Good Friday, April 9, 2004   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith The Greater Reality "It is finished." With these words, Jesus put the event of his death into context. It was finished. The pain and the suffering was finished for Jesus. The ministry that he had known through his humanity was fulfilled. It is finished. For those who did not believe, Jesus was just another man to be crucified. The reality seems clear; he was to die and that would be the end of him. Jesus pain and suffering was finished; but was that the end? What was the reality of that day? It all depends upon your perspective. For the Christian confronted with the cross, faith is the ultimate reality check. The powers of evil have done their worst. Fear, hatred, envy, and pride have resulted in Jesus’ death. Through our worship today, we walk this path to the cross. We walk the way of the world that so often ends in violence and the death of the innocent. We gaze upon the One who suffered for us. Jesus, our Savior and our friend, teaches us the demands of love. We remember his words "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13). Today we see where such love can lead. When love comes in contact with what much of the world considers to be real, conflict is often the result. As William Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas, put it so clearly: to be a Christian in this world of power politics and self-serving agendas is to be a resident alien in a foreign land. Just as Jesus was headed for the cross, we too are headed for discomfort when we live out our vocation as his people. To look upon the cross and think about its message leads us to give up any thought that the Christian faith is an easy path to take in life. We see Jesus on the cross and we are called to a level of intimacy with each other that can be costly. We are confronted by an event that calls us to a place of honesty about who we are and how far we are will to go for our beliefs. The relationship created by such love and self-giving demands the same from us. As we look upon the cross, we maybe horrified, justifiably, about what it meant for Jesus and what it means for us. The cross engages people on many levels. We focus on Jesus, the man; he is innocent and yet he suffers. His suffering calls to mind the many before and after him who have also suffered. Then there is the personal spiritual journey that each one of us takes. The reality that we too are flesh and blood hits home. We are vulnerable to the powers that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. Walking to the cross, gazing upon it, knowing the reality of its intensity and its truth—how can we bear it? "It is finished." Evil had its way. Jesus died a horrible death. But it was an event that had an end—the pain and suffering was limited to time and space. The great truth of that day would be known. Nothing could separate Jesus from God his Father. The worst that the world could do was to be overshadowed by the power of God to embrace and transform the event of death. "It is finished" With those words, Jesus fell away from time and space into the greater reality of God’s eternal love. Amen.