“Final Words from the Cross - Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise” Luke 23: 32, 39-45

The gospel of Luke is my favorite gospel. I know that some people like the parables of Matthew, or the quick moving action of Mark. Others like the beautiful wording and miracles of the gospel of John. But for me, I have always been partial to the gospel of Luke, because here we see time after time Jesus’s compassion for humanity. His deep concern for people. 

Since Jesus arrived on earth, fully human and fully divine, he had done certain things - he has wanted to teach about the Kingdom of God, pointing people to the love of God. He has wanted to show them how to live in a way that honors God. And he has wanted to save them.

However, just like so long ago, sometimes those of us inside of the church have forgotten how Jesus did these things. Or rather, how Jesus went about them has made us uncomfortable. For Jesus associated with sinners. It is how he was able to show them the saving love of God. He broke bread with them. He made them know that they were the beloved of God and that God cared about them. In a world where every one else defined them as a sinner or a nobody, Jesus cared about them.

As I stated that made some people back them, and some people today, very nervous. We want people to come and meet Jesus inside of the church building. We want people to be like us when they come to know Jesus. Anything else can make us feel a bit uncomfortable at times. 

At my last parish I would spend an hour on Sunday evenings in a local pub. I didn’t drink but I sat down with a glass of lemonade or dinner and a big sign offering prayer. I always identified myself as a pastor, and as a result I had some amazing conversations with folks. Sometimes about their struggles in life. Sometimes about the heartache that made them leave the church. Sometimes about their spirituality. And I would always offer to pray with them, which no one refused.

However, even though I told folks in the church about the ministry and why I felt a call to go into a local place to pray for people and meet them where they are at, some folks still got uncomfortable. It didn’t seem like the proper thing for a pastor to do and they wished their church wouldn’t be associated with it. 

Jesus didn’t believe that the good news of the Kingdom of God was contained only to the synagogues. And he didn’t believe that only some people deserved to hear about God’s love and forgiveness. No, he went out to where the people were and connected with them in such a way that they say the love of God and were open to hearing about God in a way that made sense to them.

The problem with waiting for people to come to us in the church is that it is intimidating. When people do not have a person who has invited them to come, and even if they do have a connecting point, it is scary to walk through these doors. To not know the order of worship or to understand the scriptures that are being talked about or the words that are being sung. Sometimes that it hard for us to remember because church has become so normal for us - but it is not for folks who are outside of the family of God. 

Because of Jesus’s deep concern for the lost, it is not surprising that even as he is nearing his death on the cross he is given the opportunity to share the love of God with folks that do not yet know. In this evenings scripture we find that there are two other folks who hung on the left and right of Jesus. Our english translation say that they were “two criminals” but it the Greek of the gospel of Luke they were defined much more harshly as “those who do evil works.” In the gospel of Matthew and Mark which also tell this passage, they are said to be “armed robbers.” These were men who had done harm to others. 

One of the men tried to get the crowd to join him in belittling Jesus, by saying if you are the Christ you should save yourself! But the other man replied that Jesus did not deserve the punishment he was receiving, even though they were. They had committed crimes. Jesus had not. Then he, in an act of faith, turned to Jesus and asked him to remember him when he was in his Kingdom. We see these two same responses today. Those who mock Jesus, not understanding him. Afraid of him even. And those who want to receive the grace and salvation that he has to offer.

Jesus wants to save, brothers and sisters! He told the criminal that had faith that he would be with Jesus even that very day in paradise! Do we have the heart of Jesus for those who are lost? Do we feel that it is important to reach out to those who do not yet know Jesus? Or are we afraid of how people will react? In the words of Pastor Adam Hamilton, “What would happen if every one of us who professes to be a Christian would reach out to those who are list and show them love and compassion in Jesus’ name? How would the world change?”

Friends, we need to constantly be thinking of ways to get outside of the church building and go to where the people we. We need to be thinking of ways to share the love of Christ in tangible ways so people as to know more about our Lord and Savior. We need to go to the places in the in world and yes, even right here in our community, where people are hurting and model Jesus for them, by doing what he did - eating with them, getting to know their story, praying with them, and above all caring about them. Let us be the people willing to risk everything so more people can hear the words of Jesus from the cross, “Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise.” Amen.