Fletcher Presbyterian Church
A Congregation in Mission
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By George!
A Cloud of Witnesses Hebrews 11:
39 -12:12
A Sermon for the Post-Pentecost
Season
Fletcher Church / June 25, 2006
by George Gunn
“Surrounded by so great A CLOUD OF
WITNESSES ”
Under this banner the 217th General
Assembly of our Presbyterian Church,
U.S.A.,met last week in Birmingham.
Those words could also describe the
Carolina Hurricane Ice Hockey team as
it won over the Edmonton Oilers in
39 -12:12
A Sermon for the Post-Pentecost
Season
Fletcher Church / June 25, 2006
by George Gunn
“Surrounded by so great A CLOUD OF
WITNESSES ”
Under this banner the 217th General
Assembly of our Presbyterian Church,
U.S.A.,met last week in Birmingham.
Those words could also describe the
Carolina Hurricane Ice Hockey team as
it won over the Edmonton Oilers in
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Game 7, at the same time in Raleigh. The fans stood and cheered for the entire
match, a testimony to fan loyalty and to the home rink advantage. It was an
advantage the ‘Canes pressed to full advantage, as they brought home their first
Stanley Cup, the symbol of international supremacy on the ice.
A few years earlier I had shared such a moment with my son Herb in Detroit as the
home team there won the storied Stanley Cup. Herb Emailed me on Tuesday, “I didn’t
think Carolina knew anything about ice except in tea.”
The writer of the New Testament letter we know as Hebrews was one very much “at
home” in the Jewish tradition. He was writing to Hebrew Christians. He recalls that
tradition, bound by the Law and the Prophets, (we call it the Old Testament), and
calls believers in that first century of the Christian era to remember who they are and
to remember that it is a heritage shared with a great cloud of witnesses: men and
women who have demonstrated their
faithfulness, down through their history as God’s chosen.
Now the writer calls these Christians to persevere, “to run with patience the race in
which they are entered,” a race in which they will be tested and judged faithful, if they
keep their eyes on the One who goes before them in life and in death, even the risen
Christ, the pioneer of their faith.
Like these First Century Christians, we who are twenty-first Century believers share
an even greater tradition of faithful discipleship. Ours too is a struggle and a
challenge to step up our game and to learn what God has in mind for those who have
joined Jesus in the pursuit of a heavenly kingdom, while living in a time of earthly
turmoil and travail.
The Church, the Body of Christ, finds itself today in a crisis which more than one
journalist refers to as “of biblical proportions.” Without stopping to exegete that
phrase, we can rightly judge our status quo as critical and life threatening, if not
terminal. The peace, unity, and purity of the institutional church remain the focus of
our energy and of our prayers in this Year of our Lord 2006. We yearn to recover for
the whole church the sense of mission and empowerment most of us are experiencing
on a smaller scale in our life as individuals and as congregations. We long to move
beyond controversy to a visible demonstration of the gospel - the good news of God’s
love for the world, found in Jesus Christ.
We are being challenged to recover a “Reformed” heritage which has it’s roots in our
history, with Sixteenth Century Christians. The essence of the call for a new
Reformation lies, however, in “re-formation,” in our coming together, under the
leading of the Holy Spirit, to be reformed into a faithful body of believers. This is the
Pentecostal gift which belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ, in congregations, in
presbyteries, in all denominations, and in ecumenical mission.
Reformation has always called for change. The New Testament Church found itself
wrestling with Hebrew traditions and Hebrew Christians were forced to deal with
Gentile Christians. Peter and Paul had their differences. Old traditions, old
leadership, old forms and practices, old ways were challenged by the disciples of One
whose ways , whose truth, and whose life offered a radical new creation, a veritable
re-creation, a re-formation of humanity and of the created order.
II
Here in the Twenty-first Century we too are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
We are, in fact, told that all the faithful who have gone before us do not see God’s
promises realized apart from those in the present generation of the faithful. The great
cloud of witnesses includes us! We are both joined to those who cheer from the
grandstand of history, and we are also those who are called now to join the race and
to run with perseverance.
We keep company with those who turned the world upside down in the first century
and the sixteenth and who found themselves and the community of faith reformed in
new and creative ways. They and we do not abandon the faith, but are renewed by
the recovery of the springs, by the witness of the Holy Spirit in scripture; by renewal
of worship and spiritual formation; and in the reformation of the institutions and
practices which serve the ministries of God’s people.
When we truly acknowledge who we are and who God is, we see ourselves as less
than perfect and prone to sin and error. We see God as the only source of the
changes that need to be made in our own lives; in the church God calls to be a
faithful witness; and in the world God loves. For this reason we affirm that while we
are “reformed,” we must never cease “being reformed.” God is never finished with us.
God is the agent of our continuing reformation.
Joan Gray, our new General Assembly Moderator, when asked if she had a plan for
healing the divisions which plague our Presbyterian Church, conceded that she did
not have a plan, “but I have a deep desire to let God lead the way. That’s how I lead,”
she continued, “by being led, and I have great confidence in the people of God when
they put on their ‘listening ears.’ We can’t go wrong if we listen -to God and to each
other.” The Moderator voiced her passionate faith “in the God who through us is able
to do more than we could ever imagine.”
The Acts of the Apostles and the New Testament letters of both Peter and Paul
reveal the depth of the divisions of those early Christians, seeking to be faithful in the
midst of a perverse generation and a culture both diverse and demonic. The call of
their leaders finds voice in words such as this: “Set the believers an example” and
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds,
so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and
perfect.”
We sing in one of our hymns, “new occasions teach new duties,” as we hear anew the
call to live into the demands which change brings and to embrace our differences
within the diverse community of believers.
We are as a church more, much more, than an association of the like-minded. The
Apostle Paul had his own list: “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or
female, slave nor free,” and to this list we might add our own: neither
north or south, rich or poor, black or white, young or old, conservative or liberal, gay
or straight, ordained or not ordained, lay or clergy, high church or low church, all are
one in Christ. Any distinction, which seeks to exclude some
from God’s grace, is to impose a false measure of worth and to close our minds and
hearts to the gifts we offer to each other.
We need help from those who share the journey if we are to be open to the future
God has for us, as individuals and as a church. We have invested a lot of years in
being the church together. What have we to show for it, if not a
community of forgiveness, a community of hope? We have not closed ourselves to
each other and to the Holy Spirit’s leading. We have found our life in mission and in
giving ourselves away. We have shown ourselves to be open to change and to
growing as a family of faith.
I have recently had an epiphany - an appearance, a revelation out of the blue, so to
speak. It is the recognition that we have, by God’s grace, achieved a level of trust
which frees us to be open to one another, open to where God will lead
us, and open to the maturity of mind and heart to which every ”reformed” believer is
called.
III
To witness to the world is the call of the Great Commission, but that witness begins in
Jerusalem and in Samaria, in home towns and among insiders and outsiders alike. If
we are joined to a great cloud of witnesses that certainly
includes those in our family of faith. Our gifts and our prayers bear witness to the
ends of the earth, but what is the witness we bear to those to whom we pass the
peace on a Sunday morning, or a hug in times of crisis, or those who
share the discussion of a tough question or the meaning of a particular verse of
scripture? How does the work of the Holy Spirit take our words and actions and bring
life and hope to another believer?
Jesus said, “Where two or more of you are gathered in my name, there I am in the
midst of you.” That promise implies community, that we need each other in the
running of this race. It recognizes that it is in Christ that we find our unity.
And it is a promise that God is in the midst of us to bless both the gifts we give and
the gifts we receive.
Glory be to God!
match, a testimony to fan loyalty and to the home rink advantage. It was an
advantage the ‘Canes pressed to full advantage, as they brought home their first
Stanley Cup, the symbol of international supremacy on the ice.
A few years earlier I had shared such a moment with my son Herb in Detroit as the
home team there won the storied Stanley Cup. Herb Emailed me on Tuesday, “I didn’t
think Carolina knew anything about ice except in tea.”
The writer of the New Testament letter we know as Hebrews was one very much “at
home” in the Jewish tradition. He was writing to Hebrew Christians. He recalls that
tradition, bound by the Law and the Prophets, (we call it the Old Testament), and
calls believers in that first century of the Christian era to remember who they are and
to remember that it is a heritage shared with a great cloud of witnesses: men and
women who have demonstrated their
faithfulness, down through their history as God’s chosen.
Now the writer calls these Christians to persevere, “to run with patience the race in
which they are entered,” a race in which they will be tested and judged faithful, if they
keep their eyes on the One who goes before them in life and in death, even the risen
Christ, the pioneer of their faith.
Like these First Century Christians, we who are twenty-first Century believers share
an even greater tradition of faithful discipleship. Ours too is a struggle and a
challenge to step up our game and to learn what God has in mind for those who have
joined Jesus in the pursuit of a heavenly kingdom, while living in a time of earthly
turmoil and travail.
The Church, the Body of Christ, finds itself today in a crisis which more than one
journalist refers to as “of biblical proportions.” Without stopping to exegete that
phrase, we can rightly judge our status quo as critical and life threatening, if not
terminal. The peace, unity, and purity of the institutional church remain the focus of
our energy and of our prayers in this Year of our Lord 2006. We yearn to recover for
the whole church the sense of mission and empowerment most of us are experiencing
on a smaller scale in our life as individuals and as congregations. We long to move
beyond controversy to a visible demonstration of the gospel - the good news of God’s
love for the world, found in Jesus Christ.
We are being challenged to recover a “Reformed” heritage which has it’s roots in our
history, with Sixteenth Century Christians. The essence of the call for a new
Reformation lies, however, in “re-formation,” in our coming together, under the
leading of the Holy Spirit, to be reformed into a faithful body of believers. This is the
Pentecostal gift which belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ, in congregations, in
presbyteries, in all denominations, and in ecumenical mission.
Reformation has always called for change. The New Testament Church found itself
wrestling with Hebrew traditions and Hebrew Christians were forced to deal with
Gentile Christians. Peter and Paul had their differences. Old traditions, old
leadership, old forms and practices, old ways were challenged by the disciples of One
whose ways , whose truth, and whose life offered a radical new creation, a veritable
re-creation, a re-formation of humanity and of the created order.
II
Here in the Twenty-first Century we too are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
We are, in fact, told that all the faithful who have gone before us do not see God’s
promises realized apart from those in the present generation of the faithful. The great
cloud of witnesses includes us! We are both joined to those who cheer from the
grandstand of history, and we are also those who are called now to join the race and
to run with perseverance.
We keep company with those who turned the world upside down in the first century
and the sixteenth and who found themselves and the community of faith reformed in
new and creative ways. They and we do not abandon the faith, but are renewed by
the recovery of the springs, by the witness of the Holy Spirit in scripture; by renewal
of worship and spiritual formation; and in the reformation of the institutions and
practices which serve the ministries of God’s people.
When we truly acknowledge who we are and who God is, we see ourselves as less
than perfect and prone to sin and error. We see God as the only source of the
changes that need to be made in our own lives; in the church God calls to be a
faithful witness; and in the world God loves. For this reason we affirm that while we
are “reformed,” we must never cease “being reformed.” God is never finished with us.
God is the agent of our continuing reformation.
Joan Gray, our new General Assembly Moderator, when asked if she had a plan for
healing the divisions which plague our Presbyterian Church, conceded that she did
not have a plan, “but I have a deep desire to let God lead the way. That’s how I lead,”
she continued, “by being led, and I have great confidence in the people of God when
they put on their ‘listening ears.’ We can’t go wrong if we listen -to God and to each
other.” The Moderator voiced her passionate faith “in the God who through us is able
to do more than we could ever imagine.”
The Acts of the Apostles and the New Testament letters of both Peter and Paul
reveal the depth of the divisions of those early Christians, seeking to be faithful in the
midst of a perverse generation and a culture both diverse and demonic. The call of
their leaders finds voice in words such as this: “Set the believers an example” and
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds,
so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and
perfect.”
We sing in one of our hymns, “new occasions teach new duties,” as we hear anew the
call to live into the demands which change brings and to embrace our differences
within the diverse community of believers.
We are as a church more, much more, than an association of the like-minded. The
Apostle Paul had his own list: “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or
female, slave nor free,” and to this list we might add our own: neither
north or south, rich or poor, black or white, young or old, conservative or liberal, gay
or straight, ordained or not ordained, lay or clergy, high church or low church, all are
one in Christ. Any distinction, which seeks to exclude some
from God’s grace, is to impose a false measure of worth and to close our minds and
hearts to the gifts we offer to each other.
We need help from those who share the journey if we are to be open to the future
God has for us, as individuals and as a church. We have invested a lot of years in
being the church together. What have we to show for it, if not a
community of forgiveness, a community of hope? We have not closed ourselves to
each other and to the Holy Spirit’s leading. We have found our life in mission and in
giving ourselves away. We have shown ourselves to be open to change and to
growing as a family of faith.
I have recently had an epiphany - an appearance, a revelation out of the blue, so to
speak. It is the recognition that we have, by God’s grace, achieved a level of trust
which frees us to be open to one another, open to where God will lead
us, and open to the maturity of mind and heart to which every ”reformed” believer is
called.
III
To witness to the world is the call of the Great Commission, but that witness begins in
Jerusalem and in Samaria, in home towns and among insiders and outsiders alike. If
we are joined to a great cloud of witnesses that certainly
includes those in our family of faith. Our gifts and our prayers bear witness to the
ends of the earth, but what is the witness we bear to those to whom we pass the
peace on a Sunday morning, or a hug in times of crisis, or those who
share the discussion of a tough question or the meaning of a particular verse of
scripture? How does the work of the Holy Spirit take our words and actions and bring
life and hope to another believer?
Jesus said, “Where two or more of you are gathered in my name, there I am in the
midst of you.” That promise implies community, that we need each other in the
running of this race. It recognizes that it is in Christ that we find our unity.
And it is a promise that God is in the midst of us to bless both the gifts we give and
the gifts we receive.
Glory be to God!
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