Bultmann s response caught them off guard. He said The cross we must take is faith itself. Faith itself is a heavy weight to bear amid the insanity that surrounds us. Faith does not lead you TO the cross. Faith IS the cross that sets you apart from the rest of the world and dares to call the world into question.
Faith IS the cross for which the world scorns the believer.
And we begin to see that faithfulness leads us into the very risky places of humanity s struggles with the love and caring of Jesus. Faithfulness leads us deeply into one another s lives as servants to work for justice and hope, for reconciliation and peace. And faithfulness leads us to turn in our symbols of success and security, as Alexander did his green shirt, and even as we do to journey into tomorrow, confident, because we know we are always held safe and secure in the hollow of God s own hand. Questions, comments or suggestions for this web ministry are most welcome. Bible quotations are NRSV unless otherwise noted.