We are surrounded by crosses.
As our liturgy begins the well-loved Processional cross that has so much history leads us.
We have another cross to be carried in procession, when this one is too heavy.
There is a cross behind me on the altar.
Our prayer books are signed with crosses.
There is a wooden cross in the narthex, leaning against the wall. There are crosses in many of the stained glass windows.
The church itself is in the shape of the cross.
Crosses mark the headstones in the graveyard that surrounds us.
Not only do we see crosses, we wear them.
The Daughters of the King wear a particular cross that is a sign of membership in the order,
but many of us wear crosses of various kinds - Celtic crosses, Jerusalem crosses, roman crosses -
around our necks, as pins, as earrings….
Made from various materials - wood, silver, gold…
As we enter into the body of Christ at Baptism, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and Marked as Christ's own forever, the sign of the cross is made with Chrism on our forehead.
At our healing Eucharist we sign each forehead with anointing oil as part of our prayer.
The Bishop signs with the cross each person's forehead when they are confirmed.
We make the sign of the cross at various points in the liturgy.
Some of us make the sign of the cross as we pray each day.
And at the end of life, we sign the cross on the forehead one last time, reminding us that Jesus is truly the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of our lives.
We all bear the cross in one form or another. It matters little what kind of cross we carry. We knew a man in Tennessee who made a life-size cross out of PVC pipe, and walked down the roads carrying it on his back.
Bishops wear their pectoral cross in their breast pocket to signify that the message of the cross is close to their heart.
Whether we realize it or not, we who call ourselves by the name of Christian, and specifically we who call ourselves by the name Episcopalian, have taken up the cross.
Indeed, we cannot get away from it.
It surrounds us in multiple forms, and has marked us for life.
Some may spend their lives trying to get away from that mark,
but the mark is there - the symbol of Christ's love in a world that refuses to notice.
No longer is the cross a symbol of death and shame - the days of the Roman Empire, when criminals and dissidents were crucified around the walls of Jerusalem are over.
For us, who have chosen this way of life, the Cross is a symbol of hope - a symbol of our faith - a symbol of what it means to be a Christian.
Voluntarily or involuntarily, Episcopalians have chosen the cross, and it has chosen us.

The question then becomes, now that we are marked with the cross, will we choose to follow Christ?
For it is the following of Christ that is the true mark of discipleship.
He calls us to follow him into the same works of compassion that he did -
- healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor -
o - not for our own sake, or for the sake of our consciences, but for His Sake.
For the cross comes to us wherever we go.
You can see it in the shape of a dogwood bloom,
In the bird on the wing overhead, in power poles, and intersections,
Each a reminder that every time we
come to a crossroads we have a choice of which way to go - to follow Christ or to go our own way,
To choose the way of the cross or the way of our own ambitions.
It is a reminder that we are called to uphold the name of Christ in the public places, proclaiming him, as Peter did, as the Son of the Living God.
Each day we face challenges to our faith.
Each day we face the option of choosing something that is for the sake of Christ,
Or for the sake of our selves.
Every day we can choose to live nearer to fulfilling our baptismal promise,
Or to take a step away.
The scriptures today in this early part of the season after Pentecost are calling out the reminder to follow Christ in a series of daily choices done for the sake of his name.
And in each choice we have the opportunity to lift the cross high,
And to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
To pattern our life according to the promises we made at Baptism:
To renounce the evil powers of this world,
To remove ourselves from things that draw us from the Love of God.
To turn to Christ, and obey him as our Lord.
To seek Christ in all persons, and strive for justice.
For the love of Christ.
Clement of Alexandria was a Greek philosopher in the 2nd century, who became a defender of the Christian faith, and wrote this about the love of Christ:
What is the nature and extent of this love?
For each of us he laid down his life, the life which was worth the whole universe,
and he requires in return that we should do the same for each other"

Let us carry our cross unashamedly - declaring faithfully who Jesus is -
this one,
this Christ,
the Son of God, who laid down his life for each of us.
Until our Christianity is not lived as an issue of convenience, but in a lavish outpouring of love -
This is what it means to lose our life for his sake
This is what it means to find our life in losing it.
To lose it in the deep and fully occupying task of following Him, upholding the Cross of Christ in all that we do.