04 Lent 4th Wednesday in Lent
Eli, Eli Lamah aZavtani. My God, My God. Why have you forsaken me? Have you ever felt abandoned, deserted, all alone? Have you ever felt that everyone has left you and there is no one around or there for you? You don’t even have to be by yourself to feel this way, you can be surrounded by people and still the feelings of abandonment, desertion, and being forsaken are there. It is a terrible, awful feeling.
I felt the icy dark grip of this feeling one year while at summer camp. That was the longest week of my life. I was further away from home than I had ever been before. It was also during a point in life where I would get homesick very easily. My fellow campers were cruel and unsympathetic. Even the counselors didn’t show much empathy. As if this wasn’t bad enough, we spent the week in tents. And there were a couple of nights when severe thunderstorms tore through the area.
There are few things as scary as being in a tent when the wind slams against your flimsy shelter like the hand of an angry giant, and the rain falls hard and fast enough that it hurts on contact. Even though it was almost midnight the sky was lit with lighting and the only sound that rivaled the thunder was the sirens chanting their shrill chorus, warning everyone to take cover.
Also this particular camp was quite famous. Not for anything historical or special, but because it had a rather large residential population of copperhead snakes. Snakes, why does it always have to be snakes? Well, anyway, you get the idea. The only thing that got me through the week was Thursday night. Thursday night was family night, and our families would come for a visit. This was my chance for escape. Mom and Dad had traveled the many hundreds of miles to see their dear first born, their pride and joy, and they would jump at the chance to have me come home early. Or so I thought.
When Thursday finally rolled around I was so excited to see them, that I forgot how miserable I was. We did all the family activities that were set up for the evening, and when it was time for them to go back to the hotel, I asked them to take me with them. Their reply was simple, “No!” Please. I would beg. No. I told them about the storms, the snakes, the spiders, my fellow campers, and yet their answer did not change.
They gave me hugs and kisses, reassured me of their love for me (which, now that I look back on it, by this time was pretty amazing) and they drove off. There I stood with tears running down my cheeks. And through the sobs I kept repeating this refrain, “How could you do this to me?” I felt forsaken. Abandoned. Deserted. That night, another sever thunderstorm stomped through the area.
The feelings of that night are still very real to me. So when I saw what tonight’s word was, this story is the first thing that popped into my mind. However, there is something important that I need to point out. There is a big difference between my story and what happened to Jesus. I felt forsaken by my family, but I wasn’t totally forsaken, because in the midst of that whole experience, God was with me.
Jesus, who had been abandoned by everyone who was close to him, calls out from the depths of his suffering. In these words we discover that even God has turned his back on him. That is a big difference between my story and his.
You see at this very moment, when Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” he is experiencing Hell. Because that is what hell is, to be apart from the presence of God. Now the exact details of how this whole thing works, with Jesus being part of the trinity and all, is a mystery that is beyond human comprehension. But this is the report of the scriptures, and so however it happened, it happened.
In this moment, in these words we see and hear, in great detail Jesus taking our place, Jesus taking our punishment, Jesus taking our wages for our sins upon himself. And not just your sins and my sins, but indeed the sins of the entire world.
Sin separates us from God. It destroys our relationship with him. It destroys our relationships with one another. Sin brings about death. Sin is why there is injustice in the world. Sin is why there is suffering and pain and sickness. It is a horrible and terrible thing. And because God is holy and perfect, sin cannot be in his presence. Sin brings about death, and deserves eternal death. That is to be separated from God. And you and I are sinners. This is what we deserve.
And yet, this is not what we have to look forward to. You see God loves you and me, very, very much. He didn’t want to be separated from us. He didn’t want to have you be apart from him, and so he decided to take your sin, my sin, the sin of the world upon himself, he took our punishment, and paid the price for our sins. Eli, Eli Lamah aZavtani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
He was forsaken in that moment so that you and I would not be. He was forsaken so that we could live our lives with him. He was forsaken so that we would never be separated from him again. Not by sin, not by evil, not even by death. In Jesus’ forsaking, we are accepted by our God. We are members of his family. We are his, own dear children. We are co-heirs with Jesus.
And this life with God, this relationship that we enjoy with him is not something that is waiting for us after death. It isn’t something that is way out there and we are just waiting for it. No, our life with God is now. Our relationship with him began at our baptism. When the water was poured and those words were spoken, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
On that cross he was forsaken so that you and I would never be. No matter what we face in this life, no matter how popular or unpopular we are, no matter how many people forsake us, no matter what we do or have done, God will not forsake you. He will not leave you. And you have this wonderful gift and promise because Jesus was forsaken.
All this is proof of how great our great God is. And simply how much he loves you. He gets all the credit for this. Because there is nothing inside you and me that is worthy of such a great love. We have done nothing to deserve such a great sacrifice. We cannot do anything to earn such a great price. But God can, and indeed he did.
You are special. Because he deemed you valuable enough to die for you. He deemed a relationship with you great enough that he was forsaken so that you would never be. And if this is all that he did for us, it would have certainly been enough. But he didn’t stop here. Because he also has allowed us to share in his mission. You and I are his body in this world. We get to speak his words of love. We get to admonish where necessary and appropriate, and then to proclaim his forgiveness. Powerful words are these.
We get to be his hands and his arms. In the service that you and I show for the people in our lives, we are showing them God’s love for them. We are saying with our actions, You are loved by God. So much so that he was forsaken so that you would not be. What may seem like trivial little acts to you and me, can be a wonderful and beautiful witness of the Good News of God’s love in Christ Jesus. An honor and privilege this is.
Eli, Eli Lamah aZavtani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because of his great love for you, me and the whole world. It really is a beautiful mystery. Why the king of the universe would find such value in a bunch of sinners. But he does, and shows it in his actions. The wonder of this mystery is captured in a song by the group Caedmon’s Call. It is called, “Mystery of Mercy” and captures well this idea. By identifying with different characters and stories in Scripture they contrast the sin with the great love shown by God on the cross the words go like this.
I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot. I am the scattered seed that fell along the path. I am the son that ran away. And I am the bitter son that stayed. My God, my God, why hast Thou accepted me. When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King. My God, my god why hast thou accepted me. It’s a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing.
You made the seed that made the tree. That made the cross that saved me. You gave me hope when there was none. You gave me only your Son. My God, my God, why hast Thou accepted me. When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King. My God, my god why hast thou accepted me. It’s a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing.
May God bless you this Lenten season and always as you sing this song of the mystery of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. Amen.