The Sign of the Cross
Most societies have a badge of their own and the Church’s badge is the Cross. It has been used by Christians probably since the days of the Apostles themselves, and when you go into a church today you do not have to look far before you see a Cross. The most noticeable one is the Cross on the altar, but besides that you will find it carved in different parts, or embroidered on material or stamped on the covers of hymn books and prayer books.
Jesus loves us so much that he died on the Cross to bring us to God, and so the Cross reminds us of all he has done and suffered for love of us.
When people are baptised the priest traces the sign of the Cross on their forehead to show that they now belong to Jesus. And the priest says:
“Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified”. (1)
This means that those who belong to Jesus must be proud of it. One way in which we show this is by making the sign of the Cross openly and publicly when we finish saying the Creed. The Creed puts in a few words what we know and believe about Jesus, and we stand up when we say it in order to let everyone see that we are ready to stand up for him and the Christian Faith.
We make the sign of the Cross with our right hand. As we say “In the Name of the Father” we touch our forehead. When we say “and of the Son” we touch our breastbone. Finally, as we say “and of the Holy Spirit”, we touch our left and right shoulders.
Facing East
Saying the Creed has always been a way of showing loyalty to Jesus, and that is the reason why it is said at every Baptism. This custom goes back hundreds of years to the days when Christians were hunted and killed by the Roman police.
When anyone wanted to become a Christian he or she was first secretly taught the great facts of the Christian Faith. This teaching took several weeks. At last the day of Baptism arrived, but before the people could be baptised they first had to refuse to have anything more to do with the Devil and evil.
We often think of evil as darkness, as when we call an evil deed a dark deed. So when new Christians made this refusal they did so facing west, the part of the sky where the sun sets before the fall of night.
Then, turning round as though they were turning their backs on the Devil, they faced east. As the first light of dawn which drives away the darkness of the night appears in the east, this meant that they were now turning to God. So, facing east, each person recited the Creed to show his or her loyalty to Jesus. It is for that reason that we still turn to the east when we say the Creed.
Always be proud of belonging to the Church. Never be like some people, grown up men and women, who are ashamed of being thought a Christian and are even afraid to go to Church in case they are laughed at. Think instead of those brave followers of Jesus in the Early Church who went Sunday by Sunday to the Eucharist at the risk of lives, who preferred to be torn to pieces by lions rather than give up being Christians, and whose blood stained the sand of every arena in the Roman Empire.
Persecuted Christians in today’s world
In the Western world we Christians are now free to go to church without fear of arrest and ill-treatment. But in many countries individual Christians or families or whole Christian communities are singled out for violence. In the Sudan, Indonesia, Northern Nigeria, Iraq and parts of India, violence can be on a large scale, virtually amounting to ‘ethnic cleansing’. In Central Asia and in other former communist states, a definite anti-Christian attitude exists. Christians often have to meet in secret and it is not uncommon for them to experience arrest, torture and other mistreatment at the hands of security forces. In many places violence focuses on individual Christians who may be murdered, injured or have their property destroyed. (1).
We should pray for our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters and do what we can to support organisations such as the Barnabas Fund. This charity provides valuable practical assistance e.g. helping the families of Christian martyrs, providing safe houses and legal support for prisoners.
So let us remember all these brave Christians, and let us also remember what Jesus himself has told us, “Everyone…who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven” (NRSV, Matthew 10:32,33).
Amen
So we come to the last word of the Creed, the Amen. At the end of a prayer, Amen means, “May it be so”, “That is what I pray for”. When we say it at the end of the Creed, it means “It is so”, and is like saying “That is what I believe”.
SUMMARY
1. The sign of the Cross is the Christian badge which reminds us of all that Jesus has done and suffered for love of us.
2. When we say the Creed in church services we say it standing up and facing east. We must always be proud of belonging to Christ and his Church.
3. The Amen at the end of the Creed means “It is so”.
References
1. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2006) Common Worship, Holy Baptism. Available from: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/downloads/pdf/mvinitiation336-373.pdf (Accessed 17 August 2010) (Internet).
2. Barnabas Fund (not dated) Persecuted Christians. Available from:
http://barnabasfund.org/UK/Our-work/Our-current-projects/BF-Project-Categories/Persecuted-Christians.html?modhome=1 (Accessed 19 November 2010) (Internet).