I see women with cross necklaces, guys with cross tattoos, crosses on t-shirts and all over so-called "Affliction Gear."
Again this is very interesting to me.
I wear a crucifix around my neck, it's a black and polished brass cross, with the medal of St. Benedict in the center, and a silver figure of the crucified Christ attached to the cross. I wear it to remind myself, in every moment possible, of the sacrifice that was made on my behalf by Christ.
But why do other people wear it?
I have no idea to be really honest with you. It makes no sense to me whatsoever that a non-believer would wear the emblem of a cross.
I can only guess that people really just don't get what the cross was all about.
We don't remember that the cross in those days was a method of execution, akin to our electric chair or gas chamber. It was a thing on which people died. And they died in one of the most horrific ways conceivable.
Men and women who suffered crucifixion would often remain alive, nailed to their cross, for days before their eventual death. The cross wasn't just devised to be an instrument of death, but also one of horrific torture and humiliation.
In this way the cross is less like our modern means of humane execution and more like a lynching tree. It's purpose is to kill you while humiliating you at the same time.
In fact, the pain of crucifixion was so horrible that a word had to be invented to describe it; "excruciating" literally means "from the cross."
Do we really think about this when we hang a cross around our neck, or tattoo it on our arm. Do we bear in mind the horrific traitors death that it signifies when we hang a cross on the wall of our bathroom?
When you as a christian make the Sign of the Cross, do you realize what it is that you are doing? Do we understand that with every time we cross ourselves we are marking ourselves with a sign of treason? To be marked with the Cross is to marked as one who places no value on this world, and stands in opposition to it.
We are the traitors. We are the rebels. We are the subjects of another kingdom. We are ones who hold allegiance to another nation that the one we live in.
When we mark ourselves with the cross, we are reminding ourselves that our Lord was brutally murdered for treason. If we stand with Him we will suffer likewise.
We stand in the shadow of the Cross, and it is in that shadow we are reminded of the one truth that separates Christianity from all other world religions:
Christianity is the only religion in which the central theme is the humiliation of it's God.
The Cross is a symbol of the willingness of our God and King to come down to our level. It reminds us that He set aside His place as the Creator, to be murdered by His creation.
The Cross symbolizes that He left His throne of Perfect Judgement to be executed as a common criminal.
It shows, more than any other symbol we can think of, the fullness of the Fathers great love for us. It shows us that through the blood shed upon that Cross two-thousand years ago, we who were once far away fom God have been brought near.
The words of Christ were made good and true, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (John 12:32 ESV)
And this is so. The Cross of Christ has brought millions from all over the world, from every continent, country and tongue, to Himself by the grace of Almighty God.
"Holy a gracious Father: In Your infinite love You made us for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, You, in Your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, Your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You, the God and Father of all.
He stretched out His arms, upon the cross, and offered Himself, in obedience to Your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world." (BCP 1979)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit+
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
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