Sermon given by Rev. Frank Clarkson, October 2, 2022.

What inspires you? What keeps you going? What helps you, as we just sang, to keep taking one more step? What empowers you to show up for this day, and this life, with some hope, some faith, some love?

Well, especially today I’d name music as one of the sources of my inspiration. The music Nate has brought to our worship for so many Sundays over these years he’s been with us, has been such a blessing. Thank you so much, Nate. And speaking of music, I’m regularly inspired and fed by the music Lisa and the choir offer us too. Sometimes the music Lisa chooses directly inspires the sermon I’ll preach. So thank you, Lisa, and thank you, choir, for what you bring to our worship. Where would we be without you?

There are plenty of things which can inspire us, and sustain us, and it’s good to know what these are for you, so you can be in touch with them, and make sure that you’re getting enough of them. For we need inspiration, the coming in of Spirit, as much as we need food and water and shelter and companions. As Jesus said,“People cannot live by bread alone.” We need the presence of that fathomless mystery in which we live and move and have our being. And that Spirit can take many forms; can show up for us in people and in nature, can come to us in our longings, in our joys and our sorrows. The invitation is to be attuned to that mysterious and elusive Presence. Which is at least one reason we are here, right?

You heard about one thing that nurtures and sustains me, that inspires me and calls me to account, in our reading this morning. It’s those who have helped show me the way—family members, teachers, companions, including those I’ve never met, except though books or stories: saints and poets and prophets from earlier times: what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews calls, in that beautiful phrase, “so great a cloud of witnesses.”

As we heard in our reaching today, the Letter to the Hebrews spends a whole chapter recounting many of the heroes of the nation of Israel, from Abel to Noah to Abraham to Sarah to Jacob to Joseph, introducing each one with the words “by faith.” 

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

Have you ever done this,: sensed an urging or a call and headed off, though you didn’t know where you were going? That’s what faith is, trusting that you will be led by the right road, though (you) may know nothing about it” (Thomas Merton).

So after Hebrews’ recounting of all these faithful heroes, that chapter ends, and the next chapter begins with these words: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Because we are surrounded by and companioned by this great cloud of witnesses! Isn’t this a beautiful image? A great cloud of witnesses is keeping us company while we run this race called life!

There’s a gospel song that goes, “O Lord hold my hand, while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.” Years ago the women’s chorus my wife Tracey sings in was doing this song, and she would sing it to our children at bedtime. And one night our son Will asked, “Mommy, what’s a raisin vane?”

You don’t want to run this race in vain, do you? You want your life to have purpose and meaning and worth and value: I hope you already feel that it does. And we are all works in progress. I know that I have sustained by a great cloud of witnesses, and it has helped to be mindful of who those witnesses are. 

You could get sense of who they are by looking at the shelves in my office, here or at home. You’d find poets and prophets like Mary Oliver and Desmond Tutu,Thich Nhat Hanh and Frederick Buechner, Kathleen Norris and the Dali Lama. I also count in my cloud of witnesses my mom, and her brother, who’s my godfather; and my grandparents—as these whose example I try to follow. I was inspired by classmates in seminary, and by teachers. And you here, you are definitely part of my cloud of witnesses, because of the ways you are faithfully living your lives and helping make ours a better world.

And so my invitation to you today is to wonder, who is in my cloud of witnesses? Who are your guiding lights, your guides and companions, your north stars? Who inspires you? And when you’re lost, who or what do you lean on?

If you were going to make a list, or a drawing, of your cloud of witnesses, who would be in there? This could be a fun project, to list your spiritual ancestors, those who help and inspire you. Maybe even turn it into a piece of art, an icon that reminds you that you’re not in this alone. That you’re part of an ongoing story, and that you can be in conversation and in relationship with these, your forebears.

And who knows, some day, others may be looking back at you, and counting you among their cloud of witnesses! Perhaps even now you are an inspiration for others. That’s one of the blessings of having and being companions, isn’t it? Now we’re just widening our perspective on companioning to include those who have gone before us.

Our worship theme for October is Lineage and Ancestors. The invitation is to reflect on what we have received from our forebears, as individuals and as a community, and I’m looking forward to this. There can be a tendency to valorize the past, and create a false narrative about our history. Which is why some people got so upset about the New York Times 1619 Project. Because it explodes the myth that our country has been about equality and justice from the start. But you can’t imagine and build a better future if you're not willing to look clearly at your past.

It could be that there are some negative examples in your cloud of witnesses. Who among us hasn’t thought, “I don't want to live my life that way—I don’t want to be that kind of parent, or that kind of friend.” Sometimes a negative example, as painful as it might be, can be as illuminating or inspiring as a positive one. Still, I hope most of your cloud of witnesses is are those who you can celebrate and be grateful for.

At the end of this month we’ll mark All Souls Day, when we remember those who have died, and we create an altar of photos and other objects to honor them. I love that service, and this time of year, when the veil between this world and the spirit world seems thinner, when we sing out our gratitude “for all the saints, who from their labors rest.” 

One way we honor those who have gone before us is by living our lives as fully and as well as we can, while we are here. These October days, with the fading light and cooler weather, are a poignant reminder that things do end, that each of us is mortal. And though it is sobering to contemplate death, your own and those you love, it’s good for us, and healthy too.The paradox is this: acknowledging that we are going to die, accepting that life is fleeting, this can help us to more fully appreciate each day we have been given.

I am ever grateful for you, my spiritual companions. And for those who have gone before us, that great cloud of witnesses, all these kindred pilgrim souls. Helping to guide us on our way like the lights of the heavens, shining their blessing down upon us.

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us take heart, friends, and let us take courage. Let us be glad for the way that lies before us, and for these companions. That we are on our way together, in this beautiful blue boat home.

Amen.