This morning I want to talk about crosses.  Over the past few years it seems that the cross has become very popular.  People have discovered the cross and more and more people are wearing them.  Today it is fashionable for both men and women to have a necklace with a cross on it.  And I’m sure you know the story about the man who walked into a smart jewellery shop and asked to see the crosses that they had in stock.  The sales assistant brought out a velvet tray with an assortment of gold and silver and jewelled crosses on it.  The sales assistant then eagerly asked "Now would you like a plain cross or one with a little man on it?"

Crosses may be popular, but most people don't even know what they are.  To many in the world the cross is a just pretty piece of jewellery.  It’s an item crafted out of precious metals and stones, which carries some kind of spiritual significance, but they know not what.  And to some it is a powerful talisman and its possession gives one power and prowess ...  After all, Buffy the Vampire Slayer carries one with her all the time to vanquish the un-dead.

But the cross is not a pretty piece of jewellery with an anonymous and structureless meaning.  And it isn’t a powerful talisman or charm that gives special powers to its possessors ... I'm sorry to say that just carrying a cross will not ward off evil.  We have to remember that the cross was an instrument of torture and death.  Let’s think about it ...would you wear a replica of the gallows or a gas chamber around your neck?   The cross was no more than the means of execution used by the Roman government.

We in the church may be disturbed by what the world does with the cross and the way it is trivialised, but what we do must seem like utter madness to them.  Every year around March the church enters into a kind of madness from the world's perspective.  To them we seem we have caught the irrational behaviour that typifies the Matter Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.  This Mad Hatter syndrome has nothing to do with the Premier League,  West Ham United fans or anything like that.  It is more than the madness of fanatic fans. This Mad Hatter madness is the lifting up of that old rugged cross.  It is the March madness of Lent when we Christians place special emphasis on the Cross of Christ.

It is like the story of the man who worked for a multinational company.  He spent his days in a non-descript open plan office, somewhere in a large building in the middle of town.  He was an accountant and while doing his job he noticed some things that were out of the ordinary.  Large amounts of money were being transferred to banks in strange places.  He also discovered that the company was intentionally cutting corners on safety measures so endangering not only the workers but the consumers as well.

He felt he had to do something.  The company was making money at the expense of people's lives.  So he gathered together the information he needed to go public and blow the whistle.  But the company got wind of his plans and tried to stop him.

It was a classic David and Goliath scenario.  The giant multi-national that was killing people to make money against a lone, honest, caring man.  In the end the company made up a scandal.  They discredited him.  His wife left him and he was convicted of embezzling one million and a half pounds.  He was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison and the company went on producing products that it knew were unsafe.

Now if you are wondering what kind of story that was.  It is no more than a parable on the meaning of the cross ... That is what the cross is all about.  The cross is about one good and honest man, a carpenter, going up against a corrupt religious and political company that was knowingly selling people a substandard product.  The result of which was that people were dying spiritually.  When that one man stood up against the religious and political giants he was crucified on trumped up charges of blasphemy and sedition.

That's what the cross is.  It is madness and lunacy.  It is rejoicing that your team was knocked out of the FA Cup because of a game full of unfair refereeing decisions ...  It is about the Roman Empire killing the only begotten Son of God.

St Paul said it better than ever I can.  He said the cross is a stumbling block to those who seek signs and foolishness to those who seek wisdom.  To accept the cross you have to give up looking for signs or proof and simply believe: believe that a carpenter from Galilee who was executed in nearly two thousand years ago was actually the only begotten Son of the Almighty God.  It means believing without proof that one truly righteous man could die for not only the world's sins but yours.  To accept the cross requires believing, against all logic, that those who love life will lose it and those who lose their lives for the Gospel will gain eternal life.

So what is the cross?  It is more than a few pieces of wood used to kill people.  It is the symbol of our salvation.  By the means of a corrupt and oppressive government God brought the opportunity for true righteousness and freedom.  Embracing the cross doesn't mean that you are given a special power to silence the powers of evil.  It means that we can face apparent defeat by evil because we know that good will finally triumph despite the current situation.

The cross is truly madness to the world.  It is a stumbling block to unbelievers and foolishness to the wise of this age.  So let's engage in a little Holy Madness this Lent.  Let us remember and celebrate how our Lord was unjustly killed on a cross.  Not that we celebrate the apparent triumph of evil over good, but celebrate that we know the truth.

The truth that through the death of one righteous man, we are all made righteous.  The truth that by the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood, we are saved.  This is the Madness of the Kingdom of God!