Upside-Down Double Set

 Holy Cross Day - September 14, 2021

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

¹⁸For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰Where 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? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. ²⁶Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

On this Holy Cross Day, what is the message of the Cross? To further our understanding of what we proclaim, I offer for you two upside-down top ten lists. They are presented in reverse order because the Cross turns the order of perceived power and meaning on its head. Two sets because the Cross holds both beauty and ugliness.

{Many facts and details below are from Crucifixion by Martin Hengel (1977). Fortress Press}

UGLINESS:

10. Fairly minor in the list of injuries was undoubtedly a line of splinters and abrasions from the rough hewn wood up and down Jesus' backside.

9. Jesus was crucified in the nude. This was a standard practice of utter embarrassment. (I am not saying that the naked human body is ugly, but that the forced practice of naked torture is.)

8. The Romans devised the Cross as a fairly quick and inexpensive way to doll out punishment to anyone resisting the empire. The technique was recorded to be used on at least a thousand dissidents at a time.

7. The crosses and their victims would typically be mounted at a very public place like along the main roadway in an out of a town, a high place, and also near the trash heap. Warning, deterrent, and easy disposal could all be rolled into one site. Evil can be quite efficient by design.

6. Typically the bodies would remain on the cross for days and be scavenged by birds and animals. 

5. There are multiple ways to die in a crucifixion. The description of Jesus' death in the Gospels points to shock or cardiac arrest (rather than the targeted and slower asphyxiation).

4. While crucifixions were somewhat standardized, they were also thrown together by whatever wood was handy and varied widely in actual implementation. So, the shape of the actual cross of Jesus could easily have been anywhere in-between a "T" or a "W" shaped tree. It was not a neat and clean design.

3. The cross was a slave's punishment. There are multiple historical references and Philippians 2:6-11 which point to this reality. For a much broader read on this connection, check out The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone. This also highlights that the ugliness of racism is truly a Gospel issue, which Jesus is clearly aligned into (as a poor non-white).

2. Flogging, and/or various forms of torture typically preceded the cross to be sure that it didn't drag on too long.

1. The nails of crucifixion target the nerve pathways to the hands and feet, for the purpose of intensifying the overwhelming pain.

BEAUTY:

10. Jesus was spared the birds and animals as his body was moved to a tomb. The empty cross is thus also a symbol of the love of community and the care of friends.

9.  Eventually, the Romans started using other words for crucifixions because of the growing meaning and notoriety of the word "Cross" as connecting to Jesus of Nazareth. Evil does not like to pay attention to its own failures.

8. The general shape of the cross can be seen as the love of God coming down to be among us and spreading us with that love out into the community.

7. The earliest message of Christianity is that the cross means the solidarity of God with the  unspeakable suffering of those who are tortured and executed by human cruelty. The newness of these words of love has not even begun to fade.

6. That God accepted death in the form of a crucified laborer from the country in order to break the very power of death and thereby bring salvation to all humanity is folly and madness to the typical constructs of empire, but is actually the last laugh. It is the truest and deepest wisdom and knowledge of God and God's jealous love for God's people.

5. The scandal of Jesus dying the death of a criminal, a slave, or a revolutionary pushes us to see the ethic of God's work beyond what we expect or place in neat boxes. God's love and work is wild and cannot be contained!

4. In a world of pushing and shoving, God does not push back but absorbs the harshest blow and shows another Way.

3. That at least one form of harsh torture and death has been removed from the worlds repertoire, lest it give any honor to the One who beat it, is encouraging. That Christians and others advocate for more humane structures or no death penalties is even more hopeful.

2. Jesus showed the scars from the Cross to the confused disciples as proof that the Resurrection had triumphed, so all the ugly items listed above and all the ugly things of this mortal life are transformed by the power of God into a beauty we can barely imagine. 

1. There is no such thing as a dead God, but there is a God that deadened death into a stingless pain, where hope lives eternally and love always conquers in favor of the beloved.

Crucified God, we honor you and your unfathomable love for us. You took the blows and torture that you did not deserve. You are pure love, and yet you were shown hate. In response, you show forgiveness, love, and peace. Teach us to turn away from vengeance and to work your way of justice for all those that might be punished sorely. Build up the work of those who protect and advocate for the innocent. Enliven your people to see your infinite beauty and goodness. To you, be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen.