Back to the Basics - This We Believe!
I Believe in the Communion of Saints.
November 2, 2008
Hebrews 11:32-12:2
Last spring, I was invited to a very special game. At Brahan Springs Park in Huntsville, there is a very special field called The Field of Dreams. This field was built by the Kiwanis Club for special needs children and adults to play baseball. And I was invited to cheer on three special needs adults from my congregation.
As you can imagine, the game was unlike any other I have ever seen. The players had a variety of different challenges: some were in wheelchairs, others wore braces, some were mentally challenged and others physically. They were old and young. Some were obviously challenged and others not so. But they all came to play and to play with passion.
Of course, many of them needed help. The pitcher in this game was pitching so they could hit the ball hard and far. Some had aides who pushed their wheelchairs around the field. Others had to be carried. Some ran or limped on their own. But all were doing their best to succeed.
Behind home plate sat the crowd. Unlike most ballgames, I attended. The crowd wasn't divided by which team we were supporting. Instead we all sat together. And each time someone came to bat, we'd ask, "Is that your son? Your daughter?" Then we'd cheer. If they missed the ball, we'd encourage them to hit it next time. If they hit it, we'd cheer them on to the next base. It didn't matter how well they performed or what team they were on, the entire grandstand cheered and encouraged each and every one of them. And the most beautiful thing of all was seeing the players' faces as they heard the cheers of encouragement and as they accomplished what seemed to them to be the impossible.
I couldn't help but think of that day as I read this week's scripture. Listen to the words of the author of Hebrews:
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets- 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 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- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
12 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, 2looking 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.
(Hebrews 11:32-12:2)
To say we believe in the Communion of Saints is to recognize that when it comes to running the race of faith, we need the support and encouragement of others. Like the players I watched that afternoon, we need others -lots of others-to help us run with perseverance the race before us. We need people to bring the gospel to us. We need someone to patiently teach us how to apply the teachings. We need people to pick us up when we fall and then pat us on the back and tell us to keep on running. Sometimes we even need folks to carry us. We can't, and don't have to, do this sometimes very difficult thing called life alone. Not only is God with us, but God sends people to journey with us, to support us and encourage us.
Furthermore, to say we believe in the communion of saints is also to say that as we gather here today, we are being watched! As Hebrews reminds us, as we gather here today we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses: those who have come before us who witnessed to their faith with their lives (and some with their deaths) are now witnessing the way we live our faith out today!
Imagine who might be in the crowd watching us now. Peter, Paul and all the disciples-men who knew what it was like to have doubts, but who willingly gave their lives for the gospel. St. Francis, who took the words of Jesus not only seriously but literally, so he sold all he had and went to live among the poor. John Wesley, who spent his life pushing himself out of what he was comfortable with in order to bring the gospel to those who were being ignored by the institutional church. John Wesley, who, despite being one of the most successful authors of his day, died with only 10 British pounds to his name because he gave it all away.
Time would fail me to list all those in the stands who watch us now! Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonheoffer, Mother Teresa, Isaac Watts, Fannie Crosby . . .
Actually, it is a bit daunting. It is somewhat like playing amateur softball with Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson watching!
Yet, did you notice what our Scripture said: 39Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Eugene Petterson gets to the heart of this statement in the Message where he translates it this way: God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
Without us, their faith is not complete! They need us as much as we need them. So they aren't watching us to critique. They are watching to cheer us on. And unlike college football fans in Alabama, they aren't fair-weather fans, cheering us on when we win and booing or ignoring us when we lose. Win, lose, tie, they are always on our side!
What's more, these giants of the faith are not alone in the stands. This great crowd of witnesses includes not only the great capital "S" saints but it also includes all those" ordinary" Christians who have gone before us. Some whose names are well known but most of whom will never be mentioned in a history of the church. Ordinary Christians who did things as simple as telling someone a Bible story, praying for others while sick, singing a hymn with others, giving a cold cup of water to someone who was thirsty or a meal to someone who was hungry or hugging someone when he was down. Your 1st grade teacher who patiently taught you to read. Your third grade Sunday School teacher who shared his love for Jesus with you. Your grandparents who loved you unconditionally and prayed for you constantly. The next door neighbor who took you to church when your family wasn't interested. That unknown saint who prayed for you when you most needed it and never knew it.
To say we believe in the communion of saint is to say that all of them-great and small-surround us now, urging us on, grieving when we fall, and celebrating when we succeed!
That is why I love this often neglected holy day! I need to know that others are pulling for me. That in my weakness, others are strong. And that there have been others who came before me who were just as average, just as frightened, just as faithful, and just as full of doubt, who ran the race well-not because of their abilities but because of the power of the God they loved!
I don't know if this ever really happened or not, but (at least according to the old movies I used to watch) back in the late 18th and early 19th century, when a girl wanted to get a guy's attention, she would drop her handkerchief. She did this so that he would have to look at her and notice her when he picked it up and handed it back to her.
The author and preacher, Frederick Buechner, in his definition of saints summed up the idea of the communion of saints this way: In [God's] holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a pocket handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints."
And saints like handkerchiefs are not all alike. Some are fancy and expensive. Some are old and tattered by use. Some are beautiful and some fairly ordinary. But all of them are God's way of trying to get the world's attention so he can share his love.
Today, I am wearing several items that remind me of some handkerchiefs God has tossed my way. The robe I'm wearing belonged to John Rutland, Sr, known as Preacher to many. When Birmingham was being torn apart by racial strife, Preacher was Bull Connor's pastor. When Bull was siccing dogs on African-Americans, Preacher was preaching about the need to end segregation. They burnt crosses were burned in his yard, but he didn't quit speaking the truth of God. And while I really didn't know him, this robe was given to me by his son, who was my pastor, my mentor and now is my friend. I am proud to have both Johns in the grandstand cheering me on.
The stole I'm wearing belonged to my friend, Elise. I met Elise on the night we were both licensed to preach. She didn't know me from Adam's housecat, but within a minute or two of meeting me she told me (and you'd have to have known Elise to appreciate it when I say she "told" me) that I needed to go to Vanderbilt. A few weeks later they found the cancer that eventually took her life. She died in 2005 and I was appointed to her position at Trinity. Elise not only cheers for me, but she gives me much needed lectures from time to time.
Today, I am also wearing a very special ring. This ring belonged to my Nanny. My parents divorced when I was five and we lived a two days drive from my father. So Nanny was my second parent. She loved me unconditionally. She prayed for me. She gave me bibles and clothes and tapioca pudding when I was sick or depressed. And I know that both Nanny and Pop are watching as we speak!
Who are the saints in your life?
As you came in, you were given a paper lace handkerchief. Think about those handkerchiefs God has tossed along your way. What are their names? Write them on your handkerchief.
Then take it home and place it where you pray and study the Bible. Each day, when you go to God to pray, you can thank him for the saints he has placed in your life and ask him for the grace to be a handkerchief in someone else's life drawing their attention to the God who wants to be in relationship with them.
You see, to believe in the communion of saints isn't simply to believe that every once in a while an unusual person lives the faith in an astounding way, but it is to believe that all of us who are called by Christ are the saints-those set aside by Christ to tell the world about his love! Peter, Paul, Francis, Wesley, and Mother Teresa were all saints, but so are you and I. And luckily as we strive to live a saintly life we have a great crowd of witnesses cheering us on!
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