Facing Up — Sign of the Cross

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 44, 21 April 1987, Page 13

Facing Up — Sign of the Cross

! It's amusing how important symbols are for humankind. These words, for instance are symbols of the meaning which I hope to express in this column. Our TV licence is the symbol that points out that we have the right to watch television, all $75 worth. Waimarino County issues a symbol which assures others that my dog has been treated against hydatids, and further alerts others to the fact that my dog is my dog, for he bears a licence that says I have acknowledged that local authority's right to issue a form which says that 'Cheyenne' is mine. For a cost, of course. Perhaps the symbol that attracts the most attention

of humankind is that which is printed on a piece of worthless paper, coloured brown, or purple; orange or blue. Maybe, if you are lucky, even red. Well, of course we all realise that that symbol is money. Worthless paper in reality — yet because the government of New Zealand guarantees its value it is then a one dollar bill, two dollar bill, five or ten, or if you are lucky enough, a one hundred dollar bill. There are many such symbols in our world. Red Cross, for instance makes us think of helping people. R.S.P.C.A. reminds us that people can't mistreat animals without cost to themselves. Amnesty International reminds us that humans who witness for a

cause and are wrongly imprisoned are not totally without hope. I was interested to find the following while reading the other day: "I have found great help in Luther's advice that we should start our morning and evening prayers by making the sign of the cross. There is something objective about it and that is what I need very badly here." These words, written by the great Christian Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer while imprisoned by the Nazis in 1943 point up the supreme symbol that of the Cross on which Jesus died to save mankind. The fact that Jesus died on the cross is attested to by the early Fathers of the Church (i.e. Irenaeus, Justin) and is confirmed by the statements of

the Gospels as to the title that was set above his head (Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19). It was indeed the Crux Immissa, the very form with which we are familiar, on which Jesus died. Remember, we said that words are symbols. The word 'stauros' in Greek has a wide meaning which extends its understanding of the symbol from Cross to stake. In scripture, Christians have from the apostolic age understood the meaning to be the Cross itself. No Cross, no Easter! No Cross, no Christianity! We thank God for the Cross with all of its loving implications of love, forgiveness and hope. We acknowledge with joy in Easter tide the words of Jesus when speak-

ing of the Cross: JOHN 12:32: "...I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. Boris Pasternak's final verses in his poem, 'Garden • of Gethsemene', touch on the immensity of this event: "Seest thou, the passing of the ages is like a parable And in its passing it may burst to flame. In the name, then, of its awesome majesty I shall, in voluntary torments, descend into my grave. I shall descend into my grave. And on the third day rise again. And, even as rafts float down a river, So shall the centuries drift, trailing like a caravan, Coming for judgement, out of the dark, to me."

Reverend Bob

Peck