Sunday, September 14, 2014 (Holy Cross Day)

Sunday, September 14, 2014 (Holy Cross Day)

John 3:13-17

David Jones, Sanctus Christus de Capel-y-ffin (1925) [http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jones-sanctus-christus-de-capel-y-ffin-t03677]

Today we celebrate Holy Cross Day. Some sources will emphasize what some believe to be the finding of the cross upon which Christ was crucified, by St. Helena in the fourth century. Others, including myself, find this to be a day to reflect upon our salvation won in Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

There are a number of ways of interpreting what happened on the cross and our salvation, theologically. And the Bible, Church Fathers, and contemporary thinkers reflect the several interpretations. Some ‘theories of atonement:’ 

- Death was defeated in the resurrection
- Jesus was a worthy sacrifice. St. Anselm in the middle ages emphasized how it was key that Jesus was both God (i.e. perfect) and human (i.e. able to represent us and pass on his victory to us)
- Jesus was a ‘New Adam’ (but did not sin)
- Jesus’ life and death serve as models of morality to inspire us
- Jesus embodied a life of perfect love and self-giving. And sinful humanity is resistant to this message 

These theories can be helpful or hindering. Rowan Williams, in Tokens of Trust, emphasizes that the "single central thing is the conviction that for us to be at peace Jesus' life has to be given up. It isn't that a vengeful and inflexible God demands satisfaction, more that the way the world is makes it unavoidable that the way to our freedom lies through the self-giving of Jesus, even to the point of death."* 

   Whatever view(s) on the atonement that you are drawn to, we can all share in the salvation that God has provided for us: Jesus' expression of total love. At the same time we are also being challenged to follow Christ in carrying our cross, and helping others with their burden. The amazing thing with the Passion story is that Jesus could have resisted, struck back... but he didn't. The endless cycle of sacrificial violence that the people bought into could have continued... but it didn't. Our reading of the story and our baptism into Christ's death allows us to see from the perspective of the victims of society, and calls us to stand in solidarity with them. 

One way in which many Christians express thankfulness for Christ’s Passion is in making the sign of the cross. Reduced to a mindless habit it can seem as meaningless as a twitch or a sneeze. But done reverently it is an embodied prayer, a means of expressing our faith with our bodies (highly appropriate as we are physical creatures). Some point out how in touching our hand to our head and chest we proclaim how we love God with our mind and heart respectively. And by touching our hand to each arm, we reflect our love of God with our strength. Many Anglicans then return their hand to their chest, significantly ending the prayer at the heart. When made at times that the Trinity is invoked the sign of the cross is an amazing acknowledgement of both God's transcendence and God's willingness to become vulnerable for our sake.  

Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the Cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one god, in glory everlasting. Amen. **

- Matthew Kieswetter

* Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 88.

** A Monastic Breviary (West Park: Holy Cross Publications, 1976)