Love Wins The Remix Part 1

Introduction

In music, there is the practice of remixing a song and sampling a song. Sampling is when a part of a song is taken out of its original arrangement and placed within a different arrangement. When a song is sampled, it can lose its original identity in the new song to the point where the listener can’t tell where the sample originated.

On the other hand, a remix is a new presentation of the original. A remix is close enough to the original that the original can still be recognized. The remix of a song is close enough to the original that they are often placed next to each other on the same album.

Throughout America's history, the narrative of superiority and exceptionalism has been the foundation for the constant remixing of systemic racism and oppression in our country. Slavery was remixed into Jim Crow. Jim Crow was remixed into the New Jim Crow, and the new Jim has festered and grew in the moment of insurrection we witnessed on January 6, 2021.

On Wednesday, January 6, White Supremacy raided, vandalized, and looted the United States Capitol Building. Many were waving Confederate Flags, and even a noose was erected on the West Front of the Capitol Building attached to a wooded beam.

To be honest, I often struggle to watch the news because I can find the recurring nature of these types of events exhausting. But since this is the context in which we live, combined with my call to wrestle with the blue notes of life and find hope in the gospel. I am compelled to preach into this situation.

The Lord drew my attention to a message I preached about four years, and since I already had a sermon selected for today, I struggled with being obedient to what God was calling me to do. Then I was reminded of Paul’s word to the Philippians; To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me and for you a safeguard.

Therefore, since this is God’s message and not my message anyway, I will ask you a question I asked you all a few years ago; Do you believe that Love Wins?

This is a legitimate question to ask ourselves, not just in light of the current condition of America. But also because of the individual pain many of us are wrestling with daily.

When this pain grabs us, we must wrestle it into submission for the time being. Am I the only one with memories, thoughts, and emotions that will periodically arrest me and force me to wrestle them into submission?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that “we shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” If this statement is true, then while our present experience may be filled with injustice, these crooked places will ultimately be made straight, and love will win.

You may be surprised to know that there have been “six kingdoms that have imposed a form of colonialism upon the Hebrew people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.” So when we read the Bible, it is essential to understand that we are reading the theological parables, metaphors, narratives, history, songs, and poetry of an oppressed people. A nation of people that are familiar with pain and suffering on a deep and generational level.

This is a similar perspective that the black church has traditionally ascribed to. The social context of our oppressive experiences forced us to seek practical help from the Lord. They weren’t wrestling with philosophy; they were wrestling with survival. With trouble on every side, they looked to scriptures as a source of hope.

They looked for the Lord to speak a word of life into their current situation. Not to anesthetize their minds to reality with some spiritual high, that created a false means of escape. But to strengthen them to be transformed through the redemptive nature of suffering and pain. It was the cross that inspired them to resist the shackles of their oppressors.

Herein is where remixing becomes a function of faith and how we embody the word of God in an ever-changing context. But as the church, the narrative of the cross has to be the constant foundation that ensures our remixing doesn’t turn into sampling.

In the cross, we see that the final word is not death on a lynching tree but the redemption that can only be found in the cross—a transformed life provided by the God of the gallows.[1]

(Go with me to the 23rd chapter of the gospel according to Luke and meet in verse 39, and we will be reading down to verse 42.)

Luke 23:39–42 (NASB95)

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”

40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

(To set the context for this morning’s preaching and teaching, I will tag this text with the thought Love Wins! The remix.)

[1] Cone, James H. The cross and the lynching tree. Orbis Books Maryknoll, NY ©1997 pg.23.

I. What did it mean for a person to be crucified?

When we approach the cross, we must approach it with a high view of scripture, understanding that we are attempting to deal with salvation history's climax. We are dealing with the pivotal event that thousands upon thousands of years have been building up to. So this is no light subject matter to deal with.

From the moment we open the Bible in Genesis, we are reading scriptures that point us toward the ultimate revelation of God in history through Jesus's birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension.

When the Roman Empire chose to institute the cross as is means of punishing rebels and insurrectionists. This was a torturous event that was turned into a humiliating public spectacle for everyone to witness. This type of death was the most painful death ever devised by humans. This method of punishment was designed to keep law and order. It was designed to make sure those under Roman oppression didn’t step out of line.

“James Cone notes that the crucifixion was a Roman form of a public service announcement: Do not engage in insurrection as this person has, or your fate will be similar. The exercise's point was not the offender's death as such, but getting the attention of those watching. Crucifixion first and foremost is addressed to the audience”[1].

Consequently, this was not a punishment handed out to every criminal but was reserved for those deemed enemies of the state. These were people the Roman empire wanted to make an example out of. The crucifixion was reserved for the insurrectionist, those who participated in civil disobedience and committed treason against Rome, which is why the religious leaders of the day wanted Jesus to die this kind of death. They wanted an example made out of Jesus to send a clear message to his followers and those who wanted to carry his message.

To bring this home and attempt to make this something that we can relate to. Essentially the crucifixion was a first-century lynching! Just like lynching was used as an instrument of terror and torture.

Lynching was also mainly reserved for slaves, criminals, and insurrectionists of the lowest of the low in society. The victims were stripped to deprive them of dignity, then spat upon, whipped, pieced, and spat upon for hours in the presence of jeering crowds, with the sole purpose of striking terror in the subject community.

But then we also have a paradox because Paul tells us that the cross's words are foolishness to them that are perishing and a stumbling block to the religious.

The cross turns everything upside down! Amid all this suffering and shame, it was revealed that the news of hope could come from defeat. It was revealed that death and suffering don’t get the last word! The first shall be last, and the last shall be first!

(Now that we are reminded of what it meant to be crucified. We can move to look at who was crucified.)

[1] Cone, James H. The cross and the lynching tree. Orbis Books Maryknoll, NY ©1997 pg.31.

II. There were three people crucified that day.

So often, we rush to Jesus and miss the critical revelation that resides in the actions of those who were crucified alongside Jesus. The Swiss reformed theologian Karl Barth called leaving out the criminals crucified with Jesus from the Good Friday story a grievous theological mistake. It has also been said that we are looking at the first Christian church: three people, one good, two bad, one of whom became good[1].

When they came to the place called the Skull, Luke gospel says they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. When we dig into the cultural context, we get an interesting understanding of these two criminals.

During this time, 90-95% of people lived in abject poverty. The vast majority of the people worked land that wasn’t' theirs, and the landowners took any surplus from what they harvested. On top of this, people were taxed excessively, and debtors could not afford to pay face prison time.

In this highly politicized, re-distributive economy, the powerless were the standard victims. When someone losses an adequate means of subsistence, their honor within the community was also lost. Therefore the main problem with all ancient village life was the narrow margin between survival and famine[2].

It is scary to think of how similar our lives are to those who populated the Bible's pages over 2,000 years ago. We are living in a time when the top 1% control 90% of the wealth, where actions and decisions of the rich and powerful are affecting the quality of life for everyone.

When people are pressed to the ground with the foot of an impossible system on their neck, they respond in different ways. Some people cave and give in to the pressure. Others can beat the odds and attain some level of success. Then some move in the spirit of Nate Turner and fight back through violence and deviance.

The men crucified with Jesus that day were pushed to the end of their rope at some point in their past. They were victims who chose to fight back by any means necessary. These men were not your average criminals. This is seen in the fact that they were being crucified along with Jesus.

When we pull all of this together, we have two men experiencing the consequences of their bad decisions, and the unjust system they had to function within is also responsible for their execution. So their inappropriate response to situations and circumstances beyond their control resulted in them being crucified!

Could it be that there is a little bit of these criminals in all of us? I know I can relate to these two criminals.

· I know my response to situations and circumstances is not always appropriate.

· There have been times when I have cracked under the pressure of outside circumstances beyond my control.

· I have felt justified to retaliate because I believed I was done wrong.

· Some of us are in bankruptcy because of a situation like this.

· Some of us have lost a marriage because of a situation like this.

When life presses us to the limits, with situations and circumstances that are so large and suffocating, we need a God that can handle this! And when we feel like we can't win, we need a God that can step in and show us that love wins!

(Next, an interesting conversation takes place between these two criminals.)

[1] Sweet, Leonard I., Viola, Frank. Jesus: a theography.©2012 Thomas Nelson Publishing Nashville, TN pg. 222-223

[2] Neyrey, Jerome H. The social world of Luke-Acts: Models for interpretation ©1991 Hendricks Publishing Peabody, MA. pg. 167-169.

III. The two criminals and their two questions:

One criminal asked the question: "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" While the other criminal responded with the question, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."

“The question you ask determines the focus of your thinking, your focus determines your attitude, and your attitude determines your ability to take action.” And we can easily see the action taken by these two criminals by the questions they ask. These two responses represent the two main ways that people interact with Jesus during times of suffering.

The first criminal represents those looking for someone to blame and looking for a way of escape and find both of those in Jesus. The power Jesus professes to have is questioned and critically attacked.

Their questions are tools they use to try and manipulate Jesus into doing what they want him to do for us. There is even arrogance in this, questioning Jesus as if he has something to prove to them. This line of questioning only demonstrates our ability to handcuff and block ourselves from receiving from God.

The second criminal represents those that respond to suffering by crying out to God for mercy in times of desperation. In this second criminal, we see humility and personal responsibility producing a fresh revelation of the righteousness of Christ.

He acknowledged his faults and understood that he had to take responsibility for his choices that landed him on the cross. But at the same time, he was reaching out to God!

But this second criminal held on and embraced Christ in his moment of despair and suffering. This man was dying and clinging, and at that moment, Christ was made real to him.

These are the moments when Christ is made real when we reach out to him amid the darkness. When we reach out to Jesus, and we aren’t entirely sure that His hand will be there to grab ours. It here that Christ is made real!

I can hear Mahalia Jackson singing; There are some things, I may not know, There are some places, Oh Lord, I cannot go. But I am sure, Of this one thing. That God is real. For I can feel. Him in my soul. Is there anybody here that has this testimony!

· You were stretched out in pain, and then God made Himself real.

· You were suffocating under the weight of your circumstances, and then God made himself real.

It is as if this second criminal is thinking out loud as he questions and responds to the first criminal. The more he talks outwardly, the more real Jesus is being made to him inwardly. We can see this because he starts off talking to a man. But switches and starts talking directly to Jesus.

(Let’s look at what this criminal says next.)

IV. Remember me when You come in Your kingdom!

The gist of this verse can be found in the word remember. In the Septuagint, the Hebrew word translated to this Greek word for remember generally carries the meaning that God remembers because of His faithfulness.

It is in God’s perfect faithfulness that He remembers His people and His covenant with them[1]. Abstract thought is alien to the ancient Hebrew approach to life. When the soul remembers something, that image is called forth to help determine its direction of action[2].

Notice that there is no question mark in the text. This is not a question but a statement of faith. Acknowledging that he knows and believes this man hanging on the cross next to him is Jesus, the Son of God, and Savior of the world!

This narrative proves and convinces us that no matter how dark our situation, Love Wins!

· Love wins every time hope is given to the hopeless.

· Love wins every time a soul is saved.

· Love wins every time Jesus meets us in our time of need.

· Love wins every time we are blessed to see our children get saved.

· Love wins every time Jesus steps in when we are at the end ourselves.

· Love wins every time Jesus carries us when we can’t take another step.

· Love wins every time Jesus makes a way out of no way.

· Love wins every time Jesus is our shelter from the storm.

· Love wins every time Jesus shines a light into the dark places of our lives.

When Isaiah prophesied about the birth of Jesus, he said For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders: And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Therefore, with all of my heart, I believe that despite the condition this country is in, if the people called by his name would cry out, remember me! When we cry out, remember me, we will see evidence of love winning.

· We need to cry out, remember me for this country!

· We need to cry out; remember me for our families!

· We need to cry out, remember me for ourselves!

And watch Love Win.

[1] Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, The - The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Lambda-Omicron.

[2] The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology©1971 Vol. 3 pg. 234.