August 15, 2010

Scripture: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 and Hebrews 11:29-12:2

“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight 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...”

The writer of Hebrews compares the faithful life to running a race. He instructs us to run with perseverance. There are lots of jokes about those who run - how miserable most of us look, how few smiles one sees as runners pass by.

It is not an easy thing to run an endurance race. Sometimes one hasn’t been drinking enough water, or eaten the right food. There are blisters, cramps, twisted ankles. There is the temptation to go out too fast, and in almost every race there is that point where one asks, “What was I thinking?” Often, runners have to talk themselves out of quitting right in the middle of a race, or even close to the end. Knees get weak, arms go flat to the side, heads go down, sometimes even tears are shed. Running a race is not easy. And the writer of Hebrews was acknowledging that being a Christian isn’t always easy, either.

The early Christians were not a popular group. They were ridiculed and persecuted, and from time to time wondered if they could keep going. The letters found in the New Testament acknowledge the difficulty they were having, and much of the writing found serves as an encouragement to those early Christians. Jesus is described as the Pioneer as one blazing a trail, that we are called upon to follow.

He sometimes did things that were counter to the prevailing culture. He taught about forgiveness and compassion, he strove to make others feel welcome and empowered. He said things that were different than what the culture of his day stated - the last shall be first.

One of the hard things about his message was that he wasn’t promising rose gardens. Christians would still experience pain and suffering. They were not guaranteed privilege or status. What they were promised was fulfillment, a deepening spirit, and a relationship with God.

The writer of Hebrews depicts a number of people who have been faithful, who have shown the way for us. People who did always reach their destination, but who showed us how to live life along the way. People who somehow demonstrated love and faith in and through their lives. Spiritual giants. A great cloud of witnesses.
My assumption is that most of us here have known a spiritual giant or two along the way. People who have inspired us to be our best and highest selves, people whose egos somehow didn’t get in the way, those who were able to shed light on a sometimes dark world.

The saints in our lives can be people as close to us as parents or grandparents, but they also can include teachers from a long ago past, world leaders who have demonstrated something other than political expediency, neighbors and close friends. People of faith - those who have run the race with perseverance. Those who inspire us to live lives after their example.

Often when we consider the Book of Psalms, we consider them to be works of praise. We hear those words of glory to God:
“Make a joyful noise, to the land -
I lift my eyes to the hills, from whence does my help come..
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

But some of the Psalms have quite a different flavor. Many are laments. People would join in worship. Sometimes they gathered feeling abandoned, or spent, discouraged, or in despair. There is something cathartic about gathering with others and speaking or even complaining about the painful places of our lives. Misery loves company.

From the time one begins a faith journey, one becomes aware that to live a faithful life is not often easy. There are no guarantees that our faith will bring prosperity or that we will live a pain free or trouble free life. We will not be exempt from suffering. In fact, that is not the point. The faithful life is to be one in which on experiences depth, one accepts grace, one demonstrates compassion, one follows a path that has been set before us. Sometimes we will experience great gratitude, sometimes great pain, but always leaving the door open to experience God’s presence and love.

The writer of Hebrews gives us a great metaphor. He likens the faithful life to the experience of running a race. Running can be a very solitary activity. And yet there is great camaraderie among runners. They are known to be quite a boring group of conversationalists. They will talk ad nauseum about training, proper shoes, their hardest and best races, their split times, their most recent injury. Sometimes they closely resemble laments, and often they are more like the Psalms of great joy and gratitude. And through all of this, runners form communities. And in these communities, they receive inspiration to go out and run yet another day.

The church was formed in large part to be that supportive community. Faithful Christians gather so that each one can run his or her race with faith, so that we can live with compassion for each other, as well as with forgiveness and even with joy. The church and the faithful that have come before us help us. They allow us to experience a restoration, a strengthening, a renewed life.

Martin Copenhaven is a prolific writer, theologian, and Sr. Pastor at the UCC Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He recently wrote an article reflecting on a Bible Study Group he had in his first church. He writes, “the group shaped me by showing me what a Christian life looks like. It is, among other things, showing up week after week, in and out of season, supporting one another in difficult times, letting prayers expand the scope of our concern, having an eye trained to the one in need, practicing forgiveness, keeping an eye on whatever new thing God might be doing.”
It is interesting that whenever I run a long race, and I begin to feel weary, my mind automatically travels to that place where the “cloud of witnesses” dwell. It helps for me to think of my grandmother, and my father, and our good friend Paula who died last year. But I don’t just think of the fond memories. I recognize fully how they lived their lives, following the one who was the pioneer and perfector of the faith, persevering through both calm waters and rough seas. They did their best to show up, to be supportive and prayerful, lending a hand to those in need. They practiced forgiveness and they were always eager to proclaim a blessing from God when they saw one.

Most of us have someone who has shown us the way, who has taught what it means to be faithful, who has persevered even when he or she most certainly would have liked to fold up the tent.

As we age, we might not practice our faith, or run the race, quite so quickly, but we can certainly do it just as effectively.

The church was created so that we would have a community to enter, where we could give thanks and sometimes even lament about the things that weren’t fair, or that had gone wrong. But it is also here so that we can teach one another what it is to be faithful, and then to pass it on.

Certainly, there have been those who have gone before us, who are First Parish Church’s Cloud of Witnesses. If we live with faith, and if we persevere, someday we too will join them.

The church, when it is at it’s best, provides an opportunity for us to give thanks. It allows us to lament within our community, about the things that scare us, or wear us down. It challenges us to stretch beyond how far we think we can go, how far we can run, and it serves a restoration function as well. Restored, we can go out into the world and be faithful, running the race with perseverance.