Watermarked--May 30, 2025
"Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads." (Revelation 22:4)
There is this through-line to the whole Christian faith that shows up over the course of our lifespans. We don't necessarily talk a lot about it, at least outside of those occasional moments when it appears again. But right now seems like a good time to remind ourselves.
We are marked with the cross of Christ, like a seal on our foreheads that claims us forever as God's own. It's true, even on the days you can't see it, and even at the times we forget about it. Like the watermark portrait of Ulysses S. Grant on the right side of a genuine fifty-dollar bill that indicates you've got real legal tender rather than a counterfeit (go ahead and look the next time you see a $50 bill--it's there), we are marked with the image of Christ in a way that assures us we really do belong to him... and we really do have a place in the new creation.
It starts at the waters of baptism, when in the course of the liturgy the cross is traced on our foreheads, as if to say, "God says you belong; you are marked with the sign of Christ's cross as a mark of belonging in the family." The oil with which we are anointed is basically clear, of course--you wouldn't necessarily even notice it's there. And it dries up before the last verse of the final hymn, but it is always there. We tell the children in our congregation that even if you can't see that cross, it is always there, setting you apart to live the Jesus way of life, claiming you forever in God's family, marking you as God's beloved no matter what.
Over the course of our daily and weekly lives, we might not mention that cross much, but for many, every Sunday is a chance to dip their fingers in the water at the font, and to retrace that cross again, as another reminder that no matter what anybody else says about you or me, God says we belong. The mark is there, and when you feel that cool water on your forehead again, you know that the promise is real. We also have a practice in many branches of the Christian family tree of tracing that same cross in ashes every year--right there on our foreheads--as the season of Lent begins and we turn our attention to our journey as disciples to follow Jesus on the way of the cross. The ash cross (which is the reason we call the first day of Lent "Ash Wednesday") is simultaneously a reminder of our mortality--that we are all dust and ashes, and these bodies of ours will return to dust and ashes in time--and also a reminder that even when we mess up, God's claim is still on us. We are cross-marked, even when we are brought face to face with our sin. The claim is still there, and the mark on our foreheads reminds us that it doesn't expire or come with fine print.
And then, there is another moment in our lives of faith when that same cross comes back--at our funerals. In our tradition, that same cross is traced over the head of the casket, and at the cemetery, I'll typically trace it in a handful of sprinkled soil, right at the time of the committal to the ground. And again, even though it is a somber and heavy moment, when we acknowledge that someone we love has died and we are no longer holding on to them, it is also a moment when we remember that the mark of Christ is still on them. Even when it is being traced in the soil of the graveyard, the cross mark is still on us, and it assures us that God's claim on us still holds, even when death has done its worst. It is a reminder that even when I cannot hold onto my own life, God still holds onto me. Through life and through death, we keep coming back to that mark on our foreheads--the cross of Jesus inscribed on our very lives.
Of course, the writer of Revelation sees that mark on the forehead coming back one more time, at least figuratively. There in the new creation, where God has come to dwell with us and Christ the Lamb is in our midst, the servants of God are gathered with the name of God marked on their foreheads. And for John, that image is just as much about God's claim that we belong as our practice with the cross in baptism. John wants his readers--from the first century through the twenty-first--to know that God has claimed us, and that claim is not up for renegotiation, not subject to probationary periods, and not going to expire. God's claim on us lasts through our lives and holds onto us even into new creation. We are God's forever. The sign on our foreheads is a sort of watermark assuring us that the promise is genuine.
Knowing that does two things for us, right here and now: one is simply that we have confidence that we will never be alone or abandoned. God's mark is on us, and there's no getting rid of it. God's claim on us cannot be repealed, vetoed, cut from the budget, or cancelled. And second of all, our belonging to Christ will hold no matter what anybody else says, does or thinks about it. Even if the rest of the world believes you're not good enough, attractive enough, wealthy enough, or important enough, to really belong, the mark on our foreheads tells us that the only One whose opinion matters on the subject already says we belong. In other words, we face the world with deep confidence that we are beloved, and that will make us brave to stand out and risk looking foolish over the ways we live that love out for others. We will risk being called "weak" because we care about the well-being of others rather than getting as much for ourselves as possible. We will dare to be labeled "losers" by the world because we don't need to make everything into some childish contest. We will risk scandalizing the Respectable Religious Bystanders who are upset that we care about the ones on the margins and treated as outcasts. We will be brave enough to risk our time, our energy, and our resources for others, because we know that even if we lose it all, we will not be lost to God. The mark will still be on us, as it always has been.
Today, step into the world as someone who knows the mark of God is on you. Remember that it will be there when we all find each other in the great gathering of humanity in God's new creation, and remember that it is on you right now, no matter what. You and I, we are watermarked: claimed in the name of Jesus to belong to God forever.
Now, live like that is true.
Lord Jesus, remind us of your claim on us, and let us believe your promise.
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