The Cloud of Witnesses

Read: Luke 12:49–56

 

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost - August 18, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin

 

“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” the writer of Hebrews said, after he had listed a number of persons from Old Testament salvation history.

So great a cloud.

We always point out our visual interpretation of that verse, over there in the Proclamation window, with the procession of the innumerable saints from across the ages.

All of them together have had the task of passing down the story of the love of God in Christ Jesus across the generations, and now even to us.

The artist who designed that window purposefully did it in such a way that it is impossible to decide exactly how many persons are pictured there.

It is a cloud of witnesses, even as we cannot identify all those to whom we are indebted for getting the Good News of Jesus to us.

Thanks be to God for the handful of persons we do know, and the myriad of others back across the generations whom we do not know.

 

Even more than in our nave, when we step into the nave of St. Ann Byzantine Church down in Harrisburg with our catechetical students and others, we can recognize our connection with all the saints.

They don't have only a few subjects in windows or banners, or a single icon displayed in front of them as we do.

Rather, the the flat surfaces in the entire nave are all covered with icons, several of them very large indeed.

And the stories and persons they call to mind are not all light and fluffy, but the crisis points in Jesus' life, and the saints who faced multiple hardships but nonetheless persevered in the faith.

 

Where did we get the idea that the Christian life was going to be all fun and games anyway?

It certainly was not from the Gospel lesson today.

Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division!

That is what Jesus says.

Other times we refer to that passage at the beginning of Colossians where Paul says that all things hold together in Jesus; our crazy lives make sense because of their origin in the mind and purpose of God.

That is the long-term picture, and it is the truth, but in the meantime, what we are experiencing is the messiness of division as things are only slowly turned toward God.

It happens on his timetable, in the ways in which he can entice us to look to him rather than attending to the siren calls of so much else around us.

There are the divisions that happen because we have done things wrongly; but Jesus is here talking about the divisions that happen when we are doing things rightly.

As one example: I don't have an accurate statistic, but I know that there are far too many marriages that have been destroyed when one person hears the call to ordained ministry and prepares to enter seminary, and the spouse wants no part of this life and walks away from the marriage.

That is a terrible and painful division.

 

We remember the story of how Martin Luther was supposed to become a lawyer in order to take over the family business interests, and how angry his father became when Martin left the university where he had been doing very well and entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt.

Their relationship was forever strained because of that.

Similar divisions have happened so many times over the years.

 

“Security” is such a big word in our minds, perhaps even more in recent years than ever before.

We make the vain attempt to insulate ourselves from every possible problem, from health care to personal relationships, financial matters,  national affairs, and international strife.

Investments, insurance, physicals, advance directives, cameras, spies, military forces, and all the rest are only partially successful in protecting us from all of the dangers out there.

We'd love to manipulate Jesus into being our ultimate insurance policy against any problems that might crop up.

It won't work, of course.  Jesus doesn't play that kind of game.

I came to bring fire to the earth....Do you think that I have come to bring peace? No, but division!

This is not a cozy warm and fuzzy teddy-bear picture of Jesus.

The Gospel does bring us a kind of security, but not the security that many are seeking.

The gospel brings a security of a sort, one which begins in profound unease and insecurity.

 

A few weeks ago I related to you the story of Clarence Jordan, founder of the Koinonia Community in Georgia, whose brother refused to help him with his legal needs because he wanted to run for political office, and helping Clarence would be unpopular.

Clarence persevered through very difficult times, and the community has done important work in indicating the unity which will be a mark of the completed kingdom of God.

Through all the years of conflict, Clarence observed that Jesus pointed out the stages through which mankind must pass on the way to the kingdom of God.

We begin with unlimited retaliation, getting even with the evil one around us.

Next it moves to limited retaliation, a measured response.

Then it is changed to limited love, concern only about those near and dear.

Finally Jesus transforms it into unlimited love, like the love of the Father for Jesus the Son.

Might we examine each of our thoughts and actions to see where they are on this four-step scale  of responses.

I think we can easily conclude that the Holy Spirit, the love of God in Christ Jesus, still has lots of work to be done in and among us all!

That is both the difficult work and the joy of being a part of the cloud of witnesses.

 

During the time of the Soviet Union, William Willimon once visited Leningrad, and was confused as to his location.

After consulting his map, he asked an interpreter for assistance.

“I see several large churches here in front of me, but I can't locate them on your map.”

“We don't show churches on our map,” the interpreter replied.

“But here is one shown,” Willimon insisted.

“Oh, that is a museum; it is just living churches that we don't show on the maps.”

Even after all of those decades of Communist oppression, they were still so frightened of the power of the Gospel of Jesus that they wouldn't show a living church on their maps.

The faith of the cloud of witnesses perseveres even through all of those years.

 

A campus pastor was so delighted to prepare a graduate student from China for Holy Baptism.

The pastor worked with the student to make sure that he had a good understanding of the Christian faith and of course all of the details of the service itself.

Finally the big day came, and with great excitement the pastor asked for photos to be taken of the pastor and student together, after the service.

The student was reticent about the photography, which was attributed to his shyness.

But one of his friends came quietly to the pastor on the way to the parking lot and said,

“I don't know that you will need to give him those pictures to send to his family back home.

They have assured him that if he is baptized, he could never come back home.

They will definitely disown him.

Furthermore, his scholarship to the university is being underwritten by the Chinese government, and he is fairly sure that once the word of his baptism gets out, he will lose all of his funding to study here.”

I come to bring division, Jesus says, and it is shown to be so true again and again.

The life-implications of Baptism are that great as one becomes a part of the cloud of witnesses.

 

So how is it that we can dare to continue, despite the unknown, despite the divisions?

Because the promise from the Lord Jesus is bigger than the problems, and more enduring than the divisions.

By water and the Holy Spirit we are made members of the the church which is the body of Christ.

This is my body, given for you,  Jesus assures us in his Holy Communion.

Lo I am with you to the close of the age Jesus says after giving the great commission to his disciples.

And so we are sent out to live, knowing that the divisions now are real but temporary, and that the promises are a greater reality and will finally prevail.

O Holy Spirit enter in,

And in our hearts your work begin.

Gently heal those hearts now broken.

You are near us,

Whom we trust to light and cheer us.

We will cherish all your blessing. [LBW459]

 

...as we live as part of the great cloud of witnesses.  Amen.