“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            “Why do we cross ourselves? What is the sign of the cross?” This question was posed to Fr. David and to me by our catechumen, Brad (or as my children say affectionately and fearfully, “Bradley Brubaker!”) a few weeks ago now. Sorry to call you out, Brad; nobody likes to be used as an object lesson in a sermon. Brad asked, “Why do we cross ourselves?” and he asked this in the context of: “What would be a good explanation for my friends?” It is a genuine question, an excellent question. It is a question that should challenge all of us, not so much on a theoretical level—there has been gobs and gobs of theology written on the sign of the cross, the import of Christ’s salvific action on the cross, the typology of the cross. No, we can answer, surely, in a satisfying way the question, “Why do we (as Orthodox Christians) cross ourselves?” Instead, we should ask, “Why do I cross myself when I cross myself?” What am I trying to accomplish, or what is being accomplished in me (whether I am trying it or not)?

            We cross ourselves, Bradley Brubaker, because we are pompous and showful. Oof… “What a remark, Deacon!” Yes, it is a mean commentary, but it is true. In the framework of the Divine Liturgy there are many pointed opportunities for us to cross ourselves, and—if persons are onlooking—you better believe we will take those opportunities! To look pious! To look holy! To look austere and focused, contemplative and reverent (*makes large sign of the cross*). When we do this, when we make the sign of the cross in pseudo-piety, we reduce the article of our Lord’s despoiling of death and the power of the devil­… to a bobble, to a feather in our caps. In a sense, this is entirely in keeping with the culture. We make stickers, and pins, and vinyl car decals out of crosses. We put crosses on t-shirts and keychains. We have fully capitalized on the cross; we have fully commoditized the cross. We have made it a novelty, a tchotchke, a bric-à-brac, that we set out when grandma or the pastor comes to visit. During the Liturgy, we cross ourselves a hundred times. And how many times during the workday? We will bless ourselves and our Sunday fellowship hour, a simple span of 1-2 minutes with “O Heavenly, King,” “Our Father,” “Glory… N. & E.,” “Father, bless,” and will cross ourselves 4-5 times! But before we eat at home (when no one is watching but our wives or husbands and children), do we bless ourselves, do we bless our food, do we make… the sign of the cross? Do we believe in the cross, or do we show off the cross?

            In today’s Gospel Reading, brethren, our Lord says something which I am sure shook the disciples to their core:

“When he had called the people to himself, with his disciples also, [Jesus] said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me’” (Mark 8:34).

“Take up [your] cross, and follow me.” Jesus was often saying these kinds of things to rile up the disciples. “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. And they will kill him…” (Mark 9:30). Jesus, c’mon! Don’t say stuff like that. Why are you saying stuff like that? “Take up your cross, and follow me.” Jesus! Stop it!           

            You see, brethren, we love the first bit of that imperative: “Take up your cross.” Why? Because we have the full picture. After the cross, the grave; but after the grave, the resurrection! And because we still live in a society where “taking up our crosses” is okay. We live in America, and maybe, America is “less free” than it was a half-century ago, a whole century ago, but it is still free. You can slap a cross decal on your car. You can firmly place a cross in the center of your landscaping. You can wear a cross on your t-shirt; you can tattoo a cross on your forearm. Nobody’s going to imprison you. And because being a Christian—even a nominal Christian—is now becoming a slightly more edgy thing to do… we can do all of this… with a small degree of disdain for those who don’t, with a small degree of self-righteousness.

            But it is the second part of Christ’s exhortation in St. Mark’s Gospel that rubs us the wrong way: “… and follow me.” “Take up your cross, and follow me.”

“So Pilate delivered him [Jesus] over to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him…” (John 19:16-18).

Brethren, lest we forget: the cross is a torture device. The cross is an instrument of death. Someone may object; yes, but the fathers say:

“The Cross, is wood which lifts us up and makes us great. … The Cross uprooted us from the depths of evil and elevated us to the summit of virtue!” (St. John Chrysostom).

“O Lord, the power of Thy Cross… never fails! When the enemy oppresses me… I make the sign of the Cross several times with faith, [and] suddenly my sin falls away from me, the compulsion vanishes, and I find myself free…” (St. John of Kronstadt).

And all these things are true, brethren! The cross does accomplish for us a great glory. Through the cross—through Christ’s death on the cross—we are afforded the glory of forgiveness, the glory of a death overcome by the resurrection of our Lord! The cross is our weapon of faith and a sure guard against the demons, a strong sign which drives away every foe and every adversary!

            But to come back to our catechumen’s question, “Why do we cross ourselves? What is the sign of the cross?” The cross is our means to glory. The cross is our defense against the demons. And… the cross is the way of our salvation: through death—even a terribly painful, terribly humiliating, grievous, awful, torturous death—through death, life.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt 16:25).

When we were baptized, brethren, we were baptized into Christ’s death (cf. Gal 3:27). And what is the sign of our union with Christ? The robe of gladness, the robe of life? No, physically, this robe is removed. An icon of our patron saint, blessed with holy water? No, this is a wonderful gift—a commemoration of our baptismal day—a principal article of our Orthodox devotion, but what is the sign of our union with Christ in death? Our baptismal crosses. These don’t come off. These encapsulate the theological essence of Christ’s charge: “Take up your cross, and follow me.”

             We make the sign of the cross and God is glorified (In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit). We make the sign of the cross and the demons shudder, as they witness their weapon of ruin, their “kryptonite.” We make the sign of the cross, and we are transfigured into the image of our Lord enthroned in glory, enthroned… on the wood of the Tree of Life. We make the sign of the cross and we remember:

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

Through the exaltation of Thy life-creating Cross, O Lord, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!