Why do you wear a cross, if you do?

We have passed through Easter and heard the good news:  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!   Death has been defeated!  The cross is empty which has gotten me thinking about crosses.

My mother collected crosses and had several favorites that she wore over and over again, such as the Jerusalem cross with the four smaller crosses that symbolized the wounds in Jesus hands and feet.  I, too, have a collection that includes several she gave me, including the one above.

In a message during Holy Week this year, a local pastor spoke of a survey of people who were wearing crosses.  Someone stopped people on the street and asked each one why they were wearing a cross and what it meant to them.  Not surprisingly, a number of answers were given, including ones that had nothing to do with Jesus, but were reflective of the beauty of the necklace or the love of the person who had given it as a gift.

How might you respond to such a question in a way that would reflect your deepest thoughts and truest feelings?  I might respond that it is a symbol of the one I follow, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.  But I also like the answer that the cross reminds me of the love of the one who gave it to me, the God of all creation.

I wear a cross to remind me of Jesus’ sacrifice and the incredible love of God.  I wear it to remind myself that, as our forebears wrote in the Heidelberg Catechism: My only comfort is that “I belong – body and soul, in life and in death — not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins…”  I wear it to remind myself who I am and to whom I belong.  I wear it to proclaim the love of God who loves all creation.

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life!  ~ John 3:16

If someone asked you why you wear a cross, presuming you do, what would you answer?

Peace of Christ

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