J. Barrie Shepherd is now...
Illustration
J. Barrie Shepherd is now retired from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City. He is fond of telling the story about a flight back to the United States from his native Scotland. It so happened that, on that day, Shepherd was carrying a large Celtic cross from the Isle of Iona for his church back home.
He had wrapped the cross carefully in layers of paper and padding. Not trusting the baggage-handlers, he thought it best to carry it onto the plane himself. As he approached the airport X-ray machine, the guards eyed him up and down: his bundle looked suspiciously like an automatic weapon. When the image of a two-foot-tall Celtic cross appeared on the X-ray screen, the guards relaxed.
Early the next morning, Shepherd and his fellow passengers made their way into the customs area of John F. Kennedy Airport. "Do you have anything to declare?" asked the customs agent.
"Only this cross," Shepherd replied, still sleepy from his long flight.
The agent looked down, and scribbled something on a form in front of him. It was only later that Shepherd got to see what he had written: "Item of a sentimental nature. Of little or no value."
The customs agent's words were significant. The words he wrote were perhaps correct from the standpoint of bureaucratic regulations, but in a theological sense they were all wrong. Yet isn't that very same description -- "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value" -- exactly what the world thinks of the cross of Jesus? Indeed, to the world the cross is foolishness.
He had wrapped the cross carefully in layers of paper and padding. Not trusting the baggage-handlers, he thought it best to carry it onto the plane himself. As he approached the airport X-ray machine, the guards eyed him up and down: his bundle looked suspiciously like an automatic weapon. When the image of a two-foot-tall Celtic cross appeared on the X-ray screen, the guards relaxed.
Early the next morning, Shepherd and his fellow passengers made their way into the customs area of John F. Kennedy Airport. "Do you have anything to declare?" asked the customs agent.
"Only this cross," Shepherd replied, still sleepy from his long flight.
The agent looked down, and scribbled something on a form in front of him. It was only later that Shepherd got to see what he had written: "Item of a sentimental nature. Of little or no value."
The customs agent's words were significant. The words he wrote were perhaps correct from the standpoint of bureaucratic regulations, but in a theological sense they were all wrong. Yet isn't that very same description -- "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value" -- exactly what the world thinks of the cross of Jesus? Indeed, to the world the cross is foolishness.
