1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (Good News Translation)
Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. This means that no one can boast in God's presence. But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free. So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”
Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. This means that no one can boast in God's presence. But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free. So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”
Here we are in Lent, again. We have just passed through the season of Epiphany – that time of manifestation, of presentation, of showing forth. If we have been paying attention at all, we should by now have a fairly clear idea of who Jesus is. We’ve had angels at his birth, the recognition by the old holy man, Simeon, when Jesus was brought to the temple for his ritual presentation at 8-days of age, the visit by the king-seeking magi. As an adult, there’s been God’s own voice from the heavens at his baptism at the Jordan, and finally, last week, we saw the transfiguration on the mountain-top. We have been well set-up to pay attention to what this Jesus person has to say to us.
But now it is Lent, and in the strange way of the church calendar, we are going to skip over the bulk of Jesus’ ministry and jump right to the end of the story - and prepare ourselves – or better yet, let God prepare us – for Easter and resurrection. But as always, we can’t ever get to Easter without going by way of the cross. It’s one of our least favorite journeys. We’d really prefer to slide right on by the cross – and any thought that we might bear some responsibility for it -- and get to the rejoicing part – but it can’t be done. Resurrection is meaningless without death.
Part of this tendency here is my doing. It is my pastoral belief that so many of us have been so hurt by the church, especially by those people who delight in beating us over the head with SIN, that we mostly don’t need to be told anymore that we are sinners. I’m pretty sure that what most of us need to hear over and over again is that we are loved – and that is – and will remain – the main thrust of my preaching and teaching.
But – there is the cross – It’s right there on the communion table. It’s often on our banners up front. I’ve got one around my neck - probably many of you do, too. It is the symbol that identifies us as Christians. We use it. We claim it. But just what is it we see when we look at it? Over the next six weeks through Lent we’re going to look at the Cross from different angles – because the Cross has a whole lot of different meanings for us – some we may not even be entirely aware of.
The cross is first and foremost a tool of execution. It was used in ancient times by the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Greeks – it was also used in Japan – but its use was perfected by the Roman Empire. It was a tool of terror and subjugation. It is a way to execute someone in the most hideous way possible – a slow, painful way to kill someone with the maximum suffering. So how did this god-awful ‘thing’ become the revered sign of our faith? We do not generally venerate an instrument of murder or execution. We don’t (those of us who are rational, anyway) wear little guns or gas chambers around our necks – why the cross?
As the Romans used it the cross was not just a tool of execution, it was a tool of humiliation and ultimate obliteration. As the victim hung there, the crowds could watch their deterioration. They’re stripped naked - forget the little loincloth of the modern crucifix - the Romans weren’t that delicate -- and hung up for the world to see – no escape from the jeering crowd. The bowels let go - I’ll let you picture that for yourself. As time went on, even the strongest began to whimper and beg. And when they finally died – Jesus’ three hours, by the way, was some kind of record – many people lingered for a couple of days – when they finally did die, they weren’t usually taken down and washed and buried – that was an unusual happenstance because of Passover rules. No, they were left on the cross to slowly rot and be munched on by crows and vultures.
As the Romans used it crucifixion was a means to totally wipe the victim out as a human being. It was a terrifying, humiliating threat that was used indiscriminately to maintain Roman domination of their subject peoples by forestalling any thoughts of rebellion. It was meant to obliterate. It was meant to cement the image of Rome as all-powerful and important.
And that is precisely why we take it as our symbol today. Because between them, Jesus and the early church took the very worst the Roman empire had to use against them and they looked it in the eye and said, “you can’t stop me this way.” Today, Christianity and the Cross are known in every corner of the globe – and where is the Roman empire today? The Romans used every means of terror and subjugation they had at their disposal, and they still could not stop Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness from taking over the world. We not only refused to be defeated by the cross, we took it and its symbolism away from those who wanted to use it for fear and blood and transformed it into a symbol of Jesus and his message of grace and hope and peace.
In St. Paul’s words from our reading today,
[God] ... chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.
Rome was powerful. Rome was important. Someone who was crucified was meant to be looked down on and despised – a common criminal -- meant to be seen by the world as something helpless and worthless. They were supposed to be destroyed.
Guess what? Jesus was not destroyed. He lives even today in the hearts of every person who believes in and claims God’s love. The early church refused to be cowed – even by the cross – and they took Jesus’ message and spread it around the known world – and in 2000 years it has spread further and further. That message is why we are here today.
Paul goes on to say:
God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.
Not by our strength and wisdom, but by God’s grace – so that we are able to claim this cross as our own, and to stand in its shadow and proclaim, I will not be cowed, I will not be defeated, I will not accept that I am a sin-filled wretch beyond redemption.
The Cross is our great “NO” to a world that wants to tell us we are worthless and hopeless, and our resounding “YES” to God’s life-giving love. I am weak on my own, but by Jesus’ triumph over the cross, I know that I am a child of God – beloved and worthy – held forever in the love of Christ.
Oh, thanks be to God. Amen.
But now it is Lent, and in the strange way of the church calendar, we are going to skip over the bulk of Jesus’ ministry and jump right to the end of the story - and prepare ourselves – or better yet, let God prepare us – for Easter and resurrection. But as always, we can’t ever get to Easter without going by way of the cross. It’s one of our least favorite journeys. We’d really prefer to slide right on by the cross – and any thought that we might bear some responsibility for it -- and get to the rejoicing part – but it can’t be done. Resurrection is meaningless without death.
Part of this tendency here is my doing. It is my pastoral belief that so many of us have been so hurt by the church, especially by those people who delight in beating us over the head with SIN, that we mostly don’t need to be told anymore that we are sinners. I’m pretty sure that what most of us need to hear over and over again is that we are loved – and that is – and will remain – the main thrust of my preaching and teaching.
But – there is the cross – It’s right there on the communion table. It’s often on our banners up front. I’ve got one around my neck - probably many of you do, too. It is the symbol that identifies us as Christians. We use it. We claim it. But just what is it we see when we look at it? Over the next six weeks through Lent we’re going to look at the Cross from different angles – because the Cross has a whole lot of different meanings for us – some we may not even be entirely aware of.
The cross is first and foremost a tool of execution. It was used in ancient times by the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Greeks – it was also used in Japan – but its use was perfected by the Roman Empire. It was a tool of terror and subjugation. It is a way to execute someone in the most hideous way possible – a slow, painful way to kill someone with the maximum suffering. So how did this god-awful ‘thing’ become the revered sign of our faith? We do not generally venerate an instrument of murder or execution. We don’t (those of us who are rational, anyway) wear little guns or gas chambers around our necks – why the cross?
As the Romans used it the cross was not just a tool of execution, it was a tool of humiliation and ultimate obliteration. As the victim hung there, the crowds could watch their deterioration. They’re stripped naked - forget the little loincloth of the modern crucifix - the Romans weren’t that delicate -- and hung up for the world to see – no escape from the jeering crowd. The bowels let go - I’ll let you picture that for yourself. As time went on, even the strongest began to whimper and beg. And when they finally died – Jesus’ three hours, by the way, was some kind of record – many people lingered for a couple of days – when they finally did die, they weren’t usually taken down and washed and buried – that was an unusual happenstance because of Passover rules. No, they were left on the cross to slowly rot and be munched on by crows and vultures.
As the Romans used it crucifixion was a means to totally wipe the victim out as a human being. It was a terrifying, humiliating threat that was used indiscriminately to maintain Roman domination of their subject peoples by forestalling any thoughts of rebellion. It was meant to obliterate. It was meant to cement the image of Rome as all-powerful and important.
And that is precisely why we take it as our symbol today. Because between them, Jesus and the early church took the very worst the Roman empire had to use against them and they looked it in the eye and said, “you can’t stop me this way.” Today, Christianity and the Cross are known in every corner of the globe – and where is the Roman empire today? The Romans used every means of terror and subjugation they had at their disposal, and they still could not stop Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness from taking over the world. We not only refused to be defeated by the cross, we took it and its symbolism away from those who wanted to use it for fear and blood and transformed it into a symbol of Jesus and his message of grace and hope and peace.
In St. Paul’s words from our reading today,
[God] ... chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.
Rome was powerful. Rome was important. Someone who was crucified was meant to be looked down on and despised – a common criminal -- meant to be seen by the world as something helpless and worthless. They were supposed to be destroyed.
Guess what? Jesus was not destroyed. He lives even today in the hearts of every person who believes in and claims God’s love. The early church refused to be cowed – even by the cross – and they took Jesus’ message and spread it around the known world – and in 2000 years it has spread further and further. That message is why we are here today.
Paul goes on to say:
God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.
Not by our strength and wisdom, but by God’s grace – so that we are able to claim this cross as our own, and to stand in its shadow and proclaim, I will not be cowed, I will not be defeated, I will not accept that I am a sin-filled wretch beyond redemption.
The Cross is our great “NO” to a world that wants to tell us we are worthless and hopeless, and our resounding “YES” to God’s life-giving love. I am weak on my own, but by Jesus’ triumph over the cross, I know that I am a child of God – beloved and worthy – held forever in the love of Christ.
Oh, thanks be to God. Amen.
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