The Cross

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you, to be still and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN: "The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

 While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.” 1Cor. 1:18-25 The Message

CONSIDER:  Symbols are physical items to which we assign some kind of meaning. If we've used the symbol for a long time. . . the actual meaning of that symbol sometimes gets lost. It becomes something used as a decoration of a ritual.  Take a Christmas tree as an example. A majority of people have Christmas trees at Christmas but probably very few people can explain the symbolism behind it. The cross is a symbol, and because it has been included in home and church décor and as a clothing accessory, the symbolic meaning of it is often lost. To non-Christians, it may seem weird to use an execution method as a symbol of love.  Some people don't like seeing an instrument of torture worn around people necks.  The meaning and value of the cross has perished when symbol gets appropriated or interpreted differently.

SO WHAT:  For those to whom the message and meaning of the cross is retained. . . it's strength is still powerful.  The message of the cross is that "heaven and earth are brought and held together". As we look at the cross, the vertical axis points to heaven, while the horizontal axis points to the earthly horizons. It is a symbol of God's investment and covenantal trust in the human family. 

• The cross is the sign of the "New Covenant"
• The cross is the symbol of God's power
• The cross is a reminder that we are loved. . . even when life gets messy and tragic. . . even when that tragedy is our doing and God is on the receiving end of it.

Yes, the cross is foolishness for those to whom the meaning has disappeared or been lost. . . but it is a powerful assurance for those who do remember it's meaning. We are loved by a God who did not even spare God's own Son for our sakes. . .

PRAYER:  Loving God, help me to see the cross as a symbol of your love for all of humanity. Keep me always focused on the cross that I may never forget it's meaning for me. AMEN