Call the Roll

Based on Heb. 11:24-12:2
First delivered Aug. 18, 2019
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr


            This weekend is the 50^th anniversary of Woodstock. I wish I could have been there. Born in the wrong generation I guess. Not that I couldn’t have been there if my parents were interested in going. There were babies there. So mom and dad could have carried their not yet one year old son with them to Woodstock. But let’s just say going to Woodstock was not on their agenda. At any rate, it would have been cool to have been there just to say you were there. It was surely an epic moment in human history.

            I do know someone who went to Woodstock. His name is Howard Harris. He was my youth leader for a couple years. Howard was one of the coolest people I knew when I was a kid. He would make these weird sounds that made everyone giggle. He had the amazing ability to tickle people just by pointing at them. I can’t even explain how he did that. He led these Bible studies at his apartment and did an amazing job of explaining the Bible in ways we could understand and asking us questions that led to great discussion. Howard drove the church van out to where me and some other church friends lived to pick us up and bring us to youth group on Sunday nights. When we got in the van he asked each of us to say where we had seen Jesus that week. He introduced us to Jesus music like Larry Norman, Keith Green, Phil Keaggy, 2^nd Chapter of Acts, and Michael Card. He also introduced me to Grand Funk Railroad, but that’s another story. Howard was so authentic and relatable. He was a powerful influence on my life.

            Then there was Dr. David Thomas. He was the senior pastor when I was a youth. He was a kind man, always positive, with a big grin. I don’t really remember his sermons. But I do remember that after a powerful church retreat in which I first made a sincere commitment to be a Christian that he said he saw something in me. He encouraged me to consider a call to ministry. He mentored me toward that calling. I have to say that without Dr. Thomas I don’t know who would have helped me answer the call to ordained ministry.

            My parents got suckered in to buying a timeshare on Padre Island. What a scam those things can be. We were there one summer. The TV at the condo had access to a premium movie service. I think it was Starz. They were showing the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Franco Zeffirelli. This was my introduction to St. Francis. I don’t know if any of you have seen this movie. Let’s just say it was a movie of the times. St. Francis was portrayed as a proto-hippie. The soundtrack was written and performed by Donovan for heaven’s sake. But with my young, impressionable mind, this movie was life altering. I was so inspired by how St. Francis was portrayed. A man who gave up wealth and privilege in his pursuit of being faithful to the way of Jesus, choosing to live the life of a beggar, being in community with the lepers and the discarded in society, communing with nature, living with such simplicity and humility. My young and idealistic self wanted to be like that. I obviously didn’t choose that path. But St. Francis remains an inspiration to me as someone who lived an authentic Christian life. The prayer of St. Francis is a classic.

            “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

            He is the one people have attributed the saying that we are to preach the gospel at all times but only use words when necessary. He is a faith hero.

            Then, of course, there were my parents who helped shape my faith. They were not overly religious. But they were faithful worship attenders. We never missed church. When we sat down together for dinner my dad would say grace. My dad sang in the choir. I wanted to sing too. Even though our church had a youth choir, they let me sing in the adult choir also so that I could be with my dad. Every fall the choir would go to Camp Egan to start learning the music we would sing the next several months. I will never forget sitting around the table playing UNO with those choir members. The laughter and the gentle ribbing…it was so fun! As a kid being in a safe environment with those adults who were faithful to Christ and the church, who loved each other and loved me, it made such a positive influence on me.

            Who are the ones that have influenced your faith? Who are your ancestors in the faith? We are all here this morning because someone influenced us to be here. Maybe it was our parents who brought us. Or it was a friend who invited you. Or it was your husband or wife. We come to faith in Jesus because of the witness of others, people who have inspired us and loved us, mentored us, included us. Each of us could take turns and call the roll of those who had a hand in bringing us to the life of faith and who keeps us in this race.

            Perhaps most of those who influenced you to run this race of faith are now in the cheering section rooting you on to persevere. They have finished their race. They are now looking down on us to cheer us, to encourage us to remain faithful to the way of Jesus, no matter the obstacle or the times of discouragement and frustration that we sometimes have to make our way through. When we hit those walls of discouragement, of hardship, even of doubt, we have our ancestors in the faith who are there to remind us that we will make it. Our ancestors had struggles as well. They had times of discouragement and frustration. They had times of doubt, of heartbreak and worry. Yet, they stayed with Jesus through it all. And now they are our biggest fans, assuring us that we can persevere just like they did. They didn’t give up so we keep pushing forward.

            The church I was ordained in was my home church, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. The sanctuary has a balcony. When I knelt down at the altar and Bishop Dan Solomon put his hand on my head, I imagined a heavenly balcony just above the balcony in that sanctuary where my mom and dad were sitting. And as they looked down on me that moment, I imagined they were beaming with pride. I still think about my mom and dad from time to time. Remembering them, and knowing that they are praying for me, and are proud of me, it keeps me grounded. It reminds me of the commitments I have made, the commitment to follow the way of Jesus as an ordained minister. During times of discouragement, even when the temptation lies around the corner to walk away, mom and dad show up to remind me that this is a race that takes a lifetime. They are cheering me on to persevere, to finish the race. So, I keep going. Who is in your cheering section? Who is it that shows up in your mind when you go through times where you feel like calling it quits? Maybe for all of us it is our mothers. Or maybe it’s your grandmother. It is someone who has made a mark on your life, who you don’t want to let down, who reminds you of who you are, who loves you and is proud of you and is rooting for you. It is those ancestors that keep us going.

            It is encouraging during times of struggle and doubt to remember the mighty cloud of witnesses that cheer us on, to encourage us not to give up even when times are tough and doubts stir within. It is a reminder that we are all a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are part of a line of the faithful that stretches back from generation to generation. We are not alone. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. And knowing this gives us the encouragement we need to keep running our race, to persevere in the faith, to keep being followers of Jesus because we don’t want to let down the mighty cloud of witnesses all around us.

            This man had heard about this great church located in this city he was visiting. It was an historic church, Russian Orthodox, known for its beautiful liturgical worship. With anticipation he entered the church one Sunday anticipating a moving worship experience. The current state of the congregation did not reflect what he had heard about this church. There were only a few widows scattered about the sanctuary. After worship was over, he went up to visit with the priest. He expressed wonder how the priest kept at it with so few people who come to worship. The priest looked at him and shook his head, saying, “What do you mean only a few people? When we gather for worship we are joined by the great cloud of witnesses, with angels and archangels before the throne of grace. The church is full of saints!” Are we not surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses?

            The mighty cloud of witnesses, those who persevered in their faith in the ups and downs of life, urge us on to persevere. They encourage us to remain faithful to God as long as we have breath. They inspire us to be an inspiration for others, our descendants in the faith. This is our task, to be witnesses of Jesus to others, by our words and deeds, just like our ancestors in the faith did. They have passed the baton on to us and now we carry it until we pass the baton to others when we join the mighty cloud of witnesses someday. We will then be in the cheering section encouraging those who follow us.

            So, let us keep running the race set before us. We face all kinds of challenges, obstacles and setbacks. The race of faith is not always easy. Just like it wasn’t always easy for our ancestors. But they made it to the end of their race. To finish the race of faith like our ancestors did is a victory in itself. Whether you are running, walking or crawling, keep your faith, keep your commitments to God, keep on the way of Jesus. He is with us all the way to the end.