Sermon for 3/13/24: Midweek Lent 4 (Psalm 22 series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

Not Far Off After All
Psalm 22:19-24

Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

There’s an old and not-so-nice story about a father who is teaching his son about trust. The father has his son stand on a kitchen counter and then says to him, “Jump, and Daddy will catch you.” His son says to him, “No, you won’t. You’ll let me fall.” “I’ll catch you!” the father insists. “Just jump!” The son says, “But Daddy, I’m scared!” The father replies, “Don’t you trust your Daddy, son? I promise I’ll catch you.” This went back and forth for a few minutes, the father holding out his hands to his son, and the son scared of what his father will do either way. Finally the son lifts his eyes toward the ceiling in surrender and says, “Okay, Daddy. Here I come.” The son gathers himself and takes a mighty leap towards his father. As soon as his son’s feet leave the counter, the father steps back, and he watches as his son hit the floor hard. The son, crying, says, “You promised, Daddy. You promised you’d catch me.” The father replies, “This will teach you not to trust anybody.”

          I have no idea whether or not this is a true story—I hope it’s just a tale told to scare children—but it brings forth the point. We are conditioned from an early age to doubt everyone. If it’s not a story like this, then it’s a story of betrayal, a time when a friend or brother did something wrong and then blamed you for it. Maybe it’s the teammate that missed the last-minute shot. Maybe it’s the parent that forgot about the piano recital. Or it could be the mentor who said what you didn’t want to hear. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be a cruel action. But we take these things very personally, and eventually we think that the only person we can rely on is ourselves.

          At first glance, the Psalm that we have been looking at these past four weeks seems like another story of a trust betrayed. The Son of God is hanging on the cross, dehydrating, bleeding, suffocating, dying. The taunt earlier from the antagonists was this: “He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!” The innocent, sinless Son of God cries out for that rescue, that deliverance, and yet He remains nailed to that cross. The Son of God was seemingly betrayed by His own Father! Is there nobody that can be trusted? Can we not trust even God? Is it true that He merely “watching us from a distance,” as Bette Midler would claim?

          Up to this point in the Psalm, we see the psalmist crying out for deliverance for his body and his soul. “But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” And up to this point, we have no indication at all that God was even listening to these pleas. But then the whole tone of the Psalm changes. We see the psalmist singing the praises of the Lord. Why the sudden change?

          Looking at our Lord as He hung upon the cross, it’s not immediately obvious what has happened. But if you look closely, you see the change in attitude there, as well. Look at what He says there. First He cries out to the Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He cries out that He is thirsty. He is making very human pleas for help and deliverance. But at the end we see Him finally crying out, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” This is no longer a cry for help, but a cry that He has been delivered, and that, through Him, we have been delivered. Jesus knows that He has not been betrayed by the Father, or else He would not be able to commit His spirit to the Father. The Father has not betrayed Him. The Father knew was necessary all along, and He did exactly what was necessary all along.

          You can see it in the Psalm. It says, “He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.” What was the affliction of Jesus? He was afflicted by our sin. We were the cause of Christ’s affliction on the cross. Were it not for us, there would be no reason for Him to be on the cross. He had no sin of His own to atone for; He hung there for our sake, bearing all our sins, suffering the wrath of God which humanity had earned in our sin—the wrath we so rightly deserved.

Have we been betrayed by God? No, never: not His Son, and certainly not us. Even in the darkest moment, even in the pain and suffering of Jesus Christ, even when He rightly should have done so, God did not turn away from us. “He has not hidden His face from Him, but has heard when He cried to Him.” He never turned away from His Son, and He has not hidden His face from us. “O Lord, do not be far off.” And He’s not. He is not watching us from a distance, leaving us to wallow in our own filth, leaving us to bear our shame and scorn. Thanks be to God, for He is always near to us. He is always with us, bringing us the comfort of sins forgiven, bringing us the joy of eternal life in His presence. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.