On September 14th every year we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross, this year it just happens to fall on a Sunday.  Some might think how can we celebrate something so gruesome, or how can we exalt something that is so negative as a crucifixion.  Through these readings, I would like to remind you about a truth that that we probably have heard a thousand times, it has probably been drilled into most of your minds by your CCD teachers:  Jesus Christ died upon the Cross to take away our sins.  We have heard that many times, but do we really know that in our lives? 

In order to understand the amazing truth that Jesus died for our sins, we must first acknowledge that we have sinned.  Our 1st reading from Numbers shows just how dramatic and finicky we human beings can be.  The first verse tells us that the people had their patience worn out by the journey, oh let us not forget the journey was God saving them from cruel oppression, but apparently that wasn’t good enough.  So they complained against God saying, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water?” So what they’re saying is that God saved them from years of oppressive slavery just to let them die a few months later by starvation- anybody else think that is crazy to even think that?   And remember that they were indeed given food and water when they asked for it- they were given the miraculous manna in the morning and quail (meat) in the evening.  And when they were thirsty, God gave them water- out of a rock, no less!  Their requests were answered, but apparently not answered in the way they wanted.  But if that wasn’t dramatic enough for you, listen again to them complain they’ll die in the desert where there is no food or water- then immediately say, “We are disgusted with this wretched food”.  Oh so there is food, you just don’t want to eat it.  Oh how finicky.  I know I poked fun at the mentality of the Israelites, but if we’re honest with ourselves- we do the very same things.  We are just as prone to exaggerate and quick to complain when we don’t get our way.  Don’t we take for granted what God has done for us, just as the Israelites took for granted that they were saved from slavery in Egypt?  Aren’t we also quick to complain when God answers our requests, but not in the way we wanted him to?   Don’t we get frustrated when everything God does for us just doesn’t meet our expectations, and so we exaggerate and complain?   To punish the Israelites, God let them be bit by venomous snakes.  But, notice how quick they were to repent of their sins, and then how quickly they looked up at the instrument of salvation God gave them through Moses and were saved.  Are we that quick to repent as well?

Not only must we admit that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we must also admit that we cannot save ourselves, that we need a Savior.  In Jesus Christ, we have a Savior.  Jesus humbled himself, though without losing his divinity, he became human.  By taking on our humanity, He took on our human weakness- each and every person’s human weaknesses and sinful tendencies.   He took our pride, he took our bad addictions of every kind, he took on our every sin- our every sin we have committed and ever will commit.  Jesus allowed himself to be treated so cruelly, to undergo such grotesque torture because he took on our sins - which are so cruel and grotesque in the face of divine love.  In the person of Jesus, the Son of God took our every sin, he took everything that separates us from God, suffered and died upon the Cross- the instrument of our salvation.  Crucifixion was the worse way any human could be killed, and the Romans were experts in torturing people.  And though Jesus was innocent, he willingly died so for us, because death is the punishment and consequence of our sins.  Jesus, out of love, humbled himself, and was obedient and accepted death, even death on the Cross.  As our Gospel famously says, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him”.  Jesus did not come to condemn the world, even though we deserved it, but out of love God redeemed the world, he redeemed, he paid the price of our sin.  Jesus became human, suffered and died for our sins, and rose from the dead.  He rose from the dead, he broke the shackles of sin that bound us, and he rose from depth of darkness of our sin so that we can share in the light of His Divine life.  So that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

But my brothers and sisters, let us look at what it means to believe in Jesus.  Belief in Jesus is not an abstract notion we hold to be true in our minds.  Belief is not something we say with our lips, but doesn’t ring in our hearts.  Belief is not passive, belief is active.  Jesus did not suffer and die for our sins so that we won’t have to, He did so, so that we can die to ourselves, die to our selfish tendencies, die to our worldly desires and attractions, and by dying to ourselves share in his life, the life of God through Him.  Therefore, if we say we believe in Jesus Christ and all He did for us, then why are we still holding onto our sin? 

Our God wants to set us free, he wants us to live in the freedom of God’s children, but to do so we must surrender ourselves, we must confess our sins in deep sorrow for ever offending Him, we must run to God in prayer and admit our weaknesses, then ask and allow him to transform them by his intimate mercy and love.  Belief in God means letting go of the pleasures we still hold onto, it means letting go of everything that is not of Him. It means we must stop whining to God. If we say we believe Jesus is the Son of God then each and every one of us must surrender and declare Him Lord of every aspect of our lives, which means we invite him into the areas we don’t want other people to see.  As we exalt the Cross today, may he purify our hearts and draw us closer to our salvation and the salvation of all.  So, at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  AMEN