Symbols Transform

Most of us would think of a cross as a symbol of hope and salvation. For those who knew Jesus, and who might have witnessed his death, it was anything but a symbol of hope. It was a very real tool of torture and death. For them, decorating a place of worship with crosses would have been as offensive as decorating with electric chairs is to us.

If they used any symbols at all, they used a fish, as a kind of secret indicator that the house was a safe place for followers of Jesus Christ, or followers of the Way, as they called themselves.

Yet, the cross itself was transformed. The implement upon which the Saviour of the world was put to death became a symbol of hope and salvation. It was part of the path that lead to the resurrection. Much like the fact that we started calling Good Friday “good,” we started to see the cross itself as a powerful symbol of hope.

Today the cross is not just a transformed symbol but is a symbol of transformation. Yes, God loves us, in all our sinful, ungrateful selfishness, but God’s love is filled with a hope that we will be transformed.

At one point Jesus speaks of this transformation as being born again. What he really said is that we are to be born from above. In other words, we don’t have to remain sinful, ungrateful and selfish, or whatever other characteristic might describe us. We can, by the love of God, be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

I don’t know that anyone has ever criticized a Christian for being too Christ-like. We could always do with being more loving, forgiving and bent on seeing that justice and mercy are realities.

Rather than assuming Church-communities are places of rules and judgment, people could think of us as places of love and grace.

Today, we face concerns our parents and grand-parents never dreamt of. The assumptions they had of their church and community simply don’t apply any more. We need to be transformed by the Gospel, shedding our old skin and embracing the new thing God is doing in this generation.

Fiscal responsibility is necessary; bean-counting is inevitable; member tracking happens: but all these things can make us loose our perspective on our vision and mission. God has called us, we believe, to show the transforming love and justice of God in action.

If living our vision and mission is left to just a few of us, then we will likely fall short. However, together we can grow in this vision and mission and we can grow as a congregation. The question is; do we want to? In all seriousness; do we really want to grow as a congregation?

I have encountered too many congregations who say they want to grow, but who are unwilling to put the effort into the things that will bring fullness of life to their congregation. My feeling is that St. Paul’s is not one of those congregations—we are willing to put in the effort needed to be the fullness of the living Gospel in this community. It’s not necessarily easy or happy work, but the benefit to us and the world is immeasurable.