Refreshing lives, transforming faith, at the heart of the community Haere Mai, Piki Mai
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A Sermon by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
Nelson Cathedral
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Readings for Holy Cross Day:
Numbers 21:4b - 9
1 Corinthians 1:18 - 24
John 3:13 - 17
May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen
Today we celebrate the feast of The Holy Cross
The origins of this feast go back to the year 335AD
It was during the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, that his mother Helena went to Israel to find the places especially significant to Christians.
She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around the year 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.
Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial, at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct, she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
which was dedicated on 14 September 335.
So today has become a day for recognizing the Cross, in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday, as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ′s victory over death, and a reminder of His promise,
"And when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself."
John 12:32
For me the cross is the symbol of our faith.
You only have to look up to the sanctuary to see this!
Today I am wearing my Third Order Franciscan cross.
Last weekend at our retreat one of our members took their life profession.
And as a sign that they were now professed members of the Third Order Franciscans they were presented with a Franciscan cross, just like this one.
As part of our vows we promise to make Christ known and loved, to live in a spirit of love and harmony and to live a life of simplicity.
One way we can make Christ known and loved is by wearing a crucifix.
It is a powerful symbol.
We do not worship the symbol, but we use the symbol to represent our faith, our beliefs, our remembrance of what Christ has done for us.
For without the cross there would be no sacrificial death
and without Christ′ death there would be no payment for our sins.
and without the cancellation of our sins
we could not enter into God′s holy presence.
To wear a cross means that we now belong to God,
we are adopted as children of God.
As part of one of his addresses at our retreat Reverend Dr Raymond Pelly explained what wearing a cross meant to him.
He had carved the cross he was wearing out of Manuka, while at a retreat himself.
He said that the wood was rough and unfinished, very much like humanity.
It was the colour of earth and blood,
which reminded him of both the creation and the sacrifice of Christ.
The cross was also a shared memory.
People were crucified before and after Christ on the cross
which reinforces Christ′s sharing of our lot, the lot of all people.
It is a costly symbol one of great suffering.
Christ gave his love without reward or hope,
and there is both pain and healing through the work of the cross.
To receive forgiveness first there must be repentance,
tears of compunction and grace.
The heart is pierced by sorrowing for all that has been wrong,
but it is only through that cutting open that new life is made possible.
And finally he said, the cross is the mystery of God for through the cross all is held together, our knowledge, our worship and our action for God.
So much meaning from one symbol.
That is because it is the symbol of our entire faith.
For centuries many people have not only worn crosses but have made the sign of the cross on themselves, over their forehead or their hearts.
As James Keifer writes in his article on Holy Cross Day:
What is the significance of the sign of the cross? Well, in the first place, we often place our initials or other personal mark on something to show that it belongs to us. The Cross is the personal mark of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and we mark it on ourselves as a sign that we belong to Him, just as in the book of Revelation, the servants of God are sealed or marked on their foreheads as a sign that they are His.
James also goes on to give a description of how to make a cross.
If you were telling someone how to make a cross, you might say (at least to an English speaker), "Draw an I and then cross it out."
As we make the sign, we first draw a vertical stroke, as if to say to God, "Lord, here am I." Then we cancel it with a horizontal stroke, as if to say, "Help me, Lord, to abandon
my self-centeredness and self-will, and to make you the centre of my life instead. Fix all my attention and all my desire on you, Lord, that I may forget my self, cancel my self,
abandon myself completely to your love and service."
I found that quite an insightful explanation of what we are doing when we make the sign of the cross.
It is a practice definitely used by Catholics, but also often seen in the Anglican church and I see several of our parishioners signing themselves with the cross, especially at the absolution.
A fitting time, to make a visual reminder of just what Jesus death on the cross did for us.
When I was child I was told that the vertical line was to remind me of my connection to God and his love for me and the horizontal was the passing on of that love to those around me.
Christ′s arms are always held wide in love for us and we are commanded to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
So what do today′s readings have to add to our understanding of Holy Cross day?
And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."
Numbers 21:8
Even though the snakes had come to bring justice for all the people had done wrong in speaking against the Lord, the sign of justice was then transformed into the sign of mercy.
By looking at the snake on the pole the people lived.
What was once a sign of evil was raised up, transformed into a sign of healing
Isn′t that just the symbolism of the cross?
A means of execution transformed into a means of salvation?
God the Father has pronounced the death penalty for the sins of the world and then paid that penalty by offering his only Son, Jesus Christ
as payment for those sins.
Those who believe and receive Jesus′ gift of forgiveness, are then saved for eternal life, it is a demonstration of God′s love for us.
Our Gospel contains what is probably the most well known bible verse:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but may have eternal life.
John 3:16
But verse 17 goes on to say:
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The cross is not a symbol of condemnation but God′s grace and mercy,
God′s justice and offer of salvation.
Of course the Good news, the message of the cross, is not easy to understand.
As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 1: 18:
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Foolishness to those who are perishing.
Death and resurrection, forgiveness and eternal life,
new beginnings and hope through suffering and death.
It is very hard to explain faith, I know I have tried.
It is only when we believe, that we then receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of understanding and the presence of Christ, which then takes away our questions.
First we have to believe in the power of the cross
then we experience it.
It is a power that had raised the dead
and healed the sick of body, mind and spirit.
It has restored relationships,
and brought comfort into situations that were cold and destructive.
Sometimes circumstances are not have changed, but we are changed because of our faith, we are then able to carry on and experience new life,
in spite of what we are going through.
God′s wisdom is far beyond our own, it is mystery.
We are not meant to understand with our heads first, but to trust and believe in our hearts "so that everyone who believes" may have eternal life.
So what can we take away from Holy Cross Day?
Through the Cross and all it stands for
we can receive the power of God at work in our lives.
We can receive forgiveness and restoration
and we can experience God′s grace and mercy.
The way forward may not be plain sailing for us as individuals or as a parish,
but through our faith and unity we can move forward sustained by God′s love for us and comforted that it is when the night seems darkest, the suffering the greatest, that God is at work transforming death into resurrection, bringing forth new life, and sustaining eternal hope.
This is the message of the cross for each one of us.
All that we need to do is believe and trust in God′s word,
pray and discern God′s plan
and have the courage to work together in God′s will.
May God bless us richly on this festival of the Holy Cross.
Amen.
The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
This sermon was written and delivered by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf at Nelson Cathedral, 14 September 2008 at 8 and 10a.m
So today has become a day for recognizing the Cross, in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday, as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ′s victory over death, and a reminder of His promise,
Last weekend at our retreat one of our members took their life profession.
