Life Out of Death

I have been waiting patiently for the opportunity to teach the old, old, yet in many congregations brand new, dual Good Friday tradition of The Procession of the Cross and the Reverencing of the Cross.

I don't know why, but I think there is something very cool and counter-cultural about expressing our adoration for the cross. First of all, the cross is such a deep and layered symbol: instrument of death, tool of torture, death of God, sacrifice of the lamb, beginning of the work of salvation. And as Christians, we can't help but look at the cross and see resurrection.

Last Wednesday night I had the honor of introducing 50 some junior highers, their parents, and various other people from age 5 to 95 to the ancient posture and position of taking a knee at the foot of the cross: where indeed we encounter the love of God.

The lead in began with the sermon, as I preached about, of all things, Jesus' love and sacrifice for you. In our planning meetings leading up to this night, it was tangible that the greatest desire was to express the personal, pivotal impact of the cross. Not just that God is love, or that God loves the world, but that God, radically, loves you. And God loves me too.

But the most important thing about the service, in my opinion, is that we embraced worship as a context for learning. Instead of hauling in a cross, singing an unfamiliar tune tentatively, and walking nervously by the cross in fear of making a fool of our selves, we explained thoroughly what was about to happen, and then we did it.

I have no proof that what happened last night would not have happened had we not inserted a teaching moment in the middle of liturgy, but I'd like to think that it sure helped. What happened, by the way, was that nearly every member of our congregation, regardless of age, background, gender, reverenced the cross in a way that was, I hope at least, meaningful for them. As I distributed communion, I snuck a glance over my shoulder to see a community, the Body of Christ, gathered at the foot of the cross, in curiosity, in wonder, in worship, and in love. And half of those venturing outside of their comfort zone to reverence the tree of life were junior highers! Now that's uplifting and encouraging.

If you're interested in teaching this old tradition (that's making a comeback) in your setting, you may want to sneak a peak at the words that set up the action. So what follows is my short sermon "Jesus Loves Me" followed by Instructions for the procession and reverencing of the cross. Good luck! May God meet you at the foot of the cross, and at every point in your life, as Christ truly comes down to us.

Sermon: "Jesus Loves Me"

I want you to sing with me. Will you sing with me? I think you know the song. Here we go…Jesus loves me this I know. Let’s try that one more time, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so, little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.

They are weak but he is strong.

I am weak. You are weak. Our reading tonight points this out very clearly…It is written, about you and about me, about all of us that, “There is no one who is in right relationship with God. Not even one of us. There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. We have all turned away, and together we have become worthless, there isn’t even one person who shows kindness, not even one.” Wow, we are weak, that’s for sure.

Jesus is strong. Jesus is the only one who was strong enough to make it through a human lifetime without sin. Jesus, as we learned at the very beginning of this year, was strong enough to resist temptation. And, Jesus, is the only one who has ever lived who is strong enough to beat death and break the hold that death and sin have on our lives. How can Jesus be so strong? It isn’t because he’s a superhero, or a warrior, or a really great man. Jesus is God. And with God all things are possible.

God saw our weakness, the weakness of all human beings over all of time, and decided to step in on our behalf. God saw how you cheated on your math test. And how you are mean to your sibling when you don’t think anyone is looking. He sees me as I make mistakes, and believe me I make mistakes. And he even notices how you are mean toward yourself, thinking things about yourself that you’d never want anyone to know.

God saw our weakness and decided to enter our lives in a very unusual way.

The Jesus we picture on the cross. Hanging there, helplessly, with blood running down his forehead. That Jesus doesn’t seem very strong. The cross looks to us like a defeat not a victory. If we had been there, we would think that Jesus had lost. Score: Human beings: 1, Jesus: 0. It seemed clear to those who witnessed the crucifixion that he wasn’t the Messiah after all. And that he definitely wasn’t very strong.

The truth is: It is in weakness that God displays his greatest strength. It’s in the cross that Jesus takes on sin and death and conquers them on our behalf. Without this feat of strength by Jesus, without this act of power by God, we’d be the helpless ones. Left to be overcome by darkness, disease, violence, emptiness, failure, sin, and death.

But instead of leaving us to our own defenses, weak and powerless against sin and death, on the cross Jesus enters into all of those terrible things. And he is God, and as God he could have definitely avoided all of those things. Instead he chooses to enter it, to empty out his life on the cross, and to become our savior. Jesus is strong on our behalf.

It might surprise you to hear that Jesus died on the cross for you. Of course God is love, and God loves the entire world. We believe that because we’ve heard it since we were in Sunday School. But the amazing thing, the great surprise, is that Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me. It isn’t for some abstract idea of all of humanity that Jesus took on death on the cross. As he entered into the darkness of the cross, each of the individual people of the world across all of time flashed through Jesus’ mind. And right before his eyes, as he gave up his life, he saw your face.

For me, this can be hard to believe. In fact I’d have to wonder if I’m worth it. The fact is that I’m not worth it. Nothing I have done or ever could do could earn me the gift that Jesus has given me through the cross and resurrection. But Jesus didn’t die for us because we deserve it. He died for you and for me because he is love, and even more so because he loves you, yes you, and he loves me.

Jesus loves me him who died, heavens gates will open wide, he will wash away my sin, let his little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me.

Let those words sink in way down deep, and as you look to the cross, may you see it as a sure and certain sign that Jesus loves you.

Thanks be to God. Amen.


Explanation of The Procession and Reverencing of the Cross

Throughout history the cross has been referred to as “the tree of life.”

The cross was an instrument of death, but not a simple painless death, a terrible death. So, why is it that we wear it around our necks or hang it in the front of our churches? And how could we possibly think of it as a tree of life.

As Christians we don’t see the cross as just a symbol of death. We know the next part of the story. Jesus conquers death and is resurrected. Because of his death and resurrection, we will be resurrected and we are free to live our lives abundantly. And so, the tree of the cross is for us the tree of life.

Especially on Good Friday, we acknowledge the cross before us as God’s gift of life. We meditate on the meaning of Christ’s cross in our lives, and we pray.

There is an ancient tradition that is making a come-back and becoming a part of more and more churches’ worship on Good Friday. This tradition is called the procession of the cross and reverencing of the cross.

We’re going to do this tonight, so here’s how it works: We rise as the procession of the cross begins; the cross enters the sanctuary and we sing together acknowledging it as the tree of life. We sing again as the cross is in the center of our midst, and once more as it is at the front of our sanctuary. All the while we turn our bodies to face the cross. Then, you are invited to spend a moment at the foot of the cross. At the foot of the cross we encounter God’s love.

Tonight we’re going to take part in this worship before the cross. The cross will process up the aisle, we will sing, and after you receive the bread and wine of communion, I encourage you to reverence the cross.

To reverence means to show respect, honor, to worship, and to adore. You can reverence the cross in many ways. All of these ways engage not just your heart and mind, but your body too.

You can stand before the cross, kneel beside it, touch the cross, make the sign of the cross on your body, lean your forehead against it, simply pause before it, or bow in respect. Any action that helps you to focus on the meaning of the cross and express your respect, worship, love, and gratitude is just fine. Keep in mind that the cross that we will reverence tonight is a real wooden cross, so be careful for splinters.

I do challenge you tonight to try this. Reverence the cross. And do it in a way that is maybe even one step outside of your comfort zone. This is a safe space, and we are all trying this as a new thing together.

Before the procession of the cross, let’s practice our part. Paula will sing the cantor’s line, and we will respond with the congregational part. Let’s do this two times through.

"Behold the life-giving cross, on which was hung the Savior of the whole world."
"Oh come, let us worship Him."

Please rise for the procession of the cross.

The Bible?

In seminary we talk a lot about the current contextual crisis of biblical illiteracy. For many people, a basic understanding of the overall story arc of the Bible is, well, not so basic.

As I've attempted to plan Confirmation lessons with colleagues over the past few years, one thing that we have found that we can't take for granted is the fact that confirmation students...or even their parents...have a working knowledge of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

We cannot assume most young people in the pews on Wednesday evenings have the foundation and that we are gathered in order to dig deeper. Likewise, we can't assume that parents are equipped with the tools necessary to form faith because they were in Confirmation eons ago. For of course we all know what assuming tends to do...

But beyond making a fool of myself and yourself, when we assume a basic level of understanding and jump in at a 201 level of biblical interpretation, we miss the boat, or rather, we set sail with plenty of people still standing on the shore, unable to join the voyage.

On the other hand, many attempts to bring those who lack the background up to speed fail because they underestimate the group's ability to get it. Nothing can be much more condescending for those who do happen to have a working foundation of the biblical narrative and who are hoping to dig deeper.

So, the art of teaching faith in the 21st Century seems to be a constant balance between meeting people where they are and not dumbing it down.

At any rate, there is a need to retell the age old story. Luckily I love to tell the story! (Also, coincidentally one of my favorite hymns.) In fact I love to tell the story for those who don't think they have the time...and for those who don't think that God's story is their story...and especially for those who are unsuspecting of the aha moment that sneaks up on them when they hear the story and realize they are smack in the middle of it.

I'm hoping for a few of those Epiphany moments in a couple of weeks, when, right at the end of the longest possible Epiphany season, I will present with the help of a number of folks...drumroll please...The Bible in 25 Minutes!

From week to week, we hear snippets from the Older and Newer Testaments. As children we get the best of the stories...via felt board or dramatic reenactment. As grown ups, we wander cautiously into Bible studies hoping not to be put on the spot. But when do we ever get the chance to see all these pearls of individual stories strung together on the string of God's adventures with the world? When do we ever get to hear the whole story so that we might make better sense of the episodes?

Sunday, February 27th, at all three of our services, the people of Bethany will travel from the time before time to the end of all time...ironically in a purposefully designed very short amount of time. 25 minutes to be exact.

Of course this is the entire Bible painted with a very broad brush. It's a view of the story of the People of God from 5,000 feet. It's the story of our God through so many lifetimes, told in the space of a tv sitcom episode. But, hopefully, it will be a taste of the story that acts as an appetizer. Hopefully it will be an open door, a gateway to enter the epic story. Hopefully it will be an invitation that encourages listeners to jump into this eternal story with their whole lives.

Come and live into this book of books with me.

Check out the promo video that my colleague Laura Romig put together:



In case you don't have 25:00, these guys do a pretty good job in 0:53!