Text — Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus † there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left  34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they cast lots to divide his clothing.  35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah  of God, his chosen one!”  36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine,  37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”  38 There was also an inscription over him,  “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding † him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”  42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into  your kingdom.”  43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

I’m sure many of you noticed what is odd about our gospel lesson.  It’s what you’d expect to hear on Good Friday.  The phrase “Today you will be with me in paradise” is one of Jesus’ “Seven Last Words.”  The common lectionary is the list of scripture readings that the whole ecumenical church assigns for each Sunday in a three year cycle, so this lesson comes up every three years.  (This is year C.)  It’s the reading today because this is “The Reign of Christ” Sunday.  It used to be called “Christ the King” Sunday.

The focus on this day is the long-term promise of the gospel:  God is doing something in the world.  God works in history.  History has a direction, a positive direction.  It has a purpose, or what we call an “end” or goal.

This is a Christian article of faith.  “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  At any point along the way to this kingdom, this direction or end may be hard to see.  We’ve just finished a heated election.  But whether you voted for George Bush, or John Kerry, or Ralph Nader, most of us have some concern about where we’re headed.  

We wouldn’t all agree on what the trouble is. Some would say: The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.  Others would point to all the violence and sexual promiscuity in the movies and on TV.  Some say taxes are too high.  Some say poor children aren’t being given a fair chance.  There’s global climate change and a controversial foreign policy, both related to our energy practices, the federal deficit, the fall of the dollar, the future of social security, the high cost of medical care.  There’s a lot of anxiety about where we’re headed, and a lot of disagreement over what the right direction is.

And this raises the question.  If God is active in history, why do we have all these problems?  Why does progress seems so slow?  Are we making progress at all?

In our gospel lesson, Jesus is on the cross with two criminals.  Things aren’t going very well, and for the soldiers and for one of the criminals, this is proof that Jesus is a fraud.  A real Son of God wouldn’t be crucified.  They say, “If you are the Son of God, save yourself and us.  Come down from the cross.  If God is in you, prove it.

This is our situation writ large.  Why doesn’t God do more?  Why does life have to be so painful?  Why can’t we see God’s activity more clearly?

Last Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful 2^nd hour from Joan Hedrick, and she started out by saying something about history — in direct response to the election.

In any given moment in history, we’re absorbed by that moment.  We feel it’s the way things will always be.  But the great thing about history is: You learn that things never stay the same.  They always change.

Look at the Red Sox — losers since 1918.  They were down 0-3 against the Yankees, but then they win 4 straight and 4 more straight against the Cardinals.

In the mid 19^th century, laws in support of slave owners were passed.  It must have seemed as if slavery would never end.  But it did end.

There are many things wrong with the world.  There’s a lot of what the Bible calls “hardness of heart.”  But the good news is: everything that’s wrong gives us a chance to do something right.

Another thing Joan Hedrick told us last week was a 19^th century Calvinist idea called “improving the affliction.”  19^th century Protestants believed that, if something bad happened, it was because God loves you.  Your job is to figure out what God wants you to learn and what to do with that affliction.

Harriet Beecher Stowe lost a child to cholera.  It was a devastatingly loss, but she improved the affliction in this way.  Her loss of Charley helped her identify with slave women who lost their children on the auction block and she wrote the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin that gave a huge boost to the anti-slavery movement.

History has ups and downs.  Things get better and worse.  This is true in our personal lives too. 

But I believe — and this is a central article of the Christian faith — that history overall is going in a positive direction.  It doesn’t always look that way.  Four-year election cycles don’t always take us closer to paradise.  But in most ways, the world is a more humane place than it was 1000 years ago, or 500 years ago, or 100 years ago.  As we look at a narrower and more recent time span, progress is harder to see.

One criminal said to Jesus, “Are you the Messiah?  Save yourself and us.”  The other criminal said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus said to this second criminal, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

The kingdom is coming.  It’s coming slower than we’d like it to come.  But Christ calls us to believe that it’s coming even when the outlook is bleak. 

This last week, I thought about how this faith is real to me, on a personal level.  I thought of people I’ve spent time with as they saw their own death coming.  I thought of Willie Geffkin, Marianne Tuttle, Doug Hall, Gloria Lawrence, Edith Otterbein, Don Parmenter, Ruth Bright, Elaine Bates and others I could name.

These people gave me some incredible memories that help me live my life.  What was so inspiring was that they didn’t despair, even when their lives were ending.  Of course they had to work some things through on their way to this point, but they all got to a point where they were close to death and not afraid to die.  It’s very reassuring and comforting to me to know that it’s possible to get to that point. 

What they wanted to talk about wasn’t dying but how thankful they were to have lived at all.  They wanted to talk about the people they loved.  They were filled with gratitude.  I know their witness will help me when my life draws to a close, if I’m clear headed and have the time to see it draw to a close.

Today, you will be with me in paradise.  That’s a verse I’ll want to repeat.  It’s worth memorizing.  It’s worth hearing again and again.  It’s prayer to pray at the start of every day:  Today you will be with me in paradise.

This paradise isn’t always in clear view. But everyday we can see a glimpse of it.  Our job, our goal, our “end” in life is to learn to be open to it