Persevering in Faith

It’s good to return home to All Saints’ following our vacation.  I hope you enjoyed hearing some other voices and theological perspectives from our clergy visitors.  I heard that one of them found that ascending into this pulpit was a bit scary.  I hope it was more of a humorous statement rather than one of fear or anxiety.

The Letter to the Hebrews says,  “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, … let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

As I reflect on this statement it is important to note that perseverance is what matters.  It is not a statement about competition to see who can run the fastest or win the race.  Winning is not the issue; persevering in faith is what matters.  Faith takes many forms; it is basically trust in the life God has given us.  It is also the way we keep alive our response to God’s compassionate goodness. 

Our vacation trip this year showed us how faith is revealed in many different ways.  We were in Pennsylvania and heard performers of music, song, dance, art and history.   We also had time to read a couple of books, one that I read is titled “Solitude.”  I’ll share something from that book at the end of this sermon.

We drove to Buck Hill Falls in the Poconos where Carol’s sister and her husband have a house.  The weekend was filled with festivities.  A major event was the annual Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival.  It was the fourth season of “an event that provides an anchor for educational programs benefiting local students.”  The program was a cabaret of Broadway performers and musicians who volunteer their time and come to Buck Hill to support young people who choose to study the performing arts.  The fact that this festival continues yearly in supporting education in the arts is a statement of faith in the lives of our youth who live in rural settings and lack many opportunities that are available in urban areas.

Following several days in Buck Hill Falls we drove down to Philadelphia to see the new Barnes Museum.  The Barnes is a magnificent and an unique museum.  In 1922 Dr. Albert Barnes established the Barnes Foundation for the purpose of "promoting the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts."  Dr. Barnes was able to do this because of his professional success with a colleague in developing argyrol, an antiseptic silver compound used in the prevention of infant blindness.  Several galleries in the museum feature works of both contemporary and historic paintings and other artifacts as they complement each other in terms of color, texture, lines, and space. 

Then, while many of you were visiting Ground Zero and the New York Cathedral of St. John the Divine (I heard you had a fabulous time), we stopped by Christ Church, Philadelphia for a tour of its history.  Here is a quotation from its webpage: “Christ Church was founded in 1695 and the present building erected in 1744 has been cited as ‘our finest Early American church.’  Its steeple (1754) is the work of Robert Smith, one of America’s earliest architects; Thomas U. Walter, later architect of the U.S. Capitol, redesigned the interior of the sanctuary (1832-36).  At Christ Church, 25% of Philadelphia’s free and enslaved Africans were baptized, a school was created to educate slaves, and the first black priest, Absalom Jones, was ordained. [In the Church calendar we celebrate the life of Absalom Jones on February 13^th.]  During the Revolutionary Era, Christ Church welcomed the Continental Congresses.  Benjamin and Deborah Franklin and Betsy Ross were parishioners.  Later, George Washington and John Adams attended services while they were the nation’s Chief Executives.  Here, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States was created from the ashes of the Church of England.”

The people of Christ Church, Philadelphia, St. John the Divine in New York, and the artists and musicians all around us are part of that great cloud of witnesses that have surrounded us throughout our history.  As we heard in the letter to the Hebrews, they continue to run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

In addition to running life’s race with steadfastness and perseverance, or perhaps as another way of persevering, it is helpful to include moments of silence and solitude as we reflect on our life’s journey.  It helps to use some vacation time as well as some time each day to renew our faith in Christ and in our common humanity.

One of the books I read is titled Solitude. The author is Anthony Storr, Physician and Psychiatrist. Published in 1988, Dr. Storr maintains that solitude ranks alongside relationships in its impact on individual well-being and productivity, as well as on society’s progress and health. I was impressed by what he writes in a paragraph in the second chapter about prayer: “Prayer goes far beyond asking for benefits for oneself or for others.  Prayer can be a public act of worship; but the person who prays in private feels himself to be alone in the presence of God.  …  In some religions, no response to prayer from any supernatural being is even expected.  Prayer is undertaken, not with the intention of influencing a deity, nor with any hope of prayers being directly answered, but in order to produce a harmonious state of mind.  Prayer and meditation facilitate integration by allowing time for previously unrelated thoughts and feelings to interact.  Being able to get in touch with one’s deepest thoughts and feelings, and providing time for them to regroup themselves into new formations and combinations, are important aspects of the creative process, as well as a way of relieving tension and promoting mental health.”

Prayer is an act of faith.  Spending some quiet time alone is important in our stressful lives as we meditate and reflect on our response to God’s compassion.  How we integrate our thoughts and feelings about so many issues that come before us is important for our individual sense of well-being.  Prayer is both our private and our corporate communication, our communion, with God.  It not only helps us to have a sense of inner peace and wholeness but it also brings us together in our common act of worship and thanksgiving as we give glory to God through our worship and celebration of the Great Thanksgiving, the Holy Communion.  Amen.