Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (Philippians 2:6-11)

The cross is the primary symbol of the Christian faith. But at the very beginning of Christianity, the symbols Christians used were different. A fish, for instance, might be painted on the wall of a room where Christians gathered. Sometimes a picture of the Good Shepherd would be painted where Mass was held in a house church. Why? Perhaps that was because the cross was so scandalous. How could God have died on a cross? Non-Christians challenged followers of Jesus with this question. At first, the disciples struggled to answer. God dying as a common criminal? The concept was hard to wrap one’s head around. We still find it difficult today. The Bible Passages we read this Sunday offer a Theological explanation of the cross that took many decades to formulate. The scriptures trace the meaning of the cross back to the book of Exodus. In the story, the people of Israel are punished by God for their constant complaining. The people who travel through the desert show a lack of gratitude. The Lord intervened to free them from slavery in Egypt. But the people seem to feel they were better off as slaves. At least they had water to drink. And they had food to eat. God punishes the Israelites by sending poisonous serpents that bite them. As the Israelites wreath in agony, poisoned by the venom of the serpents, God cures them. Moses mounts a brass serpent on a pole. When people look at the serpent, they are healed. The very reptile that has brought evil is the creature that brings healing. The cause is the cure. Healing is often brought by vaccines that are derived from the very viruses that have brought the sickness in the first place. The cross is the symbol of sin and death. The cross of Christ represents human cruelty at its apex, yet the cross is a symbol of redemption today. When a priest anoints a person with oil in the Sacrament of the anointing of the sick, the oil is traced on the forehead and the hands of the person who is ill in the pattern of a cross. Again, it is the symbol of suffering that brings about healing. We read what is known as the “Hym to Christ” in our second lesson today from the Letter to the Phillipians. The hymn praises Jesus. Why? Because Jesus leaves his all powerful existence behind to suffer a humiliating death. Jesus “accepted death on a cross.” Jesus took the hatred, injustice, violence, spite, torture, insults that were thrown at him, he absorbed these things, he transformed this terrible hurt. He then offered alternatives. If we are ever going to find a way out of a cycle of violence, we need to be able to do this. In the film “Gandhi”, which is the story of the great Hindu teacher of non-violence, there is a pivotal scene. India has achieved independence, but riots break out in the streets of the country. Even though India is free of British rule Hindus and Muslims who share the country attack one another. Gandhi goes on a hunger strike protesting the violence. As Gandhi lies on a bed suffering with hunger pangs, a Hindu man bursts into his room. He throws down his sword. He then hurls a piece of bread at Gandhi telling him to eat. He says, “I am going to hell, but I don’t want your death on my conscience. I have already murdered a Muslim child.” Gandhi tells him that he knows a way out of hell. The Mahatma tells the Hindu man to find a Muslim orphan. He then tells him to adopt the child. “Then raise the child as a Muslim. And that is the way out of Hell.” The man falls at the feet of Gandhi in tears. He knows what he must do. We are enmeshed in a spiral of violence in our society, and it is so easy to get pulled into it. No one act of violence can be completely separated from another. We can perpetuate violence by identifying enemies. We can then threaten, verbally assault and possibly physically attack others or we can put into practice what Jesus taught. Jesus took the blows that were aimed at him. He absorbed those blows. And then he turned the other cheek. Who can forget some of Jesus’ last words? “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” If everyone saw each human life as sacred, would we take a human life? If each of us saw others as representing the image and likeness of God, would we lash out? If we believed everyone was equal in God’s eyes, could we deny an enemy life? We have a variety of voices crying out in the media offering solutions and explanations right now. What is the path out of hell? Who do we listen to? Christian people are called to pay attention to the voices that echo the voice of Jesus who humbled himself “accepting even death, death on the cross.” He has offered a way forward, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Admit sins, then transform them into grace. Take despair, convert it into hope. Reject anger, respond with love.