May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our
hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator, our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit who dwells among us.
Over the past couple of weeks a bit of a movement
started. It’s one in which people pin a safety pin to their shirt the way they
might pin a broach or a tie tack. The idea is that in wearing a pin you are
announcing that you are a safe person to those who feel unsafe. People who feel
unsafe because they’ve been bullied. Maybe because of their sexual orientation,
or their race, or their country of origin - or what other perceive to be their
country of origin, of for other reasons people feel unsafe.
So from a place of good will, people having taken to
wear or to having as their online icon a safety pin.
And then, understandably, it was pointed out that
while it’s a lovely idea, for those who are frequently facing bullying and
discrimination, a pin on its own will not assure a vulnerable person that you
are safe. What will assure a person that you are safe is because you act safe.
That you act with kindness, that when you see someone being harassed, you step
in and stand up, saying the behavior is not acceptable.
Which is a super good point. It’s a shift from
understanding the safety pin as something you wear that others have to respond
or you wear it as a reminder of how you choose to be that day – a challenge to yourself
to BE the safe person you want the world to have.
Pretty quickly I began to see parallels in my mind
between wearing a safety pin and wearing a cross.
It got me asking myself, “Why do we as Christians wear
a cross?”
Traditionally I’d say we wear a cross to as a way of
identifying ourselves as Christians – to each other and to the world. The cross
you wear announces “This is a follower of Christ.”
Perhaps in the very earliest years of the Christian
church it was discreet way of recognizing one of your own when out in public,
when being a Christian wasn’t considered acceptable.
Perhaps in those early years it was an act of bravery.
Before Constantine made Christianity the religion of the land, to wear a cross
was to risk being outed as someone who didn’t kneel to the Emperor – and might
be jailed for it.
But as time has done on, wearing a cross, at least in
our country, has lost any element of danger. For a while in the 90s I remember
when wearing a cross, particularly really oversized crosses, was a fashion
statement, completely separate from being a faith statement.
If you chose, you can wear a cross as a necklace or a
pin. You can openly identify as a Christian and you know what that means for
you.
“So what does it mean to wear a cross in the light of
Christ the King Sunday?”
On a Sunday like today we are reminded that our Christ
is one who forgives – even forgiving those who are literally killing him.
We are reminded that our Christ is one who is willing
to die for our sins so that we may have life.
We are reminded that our Christ is one who includes even
criminals in his kingdom.
Our Christ, whose death and resurrection we remember
by the empty cross we wear.
But what do others experience when they see the cross
we wear?
For some, it is reassuring. It represents people who
build hospitals and provide care to all who enter. It represents schools were
all are educated. It represents food, water, shelter, and emotional care in the
wake of natural disasters.
But for others, seeing a cross is less than
reassuring. It is a sign of violence. Crosses have been burned in the yards of
people of color as a threat that they will be burned next if they stay and
continue to expect to be treated as equal human beings. People wearing crosses
are the ones who picket funerals, blaming everything from natural disasters to
wars. If they thought they could get traction, they’d blame speed limits and
gas prices on gay, lesbian, and transgender people. People wearing crosses are
vocal about limiting rights of those who are not Christians in the way they
are.
For many, the Christian cross creates anxiety.
We live in a time where we can’t simply wear a cross
and assume that those who see it will see us as safe people, as forgiving
people, as grace filled people, as inclusive people. To people who have been
harmed by other Christians, we can’t say, “We’re different, trust us!”
What we can do is to see that cross we wear as more
than an announcement of our faith, a claim of our bona fides.
Like with the safety pins, wearing it is not enough,
we are called to live into it. What if when you wear a cross you do so with a
remembrance of your baptism promise – to work for peace and justice in all the
world – every day. To be kind to all, remembering that there’s likely struggles
in their lives that you know nothing about. To step in and step up when you see
others being hurt and harassed.
Last but not least, when you see the cross, when you
wear a cross, be reminded that YOU are claimed by Christ. In an uncertain
world, this cross is a reminder of your king – a king who loves every last
person in his kingdom, including and most especially you. May that cross be
your constant reminder that YOU are madly and thoroughly loved by your God.
Amen, amen. Thanks be to God.
