God’s Funeral for You

Sermon Transcript by Rev. Ernest O’Neill

We’ll start by reading Galatians 2:20, it’s such a plain statement where Paul is speaking, then kind of corrects himself. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” So he kind of catches himself and I do think that it’s really important for us not to reduce the importance or the reality or the seriousness of that by taking the usual attitude that we certainly took in the Protestant Church, and I suppose we all took whatever Church we were in that “Oh yes, Christ lives within me – that’s right.” And we really tend to mean that he lives together with me; that it is my life, but he lives with me.

I think that you all are getting hold of the fact that it’s far, far different than that. That it is one of us being buried, being done away with –your Mom and Dad and everybody else don’t think that, but as far as we are concerned and as far as you are concerned that being with your name is gone and has been buried with Christ. They all still call you by your name, or they call me by my name, but they may as well call us Jesus Christ. I know it’s dangerous to say it, but in order to bring home to you how really God intended each of us to be containers of his son; you almost have to put it in those terms and I do think that we have great difficulty over that. Partly because of the thinking of our society, but partly too because there is a little itsy bit that wants to somehow continue to have an identity and there’s a little bit in each of us that wants to be Christ but says “I have my own life to live.” So I think there’s something there that is worth our while spending time with God on.

Is this my life or is this Christ’s life? Let’s think of him in his robes and everybody calling him Trish, or Ernest or Joanne. Him, in his robes, and here they are calling him by my name or by your name. So I think it’s something very serious. I sympathize with everyone here because we all have the same trouble because it seems so ridiculous and behind us is all the old satanic deception that says there are all kinds of people in the hospital who think they’re Napoleon or think they’re Jesus Christ. But forgetting all that silliness it seems to me that’s why you and I are here on earth. That’s why you are different from everybody else.

That’s why it is such a deathly loss for our Father if he is not able to live in you; it’s him not being able to be himself. That’s it: it’s him not able to be himself; you’re preventing him being what he is because you’re different because you’re an expression of him and that’s why you’re different – because you’re an expression of him. And if you don’t allow him to use that expression and you hijack it then it’s obviously crucifying him again and it’s putting us in an unbearable position with our Maker. So it is very important to settle that; that in a real sense it is the funeral of the real person that everybody has known. And what I think is that even if I think I’ve done this before, I’ve never done it as realistically as I have now. This is up to date; this is bringing our accounts up to date. This is saying “Today Lord. That’s the end of me showing off my little life and of having my own way. Here is this body, you take it.” Then we will eat of his flesh and drink of his blood.

Let us pray.