Finishing up my confirmation lesson for this Sunday. We've started the year by studying the Sacrament of Holy Baptism - a good place to begin because for most of us Baptism is when we entered God's Kingdom. Ordinary water and God's extraordinary Word came together to bring about a washing away of sins and our adoption into God's family.
In the baptismal liturgy we say to the one being baptized: "Receive the sign of the cross both upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified." The sign of the cross is one way for a person to appreciate their Baptism, especially if they were baptized as an infant. So I'm going to teach the kids how to do this.
Do you know how to make the sign of the cross? The left hand is laid flat against the body midway down the chest. The right hand traces the sign by touching the forehead with the index and middle fingers...then moving down to touch the chest just above the left hand...then the right hand is raised to touch the right shoulder and then finishes by touching the left shoulder. Some make the sign by concluding by touching the heart, the place where faith resides.
Lutheran worship is not a passive act. We use our whole bodies to worship God on Sunday morning. We stand; fold our hands to pray or extend our hands to others in extending God's peace; bow our heads in awe and respect; we use our voices to speak and sing. Making the sign of the cross at appropriate times during worship is one more way we use our bodies during worship. All these actions help us to express the faith that we believe and confess. They give testimony to everyone else in worship of our love and devotion for our Lord Jesus Christ.
