Without a doubt, the most enduring symbol of the Christian faith is the cross. There are others, of course, the Chi Rho, the fish, and the dove, but none of them has the universal recognition of the cross. It is the dominate symbol one expects to find in a Christian church. In fact, if you have ever been to a church that does not have a cross featured prominently, you just might wonder what in the world is going on. Things seem a little off. Of course, you do not have to have a cross to be a church but the cross as a symbol is, in some ways, far more than a symbol. It serves as a shorthand proclamation for what is the heart, the center of our faith. We are a church that has at its core a symbol which was once used as the most horrific form of capital punishment imaginable. Crucifixion was a means of public execution. Yet today, we use it as jewelry, inscribe it on our Bibles and hymnals, and hang it on our walls, all to say without equivocation that Christ crucified is the heart of our faith. This is what we are about. It is the key through which we understand the Word of God and it is how we witness to our world.

The constant pull, however, is to shift away from this old symbol to something else, something not so gruesome and divisive. Saint Paul hits the nail on the head when he says, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross as our central symbol and the word which we proclaim about the cross is viewed by all unbelievers as folly. It is something without power, without strength, and without glory. The word of the cross is the word of the outsider, the outcast, and the doomed of society. No one in their right mind would choose this as a symbol. Yet, the cross endures as the power of God. The word translated as “power” is dunamis. It is the same word we have as the root of our word dynamite. It is the explosive power of God to bring forth something new. It is light in the darkness. It brings life to the dying and hope to the castaway.

To claim the word of the cross is the power of God, to say, in effect, the preaching of Christ crucified is the mission and purpose of the Church is to say the word of the cross is the means of salvation. It is the connection between fallen mankind and the eternal glory and splendor of God. The problem with such an assertion is how it does not seem to leave any room for you, for your effort, for your sacrifice, for your wisdom, power, and strength. Every religion of the world would freely run from such a notion as a foolish idea. Most quests for the divine begin as a search for wisdom, insight beyond the day-to-day drudgery of life, from finding spiritual practice in the lowly acts of service to escaping the temporal through meditation on higher things. Most forms of spirituality will boast of the promise of wisdom obtained through dedication and practice, an inner understanding to give meaning and purpose to life. It is deeper knowledge which is inspiring and enlightening.

These forms of spiritual enlightenment turn sharply from the word of the cross to a word of earthly power. Christians themselves can get sucked into this. The belief that our faith is tied to our politics, the earthly kingdoms of power, are the outward symbol of the divine Kingdom of God. This is a form of the old fallacy: “Might makes right.” If you demonstrate earthy strength, if you physically push back your enemies, if you are growing in numbers greater than those who oppose you, then you are on the right path. As a result, instead of projecting the folly of the cross, you desire to project grand edifices of power which cannot be denied.

But not every substitution for the cross is so gregarious and obvious. In fact, just about every good and beneficial thing the Church does for society can become a replacement for the cross. Think of the excellent schools and preschools the Church establishes, or the food banks, or the homeless ministries, or the care for the widows and orphans. Such things are not only an extension of Christian love, but they are a blessing to the communities in which we live. However, they can easily become the things we boast in, the things we use as proof of our faithfulness, proof of our salvation and our connection with God. The Devil, our world, and our own sinful nature never cease working to twist the good things we do into a replacement for the word of the cross. We long to boast in our good deeds, in our acts of service, or in our strength and power, or our enlightened wisdom. But standing in opposition to all of this is the cross of Christ, the real power of God.

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Paul says it is through the folly of what we preach that people are saved. And what is it we preach? Do we preach wisdom, power, and social good? No, or at least not the way our world understands such things. No, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles.

The Word of the Cross is the power of God, and this Word has a way of getting ahold of you. It disarms you of your glory, of your claims of power, strength, and good works. The Word of the Cross presents you with a dying Lord, a sacrifice of such purity and love that all your righteous deeds pale in comparison. The Cross silences any and all boasting in anything other than itself. And when we gather together, this Word is not only proclaimed into your ears, not only do you hear the good news that Christ has died and risen for you, for your salvation, but then this same Word of the Cross is given to you in other ways. It is connected with water and washed over your heads in your Baptism. There you die and rise with your Lord. In those waters, the Word of the Cross becomes your life and salvation. Then the Word is bound to bread and wine, to give to you the very body broken on the Cross, the very blood spilled on the Cross. These are given freely to you for the forgiveness of your sins as the very Word of Christ proclaims.

Now sure, these things seem small, they seem foolish, they seem weak. Again, the desire is to run away from such things to look for the strong, the powerful, and wise, so we can make our stand there. But Paul calls for us to not lose focus, to reject the temptations of our age, and to hold fast to the Word of the Cross. He says, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

This is where we boast, where we make our stand together. We boast in Christ. We boast in the Word of the Cross of our Lord Jesus alone, who, while the entire world laughs and mocks at its foolishness, continues to love, to forgive, and to give salvation to all who believe.