Good Friday C’25
18 April 2025
Heb.10.16-25; Jn 18.1-19.42
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world.”
– John the Baptist (John 1.29)
Greed, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Rage, Envy, Lust, Lack of Love for God, Others, and Ourselves, Unfaithfulness, Hypocrisy, Impatience, Self-indulgence, Exploitation, Love of Money, Power, and Prestige, Dishonesty, Negligence in Prayer and Worship, Resentment, Disobedience and Reticence in sharing the Good News, Blindness to Human Need, Indifference toward the Suffering and Oppressed, Hatred, Prejudice, Abuse and Neglect of God’s Creation, deafness to God’s call to serve, Apathy and Indifference to the needs of others, Seeking of Our Own Will at the Expense of God’s Will. Do any of these sound painfully familiar? Did your favorite sin get mentioned? Mine did!
After hearing a list of sins (not an exhaustive list mind you) it becomes quite clear that at the heart of creation there is a fatal flaw and none of us are exempt – the seven deadly sins really are deadly – from within and from without, they destroy the creation and all the creatures of God in all of its beauty.
Religion in all of its many forms has tried and failed to eradicate our tendency to seek our own will. Through burnt offerings, sacrifices, self-abuse where monks literally tried to whip themselves into shape, guilt payments and extortion of souls, and many Good Works – all of these methods have failed miserably to bring us to a place of obedience to God’s Good Law of Love.
Sin – the missing of the mark, falling short brings alienation, that feeling and sense of our separation from God, separation from our neighbors, and separation within our own selves.
One of the reasons the Christian tradition has referred to God as Father is not to denote a gender but a relationship. The relationship between parent and child is about as close as we can come by analogy to our relationship with God. The heart of the true parent longs for oneness for communion with their child.
When I became a parent, it became apparent that the worst thing imaginable is alienation and estrangement. Like the father of the prodigal he didn’t care about all of the sins his son had committed, all he cared about was to have him home safe and sound reunited in Love. There is no depth too deep, no distance too far, no expense too great, that God’s love is deeper still.
In Jesus the pure love and light of God for all of us showed up on the worlds stage in the person of Jesus Christ, and this great light exposed all of the darkness of Sin. Jesus and his ministry revealed a God wearing skin, “You want to know God and what God is like? Watch what Jesus says and does and you’ll see and know.”
He came to show us the Way – he came to tell us the Truth, and to give us Eternal Life starting now! He had no religious façade, he wielded no political power, he was here to announce and show the Kingdom not of this world but of the next – the Kingdom of God. Through his teaching, through his miracles, through his love shown to all no matter what their race or color was or what their religious or political persuasion was, that God loved ’em all! That one group was not greater than any other group.
This Kingdom was built on paradox: If you want to be rich give some of your wealth away, if you want to be first, then be last, if you want to be the greatest then become a servant, if you want to find yourself – your true self – then you must deny the false self of your and the worlds own construction – if you want to really live, then your ego must experience its own Waterloo of defeat.
Jesus himself in the Garden of Gethsemane had to come to this place of surrender – Please Father, take this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thy will be done.
His statements and deeds of God’s love for all peoples flew in the face of a dominant religion’s pride of place and privilege. Politically, his message managed (at one time or another) to offend the liberals, the conservatives, the moderates, and the independents. His teachings revealed the myriads of sins and pet sins that people were caught in, but weren’t willing to let go of. Jesus the World’s Greatest Friend (WGF) was perceived by the powers of Religion, of the State, and of the People (RSP)as their worst enemy. When all three of these powers came together there could be but one verdict – Jesus had to be guilty and the only fitting punishment was death. His manner of life was so threatening that the public preferred to have a serial killer released from prison than allow Jesus to remain free.
By his obedience to God’s will, his sinless life, and perfect love he offered up his life to remove any offense that could ever finally separate us from the love of God.
On this horribly dark and evil Day where death, hell and the devil, were finally defeated we can dare to call it Good Friday.
Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the Sin of the world.