Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · September 7, 2008

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Thank you for the beauty of community. Thank you for joy of shared ministry. Thank you for the cloud of witnesses to your love who beckon us forward. Celebrate with us, God, as we sing praises and affirm your life within and among us. In Christ we live and love and serve. Amen.

Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-3,12-14

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we are in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: the cross, the shame. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item…

And don’t sit on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it.

Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God.

Message

So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

Kim Ryan

There is one of those e-mail pieces that has been making the rounds for a couple of years. I first saw it from a Broadway Christian Church member who sent it out to her small group. I suspect by now it’s all the way around the world. It was titled “Life is a Theater – Invite Your Audience Carefully.” It asks the question, “Who is sitting in the front row of your life?” It suggests there are some people in our lives that might be best loved from a distance: those who are draining, negative, those that when you leave you feel worse not better. So the question is who gets to sit in the front row, and who should be moved, mentally speaking of course, to the balcony of your life? 

Well, it’s an interesting metaphor. It’s worthy of consideration, but our Scripture this morning engages me to turn the imagery of that metaphor just a bit and to ask a slightly different question. Here is the question I want to ask this morning: In whose front row are you sitting? Whose unfolding life story am I observing and applauding? Whose life am I watching, up close and personal, and making some notes? Or said another way, who was in your cloud of witnesses? Who is in your cloud of witnesses? 

A witness, other than being a word that makes most of us mainline Protestants slightly uncomfortable, is simply one who has personal knowledge of something. It is also one who is willing to give public affirmation by word or example of a conviction. 

So, who do you look to for knowledge of life and faith, and how to do life, and how to do faith? Whose words or example do you take in from that front row seat? Who comprises your crowd and your cloud of witnesses? 

Are there some specific people coming to mind? I hope so. Let them surface in your mind and in your memory.  Encourage them to come be a part of this time that we are sharing with each other today. 

For some of us, that cloud of witnesses expands beyond just other people. It includes mountains, and rivers, and springs, and sunsets, and sunrises, and trees, and flowers, and beautiful vistas. We join in with Psalm 19, the witness that is offered to us there that says, “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the earth proclaims God’s handy work.” Doesn’t something expand within us as we are surrounded by nature and her witness to the glory and the beauty and the wisdom of creation? 

Then for others of us, our witnesses come in even a different form of the four-legged variety. I have a friend who names and claims that his yellow lab is the closest witness to an unconditional loving God he knows. It is so unconditional that he even sports a bumper sticker on his car that says, “I hope I am the man that my dog thinks I am.” 

Then there is my cat. Some of you have met Big Boy Binky, who, during my attempts of a quiet time sitting in my big green chair, insists on sitting upon my chest. I have pushed that cat away, and I have shoved him out of my lap and the chair, but his persistence has won out. 

So, I just began to wonder if perhaps the Holy Spirit could be like this cat. As I let him tuck his chin under mine, and I feel his sweet purring, it quiets my worries. It calms my jumping mind, and as our heartbeats actually fall into a rhythm with each other, I wonder if the Spirit might be something like this prayer cat. Some people have prayer beads. I have a prayer cat. I wonder if the Holy Spirit might just be persistent, and loving, and longing, just to be close, just to feel a moment or two of the rhythm of that heartbeat of the universe. This is a rather unexpected witness, and for some of you I can actually see you shuddering in your seat this morning, especially when I tell you when this cat’s meditating at its deepest level, he drools. 

So, how about another witness? How about the witness of an exquisitely played piece of music by Beverly, and our choir singing a beautiful song? How about a piece of art work that points to the elegant beauty and mystery of the Holy beyond words? 

All of this is to say that we each have our cloud of witnesses. There is someone or there is something in whose front row you sit and you take notes. I encourage you to consider your cloud of witnesses and to give thanks. 

Here at Broadway Christian Church, we have been blessed by the witnesses in our shared life of two people, who for 20-plus years have invited all of us to sit in their front row and experience the witness of their lives, to share in the unfolding of their life and faith stories. We know them as Rick and Jan Frost. 

A few weeks ago, I told Rick he was going to be an important part of this sermon today. He looked at me sternly, and he said, “Remember, this is a sermon.” I looked at him sternly, and I said, “Yes, and you will be one of the primary illustrations, so get over it.” You can do that when you’ve worked together for 20 years. 

So, Rick, how does it feel to be right up there with the cat? How does it feel to be beating in rhythm with the heart of the universe? 

It is no stretch of our imaginations. It is no acknowledgement beyond what is so true to say that Rick and Jan have been incredible witnesses to the life and their faith for us in such powerful ways. Amen? Amen! (That’s not the end of the sermon, in case you thought it was.) 

We have been blessed by such wisdom, by observing and interacting with this wise man and this wise woman. We have shared with them many years. I do have a story to share with you about where I think the source of Rick’s wisdom probably came from to begin with. 

In 1990, after working with Rick for little over a year, we had a new board chair Mary Jane Thorne, and we were at the first cabinet meeting of that new board.   Mary Jane asked us to share something about our childhood, to tell something about how we grew up. Rick shared that he had grown up on the island, barefoot, wearing cutoffs. But, there had been no boys his age on the island. So, he grew up playing with girls. Ahhhh; yeah. I heard that, and the light went on.   I thought, “Bingo; that’s it. This man knows how to play with girls.” It’s very important when you work with a staff of mostly women. He knows how to play and to work with women respectfully, happily, trustingly, with just the right amount of teasing, and fun, and nicknames added in. And plus, he knew when to disappear when we sort of fell into our less so attractive girlish ways. That’s a smart man.

Here is the really important underlying truth of this story and this epiphany. It’s not just girls that Rick knows how to play well with. He basically knows how to play well and work well with others, lots of others, all kinds, younger, and older, and men, and women. 

For 20 years I’ve had the honor of having a front row seat and watching Rick partner with 20 different board chairs in the life of this congregation. Some of you are sitting right here. I’ve seen how he honored and respected each one of those 20 different board chairs. I’ve seen how he enhanced their strengths, and he never once demanded that anyone accommodate themselves to him. He did the accommodation. He did the matching with openness and respect and engaged in shared leadership. With staff, with lay leaders, in such a way that it has benefited the ministry of this congregation so beautifully. Do you have any idea how truly remarkable that is?

The ministries of this church have flourished because of Rick’s deep wisdom, his leadership, his confidence in us, and in his unwavering trust that the Spirit of God was doing wonderful things in our midst and leading us into ministries with joy. 

We also have been blessed by the wise witness of Jan Frost, who I consider, not only a friend, but also a valued spiritual companion. This congregation has been graced by her deep and abiding love for children, her generosity, her conviction as a tither and a steward, her passion to live an integrated life grounded in prayer. That’s just to name a few. So, we have benefitted from her teaching of our preschoolers, her creative leadership with Terry Overfelt in a puppet ministry second to done in this city, her team work as a planner of the Women’s Retreats, her personal prayer discipline shared in the Eight Keys of Discipleship, and a prayer class that people are still talking about. 

Thank you, Rick and Jan, for allowing us to sit in the front row of your lives all these years, to receive your witness of faith, your hope, your love for each other, for your family, for us, and especially for Christ.

They will say, “We all did it together.” And we did. Trusting the Broadway Spirit, which was birthed 50 years ago when that original cloud of witnesses, who were a rare breed and who have created into the very fiber of the being of this congregation the faithful spirit of adventure, and risk-taking, and responsive organization, and imagination, and quality leadership, which led to such a great match with Rick when he was called to be the senior minister: adventurous, risk-taker, responsive in organization, imaginative, and quality of leadership.

But there is one other cloud of witnesses that I want to mention. It is an amazing group of people. Did you know that since April 2007, 70 adults have joined this congregation? Now, April 2007 was when Rick said publically he would retire soon. The ground beneath our feet began to shift just a bit. We readied ourselves for some big changes. We called it “transition,” and began to openly and vocally and persistently explore this next transition and the potential changes it would mean for Broadway, and 70 people joined this church. Adults joined. Young adults joined in that same time period. 

So, why would they do it? Why would people place their life along side ours when we are feeling kind of shaky? I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling kind of shaky. We’re a little uncertain about the future. We are confident God is right here with us, but nevertheless, why wouldn’t they wait to see what was going to happen? Because that’s what we want to know: “What’s going to happen?” But, no! They joined our church anyway.

So, last Sunday we asked a few of them, “Why did you choose to become a part of this community of faith at this time, knowing what you know?” Let’s hear what they said.

[Aaron Christiansen] - “Broadway was a place for us where we found spiritual beliefs intersecting very well with ours. That was kind of the beginning. Then we also found that the people here are so incredibly welcoming and opening. This community of faith is just very accepting. We felt just naturally at home the first time we set foot in the door. I don’t believe any of that changes depending on whom we will find to come lead our congregation. I think that feeling of community will continue forth. That’s why we are comfortable and very happy finding Broadway as our community of faith and our church home.”

[Heather Harlan] - “One reason was because knowing Rick was leaving. (Actually, Kim asked me to say that.)  Actually, I can sum it up in one word. I’ll say the word and then say more about it. It was healthy. I had some of my own healing I needed to do. Broadway was a natural choice to come, because my sister and brother-in-law came here. To be honest, I came about a year ago right when people were finding out that Rick was retiring. To be honest, I was a little dismayed. I thought, ‘I don’t know if I want to be in the middle of that right now personally or be around people who are doing that. I think I will just sit back and watch and witness, if you will, and see how this congregation handles that.’ It has been refreshing to see Rick, as a pastor, have the trust in you, the congregation, to give you the information that he is going to retire, and to give you a date, so you could go through that together, and to see the congregation be real about their feelings. When I came it was sort of a kick in the stomach thing: ‘Oh, no, Rick’s leaving! Oh, no, Kim’s leaving!’  It was refreshing to see people begin to process their emotions in a very real way and also to have the opportunity also to move forward as a church, as the Body of Christ to do both of those things, to feel and function, at the same time. It has been refreshing to watch that and to be a part of that. It was meaningful to me to join Broadway Christian and to have Rick on my right and Kim on my left and have in front of me the ministers who are the Broadway Christian members.”

[Carla Koch] - “From its very beginnings, this church has been known for people encountering the Living Spirit of God. I felt that from the very first time I walked into the sanctuary here. Not long after that, I told my husband that I had never felt the Spirit of God in any church that I have ever been to like I had with Broadway. He surprised me one morning by saying, ‘Oh, I’d like to go to church with you today.’ I said, ‘Oh! OK. That’s fine!’ He made his own commitment to join Broadway in July of this year. We knew Rick was leaving, but we have faith and trust that the Spirit of God is not going to abandon us. It’s going to remain with those who are here. It’s going to instill itself in the leadership that we have and who will come to serve us. We know this congregation will continue and not miss a beat. We have a great belief in this church and its continuation.”

[Krista Ennis] - “Broadway has such a unique Spirit. Everybody feels so welcomed the first time they come. It’s like coming home. I know God led me here for a reason. I just can’t wait to find out what that reason is.”

[Mary Secora] - “I was first introduced to Broadway Christian Church when my neighbor invited me to attend the Christmas music program. It was awesome. Later, I accepted her invitation to attend a Sunday church service. Again, I was impressed with the sermon and the music, but more importantly by the friendliness of the members. I wanted to come back the next Sunday. I think the Spirit of the Broadway Christian Church moved me right from the very beginning. I began to do some volunteering and later joined the church. This church is more than just a single minister. It is the programs. It is the activities. But most importantly to me, it is the Spirit of the congregation.”

Did you hear those answers? Because they were surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, those 70 people decided to be a part of this community of faith. Because they saw us running the race, pressing forward, clearing the next part of the path, getting along with each other. 

Did you know you were a droplet in the cloud? I can almost hear you saying, “Who? Me?” 

If you have been here more than once, “Yes! You!”  Did you know you were such a powerful witness? 

“Not me.” 

“Yes. You!”

Do you see what this means? We better get on with it. We better get out of our front rows and start running, keeping our eyes on Jesus, clearing the path for more long-distance runners, helping each other, and offering to everyone here and to those who aren’t here yet a glimpse of the living, loving God.

And together we say… “Amen.”

Benediction

Thank you, God. Thank you for so great a cloud of witnesses. Thank you for the privilege of running the race in this time and place where we lean on, learn from, and love those who go before us, and those who walk beside us. Thank you for a faith that can say, “The road traveled will lead us all home!” Amen.