Worship Note: The Sign of the Cross

When I was young, attending church at Calvary Lutheran Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, I recall seeing people occasionally making the sign of the cross on themselves at various parts of the service.  I remember recoiling, as if I were Count Dracula facing a crucifix.  The reason?  I was taught that people who make the sign of the cross on themselves are Roman Catholic, and we are definitely NOT THAT!

I don't recall if my pastor ever taught me that, but it was certainly passed down from other sources.  Over the years, I have discovered that many Lutherans have been taught that, too.

We were taught badly.

Consider these words.

In the morning, when you rise, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say:  In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

And again: In the evening, when you go to bed, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say: In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Even more startling is this: For this end it is also of service that we form the habit of daily commending ourselves to God, with soul and body, wife, children, servants, and all that we have, against every need that may occur; whence also the blessing and thanksgiving at meals, and other prayers, morning and evening, have originated and remain in use.  Likewise the practice of children to cross themselves when anything monstrous or terrible is seen or heard, and to exclaim: “Lord God, protect us!” “Help, dear Lord Jesus!” etc. 

Any guesses as to the source of these instructions?  

The first two are in Luther's Small Catechism.  (They have been inexplicably omitted from the catechism published by our synod.)  They are found in every version of the Book of Concord I own.  The third quotation is from Luther's Large Catechism: Part I, paragraphs 73-74 (The 2nd Commandment).

To avoid making the sign of the cross because "it is Roman Catholic" is ridiculous.  It is a ceremony that every Christian has the right to do.  In that sense, it is catholic (note the small "c"), meaning that it belongs to the whole Christian Church on earth.  We do not abandon laudable practices just because they are done in the Roman Catholic Church.  We would not refuse to say the Lord's Prayer or the Nicene Creed because they are spoken in the Roman Mass, would we?  Neither should we despise making the sign of the cross.

Why make the sign of the cross?  (This "Why?" is the essential question for any practice we observe.)  The answer comes from the Rite of Holy Baptism.  In that rite, the pastor makes the sign of the cross on the one being baptized and says, "Receive the sign of the cross on the head and the heart to mark you as a redeemed child of Christ."  The sign of the cross is simply a reminder that we are baptized children of Triune God.  He is our Savior, our refuge, and our help in every time of trouble.  

Our hymnal gives us several places where making the sign of the cross is appropriate.  Most obvious is at the Invocation (In the name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit--the name into which we are baptized) and at the Benediction.  At the beginning and at the end of the service, we make the sign of the cross to confess that the Lord has put his name on us.  The are other places where it would be appropriate, but these are the most obvious.  And they are already in the hymnal to mark where a person may do it.

Do you have to make the sign of the cross?  Of course not.  Nowhere in God's word does he command or forbid it.  We are free to act as we please.  You do not get a better place in heaven one way or another.  But we should know why anyone who chooses to make the sign of the cross does it.  (For what it is worth, even many Roman Catholics don't know why they do it.)

Making the sign of the cross is a laudable practice, and it makes a laudable confession about the Triune God, about our baptism, and about our identity.