My briefcase went missing at an airport in India. A bit concerned, I stood at the end of the baggage X-ray conveyor belt waiting to claim it. Eventually a military officer in a starched-stiff uniform appeared. Stern-faced, side-armed with a pistol, he beckoned to me. My briefcase lay on a table between us. “Is this yours?” he asked. “Yes.” “Is there a Jesus cross inside?”
India is, of course, a predominately Hindu country, but Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Islam are also represented among its crowded population. Officially, less than 2% of Indians identify as Christian. And yet the Indian officer, most likely a Hindu himself, recognized this common symbol of our faith, the cross. And also he must have known enough about the cross to connect it with Jesus, our Savior. The officer had been summoned by the technician who spotted the X-ray image of the metal cross in my briefcase, concerned that its shape may have constituted a weapon of some sort. Ironic, because the Cross of Christ ended a spiritual conflict and brought peace between sinful mankind and our Holy Creator.
Because I had been assigned to preach at several worship services on this mission trip to India, I had packed the cross in my briefcase, planning to wear it on the Sundays when I would be in the pulpit. When asked if the Jesus cross was mine, I readily answered the officer, “yes.” And though there may have been good reasons to carry it in the briefcase, I wonder how I would have responded if his question had been, “Why aren’t you wearing it?”
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross . . . (Hebrews 12).
(The ELS relationship with the Lutheran Mission of Salvation – India is conducted by the Asia Committee of the Board for World Outreach.)
Find this interesting? Share it!