The world invites us to climb ladders; the gospel invites us to lift crosses.
What will it be? The Ladder or the Cross?

There are two contemporary works of art that have rare symbolic power: the Vietnam Memorial and the AIDS Quilt. Both address the mystery of suffering that has no rhyme or reason; both restructure reality to enable us to deal creatively with the mystery of suffering.

In the last half-millennium, a work of art which has exerted great symbolic power on a vast number of people is the "Isenheim Altarpiece," completed in 1515. (Note: It would add immeasurably to this sermon if you get a picture of this and either put it up on the screen or have a copy store copy it and include it in your bulletin.) One art historian has called it a "work of such tremendous and dismal grandeur…