We returned to the "Crosses We Wear" preaching series after a four-week interruption for stewardship. When I laid out the preaching series in August, I did not purposely pick this week for this topic, but it turned out to be a good week for a sermon (at least from my perspective) about division on the Sunday after the election.
“The Crosses We Wear: Family” Stewardship series; November 8, 2020, SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; Genesis 50: 15-21; I Corinthians 1: 10-17
Genesis 50: 15-21: Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” 16 So they approached[b] Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also wept,[c] fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
Introduction: Or preaching returns to the “Crosses We Wear” series for the next few weeks before Advent arrives.
This week I am wearing a cross I do not wear very often, in part because it is fairly small and always seems to get turned around.
It is the Presbyterian seal cross.
In my previous presbytery, it served as the moderator’s cross. when you were elected Moderator, you received this cross and wore it when you moderated the presbytery meetings.
I wore it during my time as moderator, and now I wear it on Sundays when we ordain and install elders, or if I am part of an ordination or installation service in the presbytery, or on any Sunday I am feeling particularly Presbyterian!
There is much to preach about the Presbyterian seal: The official seal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was adopted in 1985. At first glance, it looks like a cross. But, it is intended to capture some of the important emphases of the Reformed tradition.
The cross represents the incarnate love of God in Jesus Christ, and his passion and resurrection. Because of its association with Presbyterian history, the Celtic cross was chosen.
The Bible - The two center lines of the cross represent an open book… the role of Scripture as a means of knowing God’s word.
The Dove forms the uppermost section… the shape of a descending dove. A symbol of the Holy Spirit, …also symbolizes Christ’s baptism by John and the peace and wholeness which his death and resurrection bring to a broken world.
The Pulpit - Beneath the image of the book is the suggestion of a lectern or pulpit, which captures the important role of preaching in the history of Presbyterian worship.
The Flames - a symbol of revelation in the Old Testament when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and a reminder of Pentecost when the holy spirit swept through the people and empowered them with the gift of language so they could share the gospel throughout the world.
Cross forms a triangle, the traditional symbol of the Trinity also suggests the nature of Presbyterian government, with its concern for balance and order, dividing authority between clergy and elders and among different governing bodies.
the fish in the shape of the descending dove, one can discern the form of a fish, an early-Christian sign for Christ, recalling his ministry to those who hunger.
The Font/Chalice In the lower central part of the image of the cross one can find a baptismal font or a communion chalice (cup) both images of the sacraments … an ongoing sign and symbol of God’s presence with us and working through us (this discussion of the Presbyterian seal came from the following web-site: http://www.springbranchpres.org/whats-the-meaning-of-the-presbyterian-logo/)
Lots of themes from the Presbyterian seal, but as I reflected on this moderator’s cross, it reminded me our Presbyterian heritage and our continual pattern of being divided, while still trying to be united in Christ.
So join me this morning as we reflect on themes of division and unity.
Move 1: Division seems to be part of who we are, part of our human experience.
a. Often for the wrong reasons.
1. Almost as soon as God creates, humans begin dividing themselves.
2. For example, sin divides Cain and Abel.
3. Hagar and Sarah going from a close working relationship to Hagar being cast out.
4. Jacob and Esau - division among brothers that last for years.
b. Or the Joseph story we read this morning.
1. Although we read the tail-end of the Joseph story and their coming together, we remember how it began - a family divided.
2. Brothers, driven by jealousy, throwing Joseph out, literally.
3. it was worth betraying a brother to get him out of their lives.
c. Or we read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and discover how the early church quickly moved to choosing sides and finding divisions among themselves.
1. Instead of announcing to the world their unity in Christ, they shout for all to hear, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Apollos.”
2. Division has led to quarrels.
3. It threatens the message of the gospel.
d. We know a thing or two about division in our time; about people choosing sides.
1. we who are bound together in Christ see the divisions, sometimes proclaiming the divisions to make sure people know we are not connected, or do not believe, or are not like those others.
2. Being divided as a people seems to pass on from generation to generation.
e. We might also note that sometimes divisions are good.
1. Give us identity.
2. Allow for specific tasks - Israel segregated from the rest of the world and called to be a light for all nations.
3. Allows us to find our own affinity groups.
4. Claiming our differences as we join with others who are claiming their differences can allow us to grow in who we are.
f. I sometimes look at Christianity with all it faith expressions and denominations and see both the good and bad of being divided.
1. our different denominations allow us to find a place where the way they worship or work together as a church, or interpret the Bible fits with how we do it.
2. a gift that we can find a place that fits who we are to live out our calling.
3. but all our denominations in the Christian tradition also point to our human sinfulness, our inability to hear Christ’s call to be one.
4. so we live in that tension — called to be one; continually being divided.
Move 2: IN the midst of our division, we see God at work.
a. To be clear, our dividedness does not keep God from being at work, nor does it remove us God’s call to be part of that work of overcoming our divisions.
b. Look again at the Joseph story.
1. Through their divided family, God works to save Israel.
2. Israel faces famine in their land. Egypt has plenty of food stood. Egypt’s leader is their brother - the one they had sold off to get rid of years ago.
3. Joseph’s brothers fear what might happen to them as they face their brother whom they cut out of the family.
3. the survival of God’s people stands in the balance.
4. Joseph not only extends grace to his family and saves Israel, but he announces that God has been at work in their broken relationships.
b. Or, look at Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
1. The letter that begins with Paul pointing out the division will give way to the beautiful thirteenth chapter on love that we so often lift up.
2. The early church, caught up in its divisions, has the hope of becoming a community that shares love with each other.
3. they can dare to hope that love will overcome their divisions because God is at work in their midst.
4. "During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. 'What's the rumpus about?' he asked and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace." (Philip Yancey in "What's So Amazing About Grace?”)
5. The God of grace who saved Israel by Joseph’s gracious acts is still at work in our midst.
6. The God of grace who pointed the early church toward love is still at work in our midst.
Move 3: Back to the Presbyterian Church and a moderator’s cross - the cross the Moderator of Presbyterian Church, USA wears during her or his tenure.
Although it is called the Moderator’s cross, it is actually three crosses riveted together.
In 1948 the Rev. Dr. H. Ray Anderson, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, bought two silver Celtic crosses on the Scottish island of Iona. Later that year, Anderson presented one of the crosses to the Rev. Dr. Jesse H. Baird, moderator of the 160th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (one of the two northern Presbyterian denominations)
The next year, during the 89th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the southern Presbyterian denomination, he presented the second cross to the Rev. Dr. W.E. Price following Price's election as moderator of that Assembly.
Soon after, the Rev. Frederick W. Ingle, a minister of the P.C.U.S., purchased a similar Celtic cross while visiting Iona and sent it to Dr. Anderson for presentation, in 1953, to the newly-elected moderator of the United Presbyterian Church in North America, Samuel C. Weir (the other Northern Presbyterian denomination)
Three major Presbyterian denominations in the United States, divided by their differences, whose moderators now wore separate crosses.
in 1958, the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church in North America came together to form the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. A moderator’s cross was created that had the two crosses riveted together. The two crosses, now one, became a symbol of Presbyterian unity, or at least a partial fulfillment of the dream of unity among Presbyterians.
Anderson's full dream became reality in Atlanta in 1983 when the cross worn by moderators of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the now single cross, formerly two, were riveted together. Cheers and applause erupted as more than 5,000 people watched the moderator of the northern Presbyterian church and the moderator of the southern presbyterian church place a chain from which hung the united crosses around the neck of the Rev. Dr. J. Randolph Taylor, first moderator of the newly reunited Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). (https://archive.wfn.org/1997/06/msg00182.html; the Moderator’s Cross, by Nancy Rodman)
Three crosses became one.
And then the commissioners took to the streets to sing and march as they announced to the world that in that particular moment, no matter how fleeting, unity had overcome division.
Conclusion: We know our history as God’s people.
Divide and unite. Never quite satisfied. Never quite living fully into the image of God.
In fact, today as Presbyterians in the United States we may see division more clearly than most days. If not as a denomination, then certainly as a people who share our common heritage as Americans.
and in moves God, calling us to claim our unity in Christ; calling us to move with grace from being divided to being united.
Amen.
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