Atonement - take 1

The Death of Jesus

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land[l] until three in the afternoon, 45 while the sun’s light failed;[m] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. 47 When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”[n] 48 And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. 49 But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Tomorrow is Good Friday.  Of course, we only call Friday "good" living on the other side of Easter. The women who stood at a distance from the cross saw nothing good as they watched Jesus die. They could not hold his hand.  They could not comfort him.  Death makes all those around feel helpless, how much so when you are at a distance?

One of the biggest questions in Christianity is, why did Jesus have to die?  Before directly answering that question let me affirm two things:

1).  There are countless theories that seek to answer this question...not just one!!  No matter what other pastors or other theologians want to say, there is more than one response to that question.  And always has been throughout Christian history.

2).  Because these are theories, they have all the human blessing and brokenness within them.  No one answer can fully answer this question.  This is good.  If you ever think you have God all figured out, I think you should go immediately to hang out with people who you disagree with...
               do NOT pass go
                      and do NOT collect $200.
I would rather have a faith that is bigger than my human imagination and mind than one small enough for me to comprehend fully.

These theories are called "atonement".  Atonement is a word we like to toss around to show that the piece of paper from our seminaries means something.  Atonement is basically God becoming "at - one" with us.  There is a problem, a gap, a distance...that the women at the cross surely understood... between us as humans and God.  What exactly that gap is...is for another post, another time.

The most popular theory of at-one-ment is that Jesus had to suffer because humans are such miserable sinners that we could not save ourselves.  There is no way we could build a bridge between us and God.  The gulf was too wide for humans to respond to.  So, God came in the flesh (incarnate) in Jesus to suffer on the cross to bridge that gap.  Essentially, God's sense of justice was so offended by our mistakes and brokenness, someone had to suffer in order to satisfy God.  The cross is directed at God as an offering.

Just because something gets repeated, does not make it so.  Just because a theory gets popularized by hymns, does not make it so.  Just because people get angry when you question the logic of this theory, does not mean we all need to fall in line.  Because I wonder, how in the world if God wants justice from us, could humans hanging Jesus on a cross count for us and NOT against us?  How could one devastating decision to hang Jesus on a cross actually appease an angry God?  Killing God's Son somehow makes everything better?

I know people argue that God's justice is different than our justice.  But, I confess, I don't get it.  The God I worship is the Prodigal Father who races out to embrace the son who wandered away AND goes out to calm the brooding older brother.  The God I worship is the Mother Hen who longs to gather all of us under her wing.  

And what is more...there are other theories of at-one-ment...and those I will post on tomorrow.

Blessings and may the traces of God's grace found in the bread and wine of Maundy Thursday service continue to linger as we gather to worship on Holy Friday.

Blessings.