The Faces of Our Faith: Joseph of Arimathea Psalm 22, Luke 23:44-56

©Rev. David Carter Florence Swarthmore Presbyterian Church August 19, 2018

Today we started with some of the lowest moments in Christian scripture: Psalm 22 and the Luke’s story of the death of Jesus. You may not have expected these scripture readings to day. We’re a small gathering . . . in the home stretch of summer . . . with preseason marching band and sports practices starting. People are spending their last vacation days in the Adirondacks, the Poconos and the shore, and there’s kind of a fire sale on vacations as we run out to catch the last weekend away before we buy-in to overflowing fall calendars. I was also looking for a way to bring some humor into the space, but just couldn’t find it.

And here we pause . . . with the death of Jesus. As Meghan and I considered hymns, and the placement of music in the service, we knew we needed some gravity in the music . . . but on the Lord’s Day, even as we remember the death of Jesus, we reach forward remembering the hopes and promises of the Gospel.

The Bible does not end here as a tragedy, though this tragedy informs everything we do. The death of Jesus is the beginning of the story of the Christianity. Our music in the second half of the service moves us beyond the grave to consider what we do in the world – remembering that God’s goodness is eternal as we “Praise God for this Holy Ground” and a reminder that our work in the kingdom of God moving forward is holy work in “Heaven Shall Not Wait.”

Luke’s account of Jesus death has some surprises and, as we often note, he is always teaching about an old message being brought to everyone in a new world. As the sun’s light is extinguished and the curtain of the Temple is ripped in two, Jesus cries from the cross his last words. But what follows is not what you would expect. The first response to the death of Jesus does not come from one of his disciples, his family members of even a secret follower. It comes from a Roman centurion. The Romans were the enemy – the ones who just killed Jesus and ironically, this Roman centurion is the first one to praise God, and says, “Certainly this man was innocent. He was righteous.”

Luke’s irony continues as the “the crowds” (presumably the same ones who called for the death of Jesus) who were out for the spectacle, returned home, but now, instead of feeling joyous about their accomplishment of getting Jesus crucified, … now they are beating their breasts. And those whom you would expect to be beside him, the ones who stood by him for years, (all of Jesus’ friends) stood at a distance. . . leaving Jesus alone on the cross.

Luke’s irony continues with the story of Joseph of Arimathea. He is the one person who doesn’t stay at a distance, but steps forward to take Jesus’ body -- a member of the very council, the Sanhedrin, which called for the death of Jesus. Not only did he try to stop the death of Jesus, but he approached the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, to ask for the body.

He stepped forward at great risk. Then he moved into the legally unclean activity of carrying the body of Jesus and wrapping it in linen cloth. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and watched as Joseph laid Jesus in the tomb, then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. It appears that Joseph of Arimathea was one who was courageous. The rest that we know about him is mostly legend and tradition.

In our summer sermon series as we explore some of the lesser known characters of the Bible. It feels a bit like we may be moving through the minor leagues. The Biblical writers give us glimpses of these figures, but we just don’t know that much about them from the scripture itself.

You’re probably familiar with all the legends and traditions about Joseph of Arimathea. When you Google him, he’s everywhere, from the legend of the Holy Grail and King Arthur, including Monty Python’s version, to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, to the latest British Commonwealth Games Rugby song.

He may have been an uncle of Jesus, and as a tin merchant, he may have taken Jesus on a trip or two to England to buy tin! Then, after the burial of Jesus, he may have obtained the chalice, the communion cup, also known as the Holy Grail, and taken it to Glastonbury, where he may have become the first Bishop of Christianity! These stories and the William Blake poem that relates to them are so popular that they are now the most popular hymn in England. The unofficial English anthem! William Blake’s imagination rendered the amazing poem, Jerusalem, in which he opens with a picture of a visit from Jesus to England:

And did those feet in ancient time, walk upon England’s mountains green; and was the holy Lamb of God, on England’s pastures seen!

This was just a simple poem written as a prologue to a poem about Milton and set to music during the First World War in 1916 to lift the morale of the people.

Whether true or not, certainly our imaginations can run wild … many students of the Bible have written essays and sermons incorporating imaginative speculation forever, leaving Bible Professors scratching their heads and asking students, “Now, just where did you see that in the text?”

Matthew and Mark add a little bit of information saying that Joseph was a rich man and a secret disciple of Jesus. As the disciples and the followers of Jesus recede into the shadows to survive, Joseph steps forward publicly into the light, professing his faith and acting on it with.

What stands out most in this story of Joseph is what often stands out in our own stories, that moment when you let go of fear in order to live in the Kingdom of God. Luke tells us that Joseph was waiting expectantly for God’s presence. . . . When we cast fear aside and wait expectantly, what will happen? As a wealthy leader of the powerful elite who opposed Jesus, Joseph had much to lose. I wonder how many of us have had moments when we were afraid of all we had to lose – and then we may have missed Jesus.

Here again, in the Gospel, the unlikely person is the one who encounters Jesus and doesn’t miss out. Perhaps we are called at unlikely times to be unlikely disciples, and unlikely prophets, setting fear aside, summoning the imagination to see more than we thought, and recognizing the kingdom of God right where we are. May we do so at such a time as this!