He Saves Others

Sermon from April 1, 2012

(Palm Sunday – Year B)

Mark 14:32-15:39

St. Albans’s Episcopal Church, Waco, Texas

He saved others.

He cannot save himself.

The crowd, the congregation, makes this accusation of Jesus as he hangs on his cross.

The crowd taunts Jesus by saying:

“He saved others.

He cannot save himself.

Let him come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.”

He saved others.

Yet he cannot save himself.

Yes, that’s right.

Jesus did not – and Jesus does not – save himself.

Because Jesus saves others.

Jesus is saving you.

And Jesus is saving me.

At St. Alban’s over the last several weeks, we have learned that we are being saved.

In the Book of Acts, which we studied during the season of Epiphany, we learned that the very earliest followers of Jesus described themselves as:

“Those who are being saved.”

We have learned that this phrase:

“Those who are being saved”

Has a different nuance to it than:

“Those who were saved.”

Being saved is not only a one-time event.

But being saved is a journey.

For salvation – the healing of our souls and bodies – is both a one-time event on the cross.

And being saved is a journey, a journey of becoming healed and whole.

During this season of Lent, we invited 3 lay people each Sunday, people just like you, to make a presentation during Sunday School, each answering the question in their own lives:

How am I being saved?

And we heard 12 people share compelling and calming and challenging stories.

We heard 12 stories of how Jesus does not come down from the cross to save himself.

We heard 12 different stories about how Jesus is saving others.

And on Sunday evenings in Lent, we invited five pastors in our city, mainly of the Baptist variety, to speak to us in our Lenten Speaker series.

All of them shared with us about how they are being saved by Jesus.

In each of their stories, our guest speakers shared how their salvation and healing comes from the one-time event on the cross of Jesus.

And they are being saved in a journey, a journey of becoming healed and whole.

In each of their stories, Jesus is saving others, rather than saving himself.

And now, as we approach the end of Lent, I want to share how I am being saved.

For I am being saved, each and every day that I encounter Jesus on his cross.

Particularly, I am being saved by this drama that we just experienced, the drama of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For in hearing of the last days of Jesus on this earth, I am being saved when I hear about the followers of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus pleads with his sleepy followers:

“Can’t you stay awake with me for even one hour?”

And I know that, in my own life, my mind and attention wanders from Jesus constantly.

To give Jesus my undivided attention, for even an hour, can be difficult.

Yet I am being saved because Jesus understands my human weakness.

Jesus still loves me, despite my wanderings from him.

And that is how I know that I am being saved.

I am being saved when I listen to Peter, his impetuous follower, deny Jesus.

Not only does Peter deny Jesus, but Peter denies him three times.

Yet I am being saved because Jesus understands the denials and betrayals of this life.

Jesus still loves me, despite my denials and betrayals.

And that is how I know that I am being saved.

I am being saved when I hear the crowd around Jesus shout “Hosanna!” as they wave palm branches.

And the same crowd then succumbs to mob mentality as their cries switch quickly to “Crucify him!”

Yet I am being saved because Jesus understands that I can be easily influenced by others, saying whatever it takes just to get along.

Jesus still loves me, despite my desire to please others around me.

And that is how I know that I am being saved.

And I am being saved when I hear the last words of Jesus on his cross, as Jesus groans:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

On the cross, Jesus experiences the depth of human pain and suffering, feeling lonely and rejected.

And I am being saved because Jesus understands my own feelings of loneliness and rejection.

Jesus still loves me, despite my own cries of:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

And that is how I know that I am being saved.

While Jesus hangs on his cross, the crowd taunts him saying:

“He saved others.

He cannot save himself.”

Thank God that Jesus does not save himself.

Thank God that Jesus saves others.

On the cross, Jesus still loves you

And he still loves me.

And that is how I know - that I am being saved.