Standing at a Distance
a sermon based on Luke 23:1-49
by Rev. Randy L Quinn
          

You probably all know the spiritual:

♫ Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

♫ Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

♫ O, o, o, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

♫ Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

And of course, we all know the answer to the question is both yes and no.  We weren’t there in a physical historical sense.  But we’ve all been there – through the stories we’ve read in the scriptures, through the sermons we’ve heard in the church, through the scenes that have been played out for us at the theater.  We’ve all been there and seen what they did to Jesus.

Not only that, we’ve all found ourselves in the story at one point or another.  It’s as if we are the ones Luke refers to when he says that “all those who knew him . . . stood at a distance” (Lk 23:9).  The only difference is that Luke apparently believes that “all those who knew him” were removed by physical proximity from him while we find ourselves being separated by the distance of time.

But even from our standpoint in time, we find ourselves as speechless and as helpless as those who watched the story unfolding before their very eyes.

From our perspective, it’s easy to look at Judas, for instance, and sit in judgment.

§         How could he have been so cruel?

§         How could someone who had been so close to Jesus, someone who witnessed his miracles, someone who heard his parables, someone who shared his last supper with him betray Jesus?

§         How could someone who was called by Jesus to be a part of his inner circle turn him over to the authorities (Lk 6:13, 22:4)?

§         How could anyone who participated in his miracles allow his own greed to dictate his actions (Lk 10:1-17, 22:5)?

But we stand in judgment only until we realize that we are no different.  We have all too often “sold out” to the powers of our day.  Few of us can honestly say that we have never allowed greed or the longing to control our own destiny or the promise of fame to keep us from following Jesus.

We may be standing at a distance, but in a sense, we are very much a part of the story as we see our own reflection in the actions of Judas.

The distance of time has also allowed us to be more than a little circumspect about the way Pilate handled the trial.  We think he should have stuck with his convictions and not given in to the crowds.  If he found no fault in Jesus, why not release him?

But we have also found ourselves in the seat of Pilate.  We find no fault in Jesus but we are often unwilling to come to his defense when it means looking like a fool.  The popular thing is to not make waves, so we silently withhold our opinions and refrain from action.

Or we read the story and we find ourselves watching from a distance as Peter and John both fade into and out of the story.  And while we want to encourage them to act differently, we know the truth is we would have done no better.

Even the character of Simon of Cyrene, whom I mentioned in my newsletter column this week, eludes us.  We don’t want to get involved anymore than he did.  And maybe that’s because we know the truth – if we get involved, we will be changed.

And if there is one thing we all fear it is change.

Yet we continue to tell the story.  Year after year we gather to give witness to this profound story.  We tell it because we know it has the power to change not only us but our world.

How much it will change is up to us.  If we continue to watch from a distance, the change will be minimal and his death will have been less powerful than if we allow ourselves to get close and be affected by his love and his compassion.

The good news is that even from a distance the words of Jesus reach out to us:  “Father, forgive them, for they do know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34).

He has forgiven us.  And he welcomes us back into his company.  Will we return to his loving embrace or will we remain at a distance?  How you answer will have more affect on your life than any other decision you will make.