Welcome to worship. I’m Danny Bradfield, my pronouns are he/him/his, and I’m pastor of Bixby Knolls Christian Church.
We are an Open and Affirming congregation in covenant with 3,600 other congregations in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Working together, we are a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world; and as part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table, as God has welcomed us.
Today is May 2. It is the fifth Sunday of the Easter season. The scripture we just heard read is one of the lectionary readings for this day, and I want to ask you: how many times did you hear the word “love” in that reading?
If you count present and past tense (“love” and “loved,”) the word appears 27 times; 27 times in a reading that is fifteen verses long.
That’s a lot of love!
And there’s a lot I could preach on from this scripture, but the part that stands out to me most is the part that says: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
So before I talk about love, let me first talk about fear. And let me start with another question: What do you fear most?
For a lot of people, public speaking is the number one fear. You may have heard that, according to at least one survey, public speaking ranks higher on the things people most fear than death does! Which, I guess, means people would rather die than be forced to speak in public!
Fortunately, I got over that fear a long time ago… for the most part!
So what do I fear? Well, I fear flying. And I do fear dying. And maybe a pastor isn’t supposed to fear dying, and maybe you don’t want to hear your pastor say he fears dying, but let me tell you something: Flying scares me, but when I need to fly somewhere, I still get on the plane; and the reason I still get on the plane is that I trust the engineers who designed the plane, and I trust the assemblers who built the plane, and I trust the pilot who is flying the plane.
When it comes to dying, it’s the same thing. In death, and in life, God is the engineer, the assembler, and the pilot; and I know I can trust God and God’s assurance that, even after death, I will continue to dwell in God’s love.
So, when death comes, I know I can get on that airplane and I’ll be OK.
In first century Rome, the greatest fear for people living in Nazareth, in Galilee, in Judea, and even in Jerusalem itself… was the cross.
Rome used the cross to terrorize and intimidate. At times, the roads leading in and out of major cities were lined with crosses as a warning to the people, and on those crosses hung the bodies of all those who dared challenge the power of Rome.
The crosses let the people know: Rome was in charge. So don’t step out of line.
When Jesus was crucified, it was because he was seen as a threat to Roman power. His followers even called him “Lord,” “Savior,” and “King of Kings;” these titles were reserved for Caesar - if you start calling someone else by these titles, it will appear that you are trying to start a revolution. With Roman soldiers patrolling the streets and listening in to every word you say, you can’t just do that.
By crucifying Jesus, Rome was sending a message to his followers, a message that said: Go home. You’ve had your fun, but this movement ends now. If you don’t - if you persist - well, we’ve got a lot more crosses ready.
And that’s how the cross was used as a symbol of fear, terror, and intimidation.
But the cross could not stop Jesus. That’s the Easter message! The cross could not stop God’s love. And the cross could not stop the movement Jesus began.
After the resurrection, the cross was transformed from a symbol of fear into a symbol of love. Because what God did through and for Jesus shows that love is even stronger than fear, or death; that love has the power to cast out fear.
And we remember that the story of Jesus began with angels telling shepherds in the field to “Fear not,” and telling a girl named Mary to “fear not,” and telling Joseph to “fear not;” and we remember that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found it empty, an angel appeared to her and said, “fear not;” and we remember that when Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, he said to them: “Fear not!”
Fear not, for love has cast out fear.
And the cross - the very symbol of fear, the symbol used to terrorize and intimidate - became a symbol of God’s love.
In the years that followed, Christians were persecuted for their faith, and many were even nailed to crosses themselves, but they believed in the power of God’s love, and they trusted in the power of God’s love, and though there may have been fear within them, the love within them was even greater than their fear, and they could not be stopped.
Eventually - a few centuries later - Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire… and Constantine placed Christian symbols on the shields and chariots of Roman armies.
And before long, imperial soldiers marching into battle carried crosses and Christian flags and banners…
And the cross - that was once a symbol of fear, but had been transformed into a symbol of love - was transformed back into a symbol of fear, a symbol of terror, a symbol meant to terrorize and intimidate the enemies of Rome.
And in all the centuries since, the cross has come to mean both things - fear... and love... - depending on how it is used and who it is that is using it.
For those of us who grew up in the church, the cross is, for us, a symbol of love. That’s certainly how we like to think of it.
But even today, for many people - a growing number of people - the cross is a symbol of fear, terror, and hate.
As a society we are starting to open our eyes to the ways the cross was used to intimidate and oppress indigenous cultures, even right here in southern California. The first people to live here were the Tongva, but we know that Christian missionaries forced them to assimilate, and that for many Tongva, the arrival of the Christians meant death.
In many of our own lifetimes we have seen crosses burned on lawns as a way to intimidate and terrorize. And especially in this past year, we have seen white supremacists carry crosses and Christian flags as a way to intimidate and terrorize anyone who does not agree with what they stand for, and especially, to intimidate and terrorize people of color.
They even carried those crosses & Christian flags into the capitol building when they stormed it on January 6.
And the biggest supporters of hate - and of political candidates who preach hate - are Christians who wear crosses around their necks, and who have bumper stickers with crosses on their cars.
And it is cross-wearing Christians who continue to tell LGBTQ+ people that they are an abomination, that God is sending them to hell, not because of something they did, but because of who they are. (I’ve got another sermon about that coming soon…)
And I think one of our biggest challenges - one of the biggest challenges facing a church like Bixby Knolls Christian Church - is to show the world that the cross is a symbol of love, not hate. A symbol of love, not fear.
To be honest, I’m not sure it can be done.
I read an article earlier this year - it was actually written right after the January 6 storming of the capitol - in which the author argued that the cross, as a symbol, is beyond redemption. The cross has become so associated with hate and oppression in our time that it can no longer be a positive symbol for many, if not most, people in the US.
The author compared what is happening to the cross to what happened to the swastika. We associate the swastika with Hitler and Nazis and hate. When we see a swastika, that is what immediately pops into our minds.
But the swastika is actually a symbol that goes back 15,000 years, and for most of those 15,000 years, the swastika was used by eastern religions to symbolize life and well-being.
At the corner of Carson Street and Long Beach Boulevard, there is a Buddhist monastery called the “Blessing, Prosperity, and Longevity Monastery.” And if you walk by it, you can look into the little courtyard out front, and see swastikas.
And anyone who walks by and sees those swastikas is startled. We’re startled, because of what the swastika has come to symbolize in the modern world.
We’re startled, because in our minds, the swastika can only mean hate and fear.
We’re startled, unless we remember that that’s not what the swastika has always stood for, that it was once a symbol of life and blessing and all good things.
In the article I read, the author said the same thing is happening to the cross. In fact, in the author’s opinion, it is already too late to save the cross as a symbol of love, because it has been used so much by people preaching hate and fear.
I read that, and I thought: “whoa.” That makes me sad. I bet it makes many of you sad as well. Or, angry! Because we know that the way of hate and fear is the opposite of the way of Jesus.
Part of me thinks that, maybe, the author of that article was exaggerating to make a point. I don’t know; but I do know that those who use fear to proclaim a message of hate have - shall we say - held on to the microphone for far too long.
And I do know that too many people have been bullied by the church, and spiritually abused by the church, and have cried themselves to sleep at night because of what the church taught them.
They were told by Christians that white people are superior. And they were threatened with the fires of hell, and they were threatened with excommunication and “disfellowshiping”, and they were warned that if they allowed their true selves to be revealed, they would bring shame and dishonor on themselves and on their families.
And some have even committed suicide because of what the church taught them and how the church made them feel about themselves.
So maybe that author wasn’t exaggerating.
Whether the cross can be redeemed as a symbol of love in the 21st century, I don’t know. But I do know this:
The way of Jesus is about love.
The way of Jesus is about removing fear from our lives, not inflicting fear.
And those who use fear and intimidation to motivate people to follow Jesus aren’t following Jesus themselves.
And some might argue: “But didn’t Jesus threaten people with hell? Didn’t Jesus condemn people? Didn’t Jesus cry out ‘Woe unto you?’”
Well, the only people Jesus directed these types of comments to were the “very religious persons” who were themselves using fear and intimidation against people. So, really, all Jesus was doing was reflecting their own words and condemnations back to them.
To everyone else, it was always an invitation and a blessing. To everyone else - and especially to those who were suffering under the fear-based rhetoric and injunctions thrown at them by the authorities - it was always: “You are welcome in my presence.” It was always: “You are loved.” It was always: “Your faith has made you well.”
And that’s the message we are called to proclaim. You are welcome in God’s presence. You are loved. Your faith has made you well.
Because to those who have had fear used against them, Jesus offers love and blessing. Through Jesus, the love of God casts out fear! There is no fear in the way of Jesus, because the way of Jesus is the way of love.
So let us always abide in Jesus, as the scripture says.
Let us always abide in the way of love.
Let us always show love to one another, because love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
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