Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Philippians 2:6-11, "The Cross" ~ Susan McGurgan, D.Min.

In our culture,

we work very hard to create a world

immune to suffering and pain.

We retreat into gated communities,

embrace fantasy worlds,

seek out places of comfort,

immerse ourselves in pleasure and entertainment--  

places where death can be ignored

and evil explained away.

We long for a world without tragedy,

without fear,

without sacrifice or sin. 

And yet,

despite our best efforts,

good people still suffer,

pain can bind as tightly as any chain,  

evil sometimes wears a familiar face,

darkness still has the power to terrify

and death comes in the end.   

But there IS another way.

Call it

the way of the cross.

This is the way of those who understand

that suffering

is part of life.

This is the way of those who know that

some suffering can be fought,

and some of it must be endured,

but all of it

can be transformed in some way,

by the presence of the cross.

The cross

is the way of those who believe

that sin can be forgiven,

that darkness can be dispelled,

and that death can be defeated—

by the presence of the cross.

No catechism book or theology class  

explains the cross completely.

No wise professor unpacks its full meaning.

And yet, it waits for all of us.

No matter what road we choose,  

no matter which way we turn,

if we claim to follow the Lord,

the cross will eventually stand

directly in our path.

The reading from Philippians says,

Christ Jesus,

though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather,

he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

Jesus himself tells us

Whoever wishes to come after me

must deny themselves,

take up their cross and follow me.

From a marketing standpoint,

the message of the cross:

humbling ourselves,

taking on the form of slaves,

becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross

is a disaster.

Imagine

how many followers Jesus might have

if only he had said,  

Lay down your cross and follow me.

Ignore your burdens

and I will make them disappear.

Follow me,

and you will never suffer again.

Now that’s a message

everyone

could embrace!

Barbara Brown Taylor says,  

“Suffering can be the great killer of faith.

It can compress the human soul

into a knot of bitter pain.

Suffering can drive us out into the wilderness

and explode our lives

into a thousand brittle pieces.

Or

Suffering can be the way we discover

the depth of our humanity and faith—

our capacity for love and beauty--

our ability to forgive---  

our kinship with God and each other.”

For the difference between these two options,

look at the Cross.

The cross teaches us,

not that God will prevent all pain---

remove all barriers---

take away all sorrow---  

But rather

that these burdens can be transformed.

They can be blessed,

healed,

taken up into the heart of God

and returned to us as new life.      

This is the power of the cross.

The cross dares us to believe

that a loving God is at the center of everything,

even those things

we don’t fully understand.

Jesus never explained the mystery of suffering.

He never promised

we would always be happy or safe.

But he did promise

that he would never leave us orphans. 

He promised that evil would be redeemed---

that suffering was not the final word---

and that the agony of death—

even death upon the cross

would somehow,

be the beginning of new life.  

These aren’t just empty promises

or cheap comfort

for difficult times.

These words are True.

They were spoken by someone

who knows what it’s like

to stand alone in the garden.

This promise was made to all of us

by the God who stoops to wash our feet.

This is the message that Jesus

wants us to hear so badly,

that he walked out of the tomb to tell us.

Trusting in his promise—

Believing in the power of the cross --   

means that we choose justice over retribution

and mercy over hate.

It means that we build up,

even while others are tearing down.

 It means that we become agents of life

in a world that so often celebrates death.

And it means that we walk towards,

not away from

the cross,

carrying whatever cross

we have been asked to bear.

Our journey to the cross

will always be

difficult, complicated, and sometimes,

downright painful.

But it is on this journey,

that we encounter the living God.