By My Hands, for My Sake
A Father’s Proudest Moment
Luke 23:32-43

† I.H.S. †

May the grace and peace of God our Father assure you that you too will be in paradise (though not today!)

• St Dismas Church.

It would be centuries after his son died, but a beautiful church would be named after his son. Hand carved sones make up the walls, and the pews and all the word work done by members of the community. Even the stain glass windows were made onsite – by another member of the community…

It is a beautiful place, a sanctuary for those who can climb the hill to enter the church, where the grind of their daily lives would be lost in the peace, and even the joy of such a beautiful church.

I could imagine the dad’s smile, thinking what a blessing it was…

One former member of the community wrote,

I can honestly say that the only breath of fresh air in that wretched environment was that church. An absolutely gorgeous structure which does grant reprieve from the drudgery of every day life.

Sounds like an impressive place! He goes on…

Clinton correctional facility is the embodiment of hell on earth. Nevertheless retired Priest (Father Bill Edwards)and ,Deacon Dibeck are truly blessed man and will always hold a place in my heart. Imagine signing up to take a job in a maximum-security prison as a Priest and a Deacon.. I would otherwise refer them to seek psychiatric help but they are clearly blessed by the Lord and are carrying the good word to those in need.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVuftGUjRBE)

Oh, did I mention the man’s son was the only person in scripture who Jesus said would see him in paradise, thus declaring Dismas a saint?

And the church named after him is a church set placed in a maximum-security prison named after him?

St. Dismas Church…

As we’ve looked at various hands throughout this lent, tonight I want you to consider what went through the mind of the father of the man who died alongside Jesus, who shared the crucifixion…

And the day that was undoubtedly the proudest day, and the most meaningful day possible for a dad.

• Did my sin lead to his?

But let’s go back and put our feet in the shoes of this man on the cross’s father. Can you imagine the pain of hearing that sentence being placed on your child?

We don’t know how long the son had been in trouble in life, but crucifixion was for capital crimes. It was for someone who committed such a horrible act that society, both the Jews and the Romans, wanted to publicly torture him on the cross for hours, even days.

This was a crime they wanted no other person to think of, never mind commit.

I doubt this was a onetime loss of focus, and I don’t think he was stealing a nice BLT from the local sub shop.

I don’t think the father’s distress was all caused by the sentence either. Sure, I doubt he talked to his neighbors about that, I am sure rumors were spread, and the family felt shame and hurt because of their son.

But I can imagine the father’s shame was more personal. I can imagine him questioning how he failed his son. Was he not there enough, did he not pray with him enough, did he not send him to the right synagogue, the right school, did he not train him up in the ways he should go?

Not all thieves and murders had parents who did the same, yet I can easily imagine the man’s father lying in bed at night, wondering how his own sin, how his sin influenced his son. Did the things his son saw him do set such a bad example that his son thought there was nothing wrong with sinning? After all, the son must have thought- if my dad didn’t care if he sinned, if he didn’t feel remorse, why should he?

Did the dad see in his son’s sentence to death his own failure, his own guilt, his own shame?

Was the weight of his own sin crushing him even more as he looks on his condemned, dying son, as he realized its impact on the son he held as a baby…. And wanted the best for?

He knew what his son had in him, he knew his heart – and yet what happened… and did he take on the blame?

• The Proudest Moment—and one that gives hope for me..

As the son hung there with the son of God, the interaction reveals that hearts of both sons,

The one son, who is sorry for his sin, who confesses it, much as Judas did last week. God was working in his heart—and the compassion he showed there, showed that he, like most of us, was not completely corrupt, his sin—while strongly gripping him—did not own him past the point of redemption.

Those words may have helped the dad a little, but the words of Jesus to his son, oh how glorious those were…

“today, you WILL BE with me in paradise.”

Ultimately, I do not think there is anything more incredible to know about anyone we love who has struggled in life, than to know God’s love has broken through—and that they will be in His presence eternally. That they will finally know the peace we want them to know, even as they seem so hardened by sin.

The proudest day—far more important than a wedding day, far more important than a graduation, it would even overshadow the death on the cross…

His son was going to heaven…to walk boldly before the throne of God pure, holy, sinless… godly.

The prodigal saved into the arms of His heavenly Father.

I am making the assumption here that the father was at least a nominal believer, history tells us he was—though not much more than that..

But I can imagine him, as the weight of his sin and guilt was lifted as well, as he saw in his son’s salvation. The guilt and shame for not raising his son well enough disperses but so does all the other sin, for Christ’s death secures the promise of forgiveness for all who believe.

It may take even to Pentecost to sink in, until the father is baptized, but the joy and its healing began then, even as the skies darken, as first Christ dies, and then his son.

This gives us hope, as we pray for our families and for our spiritual families. For those who think they can avoid God, or dismiss Him… and those of us who wonder what we could have done differently.

This is the power of the cross, the ultimate victory, the ultimate moment of glory—as God proved that He loves us, and the people we love whom we worry about, who frustrate us….

Keep praying for them, and remember the story of Dismas and his dad… and the Lord who loved them both… and loves us.

AMEN!