Preached at St. John's Lancaster April 6, 2012
On this day Jesus Christ died for you and for me. He was the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. We all know what we are, deep inside our hearts and minds. We all know the sins we are guilty of committing and those we are capable of committing. Jesus Christ, by his death today, forgives our sins and takes upon himself our justly deserved punishments. Because of the Event of Good Friday, we are given the opportunity to start afresh, to begin anew. The process is simple. I come before him and admit my wrongs and ask his forgiveness. I acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to wash away the stain of all my sins. I accept God’s forgiveness and declare my intention to live according to his will revealed in Scripture and modeled in the life and attitudes and motives of Jesus. I do not have to understand it all or even get it right. But I do need to believe that God’s promises are true and receive the undeserved and unmerited gift of forgiveness that He offers me.
But what does it mean to start afresh, to begin anew? It does not mean that people I have wronged will forget the past and trust me like they did the first day we met. It does not mean that all of the unintended consequences of my past actions will be fixed. It does not mean that I will not have to pay my parking fines or alimony or the credit card bill from that trip I shouldn’t have taken- the one that takes such a large part of my monthly pay cheque. It does mean that when God looks upon me, he chooses not to see the sins of my past. It means that he begins in me a healing process which will allow me to escape the guilt and shame I have felt for years. It does mean that I can begin the process of having my motives transformed into the motives of Jesus. It does mean that I have access to the power of the Holy Spirit as I struggle to overcome the destructive patterns of behaviour and habits and persistent sins which have characterized my life for years. It does mean that at the end of my days, I will go to heaven.
On Good Friday, we come together because we believe in Jesus, and desire to show him the respect he is due as we receive the gift he offers us, the gift of salvation in this life and the next. Good Christian people, and the not so good, and even those who are not Christian: I bid you this day to consider the claim that Jesus has upon us all. When he chose to die for you and me, he fulfilled his own words which said “greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Today he calls us to be his friends by responding to that love which he has shown to each and every one of us. We respond to his love by loving him in return. We love him in return by believing him to be who he claimed to be, by believing his promises, asking him to forgive us, and striving to follow him with the help of the Holy Spirit. In the silence of this holy place that we love so well, might we all accept his gift today. It is the ultimate act of appreciation. And it is the way to begin life anew. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.
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