Readings: Numbers 21.4–9; Psalm 22.23–28; Philippians 2.6–11; John 3.13–17
Have you noticed
how flying flags
has become so popular this summer?
Even if you haven’t seen any yourself,
well, it’s been all over the papers and the tv news,
hasn’t it?
Here in St Ives there are flags
fluttering from lamp-posts in the town centre,
and plenty more adorning bedroom windows.
If you go further afield
you’ll see them strung along bridges across the motorway
and so on.
Or you might have seen more than a few flags
being carried through the middle of London yesterday.
And of course
they’re not flying just any old flag are they?
They’re either flying the Union Jack,
or perhaps more likely
the flag that’s part of the Union Jack –
the flag of St George.
I’m sure we can all picture that flag:
the white background with a red cross on it.
So, I want to think for a minute –
what does that cross mean?
What does it represent?
Well, one place where you’ll find quite a lot of crosses
is here in this church.
There’s a really big cross,
right up there.
Take a look!
It’s perhaps the most prominent feature
of the inside of the building.
Because the cross is the primary symbol of Christianity.
So much so that it has its own special day each year –
Holy Cross Day,
celebrated year after year on the 14th of September.
Today!
And yet it’s a strange thing to celebrate,
if you think about it.
After all, the cross is an instrument
of torture and death –
that’s what’s going on up there, isn’t it? –
and a similar symbol in our own society might be
a hangman’s noose perhaps.
Don’t you think it’s rather shocking to celebrate that?
It certainly ought to be shocking;
it ought to bring us up with a start.
The cross is a symbol of the death of Jesus.
And the death of Jesus
is an event of supreme significance.
You see, when Jesus died on that cross,
he died (just as he had lived),
proclaiming … forgiveness,
proclaiming … reconciliation,
proclaiming … God’s love for everyone.
Jesus in his life and ministry
had told his listeners
that what he called “the kingdom of God” was at hand –
the ability to live without hate, without selfishness,
but with love and compassion.
For those we agree with, yes –
and also towards those we don’t.
Because forgiveness and compassion
are the message of the Cross,
of Jesus on the Cross.
Jesus’s message isn’t about condemnation –
what was that line
in today’s gospel reading?
“God did not send [Jesus] into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Forgiveness and compassion.
We know that forgiveness and compassion
aren’t always easy.
But Jesus on the Cross teaches us
that forgiveness and compassion
are the way to end … hatred,
the way to end poverty,
the way to end violence.
And even, yes,
even the way to end the political assassinations
and school shootings that we see in the news.
Forgiveness and compassion.
The message of the Cross,
embodied in that red cross
on the flag of St George and the Union Jack,
is one of radical inclusion and radical hospitality.
It lives “in the words we choose,
the causes we defend,
the way we treat one another.”1
Wouldn’t it be wonderful
to think that this is the message
that is shared by those
who are putting up flags in our streets?
Or do they want it to symbolize …
exclusion?
But back to Jesus:
in his death on the Cross
Jesus brought that kingdom, God’s kingdom, into being.
Now sometimes you’ll see a cross
with the figure of Jesus
not naked and suffering,
but in royal robes and crowned –
Jesus Christ,
“lifted up” (as our gospel reading just said)
lifted up and reigning from the cross.
That image is a theological statement of course,
and it reminds us that his suffering and death lead …
to the hope of resurrection and new life,
a new life where we are able
to set aside
the powers and temptations that lie all around us
and even within us,
the things that make us selfish –
and instead to live,
here, now,
in God’s kingdom of goodness and love.
You see,
God invites each one of us,
you and me,
to make that choice,
that personal commitment,
to try and live that new life.
And that leads me on …
Because
we are also here today
to celebrate, to celebrate a baptism,
the baptism of little N.
And a baptism is always an occasion for celebration.
When it’s a baby being baptized
it’s a wonderful opportunity
to celebrate the birth of that new life,
a new child into a family,
and I’m sure N’s family
are definitely going to have
that celebration a bit later.
We all love a party and we all love a baby!
And of course baptism is so much more
than an excuse for a party.
You see,
at baptism we enter a new life
as we become a member of the Church,
a member … of God’s family.
First, the person being baptized makes some promises.
Or if it’s a baby or small child like N today,
the parents and godparents
make these promises on N’s behalf.
They promise to try and live in God’s way,
rather than the way of the world:
to try and live in love and hope
and to reject the influences and ideas
that want so hard
to drag us back to the world we know so well,
the world of selfishness, envy and jealousy,
prejudice and hate.
And the cross plays a significant part in the baptism service.
We’ll see in a few moments
that Fr Mark will trace a small cross on N’s forehead,
anointing her with oil,
and then invite her parents and godparents
to trace that cross on her forehead
with their own thumbs too.
Because
all Christians are marked with the Cross.
Or perhaps I should put that the other way round:
the Cross marks us.
The Cross marks us out
as people who try –
people who try … to follow Jesus,
who was loving and compassionate.
And who cared for every person,
especially for those in need.
N, if your parents and godparents
remember and teach you that,
then you’ll be doing okay.
A new life is a wonderful thing.
And a new Christian,
a new member of the Church,
is a wonderful thing too.
I pray N
that as you grow
you will be full of love and compassion,
someone in whom all can see
the true mark of the Cross.
Amen.
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