1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,080 Hello everyone and thanks for tuning in to our sermon here at Trinity Streetsville. 2 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:13,140 Here at Trinity Church Streetsville, we want to share with you sermons that inspire and 3 00:00:13,140 --> 00:00:18,860 encourage you in your faith journey, as together we are learning to love Jesus, live like Jesus 4 00:00:18,860 --> 00:00:21,180 and lead others to Jesus. 5 00:00:21,180 --> 00:00:26,080 Today in this sermon, we continue our series on the last words of Jesus from the cross 6 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:31,160 and are joined with Reverend Peter Mills who will unpack when Jesus cries out, 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,160 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,560 Now before we begin, we'd like to invite you to follow our podcast, check us out on 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:44,600 social media and visit our website at trinitiestreetsville.org. 10 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,880 Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy. 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:47,880 God bless. 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:01:01,560 A reading from Mark chapter 15 verse 29 to 36. 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:10,200 Those who pass by really insult at him, shaking their heads and saying, 14 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:18,160 So you who are going to destroy the temple and building the tree days, come down from 15 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,720 the cross and save yourself. 16 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:27,800 In the same way, the chief priests and the teachers of the law mock him among themselves. 17 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,160 He saved others, they said, but he can't save himself. 18 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:40,880 Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and 19 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:48,520 believe those crucified with him also reap insult of him. 20 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:56,240 And the six hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 21 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:03,240 And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in loud voice, 22 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:12,160 Eloi, Eloi, let my subordinate with me, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 23 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:21,200 When some of those standing here had this day said, listen, he's calling Elijah. 24 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:28,840 One man ran, falling sponge with wine vinegar, putting on a stick and offering to Jesus to 25 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,680 drink the word of the Lord. 26 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,880 Well good morning Trinity Church. 27 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:40,280 I am delighted to be here with you. 28 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,880 Actually I'm over the moon to be here with you. 29 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,200 I can't quite believe that I am here. 30 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,880 In fact, I was thinking on my way here this morning that I'm going to wake up tomorrow 31 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,200 and I'm going to say to my wife, you know what, I had a crazy dream that we went to 32 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,360 Trinity Church and I preached at Trinity Church in Streetsville. 33 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,880 You'd never believe it, but it was great. 34 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:03,880 And why would I say that? 35 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,800 Well, I'm a country person. 36 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,800 I've been serving for the last 16 and a half years. 37 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:18,240 I just retired at early retirement, December 31st, and I've been serving at Country Parish. 38 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,680 And I mean, since COVID, maybe on a good Sunday, we'd have 50 people. 39 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,840 On a really good Sunday, 60 people, you know, so you get the idea. 40 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,920 But I did serve another church too for about 15 of those 16 and a half years. 41 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:33,360 I'm sure you've never heard of Ida. 42 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,440 Has anyone heard of Ida by the way? 43 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,560 No, I'm not surprised at that. 44 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:38,560 Maybe you've heard of Omimi. 45 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:39,560 Has anyone heard of Omimi? 46 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,040 You have one person? 47 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:42,040 Okay, two? 48 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,040 Okay, yeah. 49 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:44,800 I also served Omimi. 50 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:50,080 So I have a cousin who lived her whole life in Toronto, never much above Eglinton Avenue. 51 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,280 She's at two churches? 52 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,320 And I'm not usually very fast at these things, but I think the Lord gave me a little inspiration. 53 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,600 I said, yeah, I said, they give the good ones too. 54 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,240 And then I smiled and a little wink. 55 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,080 And anyway, it's, yeah, where is it? 56 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,140 It's about 15 minutes this side of Peterborough. 57 00:04:10,140 --> 00:04:14,240 So if you're on your way to Peterborough, peel off the 115 before you get to Peterborough 58 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,560 and you'll be about 10 minutes before and you'll be in Cavern. 59 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Maybe you've heard of Cavern. 60 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,200 And Ida is a little group of six houses in Cavern. 61 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,560 If you sneeze, you miss it. 62 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:32,200 So I kind of feel like I've been playing for the Peterborough Peets and I've been invited 63 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:37,600 for a game to come and play for the Toronto Maple Leafs online with Paul Henderson. 64 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,280 I mean, it's living the dream. 65 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:41,440 You know, does it get any better? 66 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:42,440 I don't think so. 67 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,120 Anyway, enough about me. 68 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:47,120 Let's pray. 69 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,240 Shall we always pray before I preach? 70 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,960 I mean, yeah, well, I just need the Lord's grace and mercy. 71 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,360 So Lord, without you, we are not able to please you. 72 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:03,760 Mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts through 73 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,360 Jesus Christ our Lord. 74 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:07,360 Amen. 75 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:13,480 Well, it's good to be here and to be in a church that takes Jesus' words seriously and 76 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,040 especially his words from the cross. 77 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:22,760 You know, a lot of churches talk about many wonderful things, but often they don't talk 78 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:27,520 about the cross or much about the cross or Jesus' crucifixion. 79 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,960 This isn't actually a brand new thing. 80 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:35,000 About 100 years ago, the theologian Richard Niebuhr said he was kind of assessing the 81 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:42,960 situation and he said, it's as though a God without wrath brought people without sin into 82 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:50,640 a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross. 83 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:56,320 And I'm not entirely sure why we do this, but I think part of it is that it's difficult 84 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,540 for us to make sense of the cross. 85 00:05:59,540 --> 00:06:06,240 We try to get our heads and our hearts around it, around Jesus' crucifixion, and you know, 86 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:12,560 well let's face it, it's not all that easy to do. 87 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:20,560 When I was about 19 or 20 years old, before I came to know the grace and mercy of God 88 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,400 in a real intangible way, I was asked to teach Sunday school. 89 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,080 Now you might think that that's not a crazy church. 90 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,320 What kind of church would ask someone who doesn't know really what they believe about 91 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:32,600 God to teach Sunday school? 92 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,160 Well, I think they were desperate, frankly, but you know, then again, I've never really 93 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,840 known a church that's been overrun with Sunday school teachers or people lining up. 94 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:46,640 So anyway, I was teaching this class, I think they were sort of grade one and grade two, 95 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:53,360 and this little girl who was there every week, almost every week would say, Jesus Christ 96 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,160 died for our sins. 97 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,080 And that expression got under my skin in a new way. 98 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:05,020 I mean, I've heard it before, but I thought, what in the world does that mean? 99 00:07:05,020 --> 00:07:08,800 And I started kind of puzzling about it, then I asked other people what it meant, and everyone 100 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,120 kind of scratched their heads when I asked them, well what does it mean to say Jesus 101 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,280 Christ died for our sins? 102 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:25,920 Anyway, I mean, to make a long story short, God used that little six-year-old girl to 103 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:31,640 draw me, to stir up something inside me and to draw me to Himself. 104 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:38,160 And He put His song, as the psalmist says, in my heart and on my lips, and I started 105 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:39,920 singing that song. 106 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:44,920 And I've been singing it for the last 40 plus years, and that's why I became an Anglican 107 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:50,840 minister to help other people come to know the reality of God in Christ. 108 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:56,880 So this morning, we're considering Jesus' words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 109 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:57,880 me? 110 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:04,700 And as I got working on this, reflecting on this and reading some commentaries, I realized 111 00:08:04,700 --> 00:08:08,740 that when I saw the passage, actually, oh my goodness, there are so many wonderful things 112 00:08:08,740 --> 00:08:15,920 in that passage that we just heard read that I said, gee, I think I want to talk a little 113 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,680 bit about that before I get to my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 114 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,600 And I thought, well, I better check with Rob to make sure it's okay. 115 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:23,600 So I sent him a text. 116 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,160 I said, Rob, is it okay if I talk not just about my God, my God, why have you forsaken 117 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,360 me, but the parts leading up to it a little bit? 118 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:32,360 And he said, that's fine. 119 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,120 He said, just don't talk about the other words from the cross. 120 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,920 You know, he didn't want me stealing his thunder from next Sunday's sermon. 121 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:41,040 So I said, no, I won't. 122 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:42,700 I promise. 123 00:08:42,700 --> 00:08:44,560 So I will get there. 124 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:49,760 But I just have a few observations. 125 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,920 You know, the cross is central to Mark's message. 126 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,840 Well, it's central to the Bible's message. 127 00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,920 And you may know this. 128 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:05,420 In all the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, about half of the pages are devoted 129 00:09:05,420 --> 00:09:07,460 to the last week of Jesus' life. 130 00:09:07,460 --> 00:09:12,780 So the first half is for the first three years of his earthly ministry. 131 00:09:12,780 --> 00:09:19,640 And then everything slows way down as Jesus enters Jerusalem, what we call the triumphal 132 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:27,880 entry into Jerusalem, and enters into his passion, which in this context means his suffering, 133 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,120 and is raised victorious. 134 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:37,920 Well, it's an important part of what we believe and the church's teaching. 135 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,800 Jesus warns us that there are troubles ahead. 136 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:42,960 Mark tells us two times of this. 137 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:49,040 He says, Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and 138 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:54,560 be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must 139 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:59,720 be killed and after three days rise again. 140 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,240 And well, this is exactly what happens. 141 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:09,300 Jesus does suffer many things, and he is rejected by the religious and the political leaders. 142 00:10:09,300 --> 00:10:15,240 He's betrayed by Judas, disowned by Peter. 143 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:21,520 And except for a few of the women, everyone deserts him. 144 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:26,700 In our reading, the pastors by taunt him, so look at you now. 145 00:10:26,700 --> 00:10:30,180 You said you would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. 146 00:10:30,180 --> 00:10:33,280 Come down from the cross and save yourself. 147 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,280 And the chief priests and the teachers of the law likewise taunted him and said, he 148 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,600 saved others, but he can't save himself. 149 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:45,360 Let this king come down from the cross. 150 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:50,080 We have our own version of this. 151 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:56,520 When we look at the cross, we're tempted to think, didn't God get carried away? 152 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:01,680 You know, didn't God overplay his hand at this point? 153 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:03,560 Was this really necessary? 154 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:09,920 I mean, do we have to behold this spectacle? 155 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:17,600 Is our sin and rebellion against God so bad that God has to go to this length? 156 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:24,800 Jesus, please, just get down from the cross. 157 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:32,000 And you know, if you think of it, what if he had got down from the cross? 158 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:42,560 What if he called on the heavenly angels to give him this superhuman strength to pull 159 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:53,760 the nails out of the wood that held his hands and his feet, and he steps down from the cross? 160 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:54,760 Imagine that. 161 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:56,720 That would have been pretty special, right? 162 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,760 That would have been pretty spectacular. 163 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,920 No one had ever done that before. 164 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,600 And you know, people would have been impressed. 165 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:14,720 But I doubt that we ever would have heard about Jesus. 166 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:21,280 You see, the Romans crucified thousands of people, and we only know the name of one of 167 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,700 them. 168 00:12:25,700 --> 00:12:29,840 Crucifixion was meant to wipe the people out, wipe them off the face of the earth and their 169 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,240 identity gone. 170 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:38,160 But you know, that wouldn't really be the big thing. 171 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:39,160 We might not have heard of him. 172 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:44,280 But if we did hear of him, we would have thought, well, that's pretty amazing, this guy who 173 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,360 pulled the nails out of the cross. 174 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:54,360 But we would always have that niggling question in the back of our minds. 175 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,760 Could he defeat death? 176 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:02,960 And we'd never know. 177 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:09,120 When I was a kid, I thought of Jesus as a kind of superhero. 178 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,440 Does anyone here remember Batman? 179 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:12,920 I mean the TV show. 180 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,840 I don't even think I watched the movies. 181 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,700 I was, yeah, but the TV show, I loved it. 182 00:13:20,700 --> 00:13:26,780 But what I hated was when they would break up the story halfway through. 183 00:13:26,780 --> 00:13:28,600 And I remember two. 184 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,400 One where Batman is strapped to this conveyor belt and he's going down, down, down. 185 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:38,100 And at the bottom is a big circular saw, a massive circular saw that's spinning around. 186 00:13:38,100 --> 00:13:40,040 And then the screen froze. 187 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,640 And it would say, you know, stay tuned next week or tune in next week. 188 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,520 And I think, oh, brother, I can't wait. 189 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,680 And then another time these walls were coming in on him and going to crush him. 190 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:54,520 And same thing, stay tuned next week. 191 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,960 Well, you know, if you think about Jesus, there are some things that are kind of like 192 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:00,360 a superhero. 193 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:05,200 He's at a big outdoor gathering with a few thousand people. 194 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,000 And they're in need of a lunch in a big way. 195 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,440 And they have five loaves and two fish. 196 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:19,600 And you know, he takes it, he blesses it, he offers it to God and multiplies it. 197 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,080 And you know, then another time he's asleep in the boat. 198 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:24,080 Remember that one? 199 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,640 When there's a big storm that whips up and the disciples are terrified and they wake 200 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:38,360 him from his sleep and Jesus gets up and he commands the wind, be still. 201 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:45,960 And the gospel writers tell us, and the wind stopped and the water became crystal or smooth 202 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,760 as glass. 203 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,120 And then another time, I'll just end with this one. 204 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,800 Every preacher to sermon, some people really ticked off at him and wanted to shove him 205 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,480 over a cliff and he walked through the crowds. 206 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,160 You know, so there are some things that Jesus did that kind of seemed like a superhero. 207 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:11,400 But then there are other ways in which Jesus is very unlike a superhero, rejected by pretty 208 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:16,540 well everyone, stripped of everything he had. 209 00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:22,640 And as we read in the gospel according to Mark, we get on, things are getting darker 210 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:23,840 and darker. 211 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:29,280 The forces of evil are coming against Jesus in a massive way. 212 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:37,120 And in fact, he says, at noon darkness came over the whole land. 213 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:46,000 And then into that darkness, Jesus calls out in Aramaic, the Hebrew dialect, Eloi, Eloi, 214 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:53,080 Lama, Sabak, Thani, which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 215 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,440 Jesus is not only stripped of everything he has, not only rejected by the people around 216 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:05,440 him, he's forsaken, abandoned by his heavenly father, the one to whom he shared the most 217 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:11,600 intimate relationship about whom he said, those who have seen me have seen the father 218 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:16,600 and I and the father are one. 219 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:22,360 And at this point, we are touching a profound mystery. 220 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,480 And you know, actually, the preacher needs to be careful because he can end up in the 221 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:27,480 weeds. 222 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:28,720 Like in the country, we talk about weeds. 223 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,000 Do you talk about that in Mississauga? 224 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:36,640 Yeah, the weeds. 225 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:44,160 I was thinking Elizabeth might have to interview Professor Stratis and do a little theology, 226 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:45,800 remedial theology. 227 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,000 You know, I hope not. 228 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:48,000 I hope not. 229 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,880 But I know that that could be kind of plan B, perhaps. 230 00:16:51,880 --> 00:17:01,200 I'll just offer this word of caution about a crude caricature of the cross that we sometimes 231 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:06,840 hear that depicts an angry father who needs to inflict pain and suffering on his son in 232 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,000 order to save us. 233 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,160 Paul says, not so. 234 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:17,820 God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. 235 00:17:17,820 --> 00:17:20,840 On the cross, God was in Christ. 236 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:27,600 On the cross, God offers himself in Jesus Christ for the sins of the whole world. 237 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:36,080 And yet, at the same time, to do this, Jesus enters the deepest, darkest place of suffering 238 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:40,880 and alienation known to humankind. 239 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,680 The reformer John Calvin believed that when Jesus cries, my God, my God, why have you 240 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,680 forsaken me, he enters hell. 241 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,360 You know, as it says in the creeds, the Christian creeds, he descended to hell. 242 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:57,960 Well, Calvin said, I mean, he was still on the cross, but in one sense, he enters hell. 243 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:06,080 This total separation from and alienation from God the Father. 244 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:12,760 And while there is much debate among the theologians about what actually happens to Jesus at this 245 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:22,360 point, they all agree that Jesus experienced separation and alienation from God the Father. 246 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:30,320 You see, if Jesus has come to save us, and he has, he has to come all the way to do so. 247 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:38,880 Apart from God's kindness and graciousness to us in Christ, we are alienated from God. 248 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:44,240 And in order to save us, Jesus enters this place of alienation. 249 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:53,760 He goes to the very bottom of human existence and experience in order to raise us up from 250 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,760 this alienation. 251 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:03,600 In his cry, Jesus is quoting the first line from Psalm 22. 252 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,720 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 253 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:06,720 That's right. 254 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:08,440 That's how Psalm 22 begins. 255 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,400 And he got thinking, why would Jesus quote this Psalm? 256 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,240 Why wouldn't he go on to Psalm 23? 257 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:17,600 You know, much more famous. 258 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,080 The Lord is my shepherd. 259 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:20,280 I shall not want. 260 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,080 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. 261 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,600 And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil 262 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,000 for thou art with me. 263 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:34,720 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 264 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:35,720 Wouldn't that be better? 265 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:43,360 Wouldn't that be a more faith-filled Psalm for our Savior to pray? 266 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:49,200 That, you know, who am I to tell Jesus what to pray? 267 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:58,640 And besides, Jesus' prayer is the honest prayer of one who has experienced the complete absence 268 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,120 of God. 269 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:07,280 And honest prayer is faithful prayer. 270 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,960 We don't serve anyone by glossing over things, you know. 271 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:17,280 I hope Trinity Church isn't a place where things just get glossed over. 272 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:22,400 You know, I hope it's a place where if you're going through the valley of the shadow of 273 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,080 death, you can say, you know, someone says, how are you? 274 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:27,080 All fine. 275 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:32,480 You know, it used to drive me bonkers in the church when people would say that, when you 276 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:39,440 knew or you kind of had suspicions that things weren't that great, you know. 277 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:46,400 We need to be honest with God and with each other, that Jesus was. 278 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,920 And the truth is, there are times in life when we feel abandoned by God. 279 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:57,560 We look around at the chaos of the world, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to name two. 280 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:02,520 I remember when I was in university, my professor said at any one time there were about 30 armed 281 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,480 conflicts going on in the world. 282 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,640 I don't think that's changed much in the last 30 years or so. 283 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:15,640 But anyway, you know, we look around and we see the chaos and we wonder, has God abandoned 284 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:16,640 us? 285 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:22,360 We see the rising numbers of homeless people on our streets and we wonder, what's going 286 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:23,480 on? 287 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:28,400 And we hear of the rise of mental illness among the young people. 288 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,400 We say, God, what's going on? 289 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,480 And a marriage is on the rocks. 290 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:40,920 And instead of going to a marriage counselor, always the best thing, really the only thing 291 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:50,920 to do, the high-priced lawyers are called and it's a fight to the bitter end. 292 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:56,360 At times it seems as though God has abandoned us. 293 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:00,200 And at this point, it makes perfect sense to pray. 294 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,720 God, where are you? 295 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,160 What's going on? 296 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,400 Why have you abandoned me? 297 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,580 But that is not the end of our prayer. 298 00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:15,560 It's the beginning of our prayer and maybe the middle of our prayer, but it's not the 299 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:21,360 end of our prayer because Jesus has gone before us. 300 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:27,680 He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, as we're told in Hebrews. 301 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:37,240 He goes before us and he enters that place of total abandonment so that in our times 302 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,600 of desolation, we would meet him there. 303 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:49,440 And our Psalm 22 prayer, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, would be turned into 304 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,120 our Psalm 23 prayer. 305 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:58,720 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou 306 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,400 art with me. 307 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:08,840 Jesus cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, takes us to the heart of God's saving 308 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:16,240 work in Christ and speaks to the sacrificial nature of Jesus' death on the cross when 309 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:21,920 he enters the place of complete abandonment by his heavenly Father. 310 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:31,720 And since Jesus has been rejected and abandoned, he's able to meet us in those dark times when 311 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:36,160 we feel rejected and abandoned. 312 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:44,280 And in meeting us there, he assures us of his good and loving purposes for us from which 313 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,240 we will never be separated. 314 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:56,840 As St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans after reflecting deeply on Jesus' death for 315 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:07,280 us sinners, he says, in view of all that God has done for us, I am convinced that neither 316 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:17,040 death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor 317 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:24,920 any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate 318 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:32,360 us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 319 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:33,360 Thanks be to God. 320 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:34,360 Amen. 321 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:40,360 Thank you so much for joining us and we hope that you enjoyed what you heard today. 322 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:45,800 Make sure to come back next week as we continue our series on famous last words. 323 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:51,040 Today's sermon was taken from the March 10, 2024 service at Trinity Church, Streetsville 324 00:24:51,040 --> 00:25:18,280 in Mississauga, Ontario.