May only truth be
spoken and truth received. Amen.
September
14th is Holy Cross Day. In the Anglican Church calendar, it is
considered a feast day that takes precedence on a Sunday. It just so happens
that today is actually September 14th, but if it been the 13th
or the 15th, we still would have celebrated Holy Cross Day instead
of the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.
I’m
sure many of you are wondering just what is Holy Cross Day anyway? Here’s a
brief bit of background. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, discovered
what was believed to be the empty tomb and true cross of Christ
during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to tradition, the discovery
was made on September 14th, 330, and then, after the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher was built on the site, it was dedicated on September 14th,
335. From as early as the seventh century, the Church commemorated
September 14th each year with a Feast of the Holy Cross. Once removed from the
Anglican Church calendar by Thomas Cramner during the English Reformation, the
Feast of the Holy Cross returned to Anglicanism during the 19th and
20th centuries and now appears on September 14 in the calendars of
the current Prayer Books. Today, the commemoration of the Holy Cross is
common throughout the Anglican Church and is a time for remembering the work
that Jesus did for us, and for the world, on the cross.
As
we move through this sermon, I want you to hold some questions in your mind –
what does the cross mean to you? When you look at it, when you see it, what do
you feel and think? What meaning does it hold for you?
We
start our readings today with some complaining from the Israelites. There was
plenty of that being done throughout their travels in the wilderness, usually at
points where the peoples’ faith was being severely tested. This time, they were
asking Moses if he brought them to this desert just to die. They didn’t like the
food and there was a lack of water. Walking through the desert isn’t for the
faint of heart after all.
In
response, God sends poisonous snakes. What a strange thing to send to a group
of starving, thirsty people. As done in previous stories, God gives Moses
instructions on how to heal his people and how to build up their faith. This
time, Moses was told to make a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole. Looking
at this bronze serpent will heal anyone who has been bitten.
If
you picture the bronze serpent in your mind, I’d bet we’re all picturing the
same familiar image – one you would see within the medical community. A symbol
that for most of us would be a reminder of healing. It marks the places that we
know we can go to for medical attention and help.
What
is it that God is really asking of the Israelites here? To believe that a looking
at an object will heal them? Or was it that God wanted the Israelites to have
faith that what they needed, God would provide. So while this bronze serpent
doesn’t mean “get medical help here”, as we know it today, by looking up at
this symbol, the Israelites has faith the God would heal them of their snake bites.
Today’s
Gospel reading is one we typically hear in the 2nd week of Lent. Nicodemus
sneaking around in the night trying to have a conversation with Jesus without
any of his buddies seeing him. He is beginning to believe in what Jesus has to
offer but isn’t ready to admit it out in the open. That’s all well and good but
I’m going to save that story for when we get to Lent. For today, let’s
concentrate on the last bit of the reading:
“No one has
ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 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.” (John 3:13-17)
John reminds
readers that God sent snakes to the Israelites, and that Moses lifted up the
bronze serpent in the wilderness so that his people could be healed. Well God
didn’t send snakes this time. Instead, God sent Jesus to us, so that Jesus
could teach us about healing and faith. And just as people looked up at the bronze
snake in faith, we look up to the cross in faith for our own healing.
Faith is the
instrument through which we receive the grace of God. Nothing else is needed. You
don’t need to do anything to earn God’s grace, or God’s love. It has always
been ours to enjoy. By looking up to the cross in faith, we inherit the kingdom
promised long ago to Abraham – we inherit eternal life, as a gift of grace received
through faith. Our eternal standing in the kingdom of God is gained through
faith in the faithfulness of Christ being raised up on the cross and dying on
our behalf.
It is this that we
are celebrating, today, on Holy Cross Sunday. That God so loved the world that God
sent us Jesus, so that anyone who believes in him may have eternal life. We are
called to look up at the cross with faith, knowing that God didn’t send Jesus
to condemn us, but to save us.
In a world full of
turmoil, violence, and hate, we can look to the cross for grace, comfort, and
love. We can look to the cross with faith, knowing that we are children of God,
wonderfully and fearfully made in God’s image. We can look to the cross for the
strength we need to make it through each day knowing that, at the end, nothing
will separate us from the love of God.
Amen.
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