This weekend we celebrate Holy Cross Sunday, a festival  in the church year that rarely occurs on a weekend and so is rarely recognized in our worship services. Let's face it, it's actually downright obscure. So what is Holy Cross Sunday about anyway? Well here goes a little, very little, church history... The festival goes back to a story from the 4th century about the discovery of what was thought to be the sites if Jesus' crucifixion and burial, and along with them the remains of the "original" cross on which Jesus was crucified, by an archeological effort involving emperor Constantine's mother Helena. The festival was first established at the dedication of basilicas, or churches that also serve as pilgrimage sites, on these sites by the early church and it has taken a number of forms throughout its history.

  Regardless of the historical significance, the bottom line for us as Christians, and Lutheran flavored Christians at that, has nothing to do with the celebration of a relic, the physical remains of a wooden cross, but rather what Christ accomplished through it. Paul says it very plainly in several verses from one of our lessons for this weekend:

  1 Corinthians 1:18-21 (The Message) - The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell-bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. - It's written,

- I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head,

- I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

  So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb-preaching, of all things! -to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

  To the Jews, Jesus death like a criminal on a cross was a scandal many could not accept as in keeping with the behavior of a Messiah, even today. And I wonder if in some ways we struggle with what we profess we believe as well. Because it's VERY difficult to accept that our faith is completely counter cultural; that it is centered, and finds its power, in what the world would otherwise define as weakness and shame. It's hard for us to really embrace a life that goes against the flow and sometimes may even make us look a little foolish in the eyes of the world. But, if we are to be honest with ourselves, it is the life our faith celebrates.

  Does a death on a cross make sense to you? Does the reality of a God who is willing to get down and dirty and be one of the real people instead of one of the rich and famous give you pause every single day of your life in a way that influences the way you think and act? Then this is the festival for you. Because Holy Cross day is nothing more than a way for us to refocus on the reality of a life lived differently that changed the world forever.

  Celebrate the power of the cross this weekend on Holy Cross day. And celebrate it every single day of your life. Remember that it is not the wisdom of the world that defines us but rather the love of a God who reveals himself to us in ways we would never expect. Seek him, seek Jesus, and the power of the most Holy Cross!  

Peace - PJ2