Sign of the Cross

A sermon on Exodus 20: 1-17; John 2:13-22, preached March 11, 2012

at First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL

(c) Christina Berry

Exodus 20:1-17

1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

John 2:13-22

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

“Jesus died for your sins.”

I said it like I knew exactly what it meant. We were in fifth grade, and Nina was my closest friend in the neighborhood. She had moved to our town from Wichita, the big city. She had been to a mall, and I had only been to our little downtown. Her school clothes came from Macy’s. Mine came from the Sears catalog. Nina had five Barbies, and her own room. I had one Barbie, and two sisters in my room. She came to Sunday School with me once. But her family did not go to church. Clearly, it was my duty to tell her about Jesus. So I told her how Jesus died for us, to save us from our sins.

“Sin?” Nina asked. “What is sin?”

“Sin – you know,” I said, thinking fast.

“That’s when you do wrong things that God doesn’t like. You know, sin!”

Nina thought for a moment and said

“Well, we never had anything like that back in Wichita.”

Good old sin has just gone out of style. And I’m not talking about little onesie-twosie sins, breaking the ten commandments. Those are sins – I’m talking about SIN, the whole enchilada – the sinfulness of all humanity. Calvin calls it “total depravity.” He says we’re depraved. Totally corrupt. We’re sunk: sinful, immoral, depraved, degenerate, wicked, and corrupt!

Nobody really likes hearing this, but sometimes, like during Lent, we need to be reminded of the reality of sin, and in a fairly dramatic way. If Jesus had rambled into the synagogue that Sabbath morning and chatted up the merchants in the courtyard about how their activities were in contradiction to God’s teaching, how they were in direct violation of Torah, the law, and how much he disagreed with them, and how much better he’d feel if they would clear out, do you suppose they’d have blushed and started packing? I hardly think so.

Jesus’ angry and violent reaction to the site of all that commerce in a house of prayer was probably what it took to get their attention. They knew the law – no question about that. In fact, their business operations were set up to profit from those who came in obedience to the law. The Jewish reverence for the law is so strong that there is even a special holiday set aside to celebrate God’s gift of Torah.

When I was in seminary I worshiped regularly at Congregation Agudas Achim, a Conservative synagogue. The central part of the service is the reading of Torah – the books of the Law. When it is time for the Torah reading, everyone reverently faces the ark, and the huge bronze doors swing open. The blue silk curtain is pulled back, and the scrolls of scripture, each one wrapped in its own unique velvet cover, are revealed. The Torah scroll is removed, and the rabbi hands the scroll to the reader. Then, with much joyful singing and clapping, the reader processes all around the worship space with the scroll. Worshipers reach out with prayer books or the corners of their shawls to touch the Torah scroll.

The sacred texts are not ever touched with the hands; the reader keeps his or her place in the scripture with a special pointer. The reading of the Torah, in fact, is so holy that mistakes are not allowed. The people at the bima must correct any mistakes made by the reader. That high regard for the law has survived from the earliest time of God’s chosen people, the people with whom God made a covenant, the people to whom God gave the law.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with those stone tablets, he was not delivering a rulebook. He was bringing the symbol of God’s steadfast love for the people. See, the ten commandments are not just a checklist that we can use to make sure we are doing the right things and not doing the wrong things. The ten commandments are emblematic of God’s covenantal relationship with the Jews, and with all humankind. We do not win God’s favor by the keeping of the law; we respond to God’s covenant by our observance of God’s law.

John Calvin distinguished three uses of the Law.

1. To demonstrate that God is perfect, and we are not.

2. To act as a deterrent for wickedness, through the fear of punishment.

3. To help us as believers to learn and follow God’s will.

In other words, the law is a lamp, a roadmap, and a guard rail. It is a lamp because it sheds light God’s goodness, and on our failings. The law is a roadmap because it provides us with the direction we ought to travel on our journey. And the law is a guardrail because it keeps us from running off the road – a guardrail keeps us on the right path.

So the law gives light, and direction, and protection. That is quite a gift, and certainly something to be glad about. That’s why it is important for us to know the ten commandments – not so we can erect monuments on courthouse lawns, but so that God’s presence can be made known in our lives. God’s law is a gift, something to celebrate, not a burden to be borne. So when Jesus came, he said:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus’ purpose was to honor the law and the prophets; God’s purpose was fulfilled in the person and work of Christ.

But the cross demonstrates to us that God’s purposes are not always congruent with human nature -- the existence of sin makes us resist God’s work. So when Jesus came, eating with sinners, hanging out with tax collectors and prostitutes, and talking about loving enemies, throwing the money changers out of the temple, the reaction was not a warmhearted welcome. The people were mostly defensive, put off, wanting to silence him. They weren’t interested in repenting, in apologizing, in changing. They were mostly interested in shutting this guy up, in discrediting him, and eventually, they were shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Oh, yes, there have always been people who want to shut Jesus up, to justify themselves and their actions and their words. “I misspoke” they say. “It was a poor choice of words, but I was trying to make a joke,” they say. As if they can brush aside the 9th commandment.

There have always been people who want to hold Jesus at arm’s length. “I am a good person,” they say, “And I have never committed murder or theft, so if I don’t go to church, what is it to you?” As if obeying commandments six and eight exempt them from all the others.

The cross stands in direct opposition to our efforts to justify ourselves. The Greek cross that we are displaying today is a symbol of valor, of courage, but it is also the symbol that is used in written liturgy to indicate the sign of the cross.

We Presbyterians don’t cross ourselves, generally, in worship. But there is nothing wrong with doing so. To make the sign of the cross is a prayer, and a blessing, and an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law, the new covenant. The gesture calls our attention, body, mind and spirit, to the Trinity. And it reminds us that we belong to the one who died that we might live.

In our baptism, the sign of the cross was made upon our foreheads, as the words were said:

“You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Whether or not we make that sign of the cross ourselves, or whether or not it is made for us in worship, it is there, marking us as those who belong to Christ, forever. The covenant is fulfilled in Christ Jesus and the law and the cross attest to God’s faithfulness and steadfast love.

This recognition of God’s trustworthiness is expressed in our reverence for, and obedience to, God’s law. The law is a gift from God. The law demonstrates that God and God alone rules the universe; God’s law governs the entire created order. God’s grace is Jesus Christ is a gift as well, We rejoice not only in God’s grace but also in God’s law.

For God’s law gives us light, direction, and protection. The cross offers us mercy, grace and life . Thanks be to God for law, and for grace. Thanks be to God for the sign of the cross!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.