You Tube Theology

A service of Good Friday worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "Finished" Opening Excerpt from the Service: (19:59) "Why are we here? Why are we gathered in a grand, gothic building to remember a man who died a criminal's death 2000 years ago on the other side of the world? What on earth has that got to do with us? I had a colleague who had an unfortunate habit of starting meetings by saying, "Why are we here?" It would always lead to an awkward, shuffling silence, in which no one had the courage or the bluntness to say, "I really have no idea, but you called the meeting and we were too polite to think of a good reason not to come." This is a man who'd failed to learn the saying, "Never ask a question to which you might get an answer you don't want to hear." So it takes courage to ask the question, "Why are we here?" We're gathered to recall the most awful event in human history. Let's survey the scene. Here is a naked man. He's been beaten to pulp. He's bleeding hand and foot. His arms are spread-eagled so he can't fight off the flies or wipe away the sweat and the blood. He's practically alone. He's more or less isolated. He's totally humiliated. It's almost impossible to look at a picture of such agony and misery. And at the climax of this ghastly scene, John's gospel tells us, this man says one single word. "Finished." Finished. Think for a moment about the host of meanings of that word. Finished. The dissertation is finally edited and handed in. Finished. The marathon is run and I'm totally done in. Finished. The relationship is over and she's told me she doesn't love me. Finished. The work of art is completed and ready for display. Finished. The counselling has run its course and I can face the world without fear or bitterness or anger. Finished. I've served my sentence and I can come out of prison. Finished. I've been told I've no longer got a job and needn't come back to work. Finished." Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (36:35) "Jesus' final words: "Finished." His life is finished. His ministry's finished. The scriptures are finished. The reconciliation of God and creation is finished. And a host of misconceptions are dispatched at the same time. Jesus isn't a cozy companion. He's not a triumphalist conqueror. He's not a law-abiding do-gooder. He's not legal formula. He's not a heartless onlooker. He's not a pretext for Christian self-satisfaction. All those idolatries are finished. They're snuffed out like a line of candles, one by one. Finished. Finished. Finished. Finished. Finished. Finished. Finished. Everything's finished. Everything's desolate. Everything's laid waste. Everything's lost, except the heart of God laid bare. And if we're not seduced by a comforting savior, if we're not mesmerized by a merciless hero, if we're not domesticated by a model citizen, if we're not obsessed by a mathematical equation, if we're not alienated by a distant deity, if we haven't fled from the cross like most of the church for most of its history, we might just get close enough to glimpse that sacred heart laid bare. And we might just get to read what's written on that heart, pierced and finished from love of us. And we might just believe these words we see written there: 'I swear to you our time has just begun.'"