|
(Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2) -- By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted
to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab
the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and
the prophets -- who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched
raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,
they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented -- of whom the
world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something
better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter
of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken
his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Luke 12:49-56) -- Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have
a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring
peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against
two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, `It is going to rain';
and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"
________________________________________________________
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Peter and Paul, Matthew, Ignatius, Athanasius, Macrina,
Benedict and Augustine; of Hildegaard, Thomas, Eckhart, Julian, William, and Absalom. Of Evelyn and Robert, Catherine, Caroline,
Tom and John, Bettie, Lawrence and Jim. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Witnesses who knew the fire
of Jesus' baptism, and who experienced the anguish of houses divided, father against son and mother against daughter. So
let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.
I want us to connect with this great cloud of witnesses this morning. So, use your imagination just a bit. Imagine your
left hand being grasped by someone who passed along the faith of Jesus to you in a particularly compelling way. Let that
person be present to you, right here, right now. No matter whether they are living or dead, near or far. Imagine that person
holding on to your hand, giving you the gift of our heritage of faith. Then look back over that person's shoulder and see
the continuous string of hands, two millennia long, stretching back in an unbroken line all the way to Jesus.
There we see Jesus, his right hand clasped to Peter and all the apostles. See Peter the apostle to the Jews, proclaiming
Jesus as Messiah. See Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, extending the right hand of fellowship beyond Israel. Remember their
conflict, when Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentile Christians, and Paul challenged him publicly. See their embrace, the subject
of icons. For centuries they have shared a feast day together on the Christian calendar.
See Matthew the evangelist who wrote a gospel for the Jews, describing Jesus as the fulfillment of the law, writing, "...until
heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all is accomplished."
See Paul the missioner who spread the gospel through Asia Minor and Greece. "Christ is the end of the law," he
proclaimed, teaching that we are justified by grace, the free gift of God, which we accept through faith. Feel inside yourself
the tension between Matthew and Paul, between law and grace, a tension that has been present throughout our church's divided
history.
See Ignatius of Antioch traveling to his martyrdom, confirming the ordering of our church with bishops, priests and deacons
and exhorting us all to devotion to the Eucharist as the experience of Christ's presence and the unity of the church. He
laid the foundation for the institutions that give us life. See Macrina the wise and holy, who counseled her powerful brothers
to defend and inspire the Trinitarian faith. See Augustine who declared creation good yet wrestled with its fallenness.
These men and women lived in times of theological conflict that was sometimes even violent.
See Benedict whose gentle and practical rule of life became the model for our Book of Common Prayer a thousand years later.
See Hildegard, mystic, poet, composer, dramatist, doctor, scientist, who counseled the powerful and made music essential to
worship. See Aquinas whose vision inspired the grandest systematic theology known to us, a work he called garbage after a
mystical experience. See Francis the happy saint, embracing all the earth in the joy of poverty and surrender. See Meister
Eckhart, the man from whom God hid nothing, our greatest mystic, who told us, "The eye with which I see God is the same
eye with which God sees me." He died under a cloud of a papal charge of heresy though he is beloved now.
See Dame Julian who from her tiny solitary cell in Norwich taught centuries of the devoted the centrality of love and
the confidence that all things are well. See Thomas Cranmer whose first Book of Common Prayer so eloquently put the prayers
and scriptures of the church into the hands of every person. See William Laud who maintained the continuity of England's
church with the ancient Catholic traditions in a time of radical reformation and change. Both Cranmer and Laud died at the
stake, united as Anglicans, one for our Protestant heritage the other for our Catholic traditions.
See William White, the "first citizen" of Philadelphia, whose service to both the Continental Congress and the
first General Convention of our church helped create living Constitutions for a new nation and a new church. See Absalom
Jones our first black priest, whose prophetic call to freedom and equality still seeks its whole fulfillment. See William
Reed Huntington whose leadership forged the first foundations for reunion among churches who had been dividing from each other
for almost a millennium. See Evelyn Underhill whose writing and retreats inspired a tired church to reclaim its depths of
worship and prayer, and C.S. Lewis who communicated a scholar's discipline in words accessible to everyday persons and children.
See Robert R. Brown who called the Diocese of Arkansas to hourly prayer to bring order out of chaos and peace out of violence
during the early days of racial integration. See Thomas Keating who recovered an ancient contemplative tradition for modern
use. See Katharine Jeffort-Schori, a scientist-bishop who invites our church to a new inclusiveness in a time of cultural
upheaval.
See Caroline Harris who grew up as the daughter of the Rector of this parish and returned to beautify its altar and articulate
its history. See Tom and John Lewis who guided this parish and this town with gracious stewardship and servant leadership.
See Bettie Thomas who made covered dishes and flowers sacraments of care to those who were in crisis, illness or need.
And what more should I say? For time fails me to tell of all of those whose spirit and energy flows down through the
centuries into our lives, bequeathing to us a heritage of faith too rich to measure.
Each of us has in our lives some particular persons who passed along this heritage to us and brought each of us into this
living river of faith. They took you by the hand and guided you into the way of meaning and life. I particularly remember
Lawrence, my grandfather, who let me experience such unqualified love that I could imagine a God who loves without bounds.
And Jim, the priest who nurtured a sense of call to the vocation that has been so fulfilling to me.
Each of these heroes that I have chronicled today were mere mortals, just like you and me. Often their flaws were painfully
public and many suffered disgrace. Most of them lived in the midst of controversy and conflict, when households divided and
union was elusive. My grandfather Lawrence didn't imagine the possibility of his death until it was imminent, and then he
didn't have enough time to receive it with grace. My mentor Jim fled to a safe diocese when women were ordained and left
to become a Catholic priest before gay unions might be condoned. Next week I'll communicate my joy to him as he and his wife
Ann celebrate their 50th anniversary, and I'll give thanks for his fruitful ministry even as I mourn his leaving our communion.
I can feel his hand in my hand, passing along the heritage he so treasures and has served with great faith.
We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. As you reach your hand out to your past, let the power of their testimony
come into your being. Grasp the heritage that is yours and be filled with timeless grace. Recognize the challenges that
our ancestors faced and the divisions they endured. Remember that we too will face our own fires and western clouds and blowing
south winds and scorching heat as our gospel predicts. Our time is no exception, and our households will divide also, three
against two and two against three. Hold on to the past, and the inspiration that has brought life to you.
But reach out to the future as well. There are hands beckoning to us from the future even now. If this noble heritage
is to carry on, we will have to reach out our right hand to give these gifts to others even has we hold on to the gifts we
have been from the past. The future of the Spirit flows through us. It is not ours to keep, but ours to give away even as
it was given to us.
We stand in a great continuum. Feel the empowering closeness of the great cloud of witnesses. One day we too will be
part of that great cloud. We will be giving our blessing and endowment of strength to the church of the future. So, "let
us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."
The hand of Jesus reaches out to us from the past, through Peter and Paul and all of the others, to grasp us by the hand
and connect us with the living spirit of our faith. And our hands reach out into the future to pass along this heritage and
grace. A future that extends all the way until the end of time, where Jesus, seated at the right hand of the throne of God,
holds in timeless embrace the final hand. A circle, unbroken, eternal and forever.
|
