Good Friday: What's Good About It?

 Good Friday, March 29, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

“Where the Tower Still Stands”

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

A day when justice, or what little there was of it, failed … and with bogus allegations, and political machinations between the religious authorities of the city and the ruling political party overseen by Pilate, the Roman Governor, Jesus was tried and convicted, and sentenced to death.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

Judas had betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, roughly $600 … Peter had denied knowing him, and when the nails were driven into the hands and feet of Jesus, the men disappeared as quickly as they could, and who could blame them?

But it was the women who remained … was it safer for them? I suppose so; they remained, and it was the women who returned to the tomb early Sunday morning to finish the proper burial rights.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

The two thieves, likely insurgent rebels fighting against the Roman occupiers, hung on either side of Jesus - one was broken and belligerent, the other, mindful and respectful … and there’s Jesus in the middle, between these two dynamics, these two realities, anger and hope … 

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

Jesus there in the middle … receiving into his very own soul and body the anger and brokenness of the world … and the hopes and dreams, too - the worst of it, the best of it … both needing Jesus - to redirect the anger and shore up the hope. Jesus takes it all upon his shoulders, to give the world a second chance, a third and fourth chance, as many chances as is needed to bring the light into focus, to find ourselves and the goodness within our souls.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

A time to look at the cross and ponder the suffering of our world, a suffering that God takes up within God’s own being and heart and soul … and with all of that hurt and sorrow, all of that sin and shame, God dies … there is nothing God shuns about the human journey, from birth to death, and everything in between, to fulfill the promise, that God is at work in ALL THINGS, for good. 

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

To consider Jesus and what he says and does … his kindness to all in need, his challenge to the rich and the powerful … his tireless work, and when he was tired and needed some rest, he went to the hills, the wilderness, there to find rest, peace, refreshment … there, in the hills, the wilderness, to find God, his Father, our Father, your Father … the Father of us all … the Mother of us all … the Mother who gives us birth, the Mother who feeds our soul, the Mother who weeps with us, and laughs with us.

Our Mother, Our Father, our God … Our Savior.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

What’s good is you … and your quest for meaning, for purpose, for life. God is present in all things in your life - ALL THINGS - at work, clearing the way, opening doors, closing others, pointing there and speaking tenderly to your soul.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want!

To God all things, and in all things, God!