[Make the sign of the cross] In the name of the Father – oh Lord, did I turn the coffee on – and the Son – speaking of whom, he hasn't called lately - and the Holy Spirit – that is a really pretty dress. Amen. Amen.
The Trinity is at the very foundation
of our faith. The question is, what goes
through your mind when you hear it or say it?
Do you quickly catch up to the movement of crossing yourself? Do you think, okay, now it's time for the
next thing to begin?
When was the last time that you thought
about the actual meaning of the words
and gesture?
Bert Ghezzi, author of "Sign of
the Cross: Recovering the Power of the
Ancient Prayer" says The sign of the cross is: a confession of faith … a
mini-version of the Creed in which you are professing your belief in the
Trinity.
It's a renewal of baptism … that which
linked you to the body of Christ, and when you make the sign of the cross, you
remember joining to the body with Christ as the head.
It's a mark of discipleship … Jesus
says in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me." It declares that "I belong to
Christ."
In making the sign of the cross,
you're saying to the Lord, 'I want to obey you; I belong to you. I choose to be obedient to God's law and
Christ's teachings.
One of the main teachings of the early
Church Fathers is that the sign of the cross is a declaration of defense
against the devil. When you sign yourself, you declare to the devil,
"Hands off. I belong to Christ; He
is my protection." It's both an offensive and defensive tool.
The sign of the cross can help you
avoid self-indulgence – the problems we
have, the stubborn things we can't get rid of. If you
are angry, full of lust, fearful, emotional or grappling with problems, make
the sign when tempted and it will help dispel the problem. You're no longer alone in your struggle. Well, you weren't to begin with, but you
needed the reminder.
So looking at the actual gesture made: the use of three fingers together became
popular in the 9th century. The thumb and first two fingers are held together
to symbolize the Trinity, while the remaining two fingers are folded to signify
Christ's two natures.
The Sign of the Cross is primarily a
blessing. We use it to call God's blessing upon us. Laypersons as well as
clergy can use it to bless others. Parents, for example, may use the Sign of
the Cross to bless their children.
The routine before the reading of the Gospel where we made the sign of
the cross on our foreheads, lips, and chest also has meaning. In doing this, we
acknowledge, at our forehead, our belief
in the Word of God, at our mouth, our commitment
to spread God's Word in our daily lives, and at our chest, our awareness of God's presence in our
hearts.
So let's look at another routine phrase we say, not quite as
often in a Eucharist service, but generally at least 2 or 3 times in Morning
Prayer. We've all got it memorized. And we likely occasionally have the thought
wander through our heads, "why are we saying this again?"
The Gloria Patri, also known as the
Lesser Doxology. You all know what it
is, but what I'd like you to do is close your eyes, and focus on the words as I
say them:
Glory
to the Father,
And
to the Son,
And
to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning,
Is
now,
And will be forever. Amen.
This is not only a statement of
doctrine, faith and belief in the covenant between God and man, these are
fighting words as the full defense of Christianity. And the word that makes it so – Amen, so be
it. In that statement, you are stating
that you believe that God, in the form of the Trinity, not only existed from
the beginning of time, but continues to exist now, and will exist long after you're gone.
This is the foundation upon which not only our faith is based, but our understanding of the universe.
So, knowing that just those two pieces
of the liturgy are so full of meaning, prayer, devotion and statement of what
we believe – do you think the rest of our liturgy is any less meaningful? The question is – when was the last time you
thought about the meaning, instead of
just reciting the words?
In our Old Testament reading, Moses
tells the Israelites, "You must neither add anything to what I command you
nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God
with which I am charging you."
And our Gospel reading today talks
about form over substance. If we say the
words, but don't mean them – don't even think about meaning them – we insult
God. It's not what's outside of us – in
this case, the liturgy – that insults God; just as it wasn't the traditions the
Pharisees practiced. So it is the way we practice the traditions that
matter. If they contradict God's
teachings; if the form becomes more important than the substance; if they harm
the very people Christ came to save – then we are as guilty as the Pharisees of
hypocrisy. If our actions don't reflect
our words, if we haven't taken the words to heart and mind – then we are
hypocrites and as James says in the New Testament reading, our religion is
worthless.
When I was little, it was a goal to be
able to say the service by heart. Notice
that I didn't say by memory or by rote.
My father made it very clear that if you catch yourself saying the
liturgy by rote – get out. You have just
insulted God, and you need to make yourself right with Him before you try
again. Harsh words, but a good lesson –
because it was never my intention to
insult God.
When I finish here, we'll be saying
the Nicene Creed. Your challenge is to
think about the words you say:
Do you believe them? What is it you're saying? What does it mean?
And you're probably going to want to
explore various phrases and sentences a bit more later. I'd be surprised if you don't find things in
there that make you curious. At least, I
hope it does. Amen.
