Shoulder to shoulder(A Reflection on Luke 23: 39-43)

On Good Friday I was asked to present a 3 minute reflection on Luke 23: 39-43 at a church service. I wrote it down so that I knew I wouldn't dishonor that 3 minute request. Doing the 3 minutes is easy - it's knowing when to shut up that is often times more important to me.

So I put together my thoughts that morning and this is what spewed out of me. My inspirations in writing this come from the worlds of Dallas Willard, N.T. Wright, George MacLeod, that Gospel writer - Luke, and Norman Grubb.

A person is worth something
simply because he or she is a person.
That’s it.
That is God’s standard unit of measure for worth.
We are His creation.
Our lives represent God’s favorite masterpiece, the human being.
How often do we point the finger at others
or even ourselves when we put our own systems of value into play.

Our system of value has conditions.
God’s does not.
We look for excuses.
God shows us mercy.
We turn our backs.
God demonstrates love.
To God people are not a source of stress,
but a source of joy.

Do we see this in the place called The Skull?
Where death presents its kingdom and
does not realize that it is actually
rolling out
the red carpet
towards the enthronement
of the King Eternal.

We do not find Jesus being crucified
between two candles,
in a Cathedral.
But we find Him on a cross between two thieves.
Between doubt and hope.
Between hate and humility.
Between arrogance and faith.
Between suffocation and resuscitation.
Between the disciple and the doubter.
Between you and I, He still remains.
He still offers “Paradise” to both.

It is in this moment
that God would show
His absolute intent
to meet our very present needs
through the actions of Jesus.
Whether we wanted Him to or not.

It is in this moment that
the striking availability of God,
through the person of Jesus,
would promise paradise now – today.
Paradise in Jewish thought wasn’t necessarily
the final resting place.
But a place of rest and refreshment before the
new life in the resurrection.
Jesus, enthroned on the Cross,
promises a place of bliss and honour to anyone who requests it.
Even in the very face of death itself,
He continues to speak of life forevermore in a Kingdom without end.

It is where we find Him promising paradise
that should astound us the most.
A place we must revisit
in case we have forgotten where we were found.
It seems He is always offering peace and forgiveness and hope
to what the Church so often deems as the “wrong” crowd.
It’s in the “wrong” crowd that we find Him
shoulder to shoulder
with the condemned.

To paraphrase Norman Grubb:
We will not find him
in the safety zone of a Chapel
or within the sounds of Church bells
But we will find him running a rescue shop
Within one yard of hell.