Surrounded By
a Great Cloud of Witnesses
Pentecost + 9 – August 11, 2019
The Meaning of Faith
Friday morning at Churchwide Assembly
· Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses – doesn’t
always feel that way here at CTV, numerically (y'all are pretty great people
though ☺️)
· Worship kicking off the year-long celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the ordination of women in the predecessor churches of the ELCA
(LCA - Elizabeth Platz, Nov. 1970 and ALC – Barbara Andrews, Dec. 1970 – before
I was born)
o And 40th anniversary of ordination of 1st
African American woman
o 10th anniversary of the policy changes that
allow openly LGBTQIA+ people to be in rostered ministry of this church
· Women pastors invited to vest and process into worship
o The tremendous joy & gratitude as we gathered, the
smiles, the hugs, the selfies; the music that went on and on and on as this
incredible line of women just kept coming in from the hallway into the ballroom
– so many of us that I walked up to the front and then processed back down to
the back b/c they did not plan/save enough seats for all of us who were there
o It was overwhelming and amazing and truly a witness
· Address by Bp. April Larson, 1st woman
bishop in the ELCA during plenary that morning, which moved me to tears, and
Elizabeth Platz that evening at the banquet
o Giving witness to the challenges and struggles, the
race they and so many other women had run with perseverance, so that I and so
many of my colleagues had an easier path to follow
Hebrews lists similar list of forerunners in the
faith for his audience
· People who faced challenges and obstacles and an
uncertain future and yet lived a life of faith in following God
· Abel with his “more acceptable” sacrifice
· Enoch, who pleased God and walked with God and then
was no more, because “God took him”
· Abraham, who by faith obeyed when God called him to
go, not knowing where he was going, and who trusted that God would fulfill the
promise of many descendants, even though Abraham was “as good as dead”
· If we read through the rest of chapter 11, we’d read
of Isaac and Jacob and Joseph;
o Moses and the people of the Exodus, the faith that
brought down the walls of Jericho with a mighty shout
o And “time would fail me”, the author writes, to tell
of countless others who lived out their faith in bold and brave ways in the
world
· And yet did not receive the complete fulfillment of
the promises of God, still hoping, still longing to see how God would bring
these promises to pass in fullness
Reminded me of the promises so many of the cloud
of witnesses I was with this past week are longing to see realized
· Because though we have come a long way as a church,
there is still so much work left to do to see God’s promise and plan of a
people united in Christ brought to fruition
o Women still suffer the devastating effects of sexism –
in their work, in their homes, in society, gender-based violence
o People of color in this country are weighed down by
the reality of racism - $$, educationally, justice system – violence
o LGBTQIA+ folks here and around the world suffer stigma
and rejection and in some places, violence/imprisonment/death
o Migrants and refugees are turned away; children are
separated from their families – and we can debate all day long about legal
status – but they are still beloved children of God who deserve to be treated
with dignity; and children do not deserve to live in fear that they will come
home and find their parents disappeared with no promise that they will be
reunited
· And the struggles of these and other groups are still
present within our church, as I was reminded this week
o Unintentionally, we as white, heterosexual,
cis-gendered people in this church pass over and marginalize and silence and
wound our siblings in Christ – because we are ignorant to cultural differences
– and this comes through in art and music and language and conversation and in
so many other ways
o And I heard the hurt and pain, the wounds we as an
institution/organization/denomination do not mean to cause – in fact, we adopted
policies and strategies to work (again/still) toward greater inclusion and
diversity; we made an official declaration of apology to our siblings of
African descent – and then we trip and stumble and knock those same siblings
down
o They are longing for the promise that we are all
created in God’s image, beloved of God, equal with one another in Christ Jesus
to come to pass, looking with faith, the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things as yet unseen!
o And when they call us on it, we are taken aback,
embarrassed, defensive
§ Gatorade commercial – find someone committed to taking
you down, b/c that rival is going to make you raise your game even higher
§ And it feels sometimes like they are trying to take us
down – but in truth, they will help us to grow more fully into what it means to
be a faithful follower of God, committed to God’s vision for the whole world
that welcomes all to God’s table, regardless of gender or race or ethnic
background or sexuality
· They call us to keep running the race with
perseverance, to lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely
· Because Jesus, who is
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith goes before us and behind us and
beside us
· And he calls us to greater things: to see the beauty
and humanity of one another; to respect and value and honor our differences; and
to learn more deeply how to live and work with and love one another
o And he calls us to see each other as part of the great
cloud of witnesses – lifting us up, cheering us on, encouraging and supporting
us, as that enormous procession of women inspired me on Friday
o But also, those who call us out and challenge us to
live up to and into this faith that the Holy Spirit has given us
§ To become one body in Christ, one family of God,
united in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for us all
§ And with hope in the promises of God that we are still
waiting and working to see fulfilled
§ And confidence and faith in the future God is calling
us into, even when we aren’t quite sure of where it will lead
§ And leaning on each other all along the way
· I give thanks for the great crowd of witnesses that
surrounds us, those we can see, and those who are not longer with us…
o May we boldly run with them, together, into God’s
future for us all.
· Amen.
