Raul Garcia III

November 20, 2017

Christ the King Sunday

Twenty Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Let us Pray:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you my Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” That statement that Jesus says as he is hanging on the cross kind of hits me in the heart because it reminds me of the sinner/saint that I am. It is in our humanness we sin but it is with Jesus hanging on that cross that makes us saints as Jesus took those sins away from us as he died on that cross. But when we really think about it and read about the two people whom were crucified next to Jesus. Which side of Jesus are we on? Are we the person on the cross on his left or his right? One was denying His guilt, while the other one admitted he was wrong. One was sorry for being a thief and the other was sorry for getting caught. Some people aren’t sorry for what they have done, they are sorry for being caught.

There was a criminal hanging there throwing insults at Jesus. The other criminal confessing that his punishment is just but why are you punishing this innocent man. One realized his condition, the other was blind to his condemnation.

Like the men that were hanging on the crosses next to Jesus. We can say to ourselves, “Forgive us Father for we not know what we are doing.” Sometimes we truly don’t know what we are doing. We can be either one of these people hanging on the cross next to Jesus in our faith journey during our life. We get lost on our faith journey. We are sinners and we are not perfect. We are far from it. We just need to ask God/Jesus to come into our life. Sometimes we forget that it is easy to do. This past week in confirmation with our 9th graders we talked about our own faith story. How many of us can tell someone our own faith story? What events or people are key in your life that help shape their faith life.

Even in His misery, Jesus had mercy when one of the men hanging on the cross next to Him decided to believe in him.  

Sometimes we have to be reminded about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Having things to remind us about Jesus or events in our lives is a great thing. Have you ever saved an item from a special event and place it in a box? So when you open this box up it brings you back to something great. I have this box I keep in my chest of drawers and there are some things in this box that bring good memories.

Let’s open my box and let you see a little bit into my life. I have a couple crosses from when I worked at bible camp, funny whistle that I used in college, a pack of gum that my girlfriend gave me who is my wife now long ago that says, This is for you because you are so sweet, my brothers swiss army knife, ring pack for the ring I bought, how many of you remember what these are?, floppy disks, blockbuster card, and a rosary that was a gift from Pope John Paul II. All these things are great memories and have a piece of my faith journey attached to them. Our church, Family of God, does something special every Sunday. This special tradition, or sacrament, is Communion. Jesus wanted to leave us something tangible behind so we can remember Him and be a part of our faith journey. Just like the crinkets I have in my box, Jesus wanted us to add something in our life box. His body broken for us and His blood shed...for us. Communion helps us recognize and remember who Jesus is and that He is with us as we worship.

We always need these reminders. There are so many distractions that cause us to lose focus on what really matters in life. Communion briefly reminds us that real life doesn’t revolve around us, but around an incredible, simple act of love Jesus did on that cross long ago.

Thank goodness for those 11 words that Jesus says as He hung on the cross. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

The Good news is, the very good news is that our God is a gracious God. By having faith in Christ, we gain access to all of what God has to offer us in his treasures of joy, peace and eternal life. He will always forgive us and give us a new life through His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.