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Sermon April 2, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Good Friday
http://lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/GoodFri_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Good_Friday__April_2__2021
Video: https://youtu.be/EuNZl2vXCUE
Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” John 19:4
Earlier this week, I read a story that brought tears to my eyes. On March 23, there was a terrible fire at an assisted living center in Spring Valley, NY. Fire was racing through the facility. One of the first volunteer firefighters on the scene was Jared Lloyd. He had more than 15 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter.
He went into the blaze trying to make sure that no one was trapped. Unfortunately, he got trapped. He sent a Mayday call just before the building collapsed upon him.
Once the fire was out, firefighters found the body of Mr. Lloyd and were removing it from the rubble. One of the firefighters remembered that Mr. Lloyd’s son, Logan, was turning 6 the very next day. Logan had asked if a fire truck could come by his house.
Mr. Lloyd’s colleagues began making calls to other fire companies in the region to see if they could come by with their trucks for Logan’s birthday. Here’s what was reported in the news story.
“Logan, who was still absorbing his father’s death, didn’t know if any fire truck was coming for his birthday, Chief Conjura said. But as the huge procession of vehicles left the lot and headed to the boy’s street, Chief Conjura told Logan to come outside.
It was gray and rainy, and the sound of the sirens came first.
Then the vehicles arrived, a long, snaking river of flashing red, white and blue lights through the streets of Nanuet.
The vehicles seemed to stretch for miles — fire engines from Monsey, police cars from Orangetown, ambulances from Stony Point, dump trucks from MCM Paving & Excavation from West Haverstraw — and so many more from so many places.
Logan watched as the vehicles rolled by his house for more than 40 minutes, stopping occasionally so firefighters could hand him presents.
On a day of mourning and loss, the procession, Chief Conjura said, was about answering a call to service.
“It just speaks about firefighters — even in their darkest moments, they shine,” he said. “They get together and make things happen. That’s what the volunteer fire service is all about: picking each other up.”
I would say, the fire service is also about deep love. The love of Jared Lloyd who would go into a fire to rescue someone he did not know. And over fifteen years, he had done it time and time again. He gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life out of deep love.
And that’s what Jesus did. Pilate even said over and over that he found no crime that Jesus committed. The crimes were fabricated and made up. The real crime if you ask me, was that Jesus kept preaching a new way to live. Jesus was telling people, telling us, even, that we needed to change the way we are living. Jesus was upending the hierarchies we create about who is worthy. Jesus was upending the way we judge others. Jesus was upending the stories we tell each other about people living in poverty. Jesus was lovingly telling us how to build a new earth…new communities…new ways to live with each other.
And they, dare I say, we didn’t and don’t like it. Please be quiet, Jesus. We’ve developed a way of living and we want to keep it that way. We really don’t want to know if our way of living is causing harm. The way you want us to live, Jesus, is just too hard. We don’t always understand how to do it.
So we yell with the crowd, “Crucify Him.” We witness the injustice in our systems and society during our own lifetimes and we yell, “Crucify Him.” Because it’s just too hard for us to hear.
Yet, there are glimpses of the life Jesus was teaching us to live. There are glimpses in the ways we care for each other. Members of our parish have gone through some tough times and we rally round. We pray. We provide support. We provide love. We try to stay in touch and at the same time love each other so much that we will not risk spreading the coronavirus. We respond to what is happening around us in compassionate, caring and loving ways.
Jesus loved us so much that he would not denounce his teachings. He would not even speak to correct the misrepresentations presented against him. He would not stop loving us, no matter what.
And every day there are things we do to show that deep love of God to others. Of course, most of us are not firefighters like Mr. Lloyd. Yet, when we read about his story and then about how so many came together to care for his young son, it touches our hearts. It reminds us of the deep, abiding love God has for us. It reminds us that the powers of the state and the crowds could not kill the message of love that Jesus taught.
Amen.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/us/Rockland-county-parade-fire-logan-lloyd.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/nyregion/evergreen-nursing-home-fire-spring-valley.html
