simple words cover the pain and horror of what was involved in the death of the cross. The word excruciating was made up to describe the particularly fierce pain ‘out of the cross’. Yet, as Jesus was crucified, as the nails were put in his hands and feet, as the cross was lifted up, he doesn’t cry out in pain or anguish. Nor does he issue threats or call down curses on those involved. Instead, he speaks these words: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’

The first word of Jesus is a word of forgiveness. But did you notice who Jesus is speaking to? He doesn’t say: ‘I forgive you...’ Rather, he is speaking to the Father. As Jesus suffers the horror of the cross, he is praying. He asks the Father to forgive them.

The whole way through the gospels, Jesus shows that he is God’s Son. He was sent by the Father into the world to achieve our salvation by proclaiming the kingdom. To reject Jesus is to reject the Father who sent him.

Earlier this month, the American ambassador to South Korea was attacked. A man pulled out a knife and slashed his face and arm, so that he needed 80 stitches. The ambassador felt the pain, but it was an attack on the USA. Jesus is God’s ambassador, his sent one. To attack and kill Jesus is to demonstrate your rejection and opposition to God.

Yet Jesus doesn’t call on the Father to give them what they deserve. He doesn’t want them to suffer payback. Rather, he appeals for the Father to ‘forgive them.’ Don’t give them what they deserve. Instead, give them mercy and grace.

This is what Jesus himself had taught his disciples to do. Earlier in Luke’s gospel. Jesus says: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.’ (Luke 6:27).

This forgiveness is first and foremost for those who were there that day, those involved in the crucifixion. Jesus says that ‘they do not know what they are doing.’ The soldiers knew what they were doing. They were hardened Roman soldiers on duty in rebel Israel. They were putting a few more radicals and criminals to death. They knew their job and they were good at it. Crucifixions were a great deterrent, to discourage other people from trying the same acts of crime or rebellion.

But they didn’t fully understand what they were doing. The man on the middle cross was no ordinary man. As Peter declares in Acts 3, the middle cross was occupied by ‘the Author of life’; he is the ‘Lord of glory’ according to Paul (2 Cor 18). They didn’t know what they were doing. Jesus pleads pardon for their sin.

But the scope and scale of forgiveness is bigger than those who were there that day. The New Testament is clear that Jesus was dying for our sins. By our sins, we too put him on the cross. We too have rejected the God who made us and loves us, choosing instead to go our own way. We have rebelled against God, in effect wanting him to die.

We too are responsible for the death of Jesus. But that wonderful word of forgiveness is for us as well. By his death on the cross, Jesus pleads for our pardon, our forgiveness. It took his death to bring about our forgiveness.

Before we were married, I used to go over to Scotland to visit Lynsey. In church on the Sunday morning, I would get a little poke, to remind me to watch out during the Lord’s Prayer. You see, over there, they don’t say ‘forgive us our trespasses...’ They say ‘forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’

This word of forgiveness means that our debts are cleared. We are no longer liable for the debt of our sins. But debts that are cleared have to be paid by someone. Imagine you owe someone money. Either you pay for it, or someone else will have to. Perhaps a friend steps in and pays your debt. You’re now debt free, but your friend has paid the price themselves. (And even if your friend cancels your debt, then they have paid it themselves by forgoing the money they deserve).

This is what the first word is all about. Jesus has stepped in and paid our debts himself. He has taken the burden of our sins on himself. He has satisfied the price of our sins, so that we can go free.

That’s good news. It’s something brilliant to take away tonight - right now, you can be free from the burden of your sins. But if we have known this joy for ourselves, we’re called to pass it on to others. Forgiveness isn’t meant to end with us - it’s something to share freely, because we have received freely.

As we’ve already heard in the Lord’s prayer, we say ‘forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ Do you remember the parable Jesus tells about the man who owes a huge debt, ten thousand talents, millions of pounds sterling. He pleads for mercy, so the king cancels his debt. The king forgives him, and suffers the loss himself. The man is delighted. His debt is gone. But when he goes outside, he finds a fellow servant who owes him a hundred denarii - a couple of pounds. He demands payment in full, there and then, having forgotten the mercy he was showed seconds before.

We, who have received God’s mercy in forgiveness, should also be known as the merciful, who show forgiveness to those who hurt and harm us. It is the way of Jesus. Let’s pray.

This sermon was preached at Cross Words, the Holy Week mission in Brookeborough Methodist Church on Monday 30th March 2015.