THE STANDARDS WE BEAR

A sermon given on Sunday, August 30, 2026

by the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bridge Pastor

A couple of years ago I participated in a press conference that was held on the steps of the State House in Boston.  It was calling attention to the Massachusetts chapter of the Poor People’s Campaign safeguarding the well-being of our most vulnerable citizens.  A Worcester newspaper reporter was there.  In the paper’s article it attributed a quotation to me.  “‘Poverty equals death,’ said the Bishop, ‘and we won’t be silent anymore.’”  In fact, I never said that!  But I was standing behind a podium on which hung a sign with those words.  So as far as the reporter was concerned, the words were mine.

Here is a truth:  The things we stand behind or walk behind, the banners or standards that are out in front of us – they matter.  They are understood to declare who we are, and what we profess.

Is there anything Episcopalians love as much as a good procession?  At services both large and small, we look for that parade in and out of the church, with a processional cross at the front.  Here at St. Philip’s, we love to see Weyehn carrying that cross with dignity and grace.

I grew up attending Congregational and Presbyterian churches.  We did not have processional crosses.  Like certain other liturgical practices, processional crosses were viewed with suspicion, seen as some kind of papist superstition.  Now, even as a child I could never understand why it was okay to have a Memorial Day parade with people marching behind a flag, but it was not okay to have a church parade with people marching behind a Cross.

In all sorts of secular settings – holiday parades, Rose Bowl parades, civic demonstrations – we carry out in front of us some declaration of Who We Are and what we stand up for.  A marching band’s name. An American flag.  A rainbow flag. A political candidate’s name or slogan.  A labor union identification.  In every case, out in front is some banner or image by which the marchers declare who they are. 

Likewise, in the church, when the clergy and other participants enter and leave each week, we also follow behind an image announcing our identity: we follow the Cross of Christ.    And in today’s Gospel [Matthew 16:21-28] Jesus says that every one of us, if we wish to be his followers, should take up our cross and follow him. 

In many parades, such as an Olympics opening ceremony, just one person carries that flag for the whole team.  But in our Christian life, Jesus says we are all cross-bearers.  Not just the official Crucifer, but each and every one of us, when we take up the Cross to follow Jesus – we are also crucifers – cross-bearers in the World!

In ancient times, rulers desiring to establish ties with surrounding peoples would send out ambassadors to represent them.  These emissaries would venture into the foreign territory unarmed, for to carry a weapon would be to announce hostile intent.  They bore instead some image declaring their credentials as an ambassador: perhaps some carved or painted likeness of their sovereign.  By the likeness they bore they projected the image of the one whom they represented.

But here is the paradox: The standard that is out in front represents the identity of those behind it, but the reverse is also true.  The values represented by the standard are made known by the followers who bear it.  The person or institution pointed to by the banner or symbol takes on the character of those who are behind it. 

Our American flag, for instance, represents all our best aspirations of unity, liberty, and justice.  The flag has been hoisted aloft as a standard of unity in Philadelphia; carried as a sign of liberation at Normandy; and raised as a standard of justice in countless demonstrations by people of high conscience.  And the Flag has also fluttered over the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans from their homelands; over a prison called Abu Graib; and on the uniformed arms of too many rogue warriors of posse justice.  The flag means something different in those places.

The Christian Cross, likewise, represents many things – sacrifice, hope, and compassion.  The Christian cross has stood for genuine sacrifice in the slums of Calcutta; genuine hope in locations where the Red Cross responds to disaster; genuine compassion in hospital rooms and countless places of pastoral visitation.  And the Cross has also been emblazoned on the Crusader’s sword and shield; twisted onto the flag of the Nazi swastika; and lit up at the Klansman’s rally.

The values represented by any standard are, I say again, only as good and noble as the followers who bear it.  This is true of our flag, and this is true of our Christian Cross.  It is a sobering thought that this day and every day, you and I are the ambassadors whom Jesus sends on ahead of himself.  The Twelve aren’t around.  It’s our job now, mine and yours – not only to be followers of the Cross of Jesus, but messengers of what that Cross conveys to the world.  As Saint Paul says [II Cor 5:20]:  We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us.  You and I are the emissaries whom Jesus has out in front of himself these days.

So it is that the very identity of Jesus and of the Church is hijacked if we allow that image – the Cross of Christ – to be appropriated by people promoting hatred, including so-called Christian Nationalists.  We all saw the images from the January 6 insurrection, at which not only the American flag and the Confederate flag were carried, but also Christian crosses and banners, supporting an attempt to thwart the democratic process and the peaceful transition of power.  We continue to see such distortion, whenever Christianity is invoked to justify racist, xenophobic, and other hateful or violent behavior.  This should be anathema to those of us who follow a Jesus of justice, love, and compassion – none of which are upheld by Christian Nationalism.  And the only way to refute such a distorted understanding of Christianity is for true Christians to hold up the Cross and the name of Jesus when we act in accordance with our understanding of what Michael Curry calls the Loving, Liberating, and Life-giving Gospel of Christ.

When we take up the Cross – as Jesus told us to do – we not only follow it, we also represent it.  The Jesus we love needs his good name back!  It’s your job and my job to help give it back to him.

So: What is the standard which you bear?  Is it a flag?  Is it a cross?  Is it a fashion designer’s label, or a hood ornament?  What is it?  We choose our standard by the values we champion, the commitments we make, and the identities we claim:  Volunteer tutor.  Gardener.  Political organizer.  Singer of Christ’s praise.  Baker of soup kitchen casseroles.  Blood donor.  What is the labor of love by which your identity is announced?  How is it known by others?  Though the priorities we choose, our patterns of concern or unconcern – what is known through us?

And if the Cross is a standard you bear – and I hope that it is, and I know that it is, here at St. Philip’s Church – well then, what is the Gospel that others see through you?

Some years back I heard Phoebe Griswold – the wife of then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold – speak of how Frank had once asked her, what was her favorite part of the Sunday liturgy.  He was probably not happy when she told him her favorite part was the Announcements!  But she said that later on she reflected that, in fact, her favorite moment came at the end of the service.  It was that moment when the Crucifer, standing in front of the congregation, lifts up the Cross and leads everyone out into the world.  What an important moment.  What a courageous moment.  Going into the world – following that Cross, and representing that Cross, in all we do.

Dear people of St. Philip’s – follow the Cross into the world.  Follow it to love and serve.  Go in the name of your beloved parish.  Go in the name of the Episcopal Church.  Go in the name of Jesus.