Following the path of Jesus is not always easy, but the example of the saints in the cloud of witnesses surround us and give us encouragement to persevere, to act for justice in Jesus’ name. The texts for this week’s sermon are Hebrews 11:29-12:2 and Luke 12:49-56.
Here’s the video of worship on August 14, 2022 at Living Hope Lutheran Church, and the audio of just the sermon.
It’s good to be back with you for worship this weekend. Some of you know I was at a Teens Encounter Christ retreat last weekend—and I’m happy to tell you more about that later if you want—and completely by coincidence, the theme verse for the weekend was Hebrews 12:1-2a, which is the end of today’s reading:
“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.”
Did any of you have that as your confirmation verse? It can be sort of a default verse for people who are athletic and like to run. But it’s not just about running; it’s about being surrounded by the cloud of witnesses.
As we move through life, we are encouraged on our journey of faith by those who have gone before us. When we celebrate communion, we believe we are joined together around Christ’s table with the whole church, all of Christ’s body, living and dead, across time and space.
It’s a great image, right? And it fits nicely on a t-shirt too! This is from the retreat last week. But I do have to say, at the retreat, we didn’t read the chapter before these verses. We didn’t look at the context. And the context here is rough!
Hebrews 11 is often called the “faith chapter,” sort of a hall of fame of people who have trusted in God. Some of the examples are great, like Noah trusting God to build an ark, and Abraham setting out in faith, not knowing where God was leading him. That was in last week’s reading.
This week’s section starts off ok, with the Israelites passing through the Red Sea by faith, the walls of Jericho falling, and Rahab taking in the spies, trusting in God to save her. But then it gets rough.
Verse 36: “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.”
Who wants to join that cloud of witnesses‽ And yet these are some of the stories lifted up. These are saints the writer of Hebrews thinks we need to know about.
We’re not always good at remembering those who have come before us. Some traditions, especially Catholics and Orthodox Christians, focus a lot on saints, but we Lutherans tend to sort of downplay them.
I know we have theological concerns about mixing up who we’re worshiping, and I think honoring saints can slip into superstition, like if you bury an statue of Saint Joseph in the lawn hoping it’ll somehow help you sell your house faster, or you try to avoid car accidents by wearing a medal of Saint Christopher, who, by the way, may or may not have existed historically in the first place.
But there is something powerful about remembering our history, knowing the stories of those who have come before us. We benefit from knowing where we came from; from hearing the stories about how followers of Jesus in the past have wrestled with the same kinds of faith questions we struggle with today.
Some of our particular challenges are new. No other generation had to worry about the impact of social media on political divisions and the definition of truth, although Martin Luther did embrace new forms of media like the printing press to get the Gospel message out, and his work helped lead to several wars.
There’s a Dutch saint named Lidwina who’s remembered for living with a chronic illness for almost 40 years in the 14th century, sustained by her faith.
Only in the last 80 years or so have we had to worry about having the power to blow ourselves off the face of the earth or melt the polar ice caps, but Hebrews talks about Noah having the faith to start pretty much everything over after the flood.
Many of us worry about family members who have left the church. St. Monica spent 17 years faithfully and fervently praying for her pagan son before he converted and became one of the greatest teachers of faith in history, St. Augustine.
In his message last week, Pastor Jerry talked about how as Christians, we believe “the things of God can make this world different…and yet, the destruction, according to the news reports, goes on and on” as we see floods, fires, wars, covid, and now monkeypox.
In the midst of one thing after another going wrong in the world, the cloud of witnesses is there to remind us we are not the first to go through challenging times.
We are not the first to experience a pandemic. During communion, we’re going to sing a hymn called “Now Thank We All Our God” written by Martin Rikart, a Lutheran Pastor in Germany who served in Eilenburg, Saxony during the Thirty Years War.
In 1637, the bubonic plague killed thousands of people, including every other pastor in the city. That year, Pastor Rikart performed over 4,000 funerals, including his wife’s, as many as 50 funerals a day. It’s hard to imagine going through anything close to that and having the faith to continue singing a song of thanks and praise.
The cloud of witnesses testifies to us today that no matter what challenges come, God is still at work. God is still faithful.
We need that testimony because following the path of Jesus is not always easy. Jesus himself says he has come to bring fire to the earth, not peace, but division. This is a hard teaching, but it’s true, right?
There is a peace that comes from Jesus, but it’s not complacency, just putting up with a broken world. Comfort is not the same as peace. The peace that comes from Jesus is a confident hope in the midst of trials.
We tend to think of Jesus’ message as being to love one another, to be nice to each other, and that doesn’t sound very divisive, right?
I mean, who doesn’t like healing and feeding people? Who doesn’t like love and forgiveness?
Well, it turns out doing good and following Jesus is surprisingly controversial.
Peace is great, unless you’re the one who’s been attacked. Feeding my neighbors is wonderful, as long as there’s enough for me first.
Or what if giving someone food makes them lazy and dependent on my charity?
Being forgiven and forgiving others is fine, but surely not our enemies. What if we forgive and they don’t change What if we seek peace, but they keep attacking?
Living out God’s love is disruptive, because it means seeing all people as beloved children of God. It includes declaring that even those people’s lives have meaning and value and purpose, even those who are immigrants, even those who are unhoused, even those who are transgender, even those who are Muslim, or the 1%, or sex offenders, or athletes; children or gun owners, Democrats, queer folx, indigenous people, teachers, Russians, environmentalists, Bears fans. We declare God’s love is for them too, just as much as it is for us, whoever “them” is.
Proclaiming love has consequences, especially loving the wrong people. Because loving your neighbors means standing up for them. Dedicating your life to loving and caring for God’s people means using your gifts, your resources, your time and money for causes others might not approve of, even family members, as Jesus talks about.
Jesus calls us to care and to act when there is injustice. That’s a divisive call.
Jesus disrupts our peaceful, contented lives. Jesus opens our eyes, widens our perspective, expands our horizons to care for each other and for those who seem unlike us.
Following Jesus is hard! But the comfort of today’s Scripture is that we’re not in this alone. So many of the saints we remember caused holy disruption, upset the status quo, left behind comfortable lives to engage in God’s work of justice.
Think of modern saints, martyrs like Martin Luther King Jr. and Oscar Romero, assassinated for their work. When you find this calling—this work—challenging, you’re in good company. But the perseverance of the cloud of witnesses is testimony that God has been and continues to be at work.
Hebrews calls us to run with perseverance the race set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. I hear that verse a little differently when it’s paired with Jesus saying, “I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”
When the walk of faith gets hard, look to Jesus, who calls us to nothing he has not himself gone through and overcome. Look to the cloud of witnesses, the church triumphant, the body of Christ testifying to the Holy Spirit’s actions throughout history, the body of which we are a part.
I certainly pray none of us will be cut up, tortured, crucified, or any of that, but I also pray that faith will move us into bold action, into bold testimony to the reality of God’s love, to the promise that the things of God have the power to make this world different, better, more just and loving.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, you are present with us, and you are at work in our lives. Give us peace in the midst of life’s challenges, and when we become complacent, stir us into action. Give us courage to dare to follow your call of radical love and obedience, and to persevere when the journey of faith gets tough. Thank you for the examples of all who have gone before us, the great cloud of witnesses to your faithfulness. In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen