Journey to the Cross
If you have been at our last few worship services or heard my sermon on Ash Wednesday, it will come as no surprise that The Cross has been on my mind and in my heart and imagination this Lent. The journey of Lent is always to the cross, but this year, more than other, the meaning and transformation the cross elicits within myself and the Christian community has captivated my spirit and lit my journey.
James Cone in his book The Cross and the Lynching Tree writes, “The cross has been transformed into a harmless, non-offensive ornament that Christians wear around their necks. Rather than reminding us of the ‘cost of discipleship,’ it has become a form of ‘cheap grace,’ an easy way to salvation that doesn’t force us to confront the power of Christ’s message and mission.” I have read this book four times now and this was the first time these words stood out to me and siblings in Christ, they are in the introduction. Seriously, they are on pages xiv-xv (not even numbers yet). So I can’t help but ask, why now? Why is it this year, that Cone’s articulation of the cross in our modern context gotten under my skin forcing my heart to daily wrestle with The Cross?
Partially, I think it’s because this moment in human history is calling us into a radical reckoning of our history with our future as humans, institutions, society and people of faith. Now it is not a requirement that we answer that call, but I for one cannot ignore the Spirit’s nagging presence as she continues to bring this question up, “So? What does the cross mean for your life, Hannah?”
What does The Cross mean siblings in Christ? For you, your life, your choices each day?
I am 100% sure you, I, we will wrestle with this question all our lives and perhaps never articulate the answer with any satisfaction, but in these first few weeks of Lent 2021, here is what the cross means in my life as I enter my daily life. The cross tells me to not be afraid to speak hard truths. The cross tells me that the world will be different under Christ’s kin-dom and I can work to see that difference now. In my proclamation, both in words and deeds, I can help to bring “good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, help the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18 paraphrased) The cross tells me that walking with Jesus will hurt because it calls me to die to sin and be reborn in life with Christ.
May your Lenten journey lead you to the cross and life in Christ everlasting,
- Pr. Hannah
