Today’s Scripture Reading (January
18, 2020): Hosea 10
I admit that I
have an uncomfortable relationship with the cross – not the one that Jesus died
on but the one that hangs in our sanctuaries and that we place around our
necks. My problem is that the cross that Jesus died on was a rough piece of
lumber designed to kill slowly. It was an evil thing. People could be hung on a
cross for days while their lives slowly ebbed away. And all the time, the crucified
person would suffer. Crucifixion was a death of extreme torment and torture. It
was meant to be. People were supposed to fear the Roman cross so much that they
would not rebel against the government. Roman officials had made crucifixion
into an art form. The cross answered the question of “how do we kill someone
very slowly while inflicting as much pain as possible.”
The Church did
not accept the image of the cross as a religious symbol immediately. How could
they? The cross was a horrible instrument of death. When they finally did take
the cross as a symbol, it was initially in the form of an X, a cross laid on its
side because the resurrection of Jesus had defeated the cross. No longer would
the cross stand undefeated. (So maybe we should rethink our opposition to Xmas.
The power of the Jesus of the Cross is symbolized by that first hated letter – X.)
Over the
centuries, we have placed the cross back up on its feet and, sometimes, we still
set Jesus on it, a reminder of his suffering for our sins. But more often we shine
it and polish it, and use it as a decoration. It has become a tattoo, a wall
hanging, and a necklace. It comes in many colors, and it can be made from many
materials. The cross has become a beautiful symbol of our Christian faith. In
its beauty, we almost forget what a horrible thing the cross was that killed
Jesus.
And we pray to
it. Sometimes we want to get as close to the cross as we can. We want its
power. But did I mention that the cross is really nothing more than an instrument
of death? It has no power. Power belongs to the God who raised Jesus from the
dead, not to the cross. I fear that our beloved cross, in the absence of any
other form of idols, has become the idol of the Christian church. But that is
all the cross can be — an idol. The power of the cross is the sacrifice of
Jesus, not the polished decoration that we place around our necks.
Jeroboam had
made a golden calf and placed it at Bethel. He proclaimed that this calf was
the God who had brought them out of Egypt and into the promised land. He
encouraged his people to worship the calf as the God of Israel. This is an important
point. The calf was not supposed to be a rendering of Molech or Ba’al or the Asherah
cult. This calf was supposed to be the God of Israel, Yahweh, the very God who
had caused the Red Sea to part, and that had fed them with Manna during the
desert wanderings. This calf is your God.
Of course, the
idea was ridiculous. God was not an idol to be worshipped. There was no calf or
any other thing to be pointed at in the temple where people could say, “this is
your God.” For Hosea, the tragedy of all of this was that the presence of the
Golden Calf had transformed Bethel (the House of God) into Beth Aven (the House
of Wickedness). And the tragedy of the Golden Calf was that the people feared
that not worshipping it would bring Israel to destruction. But Hosea knew the
truth. It was worshipping it that was the danger. Because the calf, or the
cross, can never be the God who we serve. Power is reserved for God, and no symbol
can ever replace the God who has chosen to make his home in our lives.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Hosea 11 & 12
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