How Do You Measure Success

Sermon-Year B-Palm Sunday-April 5, 2009

The Cloud of Unknowing,
"O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.
I mentioned last week that my 40th high school reunion is coming up. I have been in touch with several people from my past that I have not talked to or even really thought about in 4 decades. I told you that almost every telephone conversation/e-mail begins the same way-“so what have you been doing with your life?” What do you say in a few sentences to sum up your life? The thing is-when you start trying to sum up your life-no matter what you’ve accomplished or achieved-it all sounds so- trivial, so small. Nothing that we seem to do in our lives seems significant. The thing I keep wondering as I talk to these people-how do you measure a successful life? What metrics do you use? How do decide whether your life has been worthwhile or not? What does a successful life look like? And then I start wondering-what have I been doing with my life?

Do you know that the most important person in the life of the early church, St. Paul, never talks about Jesus’ ministry? Paul never mentions the miracles, the healings, the teachings, the feeding of the 5000, the birth at Bethlehem, the calming of the storm, the raising of Lazarus. Paul never talks about any of that. You know what he writes about Jesus in his 13 letters? The crucifixion and resurrection. For him, everything else is secondary. Let me give you some statistics
There are 4 gospels: Matthew Mark, Luke, and John. “Matthew is 28chapters long—the last 8 chapters are about this week. Mark has 16 chapters—6 chapters are about this week. Luke is 24 chapters long and 6 of those 24 are about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel of John has 10 of his 21 chapters dedicated to the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are 89 chapters in the 4 Gospels combined; 30 tell about the death and resurrection. Thirty of eighty-ninety! That means that approximately one third of the Gospels focus on one week of Jesus’ life.”

Think about this story. Do you see any victory, any triumph at all in it? Jesus was a Jew-the Jewish authorities conspired to have him killed. Jesus proclaimed that true authority came from God-and yet the earthly rulers put him to death. He was supposed to be so popular with the people-yet the people preferred Barrabas’ release over his. We never hear of Jesus breaking any laws, yet he is put to death in the most humiliating way possible with petty thieves. He is stripped of all dignity, his clothes, his life. He has a dedicated band of 12 friends who abandon him when he needs them the most. Is there any victory in this death? Do you see any triumph for Jesus at all in this story?
Many years ago while I was traveling in Germany, I went to Munich. Just outside of town is the first concentration camp built by the Nazis in 1933, Dachau. About 250,000 people were put to death in Dachau, but it was especially famous as the camp for Christian religious prisoners- at least 3,000 preachers, deacons, priests, and bishops were imprisoned there. When I was there in 1976, an old man was giving tours of the camp. He told us about the camp and the atrocities there in heavily accented English. And at the end of the tour he revealed that he had been a prisoner there-and he was a Lutheran pastor. I’ll never forget how he ended his talk. “Everything was taken from us, everything. We were stripped of all that gave us human dignity.” And there was a long pause, and he concluded, “And so we were left only with divine dignity.”
Jesus went to the cross because that is what he had to do. There was no other way to show the depth of his love, the complete identification with us, the limits of human power. Anything less that a dishonorable and final death would never have done it. Jesus had to give up every shred of dignity, every scrap of power , if we were ever going to believe that God was truly one with us. This is what had to happen, this is what Jesus had to do. He had to lose everything, and become just like us at death.
So often when I am in a hospital praying, in my mind I keep repeating over and over as my prayer, “God give this person a little more time, a little longer, one more chance at life.” Do you ever do this as you hear this story? Wanting it just this once to end differently?
How do you measure a successful life? Dianne Bergant, C.S.A. a professor of biblical studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago once wrote “why do we call this week “holy”? Is it because of the suffering that took place? No. “Rather, it is holy because of the inexplicable and immeasurable love that prompted that suffering.”
This is the only way God could show his unconditional love for us-to give up his only Son in such a humiliating, and human way. This is the story we hear, this is the story we tell. That God was willing to give up everything,everything, so we would finally, and irrevocably know his love for us. This is the story of Jesus’ suffering and death, it is the gift of love. Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler once wrote
In the 14th century a woman living in Norwich, England, Julian, had a series of visions and conversations with God. One of them was of Jesus on the cross. She saw him and asked the question "why," the question of the meaning of this in a direct way. The response was also clear and direct. "Would you know your Lord's meaning in this thing? Know it well; love was his meaning. "Who reveals it to you?" Love. "What did he reveal to you?" Love. "Why does he reveal it to you?" For love. Remain in this, and you will know more of the same.
How do we assess, how do we describe, how do we live a successful life? According to today’s story, there is only one way-not by it’s length, not by it’s wealth, not by the number of friends, not by how much, or how many or how far or how furious or how fast. According to this story that we call holy and sacred, the only way to measure if a life is successful, is how much love there is. The only way to measure Jesus’ life at its end is to figure out whether we see failure-or whether we see love.


Mark 15:1-39, (40-47)
15:1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
15:2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so."
15:3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things.
15:4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you."
15:5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
15:6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.
15:7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.
15:8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.
15:9 Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?"
15:10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over.
15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
15:12 Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?"
15:13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!"
15:14 Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!"
15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
15:16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.
15:17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.
15:18 And they began saluting him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
15:19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.
15:20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
15:21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
15:22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).
15:23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
15:24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
15:25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.
15:26 The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews."
15:27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.
15:29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,
15:30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!"
15:31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself.
15:32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
15:33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
15:34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
15:35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah."
15:36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down."
15:37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
15:38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
15:39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"
15:40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
15:41 These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
15:42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
15:44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time.
15:45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.
15:46 Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.
Isaiah 50:4-9a
50:4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens-- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
50:5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
50:6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
50:7 The Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
50:8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
50:9a It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Philippians 2:5-11
2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
2:8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.
2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
2:11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.