St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church
A Good Friday Message from Your Rector
“Cross Walk Reflection”
Good Friday 2007
Dear People of God, today we gather once again to walk the Way of the Cross in the tradition of the Stations of the cross, a tradition that has been embraced by both Catholic and Protestant churches as a means to relive and remember the agonizing walk to Calvary that our Lord Jesus Christ made, as he carried his cross to the place of his crucifixion. To say this was a brutal and humiliating ordeal is to put it mildly.
We 21st century Christians take great comfort in the sacrifice of our Lord, for we believe that through his sacrifice we receive forgiveness of our sins, and we are guaranteed a place in God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus died for our sins, and thus we are freed from the burden of a life without salvation. So although we anguish over his suffering on the cross, we delight in the gift of forgiveness of our sins. All we have to do is ask, and we are forgiven, through the blood of the lamb. For many of us, it is as simple as that, but I ask all of us gathered here today, prepared to walk the way of the cross, could it be that simple? Did Jesus really have to die in order for us to have forgiveness of sins? Wouldn’t our Creator in heaven forgive us our sins if we asked for this without the ordeal of the crucifixion? Don’t we believe in a forgiving God? Did Jesus have to die for this to become a reality?
I think many of us perhaps have taken the easy way out. If Jesus died for us then in a sense we are free to be reckless when it comes to those things for which Jesus lived and preached, and actually died for, mainly the kingdom of God in our midst in this world, his vision of a new reality where we practice the love of God above all things, and the love of our neighbor as ourselves. And what does it mean to love our neighbor as our self? Does it mean a charitable act every now and then? Does it mean taking care of our own needs first while the rest of the world goes to hell in a hand basket? Does it mean being patriotic and standing by as innocent people die daily in a war built on deception? Does it mean remaining silent in the face of injustice, climate change, the exploitation of the poor and disenfranchised so that the rich may be sent away full? What does it mean to love our neighbor as our self?
For the answers to these questions we need to look toward Jesus, the man who dies on the cross not because God mandated a sacrificial lamb, but because his love for humanity and the reign of God in our midst was so intense, so strong, and so real, that nothing could stand in the way of it. Jesus doesn’t die on the cross so we can feel good about the forgiveness of our sins; he dies on the cross because of our sins, and to show us the way, and the cost of discipleship in a world ruled by principalities and darkness parading as light. Please let us not reduce the sacrifice of our Lord to a comfortable means by which we can get to heaven, and later celebrate the Easter bunny on Easter Sunday while we turn a blind eye to the plight of the poor, the homeless, the single parent who can’t make ends meet, the aids victim, the refugee, the victims of war, the victims of occupation, the victims of unfair labor practices; the list goes on and on.
How and when have we shown our love of neighbor in the spirit of the Christ who willingly goes to the cross, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of a new humanity, for the sake of a vision still yet to be realized on this earth? How and when have we witnessed to the vision of Jesus, that same Jesus that kept the company of prostitutes, tax collectors, and all sorts of undesirables? Do we truly walk the way of the Cross on this day, or do we use the cross to hide from the world, and all its brokenness and ugliness, while we take refuge in the belief that the sacrifice of Christ was simply for the forgiveness of our sins, and a ticket to heaven?
My friends, if we are to walk the way of the cross on this day, we better be mindful of the consequences, and the implications.
When the apostles saw the true consequences of following Jesus they ran, they hid, they were petrified, they were frightened, they had no idea it would come to this. But Jesus willingly went forward, and by so doing, he showed us the Way. Our Lord always and consistently showed us what he meant, by setting the example!
Nothing would stand in the way of the gift of his love, and his total and absolute faith in the Kingdom of God that he came to usher into the world. Jesus calls us to deny our self, and to pick-up our cross, if we are to follow him. So my friends, as we go forward today, let us ponder the paradox of the cross not as a ticket to heaven, but as a ticket to a new creation here on earth, reflecting the true majesty of the glory of God in our midst, as we make real the Kingdom of Jesus.
To that end as we walk and sing the familiar Taize chant, “Jesus Remember Me” I call on us today do this with the following words found as an insert in your porgram:
Jesus, Remember me, as I seek to build your Kingdom
Jesus, embolden me, as I seek to build your Kingdom
Amen.
Faithfully Yours,
Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera+
The Rev. Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera,
Rector
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