Stewards of the Cross

It is often the outsiders who have the clearest vision. Unencumbered with years of group think and corporate ritual, they simply see - and what they see is stark and frightening.  It is often the outsiders who look on the cross at the center of our Christian faith and wonder at the insanity of it all.


What they see is the reality of the cross: an instrument of torture and death which people of faith hold high above their heads and claim as a symbol of a good and gracious God and frankly, they wonder if we have all lost our minds.  What they see is the power of this world crushing one lone, weak, vulnerable man. Even given the resurrection, they rightly wonder why we who believe would choose the cross as symbol of the holy man, Jesus and his ministry and teachings among his people.

These are good questions.  We who are stewards of this cross, keepers of the story, models of its teaching, followers of its Jesus, need to re-visit the unexpected message about power that is the cross of Jesus, the one we call the Christ.  What exactly happened there?  What does it tell us about the power of God who created heaven and earth, took on human flesh in Jesus, allowed the rulers of this world to do their worst, and yet who rises victorious and breathes new life into all of creation daily?

Well, the powers of this world aren't quite as powerful as they thought they were.  Dealing in fear and intimidation, oppression and violence, the powers of this world will crush, torture and starve their neighbors in order to get what they want.  The rulers of this world will leave children to die in the desert, behead folks who contradict their stories, and herd the unwanted ones into ghettos called Gaza until their spirit is crushed.

But in the end, the powers of this world only rule in this world and for the moment.  God rules eternally and does it with forgiveness and reconciliation and grace and healing and life.  In the end, Christ rose - leaving empty not only the tomb, but all the threats of those who would be king of the universe.

Out of Jesus' death, God shows us the power of life in God.  In the very darkness of a suffering death, God holds Jesus precious until life can be shown again.  When all is despair, God seeds hope.

We are stewards of this cross.