Opinion : Pastor\'s Blog - “What Do We See In That Wondrous Cross?”

In some church traditions, September 14 is observed as Holy Cross Day or “The Triumph of the Cross.”  It is a minor festival but gives opportunity to celebrate the cross as an instrument of redemption and triumph in a way not appropriate during Holy Week, when the emphasis is on the suffering and death of Jesus.  It reflects how the cross has been transformed from a symbol of shame into the primary symbol of the Christian Faith openly displayed, often in beautiful ways.  It is even worn as personal jewelry.   

Among all the ways the cross is depicted, we may be aware in these days after the 10th anniversary of 9-11 of the cross discovered in wreckage of World Trade Center.  It was not made as a religious symbol, but was part of the building.  When the dust had settled, rescue workers noticed amid all the rubble and ruin this remnant of structural steel forming a twenty-foot cross.  It seemed an amazing thing and became a shrine now preserved as a not-uncontroversial artifact

An old hymn begins, “When I survey that wondrous cross…”  As we consider the “Ground Zero Cross,” perhaps in that “wondrous cross” we may see:

A Symbol of Loss. 9-11 stands as day when life in America changed.  Like December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, September 11 lives in infamy.  Since that day it seems we have faced crisis after crisis. That cross of ruins reminds us of the loss of life that day and in the years of warfare following.  It represents the loss of property in those attacks and the financial turmoil that persists and deepens.  It reminds us of our vulnerability.  We no longer feel safe and untouchable as we used to anywhere in our land.  We cannot travel without suspicion or go about freely in the buildings of our nation’s capitol.  We lament the loss of optimism so characteristic of the American spirit.

A Token Of Sin.  The 9-11 cross reminds us of the worst kinds of things people do to each other.  The Roman cross on which Jesus died was a most awful torture.  We must know that as symbol of the hateful acts of others, the cross easily can reveal our own dark side.  There was a time when the cross justified terrible abuse of Jews.  Better to remember that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all people because, “God so loved the world.”  While a nation has a right and duty to defend itself, it is under the symbol of the flag, not the cross.  A Christian’s response is duty to country, not religious warfare. The cross must not incite vengeance but motivate repentance.

A Way Of Life.  That 9-11 cross found by rescue and recovery workers reminds us of those who risked and lost lives out of duty to others and love of mankind that day and in the years since.  Jesus said if any would follow him they must deny themselves and take up their cross.

A Message Of Hope.  The Ground Zero Cross was not created on September 11.  It was always there deep inside the building, helping to hold it up.  When everything came down in fire, dust, and terror, the cross was revealed, still standing when all about had crumbled.  Just so, the cross of Jesus shows us the truth of St. Paul’s bold assertion that, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and the promise of Jesus, “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”  By way of the cross God in Jesus entered into our sin and death and gave to us a share of his eternal victory over these things.

A wondrous cross indeed.  The old hymn concludes, “Were the whole realm of nature nine, that were a tribute far too small;  Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all!” 

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The Rev. Mark C. Urlaub is pastor at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Vinton.

The church is located at 1206 C Avenue, Vinton.

www.bethlehemvinton.org

Sunday Worship at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday School at 10:15 a.m.