An Easter message —The central cross is the meaning of life

Press, 12 April 1979, Page 26

An Easter message —The central cross is the meaning of life

By the Rev. Kenape Faletoese of St Paul’s Trinity Pacific Church, Christchurch. There is a cross everywhere today. We see it on the ambulance. It can be painted in any colour. Electric bulbs can be made to shine in a cross and the stars in the sky can be glittering crosses in a dark night. When you mark a thing right, you make a tick, and when you mark it wrong you make a cross. The house is planned in the form of a cross. The sign of plus and addition in arithmetic is a cross. There is a sign of a cross on Anzac Day wreaths in Cathedral Square and Easter buns are always marked with a cross. When you stretch out your hands, you are making a sign of a cross. They all have meanings. They represent a value and a purpose, each one conveys a message. The central cross of Good Friday is the cross of Jesus Christ. It stands as the very symbol of life, death, and resurrection, therefore it represents the meaning of life, the climax of death, and the hope of resurrection. These are the facts of our human existence.

The cross of Jesus Christ is central, because there was another cross on his right side, and three crosses on his left. They were the crosses of love, attraction, judgment, and the curse of sin. A man said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King.” Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in paradise with me.” This personality had love, and his love was attracted to Jesus, therefore when Jesus died, he was the first person to be saved by the central cross. I always want to sing that at Easter time the personality of the cross on the other side of Jesus, rebuked him and said: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The cross of Jesus points to you and me. It judges and separates the sheep from the goats; and it also points to heaven and to hell. It embraces the East and the West. “For God so loved the world . . ~” he brings all who believe into His Kingdom.

It bridges the worldliness of the world with the heavenly joy of eternal life. “For there is great joy in heaven over one

man that repents.” Faith then starts and ends at the cross, because faith means trust of that man who died upon the cross whose name is Jesus, which means Saviour, “For He saves his people from their sins.” Our modern sin therefore is belief and trust in material things, and not in the Son of God. We have too much belief, but it is belief in the wrong things. We believe in sports and money. We over empha-

sise physical fitness, and have completely lost confidence in God and ourselves. The most concrete evidence is weddings and baptisms. They are only artificial symbols. The child is baptized and then the family will never come near the church again. The young couple get married in church buildings, in the fellowship of believers, and that is the last time they come to worship. We go on claiming that we are the children of God, but that is not enough.

The cross was most costly, and that is why it is central. It is the centre of our being and belief, our service and our mission, our family life, and employment. The cross does not stop at death and the crucifixion. John calls the cross the sanctification and unification. The other three writers, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, call the Easter story the climax and triumph. They saw the Resurrection as another great event of God.

The story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, therefore are not separate photographs but are one continuous film. We rejoice therefore that Jesus has risen. We have a life beyond death and look forward to meeting our loved ones who have gone before us. Death is not the end of everything. Jesus said in the book of Revelation: “I shall wipe away ali tears from their eyes.”

Do not be afraid to shed tears of love for your friend who dies at this time. Death is swallowed up in Jesus’s victory and Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection, and the Life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies.” May everything in your life, in your family, and in society, be centred in the cross of Jesus.

Happy Easter to you all.