Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Hebrews 11, 12:1-2
12:1 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, 2 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.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last walked through the cemetery. I’ve wandered the headstones several times since I’ve been here, sometimes alone, sometimes with one of the boys or Hannah, sometimes early in the morning and other times in the middle of the afternoon or early in the evening.
Each time, I’m struck to a point of reverence. The lives that were lived, sometimes long and full, sometimes all too brief, call me into a reflection on what I would want to leave as a legacy.
Last Sunday was the day after all saint’s day. I neglected to mention it then, but I think it worked out well, since tomorrow we will be observing Veteran’s Day. How can we speak of the two together?
You need to know up front that I am not in favor of the pulpit being used to promote what has come to be known as “American Civil Religion”, that is, the pulpit and the church become an extension of and an echo to what is said or decreed in Washington, just up the road a ways. That is not what we as Christians, or as Baptists, for that matter, are called to do. Much the opposite, in fact, is the case. We are to stand for “Christ, savior of the world”, and work towards that. In fact, work towards Christ, Savior of (your name here), Jerusalem Baptist Church, Warsaw, and Richmond County as our immediate response to “Christ, Savior of the world”. That is what our role is: to “think globally, act locally.” More often than not, that will mean standing in opposition. Generally to what the world would have us believe, but occasionally, in opposition to what we would see coming out of our Government. There is, in truth, a correlation to us in our government’s approach.
What we will most often find coming out of our nation’s capital is ‘Washington, the savior of the United States’. I don’t mean that as a criticism, that is what the role of the Government is: to guard, promote, and sustain the United States of America. The guiding principle is and should be ‘Our National Interest’. It is safe to say that there are a multiplicity of opinions in the room right now as to what those interests are, or should be, or should go back to being. That is what living in a democracy is all about.
While we may live in a nation that has been heavily influenced, to put it mildly, by the Judeo-Christian tradition, it would be just as accurate to say that it has also been influenced by forces of materialism, hedonism, and, to use a biblical term: idolatry. I would not say that we live in a Christian Nation. Christianity is a personal, intimate, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, it is not an attribute acquired simply by virtue of having been born here. You can say you’re a citizen of the United States, you can say you’re a Virginian, you can say you’re a ‘from-here’, ‘come-here’, or in my case, ‘called-here’, but neither you nor I are Christian by birth.
What we dedicated ourselves to last Sunday was to nurture Mary Alyce and Mac Bronner in such a way that they will someday come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we didn’t ‘make them’ Christians. That will be something they will be working out, in the words of Paul, ‘with fear and trembling’ on their own one day. In a very meaningful way, we committed ourselves to making an impact on their lives for Christ.
Any time we reflect on those who’ve had an impact on us, we inevitably begin to speak of the generations that came before. In the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the writer is doing just that.
The Book of Hebrews was written in a time of great uncertainty for the church. The Christians of that day had lived through a time of terrible persecution. But with the reign of a more tolerant emperor, they enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity.
However a new emperor had come to power, an emperor who was hostile to the faith. Some of the members of the church were questioning their faith in God. They weren’t certain that they could hold on. So the writer of Hebrews wrote a sermon to help these fearful Christians maintain their strength as they faced a difficult and uncertain future.
This writer could have taken the direct approach, chastising the community for their unfaithfulness and browbeating them into spiritual shape. Instead, he reminded them of their history. He called the people to faith by reminding them of the stories of the fathers (and mothers) of faith, the ancestors that had kept faith in God alive throughout the ages. He told them the stories of Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and Joseph, and Moses, and Rahab, and many “little people,” whose names were unknown but whose perseverance ranked them among the great forbears of faith.
What we find ourselves doing when we review chapter 11 is that we begin to remember those who dedicated themselves to OUR formation.
Emma Key, my maternal grandmother, who made such an incredible impact on our lives by traveling to Chile to visit with us on the field, to try to understand what it meant for us to call Chile ‘home’.
Roscoe and Nell Park, my paternal grandparents, who exemplified for me what it meant to be a ‘rope holder’. In mountain climbing, or maybe it’s rappelling, (hunter?) there are rope-holders and risk-takers, and while my parents made the commitment and took the risk of traveling 8,000 miles from home, my grandparents made the commitment and became the rope-holders, securing and anchoring us all through times of uncertainty and sometimes danger.
Uncle Bill Carter, who took pride in keeping the seminary running smoothly, even with 40-odd MKs running amuck for two weeks during Mission Meetings.
Aunt Mary Jo Geiger, who exemplified the gentle spiritedness that gets so much more done with honey than with vinegar.
Gordon Turner, Leslie’s grandfather, ‘Grandy’. He never failed to have a sound word of advice, or a clever joke, or a story to tell. To this day, over 4 years after his death, there are still days when Leslie and I will look at each other and say ‘I wish Grandy were here’.
I draw up these memories of loved ones who’ve gone before with a similar sense of reverence as that with which I approached the names on the stones a few dozen yards northwest of here. Though I did not know them, I know they hold the same place in many people’s hearts today, as do the people whose names I just read through.
How are we to take this litany of faith? How do we respond to the richness of our heritage? Do we pass them by? Do we simply shrug and think, “those were other, simpler times, different situations, it wouldn’t apply here?” I think not.
“Don’t you remember?” the writer of Hebrews is asking? “Don’t you remember how God has worked in the past, how God has been faithful throughout the ages?” Don’t you remember when God changed YOUR life?
What does this mean for Jerusalem?
Chapter 11 is all past tense. It is a recounting of history:
4 By faith Abel offered
5 By faith Enoch was taken
7 By faith Noah … respected the warning and built an ark
8 By faith Abraham obeyed
20 By faith Isaac invoked
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention
24 By faith Moses … refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter
31 By faith Rahab … did not perish
Then the tense changes:
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
When Leslie and I got married, we had an announced elopement. We called people up and asked them what they were doing on the 18th of July, and if they’d like to come to our wedding. The service was informal, immediately after the Sunday morning worship service. We were supposed to limit it to immediate family and a few close friends. Leslie had … maybe 10 people there. Altogether, there were 47 people at the ceremony.
We drew on this image – the cloud of witnesses, and asked everyone to gather around us – on all sides. It was, to put it mildly, a moving experience.
But that is what is happening here. The cloud of witnesses not only precedes us, but surrounds us as well. This cloud is alive and VERY present.
I won’t go on, except to say this: look around you. Who surrounds you? There are people in our lives who deserve our gratitude above all else, who have shown the way, blazed a trail for us to follow. Reverence is defined in the first instance as ‘A Feeling of Deep Respect, Love, and Awe.”
A verse from one of our hymns:
“O Beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life”
Which country do you love more than self? Is it temporal, or eternal?
I approach the cloud with reverence. They have given of themselves, sometimes to the final measure, and they are our heroes.
Let’s pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment