The Sign of the Cross?

You may have noticed throughout your own life, your travels, and even here at Mt. Calvary, La Grange, Texas, that some people make the sign of the cross on themselves at various points in the divine service.

Now, that crotchety old German uncle who resides in back of every American Lutheran’s head may currently be screaming, “daß ist Katholisch!” (That’s Catholic). And, he was likely even more incensed last Sunday as we confessed the Athanasian Creed. That’s the one that identifies us and the Christian faith as “catholic” several times.

We do differ with the church of Rome on several key points of Christian doctrine. But, the use of words like mass or catholic are not among our differences. Those terms are not dirty words. We should not recoil from them like a vampire from sunlight.

Ignoring Uncle Helmut for a moment, let’s first talk about when we do the things we do. Making the sign of the cross has a broad range of occurrences in the divine service. If you have one handy, open your Lutheran Service Book to page 184, and follow along.

The service opens with the invocation. You’ll notice a rubric cross in the middle of “the Son.” The pastor makes to sign of the cross there. Some pastors will do it towards the congregation. More frequently, you’ll see him cross himself, facing the altar.

The next cross rubric is in the Absolution. The pastor will face the congregation to deliver the goods. He is doing the deed of forgiving sins as he is commanded to do. Again, the rubric cross stands right in the middle of “the Son.”

Even disquieted Uncle Albrecht may have noticed by now that this crossing is somehow Trinitarian. Every time the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are uttered, someone is prob’ly making the sign. But why in the world would they do that?

Baptism, it’s all about baptism. When God marked you as His own in Holy Baptism, you received the sign of the cross upon your forehead and upon your heart. He delivered the forgiveness of sins and faith to trust in His promise to you by His name, in that water, by His word, and through the Hand of the Christian who baptized you.

We will also see folks crossing at spots like: “the life of the world to come/everlasting” in the Creeds, “but deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s Prayer, “this is My Body, this is My Blood” at the consecration, and at the pax domini. These too are part of that same promise of our baptism. The promise of life everlasting and deliverance from evil are brought in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through those means of grace we receive the forgiveness of sins by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Uncle Rudolph may not be keen on the idea, but it changes nothing. The sign of the cross marks our understanding and teaches us to be attentive to Jesus’ work and His gifts to us. So, please grant your Christian friends a kind opinion of their baptismal remembrances. Perhaps even consider it as part of your own piety.

Remember your baptism with the sign of Jesus’ cross.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX