Severance | Good Friday Sermon 2025

There is a show right now on Apple TV. It's called

Severance. And the premise is simple, even if

it's a little bit disturbing. A company offers

this procedure called Severance. It surgically

splits your consciousness into two selves. One

that lives at work, and the other that lives

outside of work. Now, neither of these lives

knows what the other one does, right? The work

you exists only in the office, and the home you

has no idea what happens in the office. So there's

one body, right? But two lives, depending on

where you are, you're completely severed. At

first, the characters, I mean, this seems like

a dream come true, right? No work stress follows

you home, and none of your home problems haunt

you when you're at your desk. But then things

start to unravel. Because, as it turns out, you

cannot... split someone's soul without consequences.

You can't divide a person without pain. And so

eventually, both persons start asking this question.

Who am I? Really? What have I become? Today on

Good Friday, I want to talk about severance.

I don't want to talk about the TV show severance.

I want to talk about real life severance. Our

own tendency to live double lives, to sever the

person we are in one situation from a person

we are in another situation. And if we're honest,

come on, we know we do this all the time and

there's no surgical procedure required. The person

I am at home, is not the person I am at work.

The person I am with friends is different than

the one at church. The person I am on Sunday

is different than the person I am on Monday,

and the way I am in a group of people is way

different than how I am when I'm alone. The way

I am online is way different than the person

I am in person. I say, for example, I believe

in forgiveness, but in reality, I'm ruthless.

I follow Jesus, I say, but in reality, I just

follow the crowd. I say I trust God, but I still

try to control absolutely everything. There is

the me over here who prays, and then there's

the me that pretends. There is the me that says,

you know, I'll make a promise, I'll keep my promise,

and then there's the me who breaks those promises.

So yes, if we're honest, we are all severed.

We seamlessly move from one version of ourself

to another, and it just depends on the situation.

We're not proud of it, but why do we do it? And

at what cost? Today we're going to look briefly

at a man who tried to live two lives. His name

was Peter. And just like anyone who tries to

live a severed existence, it tore his life apart.

You see, there was one version of Peter who made

a powerful promise to Jesus on the night he was

arrested. Peter said, Jesus, even if I have to

die with you, I will never deny you. That was

one version of Peter. But then just hours later,

another Peter showed up. After Jesus was arrested,

this Peter, Stood by a fire and told a bunch

of onlookers that he had no idea who Jesus was.

I do not know the man. Three times. This is the

same person. Only severed. Right? There is faithful

Peter who wants one thing and fearful Peter who

wants another thing. Faithful Peter wants to

be brave. Fearful Peter wants to be safe. Faithful

Peter wants to live for Christ. But fearful Peter

wants to live in comfort. Fractured Peter is

the result. It is really hard to live a severed

life. In the TV show, one character actually

describes her severed existence as torture, and

Peter would agree. When the rooster crowed and

Peter realized this severed existence that he

was living, we are told he went out and wept

bitterly. Not just wept, he wept bitterly. He

was absolutely broken in the most profound way

possible. Why? Why does severance hurt so much?

Why does living a double life tear us apart?

Well, first of all, It destroys our identity.

You know, in the TV show, again, I don't know

if you've seen it, but the characters with severed

minds, they're having these profound identity

crises. In fact, there's one scene in which a

character sends a message to herself saying,

I am not. a person, you are not a person. No,

rather, I am a person, you are not a person.

This is terrifying for her, right? Her existence

is denied by the one person who knew her the

best, herself. Peter was in the same boat. He

thought he was one person, a person who made

a promise, but when the pressure came, when the

crowds arrived, when the questions started, he

was shocked. to see this other Peter emerge,

a frightened one, a self -protective one, and

that's why he cracked. He fractured, and he wept

bitterly. He didn't know who he was anymore.

Severance destroys your identity. Faithful Peter,

fearful Peter, courageous Peter, cowardly Peter,

which Peter is the real Peter? I don't know if

you guys know, the word integrity comes from

the same English word integer. An integer is

a whole number, not a fraction of a number, not

a piece of a number, not a part of a number,

not a division of a number, a whole number. A

person of integrity is a whole person, the same

person, no matter what. But Peter, he's lost

his integrity. He's severed. He's lost his identity.

And of course, that hurts. You see, culture tells

you if you want to know who you really are, if

you want to know your real identity, then what

you've got to do is you've got to follow your

feelings. Follow your heart. But you know that

doesn't work, right? Which heart do you follow?

Which feelings are you going to follow? The feelings

that say tell the truth or the feelings that

say lie to save yourself? The feelings that crave

commitment or the feelings that crave freedom?

The feeling that says, I want to follow Jesus.

Or the feeling that says, just blend in like

everyone else. You can't find your identity in

your feelings. Because your feelings are always

changing. They are always shifting. And you're

always going to feel severed. In A Man for All

Seasons, Sir Thomas More says this. He says,

when a man makes an oath, he holds his own self

in his hands like water. And if he opens his

fingers, he needn't hope to find himself again.

Do you want to know why Peter was devastated

and bitterly crying? It's because he opened his

fingers and he lost himself. Living a severed

life, it destroys your identity. But it's not

just that. Living a severed life breaks something

else too, and that's community. When you don't

know who you really are, then guess what? Other

people don't know who you really are either.

People are going to avoid you, and you're going

to avoid others. You won't be able to get close

to them. It's interesting, on the TV show, again,

two characters. They develop this deep relationship

at work. However, when they find each other in

the outside world, they discover one of them

is married to someone else. Leading a double

life. disrupts their relationship, and prevents

human connection. When Peter realized how severed

he was, he too could not be with people. Did

you notice where he goes after the rooster crows?

He goes out. He went out and wept bitterly. Out,

away from the courtyard, away from the fire,

away from the people. And it's not an accident

that the Bible says this. This is not just geography.

This is theology. When you sever your soul, you

sever your connection to others. I mean, think

about it. If you've ever had a moment where you've

compromised your convictions and you felt really

bad about it, do you want to go and talk it through

with a group? No. You isolate yourself. You hide.

You go outside because there's no community.

Without commitment. No integrity without honesty.

Peter made a promise, but not just to Jesus.

He made the promise in front of his other friends,

his disciples. And now he's broken that promise.

The relationship is broken. The trust is broken.

So he steps outside, right? Leading a severed

life always leads you to break away from community

and leads to isolation. When we keep our promises,

it creates community. When we're the same person

again and again and again and again, then people

get to know us and people get to love us and

people say, yes, I like being around you. But

whether it's a marriage or a friendship or church,

we make promises and keep them. They say, this

is who I am and you can count on me and I'll

be here for you. But when we start splitting

our lives, community begins to break down. Well,

who's going to show up today? Which version of

Rob are we going to get? So we stop being known.

And we stop being trusted and we stop being present.

I mean, it's a painful irony. We long to be connected,

but we're scared to show ourselves. We crave

intimacy, but we only let people see these carefully

edited versions of ourselves. We want to be loved,

but we refuse to be honest with who we really

are. So we end up like Peter, not just severed,

but separated from others. But there's one final

rupture that we haven't named yet. Living a severed

life doesn't just destroy your identity. It doesn't

just break community. It also disrupts your spirituality.

Again, in the TV show, Severance, we learn that

the entire concept of severing a personality

was created by a cult, by this false religion.

And it's so true. That when we live lives that

are severed, it always leads us away from the

true God. Because the true God doesn't just want

part of you. He wants all of you, the integrated,

honest. Whole, you. And this is nothing new.

Go back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve,

they didn't undergo a surgical severance, but

they did split themselves from God. One version

of them wanted to obey God. The other version

wanted to be God. And when they tried to live

both these lives, they were broken. They were

fragmented. And they hid from God. God's question

was, hey, where are you guys? could just as easily

have been, who are you guys? That question still

echoes today. Living a double life creates distance

between us and God. And it's not because God

stops loving us. It's just because we stop showing

up as our true selves. We stop praying with honesty.

We stop worshiping with integrity. We start saying

things that we no longer believe. And we start

living in ways we no longer admit. We may still

pray. We may still sing. We may still go to church.

But deep down, something's been severed. We've

kept part of our heart back. We've compartmentalized

our faith. We want God on Sunday, but we want

control on Monday. Isaiah says, your iniquities

have separated you from God. Your sins. have

hidden you from God. So friends, do you see why

Peter was weeping so bitterly? When he realized

how severed his life was, he was destroyed in

his identity, broken in his community, and shattered

in his spirituality. And I just want to say that

maybe some of you here today, that is exactly

where you are. You're physically here. You are.

You're singing the songs. You're bowing your

head when the prayers come. But part of you isn't

here. Part of you is still out there, hiding,

hurting. Maybe even wondering if anyone actually

knows the real you. Or if they'd love you if

they did know the real you. So you feel like

you have to live this way. Severed, split, divided,

lonely. That's how Peter felt. Now, it's interesting.

On the TV show, again, how many people have seen

the TV show? I was hoping for more. On the TV

show, there is a procedure. It's very dangerous,

even a deadly procedure, by which someone might

become unsevered, be reintegrated back into a

whole person. But is there such hope for us?

Is there any way we can actually live a whole

life? Well, that brings us to the good news of

Good Friday. On Good Friday, we remember the

deadly and dangerous operation that Jesus went

through to heal us. And it all happened on the

cross. On the cross, Jesus was severed so we

could be whole. Yeah, sure, Peter went outside

and wept, but Jesus went outside the city and

he died. Peter was fractured. Yes, Jesus was

forsaken. On the cross, Jesus experienced the

ultimate severance, not just physical pain, not

just humiliation, but cosmic disconnection. He

says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,

cosmically disconnected, right? Jesus and the

Father were one. They were one person, but they

were severed from each other. And why? Why was

he severed from his identity? Why was he severed

from this community? Why was he severed spiritually?

It's because someone, someone had to stand in

for every fractured soul and every split life

and every broken promise, every Peter, every

you, and every me. Because you see, though our

feelings might change, Jesus's never do. And

while we may break our promises, Jesus never

does. And we are saved, not because of our integrity,

but because of Jesus's. And we're saved not because

we keep promises, but because Jesus kept his

promise to us. That's what Good Friday is about.

He bore the shame of our double lives. so that

we could be given a whole life. He was severed

from God so we could be reconciled to God. The

Bible puts it this way. God made him who knew

no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might

become the righteousness of God. That's the gospel,

everybody. That's the dangerous and deadly surgery

that can heal our severed lives. Now maybe you,

Like the characters in the TV show that none

of you saw thought that living a double life

was going to make things easier. But it's actually

taken a toll on you. It's taken a toll on your

mind. It's taken a toll on your relationships

and on your spirituality. And that's why today

I want to say to you, no matter how fractured

you feel, you can be put back together again.

Jesus was saved. so you could be whole. So are

you ready to be put back together? Are you ready

to stop the double life, to be fully healed?

Peter, interesting, he shows us the way toward

healing. Because a few days later, after he ran

away from Jesus and ran away from the courtyard

to weep bitterly, he finds himself... by another

crackling fire. Not the fire where he denied

knowing Jesus, but it's a fire of reunion. It's

a fire, and Jesus is there. And there, Jesus

asks him a question. He says, Peter, do you love

me? Three times he asks it. One for every time

Peter said, I don't know him. And three times,

Peter replies, Lord, you know I love you. Lord,

you know I love you. Lord, you know I love you.

Guys, Peter had lost his identity and Jesus gives

it back to him, right? Peter had lost his community

and Jesus brings him back. Peter had denied knowing

Jesus, but Jesus says, don't worry, I still know

you. And this is the healing moment where Peter's

severed mind becomes a sound mind, becomes a

settled mind, becomes a secured mind. You can

be healed too. You can undergo this procedure

too. If you've been living a double life, listen,

what part of your soul have you split off? What

part have you kept hidden in the dark? What fire

are you standing next to pretending not to know

him? Whatever's broken in your identity, whatever's

fractured in your community, and whatever is

severed in your spirituality, when we come to

Jesus as we truly are, honest about who we've

become, the same Jesus who stitched Peter back

together will heal you too. Good Friday is the

moment of truth. So let the rooster crow, let

the masks drop, and let the healing begin.