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“May the cross challenge, comfort, and lead us on a journey of faith towards repentance and renewal.”
The Sign of the Cross
What you’ll see in the sanctuary during Lent is purple fabric draped above us in the form of a cross. Dana Turnquist leads our Arts and Environment Team (A & E). The creative work of A & E reflects the colors, images, and meaning of each season and festival of the church year to our worship space.
Dana and I sat in the Fellowship Hall to craft a description about the visual adornments for Lent. We asked each other, “How should we begin?”
Just as I began to say, “The cross is the symbol for Lent,” Dana simultaneously replied, “The sign of the cross.”
We both said “the cross” but Dana’s words caught me with a little twist that got me thinking. As I looked at the cross, I envisioned the suffering and sacrifice Christ made for our sake. I considered Lent as a solemn time of self-reflection and repentance. Then I thought about Holy Baptism.
In the sacrament of Holy Baptism we say, “You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” These words bring comfort, hope, and the assurance of God’s love for us always.
And that’s what Dana said, “It’s comforting.”
How would you describe the connection between the cross of Christ and the sign of the cross that is made on our foreheads in baptism? Let’s be both challenged and comforted by the cross this Lent and reflect on what it means to live in this world as children of God who are marked by the cross of Christ forever.
Being challenged means joining Jesus on a journey to Jerusalem, and hearing Him say to us, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow Me cannot be My disciples” (Luke 14.27). “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed” (Luke 17: 5).
Being comforted will mean standing beneath the cross of Jesus and hearing Him say to us, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34) and “Truly today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
When we see the purple fabric draped above us in the form of a cross this Lenten season, may it challenge us, comfort us, and lead us on a journey of faith towards repentance and renewal.
Blessings,
Pastor Chris