The Invitation of the Cross

The cross of Christ has long been an evocative symbol, whether now co-opted for nationalist movements, worn as a fashion statement or mounted on religious buildings. But the cross that springs to mind for me is the cross I wear most days as a member of the Nazareth Community. A cross fashioned from a boat that carried 500 people in search of a better life that tragically caught fire and sunk off the coast of the small Italian island of Lampedusa. It is the most poignant reminder that Jesus is to be found in humanity’s deepest suffering.
The cross can easily become a complex problem to be avoided if we have been fed with more legalistic theologies and when we add in ‘sin’, we can feel the need to look away from the cross rather than embrace it. But the cross is not merely about extinguishing the reality of sin but God – Jesus, entering it – absorbing its effects and promising a better and richer way of life. Where earthly systems and patterns seem to narrow, degrade and stifle, God offers a widening, dignity for all people and immeasurable abundance. What the cross does reveal is what, perhaps, our response to God, to difference, and to goodness can be – anger, a mob mentality and an unwillingness to express curiosity over judgement.
The good news is, the power of sin is exhausted by the unrivalled power of self-giving love. This is why for me and for so many around the world, embracing Easter, the cross and the person of Jesus Christ will always remain necessary. I need the reminder that, while extremist movements with the desire to reform ‘lost nations’ will likely always spring up and weaponise the sacred, we have the eternal invitation to choose the better, richer, ever expansive story of this self-giving love. This is the ultimate invitation of the cross.

Maddie Naisbitt