When
I was growing up, I was a competitive swimmer and spent most Saturday evenings
in a red, white, and blue striped Speedo swimsuit, baggy sweatpants, and a team
jacket, all ready to report for most any backstroke or freestyle event. When not actually swimming a race, my
teammates and I generally gathered at the end of the pool to cheer for our
friends or simply to watch the other races.
I
remember one girl – younger than I – who was both an excellent swimmer – and a
church-going Catholic. I knew she was an
excellent swimmer by the times she posted after every race, and I knew her
religious background because every time she got on the starting block, she
performed a ritual of crossing herself over and over again, faster and faster,
dozens of times before the starter finally raised his gun and declared
“Swimmers, take your marks.”
The cross: It is the most significant and widely known
symbol of Christianity.
It
was carried as a standard on flags and shields during the Crusades and in a variety
of other religious wars. In the Middle
Ages, for a church or cathedral to have a piece of the true cross (that is, a
certified piece of the cross Jesus was nailed to) was a precious relic. In fact, over time, those chips of wood
venerated in churches throughout Europe, if laid together, would have
fabricated a cross too high and too wide to even imagine – so many were little
bits of the so-called true cross.
Growing
up, all my Catholic friends made the sign of the cross over their chests at
various and sundry times – both in and out of church – for various and sundry
reasons, I suppose. It was somewhat of a
mystery to me because we Protestants were not quite that public about our
faith. However, I suppose some of us
wore necklaces – a thin chain with a small gold cross dangling from it.
I
also remember in the film “The Exorcist” the young priest standing at the
bottom of the staircase thrusting a metal cross upward at whatever demons were
leaving their mark in the upstairs foyer.
Most recently, last
Wednesday to be exact, many of us who attended our Ash Wednesday service had our
hand or forehead marked with a cross in ashes, ashes traditionally created from
the burning of last year’s palms from Palm Sunday.
The cross: It is first and foremost a symbol of our
relationship with Jesus
We
all know, of course, that Jesus was executed and died as a result of
crucifixion. He was nailed to a cross,
one of thousands of people that Pilate, the Provincial governor at the time,
condemned to this tortuous and ignoble form of the death penalty. Pilate was a brutal and ruthless man.
Crucifixion
was reserved for the worst crimes against the Roman Empire. Historically then, Jesus was crucified for
sedition, for his treasonous actions of showing up the oppressive domination
economic and social system of Rome and for preaching an alternative system
whereby the rich would not always get rich at the expense of the poor.
As
Theologian Marcus Borg wrote, “They killed him because, in the name of the
Kingdom of God, he challenged how they had put the world together – and he was
beginning to attract a following. His mode of execution is unambiguous
testimony to that: crucifixion was a Roman form of capital punishment reserved
for those who systematically defied imperial authority.”
Down
through the ages, of course, the cross has become a focus for Christians during
Lent because it is in these six weeks prior to Easter that we prepare to face
Jesus in his last agonizing hours on the cross and be witnesses to his death
and its special meaning.
The Cross: Its particular meaning for us
Throughout
history, the cross has served people as everything from a good luck charm to a
tool for exorcism. However, the bottom
line is that, for us as Christians, the most important event in history was
what happened on the cross where Jesus Christ was executed.
What
exactly occurred on the cross is a matter of theology, nurtured in each one of
us by a combination of profound personal reflection and what we are told in
Sunday School or church. Some of us
would say that Jesus’ sole purpose in life was to die for our sins, that his
death was payment for all the wrongs we have done or are capable of doing in
the future. Jesus paid our debt for
us.
Others
of us would focus more on the relationship between Jesus’ death and his
resurrection. They would look to the
ancient (and perhaps basic to humanity) notion of dying and rising.
The
Apostle Paul speaks about it in several of his letters to early churches. We die to our old selves and are born into a new
life in Christ, he says. That is,
through our relationship with Jesus, we are transformed – and so we continue on
our spiritual journey, living and walking both in light of Easter and in the Way of the Gospel
Message with its emphasis on doing justice and loving kindness. Whichever theology you have made your own, be
assured that in both views, the cross is central to a changed heart.
The
cross may also symbolize our commitment to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. As our Scripture this morning said, “Whoever
wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me” – follow him in the ways of justice, reconciliation, and love.
The
cross can be a powerful reminder as well to depend on God in even the worst
moments, in times of inexplicable tragedy – not because God will have answers,
not because God will take away the suffering or change the course of history,
but because God will not abandon us. We
will not face whatever we need to face alone.
Finally,
the cross can be a sign of our gathering into a faith community. Greek Orthodox scholar Michael Bressem puts
it this way: “The most common
architectural shape for a church building is that of a cross (cruciform).
Churches have crosses on the apex of their roofs, on top of their steeples, or
crowning their domes. There is a cross on the wall of the sanctuary, on the
altar, or hanging from the ceiling.
The
cross is central to the Church not because it merely symbolizes the Christian
faith, but because all churches stand at the ‘crossroads.’ The church is the
meeting place where people learn about the ‘old paths, where the good way is,’
are instructed how to ‘walk in it,’ and ‘find rest for [their] souls.’ In other
words, the church-and the cross is where we determine the course of our lives
and are reminded of the commitments we've already made.”
I
do not know what the cross means to you.
I do not know if it means sacrifice or service or transformation or simply
the gathering of community. I do not
know if the cross is a sign of strength or a symbol of weakness for you.
But
I do know that during the season of Lent, the cross becomes more and more
central to our worship – in our songs, our images, our prayers. And I do know that the cross has something
absolutely essential to do with our relationship with God.
It
is less important what, in your heart of hearts, you believe about the
cross and more important that you believe something – and that that “something”
lies at the foundation of your faith.
Each
of you will have a chance to express the meaning of the cross that you claim
for your own in a hands-on way. We are
going to create an altar cloth together that we will use during Lent. I will invite you to come forward to paint a
cross on the fabric Lynn has so graciously put together for us. The cross can be big or little, thick or thin
– or some combination thereof. But it
will be your cross with your meaning for it and for the Lenten
season.
As
you paint your cross, let these words shine through your artwork:
The
strongest pattern of all
Is
one of the simplest –
Two intersecting lines.
One moving up from the ground,
The other stretching from east to
wet.
Where they cross,
The tensile strength is such
That it will bear
Not just the weight of a man,
But that of a world sagging in its
brokenness.
Come,
for the altar is ready.
by Rev. Nancy Foran, Raymond Village Community Church UCC, Raymond, Maine
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