The Fourth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
03/22/09

John 3:14-21

IN THE SMALL VILLIAGE OF YSTAD SWEDEN, THERE IS THE USUAL SMALL VILLIAGE CHURCH. THE ODD THING ABOUT THIS CHURCH IS THE CRUCIFIX OVER THE ALTAR. IT IS LIFE – SIZED, CARVED IN EXCRUCIATINGLY REALISTIC DETAIL, WITH HUMAN HAIR MATTED DOWN BY THE CROWN OF THORNS PRESSING INTO THE BROW, AND BLOOD DRIPPING FROM THE WOUNDS IN THE HANDS, FEET AND SIDE. THIS IS A RATHER UNUSUAL SIGHT TO SEE IN A LITTLE LUTHERAN CHURCH, BUT THE TOWNSPEOPLE ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO TELL THE STORY. IN THE EARLY 1700’S, THE KING OF SWEDEN WAS PASSING THROUGH THE AREA, AND STOPPED FOR WORSHIP AT THE LITTLE CHURCH. THE PASTOR, OVERCOME BY THE HONOR OF HAVING THE KING IN HIS CONGREGATION FOR WORSHIP, DEPARTED FROM THE APPOINTED TEXT FOR THE DAY AND SPENT AN HOUR IN AN EXTEMPORANIOUS SPEECH OF PRAISE FOR THEIR WISE AND GRACIOUS MONARCH. SOME SHORT TIME LATER, THE LIFE – SIZED CRUCIFIX ARRIVED WITH A ROYAL DECREE TO “HANG THIS WITHIN THE CHURCH SO THAT WHOEVER STANDS IN THE PULPIT WILL BE REMINDED OF HIS PROPER SUBJECT.”

I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PASTOR, BUT I CAN SURMISE THAT THE PRESENCE OF THAT CRUCIFIX OVER THE ALTAR KEPT GENERATIONS OF PASTORS FAITHFUL TO THE PROPER SUBJECT. THE IMAGE OF THE CHRIST OF GOD HANGING ON THE CROSS IS, INDEED, THE PROPER SUBJECT, BECAUSE IT IS A VIVID REMINDER OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR HIS PEOPLE.

FOR MOST OF US TODAY, THE CROSS IS A METAPHOR FOR ALL THE BURDENS WE CARRY, AND EVEN FOR THE PERSONAL TRIALS AND STRUGGLES WE GO THROUGH AS WE WALK THIS LIFE IN FAITH. THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS WAS THAT OF A PARTICULARLY BRUTAL METHOD OF EXECUTION. TO CONVEY THE SAME MEANING FOR OUR TIME, IT WOULD BE AS IF THERE WERE A MODEL OF AN ELECTRIC CHAIR, GAS CHAMBER, HANGMAN’S NOOSE, OR A LETHAL INJECTION TABLE SET ABOVE THE ALTAR. WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE ONLY RELIGIOUS GROUP WHOSE SYMBOL IS THAT OF THE GOVERNMENT APPROVED METHOD OF EXECUTION. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TIME, ROME, CHOSE THE CROSS AS ITS METHOD BECAUSE IT WAS SO BRUTAL. NO ONE, IN THEIR RIGHT MIND, WOULD EVER CHOOSE TO DIE IN SUCH A HORRIBLE MANNER. THE CROSS BECAME THE SYMBOL FOR THE FOLLOWERS OF THE CHRIST EXACTLY BECAUSE ONE DID CHOOSE TO DIE IN SUCH A HORRIBLE WAY, AND CHOSE TO DIE IN THAT WAY FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE, AND TO DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO HIM. THE CROSS IS THE REMINDER OF WHAT IS TRULY THE PROPER SUBJECT.

THE CROSS IS THE SYMBOL OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US, AND A REMINDER OF IN WHOM WE MUST PLACE OUR TRUST. LIKE THE BRONZE SERPENT MOSES PLACED ON A POLE IN THE WILDERNESS, IT IS RAISED ON HIGH TO DRAW OUR EYES TO IT, TO REMIND US THAT IT IS IN GOD WE MUST TRUST, NOT IN OUR SELVES, NOT IN GOVERNMENTS, NOT IN ANYTHING THAT THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER, BUT IN GOD, AND GOD ALONE. IT IS THE REMINDER THAT WITHOUT OUR TRUST IN GOD WE ARE LOST AND WITHOUT HOPE, BUT WE MUST ALWAYS SEE THAT HORRIBLE SYMBOL FOR THE TRUTH WHICH LIES BEHIND IT; IT IS GOD WHO HAS ACTED TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE. WHEN, IN LATER CENTURIES, WHEN THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL STARTED TO WORSHIP THE BRONZE SERPENT AS AN IDOL, GOOD KING HEZIKIAH HAD IT REMOVED FROM THE TEMPLE AND DESTROYED, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAD LOST SIGHT OF THE TRUTH TOWARD WHICH THE SYMBOL POINTED.

THE SYMBOL FOR OUR FAITH IS A SYMBOL OF DEATH AND CONDEMNATION. “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.  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.” GOD SENT HIS SON TO BE CONDEMNED THAT WE MIGHT, THOUGH HIS SON, BE FORGIVEN. GOD SENT HIS SONTO DIE THAT WE MIGHT, THOUGH HIM, HAVE LIFE ETERNAL. GOD SENT HIS SON TO DIE ON THE CROSS TO BE LIFTED UP FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE THAT OUR FORGIVEN LIFE MUST COME AT THE COST OF HIS BLAMELESS LIFE. THE CROSS IS THE SIGN THAT OUR LIFE BEGINS ANEW IN HIS DEATH, AND IN OUR OWN DEATH, FOR ONLY IN OUR DYING WITH HIM ARE WE TO FIND LIFE ANEW.

THE CROSS IS THE CONSTANT REMINDER THAT WE ARE CALLED TO DIE. WE ARE CALLED TO DIE TO THIS WORLD, AND, THROUGH THE CROSS, LOOK TO THE ONE WHO CREATED ALL THINGS AND TO WHOM ALL THINGS TRULY BELONG. WE ARE CALLED TO DIE TO OUR SELVES, AND THORUGH THE CROSS, LIVE IN HIM WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US. WE ARE CALLED TO DIE TO THE PASSIONS AND WANTS OF THE FLESH, AND, THROUGH THE CROSS, TO LIVE IN THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OF GOD. WE ARE CALLED TO DIE ON THAT CROSS WITH THE CHRIST OF GOD, AND, IN DYING, RISE TO A NEW LIFE WITH HIM, IN HIM, AND THROUGH HIM. THE CROSS IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL OF DEATH; IT IS THE GATE OF SALVATION, THE PATH TO GOD, AND THE MARK AND MEANING OF OUR LIVES.

THE CROSS IS THE REMINDER OF THE PROPER SUBJECT: WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. AS ST. PAUL SAYS IN HIS LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS, “GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, OUT OF GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD THROUGH OUR TRESPASSES, MADE US ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST – BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED – AND RAISED US UP WITH HIM AND SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS . . . FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.”

THIS IS THE PROPER SUBJECT, NOW AND ALWAYS, WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US, AND THE CROSS OF THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST IS THE REMINDER IN WHOM WE MUST PLACE OUR TRUST, IN WHOM ALONE WE MUST HOPE, AND IN WHOM ALONE WE FIND SALVATION AND LIFE ETERNAL.

LIFT UP YOUR EYES AND LOOK TO THE CROSS. THERE IS THE PROPER SUBJECT FOR OUR THOUGHTS, OUR MEDITATIONS, AND THE MARK AND MEANING FOR OUR LIVES AND OUR LIFE TOGETHER. WHEN YOU LOOK UPON THE CROSS, WHETHER IT BE IN THE SACNTUARY OF A CHURCH, ON THE WALL OF YOUR HOME, OR AROUND YOUR NECK, REMEMBER THAT THE CROSS ON WHICH THE CHRIST OF GOD DIED IS THE CROSS ON WHICH YOU ALSO HAVE DIED, AND, BY YOUR FAITH IN WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU IN JESUS, DIE AGAIN TO THE WORLD AND ALL ITS FALSE TEMPTATIONS AND RISE AGAIN IN NEW LIFE IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD. WE ARE CALLED TO BE THE PEOPLE OF THE CROSS, AND LIVE OUR LIVES AS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. THEN, DYING DAILY TO THE WORLD AND TO OUR SELVES, WE CAN LIVE A RISEN LIFE IN CHRIST, AND WE CAN, WITH THE EYES OF FAITH, SEE THAT INSTRUMENT OF TORTURE AND DEATH TRANSFORMED INTO THE GLORIOUS GATE TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
 AMEN.