Good Friday to Great Friday
By the Rev. Tony Lantz, Life Church
Friday, April 10, 2009
Over the years I’ve observed that there are many reactions to Easter Weekend. And at that, I notice there are many views of Good Friday.
Many people feel like Billy Joel, the musician, who showed his religious views when he said, “… I used to go to Mass with my friends, and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus-pocus. There’s a guy hanging upon the wall in the church, nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everybody’s blaming themselves for that man’s torment, but I said to myself, forget it. I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin. There’s no blood of any sacred martyr on my hands. I pass on all of this.”
His expressions show how so many people may feel when it comes to the cross.
“Just leave me alone with that religious stuff.”
And really, Good Friday, for them has no meaning at all.
The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, viewed the cross this way. He said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
It’s like one guy thinks it’s awful and could care less, while the other thinks it’s wonderful? One wants nothing to do with the cross while the other wants nothing to do with anything else but the cross.
Many individuals say they have a relationship with God but really deny that Jesus died on a cross as a ransom for their sin. In order to make themselves feel better, they argue, “God is way too loving to pour out a horrible atrocity like that on anyone for sin.” But yet the question still remains, “What did it cost God to love and embrace us? What did he endure to build that bridge of love for us? Where are his nails and thorns?” A typical answer might be, “I don’t think that was necessary.”
Honestly, as a pastor, I see a lot of people grappling with this issue. It’s ironic in many ways. In our effort to try to make out God to be more loving, we end up making Him less loving when we paint Him as a God who would never do anything like that. “The cross you say? That can’t be good. Why would God do something like that?” And in the end, under these pretenses, His love ends up being a love that takes no action. And love without action isn’t love at all. In fact, think about it for a moment. Without the cross, the worship of a God like this would be impersonal, cerebral, and even ethical, but lacking denial of self, humility, and a sense of wonder. We would not sing to such a being, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
So to talk about God loving us without the cross makes the love of God nothing more than a Hallmark Card. They’re nice, but they aren’t love. And if you think about it that way for just a moment, which way shows more care? What most people really want to know is in the midst of their misery—debt, grief, loss, divorce, rejection, cancer, fear, depression—is there a God that loves me? And does He really give a rip? And the answer to that question is a resounding “yes”.
Real love affects the heart. And nothing on earth moves the heart more than a love that is willing to suffer. Those who have had good parents love their moms and dads because of this. At all costs, they were willing to lay down a few things to make sure that you and I were cared for.
That is why the perfect expression of God’s love for us is in the cross. And even though Billy Joel and others find the cross appalling, Christians can’t imagine God or love without it. It’s our whole life…the crux of the matter.
U2’s Bono said it this way. “I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb…I love the idea that God says... let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled… It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.”
So, is your Friday a “good” Friday? If your life has been changed by the power of the cross, then it’s not just a good Friday…it’s a great Friday! It’s all a matter of perspective. Christ died for you because He loves you. What a great Friday!
Pastor Tony and Teri Lantz are Lead Pastors at Life Church in Emporia. They want to welcome you and your family to their Easter Services this Sunday morning at 1801 Graphic Arts Road at 10:30 a.m.
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Tony Lantz, pastor at Emporia’s Life Church.