Sermon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
St Paul tells us
that we should
glory only in the cross of Christ.
If you remember,
the word Glory
- chabod in Hebrew -
has a sense of weight
behind it.
Glory makes an impact.
Glory is something
you can't fail to notice.
Glory weighs a ton!
It is the glory of the cross
that prevents
Emperor Heraclius
from entering Jerusalem
with it in triumph
after defeating
the Persian aggressor
King Chosroes.
It weighs too much
for his worldly riches
to bear
and he must cast them aside
so that he can pick up the Cross
and carry it into Jerusalem.
Heraclius' glory in his triumph
has itself been beaten
by the glory of rough wood
upon which Our Lord
bled to death.
[PAUSE]
Often we forget the fact
that the Cross is
supposed to be
the image of a shameful death.
We Christians have done
a good job of turning
the meaning of the cross around.
Every Easter, though,
we ought always
to remind ourselves that,
although the Cross is glorious
it is still the way
Our Lord was killed.
The Cross does not allow
for its glory to be something
flippant.
It's not a decoration
for a party,
painted in bright colours
and festooned with streamers.
Its glory is grave,
heavy,
a memory of both
agony and rejoicing
neither one without the other.
In the Cross,
we see human life mirrored:
the pain of living in
a world corrupted by sin
and inhumanity,
and the joy
of Resurrection
and the bliss of
the World to Come.
This is what glory looks like.
It is substantial,
something that is
too heavy to bear,
but also something you
can cling onto
and know that you
won't be swept away
by the winds and the floods
of life.
Even if the Cross
exposes our sin and shame,
we cling onto it
because through it
we are forgiven.
[PAUSE]
If we are to bear our own cross
then we must venerate that, too.
What does that mean?
What is this cross we bear?
What is this thing
that Our Lord mentions
when He tells us that,
to follow Him,
we must deny ourselves,
take up our cross
and follow Him.
He is referring
to His death and resurrection.
The same is true
for us,
for we must suffer
for our faith in Him.
For most of us,
this suffering comes
from trying to renounce
Sin, the World and the Devil
and turn to Christ.
Turning to Christ
MUST matter to us.
It's not something we do
with a nod of the head
and a signature
on a bit of paper.
We have to recognise
the impact of Christ
on our lives
and seek actively
to repent,
to amend
and to progress in the Faith.
How do we know that
we are progressing?
We sin less!
If we sin less,
then we are coming closer
to God
by definition.
But if we are to take up our cross
then we are to venerate it
and allow its glory
to change our lives
away from sin
and towards virtue.
If our faith doesn't have
a real impact on our lives,
then there is no glory.
If, however, we embrace
the cross as where our God was crucified
then we shall embrace His glory
in Heaven.
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