The Cross of Love and Sacrifice
Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole, and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
John 3:13-17
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The Cross of Love and Sacrifice
This morning we step away from Luke’s Gospel to take up a passage from John. This is because in Christian tradition, following the Christian calendar, this day, September 14th, is Holy Cross Sunday or the Feast of the Holy Cross, a day on which we remember and reflect on the Cross of Jesus. Now, of course, as mainline Protestants in a Congregational Church we don’t necessarily observe feast days, and for all Christians everywhere, it is important, even central to our faith, to reflect on the cross every day, to remember Christ’s gift of grace through death on a cross. So why today? Why is today set aside as Holy Cross Sunday? To answer this, we have to look back to the 4th century, to the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, and a story about his mother, Helena.
Constantine
Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, and it was largely because of Constantine that Christianity became accepted as a major world religion. Constantine was Emperor from 306 to 337, and there are many fascinating stories about his conversion and the effect his conversion had on the church. Anyone interested in church history will want to know more about Constantine. Someday I hope we can go into this more in depth. But this morning, I want to tell you the story about Constantine’s mother, Helena.
Helena
The reason September 14th is Holy Cross Sunday is because it was on this day, in the year 327, that Helena, mother of Constantine, discovered the true cross, the original cross of Jesus. As the story goes, in her late 70’s, Helena, travelled from Rome to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to find the true cross, the actual cross on which Jesus was crucified. She went to the site of Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem. A Greek temple had been built on the site. Helena had it torn down and excavated, and in digging up the site, they found the remnants of three crosses.[1] Helena brought in a woman who was ill to touch the crosses. She touched two crosses and nothing happened, but when she touched the third, she was miraculously healed. Helena declared this third cross to be the True Cross. Later, on this site where Helena discovered the True Cross, Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.[2] This church is considered to be the holiest site in Christianity because it marks the location of the crucifixion and the tomb.
The Son of Man must be lifted up
So today, we think about the cross and what it means. And one of the things it means is healing. Through Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, we can be spiritually healed. We find salvation in the cross, and we are healed through grace and forgiveness. In our reading from John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about being lifted up. “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” When he is crucified, Jesus is lifted up, literally lifted up into the air, up high, where everyone could see him, hanging on a cross.
Moses’ bronze serpent
In the reading from John, Jesus refers to ancient scripture, referring to Numbers and the story of Moses’ bronze serpent. “Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole, and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.” So we have this rich mixture of images. The bronze serpent on a pole lifted up into the air. Christ on the cross lifted up into the air. Both are healing images. In fact, the serpent on a pole is a symbol we still see today. It’s a symbol used in the medical community to indicate emergency health care.
The meaning of the cross
The point here, of course, is that the cross is the major symbol of Christianity. Without the cross, there is no Christianity. And the central meaning of the cross is that Jesus lay down his life for us. And laying down his life was an act of love. In John chapter 15, Jesus tells us exactly what the cross means when he says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (vs. 12) As Christians following Jesus, this is our highest example and our aspiration. And even in our society, today, we have a name for people who do this, a name for people who lay down their lives for others. We call them “heroes.”
Honoring 9/11 Heroes
And so, I want to bring this home for us. This week, we commemorate the 9/11 tragedy, and I think it would be fitting to remember the many heroes who died on that day, laying down their lives for others to live. There are many things people do each September to remember what happened and to honor the heroes of 9/11. One particularly powerful event is called the 9/11 memorial stair climb. This is an event organized in fire departments across the country to honor the first responders who sacrificed their lives to rescue people by climbing the stairs in the Twin Towers. The elevators weren’t working, so they climbed the stairs to get people out of the building. Here is a description of the memorial stair climb from a Fire and Rescue Journal:
“A 9/11 Stair Climb is physically and emotionally demanding. The physical challenge involves approximately 2 hours of continuous stair-climbing. What’s more, many firefighters complete the event in full firefighter gear (up to 60–70 lbs.). The climb challenges one’s cardiovascular endurance, leg strength and stamina, and mental grit. Additionally, the atmosphere is reverent, intense and often deeply personal. Climbers often wear the name or photo of an NYC firefighter who did not survive.”[3]
Here is a quote from the Sacramento Fire Department, just one of the many fire departments across the country that hosted a memorial stair climb:
“Today, 343 firefighters carried the names of fallen heroes close to their hearts as they completed the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Twenty-four years later, we continue to climb so that we never forget.
Firefighters from across the region came together, each one picking up the name and bio of a firefighter who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001. With those names pinned to their turnout coats, they climbed 110 floors, symbolizing the Twin Towers. With each step and each floor, they paid tribute to the lives lost that day.
We remember. We climb. We will never forget.”[4]
Remembering, our hearts open.
When we think about these acts of bravery and sacrifice, people who sacrificed themselves for others, it opens our hearts. Thinking about sacrifice, reflecting on the gift of love that is sacrifice, this is the same as thinking about the cross, the gift of Christ’s sacrifice, and the example that he set. The firefighters, and all the other first responders on that horrible day, lived out Christ’s example. Climbing stairs, rescuing people, helping others get to safety, even as they died while doing so, we lift them up as heroes, we lift them high into the air for all of us to see and remember.
The cross in our soul
The cross is a reminder of God’s gift of life. Perhaps Helena found the cross in the fourth century. Who knows? But we carry the true cross as Christians. We carry it in our hearts, and it is the symbol of sacrifice and love that burns bright in our souls. It motivates us to give to others because we remember and are grateful. And we are inspired by the examples of others who follow this path, the Christ-like heroes who give themselves in the service of others. We have been given the gift of life. And what a blessing it is. Amen? Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena,_mother_of_Constantine_I accessed September 13, 2025
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre accessed September 13, 2025
[3] https://www.firerescue1.com/9-11/articles/7-things-to-know-about-911-stair-climb-events-W2r84p2kxmxB3gnq/ accessed September 13, 2025
[4] Facebook, “Sacramento Fire Department” page, September 11, 2025 https://www.facebook.com/SacramentoFire/posts/today-343-firefighters-carried-the-names-of-fallen-heroes-close-to-their-hearts-/1194723046015508/ accessed September 13, 2025