Sermon Title: the Atonement

The Atonement (3.20.16) 4

Sermon Title: The Atonement

First Reading Isaiah 53:4-6

4Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5But he was piercedfor our transgressions,
he was crushedfor our iniquities;
the punishmentthat brought us peacewas on him,
and by his woundswe are healed.
6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and theLordhas laid on him
the iniquityof us all.

Gospel Reading John 19:4-16

4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him outto you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die,because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,9and he went back inside the palace.“Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.10“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11Jesus answered,“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.Therefore the one who handed me over to youis guilty of a greater sin.”
12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a kingopposes Caesar.”
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seatat a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaicis Gabbatha).14It was the day of Preparationof the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,”Pilate said to the Jews.
15But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

At some point we have all said, thought, or heard someone, say something like this, "If God is all good why is there so much evil in the world?" or "Why would a loving God send people to hell?"
We all, at one time or another, have put God on trial! Voddie Baucum is a pastor and he shares his response to this sort of question by saying: "Sometimes I run across people who say, 'If you believe in a God that is omnipotent and omni-benevolent how do you reconcile of theodicy' to which he responds 'took a semester of philosophy, right?' 'Well yes how did you know,' 'Cause if you hadn't you would have said, listen, if God is so powerful and so good how come bad stuff happens? But I'm not going to answer the question until you ask it correctly?' the person responds by saying, 'Ask it correctly, I've been working on that all week what do you mean?' 'You're not asking the question properly.' Getting a little indignant, the person responds by saying, 'It's my question how can you tell me how to ask my question?' 'I will answer your question when you ask it properly.' 'Ok, I'll bite, how do I ask it properly?' 'Here's how you ask that question properly, you look me in my eye and you ask me this: How on earth can a Holy and Righteous God know what I did, thought, and said yesterday and not kill me in my sleep last night?' If you ask it that way and we'll get talking."
Often, we like to ask how can an all loving God send people to hell but never wonder how an all righteous God allow me, being unrighteous, into heaven. Many times we put God on trial only to realize that we are the ones who are guilty. Isaiah reminds us "All of us, like sheep have gone astray!" We have all separated ourselves from the God who loves us, we all need something, or someone, to bring us atonement, or at-one-ment, with our Creator.
As we continue our series on John's Gospel we come to Jesus' trial before Pilate.
As we read through the story, however, Jesus doesn't really seem to act like the one on trial. If Jesus were truly on trial He should be angry, because He has been falsely accused. Instead, we find that the Jewish leadership, people whom Jesus has not wronged at all, being the angry ones. If Jesus were really on trial, He should be nervous about the verdict, because it could, and does, end in His execution. But Pilate, the one that is supposed to have all the power, is the one who seems nervous. This is madness, right, condemning an innocent man, accusing God of blasphemy, the most ridiculous and shameful thing I have seen.
Until I look in the mirror! I have participated in the mutiny! Three times Pilate speaks the truth. He says, about Jesus, I find not fault in this man. Yet he fails to act on this truth and participates in the greatest crime humanity could commit, he killed God. As we look at these three times Pilate tries to release Jesus I think we can see us and how we try to kill God in our lives. As we see Pilate on trial here, let's consider how sin separates us from our loving creator, and what, or who, can bring about at-one-ment to us. We are going to do this by seeing how the temptation to sin, or separate ourselves from God, begins in our heads, moves to our hands, but is ultimately, a problem of the heart.
In chapter 18 of John the Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate. In their conversation we discover that the problem starts in Pilate's head.
In this conversation, Pilate begins by thinking that he wants the truth, is Jesus a king, is He a threat to Pilate's rule? But during this conversation Jesus says something incredible, as He is want to do. He says, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." To which Pilate says that famous line "What is truth" and walks away, not even waiting for an answer.
We have all been in similar situations, a choice comes to us and, as we contemplate it, we realize the truth. We realize that we must do what is right or what is popular and covenant. Either by action or inaction, we clearly need to make a hard choice. However, what makes it hard is not what is clearly the right thing, instead what makes it difficult is that we know doing the right thing will have consequences we do not like. Pilate clearly knew that Jesus didn't deserve to die, but he didn't like the consequences of freeing Him.
While it is easy to fold our arms and condemn Pilate for not just doing the right thing we have to remember that the dilemma was real. He was a Roman governor and the mob of Jewish leaders that handed Jesus over to him could, very easily, turn into a rioting mob. To say that the higher ups in the Roman government looked down on governors who lost control of their posts would be an understatement. Let's just say that if a riot broke out Pilate would probably want the rioters to get to him before his Roman bosses.
In the same way, for us the dilemma is often very real. We either have to do that which is right, or have people turn against us. Like all of us, Pilate seeks a loop hole saying "I find no fault in this man, I do have a tradition of releasing a prisoner for Passover, what do you think?" I imagine him thinking "Surely they will not tell me to release Barabbas, he's a scoundrel and murder. Then I can get this Jesus out of my hair and not really commit one way or another." When we are confronted with the problem of evil, we often try to shift responsibility. If it is someone else's responsibility, then I do not have to worry about it, we think in our head. We see what's right, we know what's right, we have Jesus right in front of us, but we do not want to commit. In our heads, we choose separation.
Whether it is by the pressure of popular opinion, like what Pilate faced, or the pressure of our own sinful desires, however, not committing ourselves seems less and less of an option.
For Pilate, and for many of us, this leads to moving from our heads trying to find a loop hole to our hands trying to appease others. It was not literally Pilate's hands, it was the hands of his soldiers at his order, but after the mob did the unthinkable and told Pilate to release Barabbas, they took Jesus flogged Him, mocked Him, and put a crown of thorns upon Him. In the Roman world, a flogging was an action done to signify a guilty verdict, but Pilate comes out and says, in verse 4 of chapter 19, "I am bringing Him out to you to let you know I find no case against Him." Why did you flog Him then Pilate?
It's good our actions and words always match up right? We choose separation from God in our heads when His truth is before us and we refuse to commit. However we choose separation in our hands when our actions do not line up with what we believe. Like Pilate, we often do this by giving in, just a little bit at first. Pilate gives into the mob, a little bit, by having Jesus flogged but not crucifying Him. All in hopes that they would be appeased, get it out of their system, so to speak. Often that is how we rationalize our sinful behavior, isn't it?
I see this in bachelor and bachelorette parties. I'm going to completely commit myself to this person, and to celebrate that, I'm going to lust after a whole bunch of other people to get all that desire to wander 'out of my system.' Whether it is giving into internal temptation to sin, like lust at a bachelor party, or external, like Pilate's situation, do we really think that giving into it will work? That's like an alcoholic saying if I just binge drink every once and a while I can keep it under control.
That's part of the problem, we have a false sense of control, that was certainly Pilate's problem.
As we continue to read, we discover Pilate becoming more afraid and Jesus under complete control, even though chaos was erupting around Him. In a last ditch effort to fake control Pilate says to Jesus, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” And Jesus, as He always does, hits him right between the eyes with the truth when saying, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.Therefore the one who handed me over to youis guilty of a greater sin.” In other words, Pilate, you have said "I find no charge against Jesus" three times, but what difference is it making, you are powerless in the struggle. The power that you do have is just a facade.
How many of us are where Pilate is at this point. I can control my sin, I can do this, I just have to assert by power, my will, just a little bit more. Only to find out that you've given in again! You and I do not have power over our sin, anymore than Pilate had the power to release Jesus! The first rule of AA is the same as the first rule of receiving Atonement through Christ Jesus. You and I do not have control over our sin, it has control over us!
We are all sin-oholics . We cannot break sin's grip because it's origin is not in thinking, our heads. Nor is the root of the problem in our hands, what we do. Instead, sin starts as a matter of the heart.
Almost in desperation, Pilate tries to release Jesus, tires to avoid this great evil that he felt forced into doing. He tires this by pleading with the Jewish folks that had handed Him over saying, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests went right for the heart in saying, "We have not king but Cesar!" The Jewish leaders who hated Cesar and Pilate who feared him were willing to give their hearts, their loyalty, to him to get rid of Jesus!
When we are faced with the perfect Holiness and Righteousness of God, we, so often, will give our hearts, we will be loyal to, anything to not have to deal with it. Adam and Eve, our first parents, broke oneness with God by trying to take God's role. They wanted to be as God, making themselves the judge of what is right and wrong. Oneness with God was broken by humanity rebelling by trying to take God's place. Therefore atonement, at-one-ment, is restored by God taking our place.
We sang it this morning, "Because the sinless Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me." How can an all just God possibly allow me into His presence? If we trust in Christ, our crucified Messiah, and Christ alone we discover that in Him it is finished!
In Him we stop trying to find loop holes in our head, stop pretending to have control over what we do with our hands we stop putting God on trial and give Him our hearts! In Christ's crucifixion our sins are atoned for, we are at one with our loving Heavenly Father. The Great judge, looks upon us, with our brokenness, our stains, our guilt and says, "Because of my Son you are innocent, blameless, spotless, even better, you are mine! Because of the cross of Christ you are forgiven!"
Let us pray: Loving Father, bring Your Holy Spirit upon us so we will give more of our hearts to Your Son our Crucified and risen Lord!
Benediction: Let us go forth giving more of our hearts to Christ so He can have more of our lives to reflect His light, life, and atoning, sacrificial love!