Head in the Clouds

August 19, 2007
12th Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Luke 12:31-21

Preacher: The Rev. R. Bruce Todd

The picture on the front of today's bulletin cover shows 2 interpretations of the phrase “Cloud of Witnesses” that come out of our lesson from Hebrews. Is the “Cloud of Witnesses” the faithful saints who have gone before us to make the Church what it is today - or is it a group of people who simply have their heads in the clouds?

With all this talk of clouds, I am reminded of one of my vacations when I went to Washington State. I visited Seattle, The Olympic National Forest, spent a couple of days at the Pacific Ocean, but the highpoint both figuratively and literally, was the two days I spent at Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier. At 14,410 feet it has the highest glacier peaks in the continental United States. Because of its height, weather on the mountain is unpredictable. The moist air from the Pacific has to rise when it reaches Mt. Rainier, and depending on the winds, elevation, and temperatures, you can go from clear skies to rain or snow within minutes. In fact, at Paradise Lodge in the winter of 1972, they set a world record for the largest accumulated snowfall with 1,122 inches. That is 95 and a half feet of snow. It's no wonder that I would pass snow along the trailsduring a hike, even in August. It is due to the rising of the moist pacific air, that 8 out of 10 days the top of the mountain will be in the clouds.

When I arrived at Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier it was about 4:00 in the afternoon. The sun was shining, the sprawling valleys went for miles, the top of the mountain with its snow and glaciers looked majestic. But by the time I put my suitcase in the room and went out to meet the park ranger who was about to lead a hike, there was a cloud moving across the mountain. People who just drove up from Seattle said that it was sunny there. But at 5400 feet up, we were in the clouds. All during that late afternoon hike we watched the fog thicken. By the time we finished, visibility was limited to about 12 feet in any direction. It was kind of eerie. You would look over a cliff and see nothing but clouds. You would look up and see nothing but clouds. You could look out of any window in the lodge and see nothing but clouds.

An experience like that makes it easier for me to relate to the many times in the Bible when I read about clouds. Clouds formed some of the most powerful images in the scriptures. Throughout the old testament God's presence and his glory was shown forth in a Cloud. A "Pillar of Cloud" led the Israelites out of Egypt; In the 24th chapter of Exodus you can read about when Moses went to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, a cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day, God called to Moses out of a cloud. Moses entered the cloud and ascended the mountain. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we have accounts of "The Son of Man coming on clouds." In the first chapter of Acts we read about Jesus being "received up by clouds." In references to Christ's second coming the book of Revelation says that "he is coming with the clouds". Then in 1st Thessalonians we are told that "we who are alive, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord and dwell with him." Throughout the Bible, clouds represent the presence of God.

With all of our modern day science, clouds seem to only be important to the meteorologists as a way of Predicting the weather. If you see those huge, billowing, thunderheads called "cumulus" clouds you know that you can expect some rain and lighting bolts. Stratus clouds are those flat, thin, layered clouds that indicate a frontal change in the weather bringing a change in temperature. We look at the clouds to predict the weather, but we also read them as a way to describe the conditions of life. Throughout life, clouds seem to represent doom and gloom. If someone is said to be walking around with their head in the clouds, that means that they are out of it! If you say that someone has a dark cloud hanging over them, that means that they have been having a series of bad events in their life. Reading clouds to predict the weather has become a science. But we need help when it comes to reading the "clouds of life".

The cloud of witnesses mentioned in today's second lesson can help us do that. In today’s lesson from Hebrews, some of those witnesses are listed, forming the foundation for the encouragement that we receive. There is the witness of Abel who offered God a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother Cain; and the witness of Enoch and how he was taken up so he should not see death. The witness of Noah is mentioned and how his faithfulness saved him and his family from the destruction of the flood. The witness of the obedience of Isaac and Jacob which promised them the same inheritance as that of Abraham. The list of witnesses goes on to include Sarah, and Moses, and Rahab, and Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, and Samuel.

When you feel like the dark cloud is hanging over you, read the Bible, and be encouraged by the story of these witnesses who have also had clouds over their heads and through their faith in God, were able to find their way out of the cloud. After presenting such an impressive list of witnesses, Paul says: "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 perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross." Paul continues to set up Jesus as the greatest witness when he continues by saying: "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." Paul is telling the Hebrews not to give up when that dark cloud is hanging over them. Persevere! Do not grow weary or fainthearted!

I think back on the visit to Mt. Rainier. On that first morning while the top of the mountain was still in the clouds, I decided to walk from the Lodge, down the path to the Visitor's Center.

I knew it would be cool so, wearing a long sleeve shirt I started on the half mile walk. The clouds were so thick you could barely see past the length of your own arm. I also didn't realize that it is as cold as it is at 5400 feet up the mountain during the month of August in the clouds.
After walking quite a way and feeling the cold more and more, and not being able to see ahead of me, I was just about to give up and turn back to the warmth of the fireplace in the lodge, when within the next three steps the image of the visitor's center materialized.

I started to think how much life is like that. So many people feel like they are walking in a cloud, not being able to see what lies ahead of them, being afraid of what might lie ahead of them. We feel alone, start to get cold, think of how easy it would be to turn back to the warmth of where we have been instead of going ahead into the unknown. Perhaps it is only a few more steps until we reach our goal, but the clouds in life keep us from seeing what lies ahead.

Paul's encouragement to the Hebrews is just as appropriate for us: consider what Christ endured! “Do not grow weary or fainthearted." Don't give up! We have hundreds - thousands of witnesses who are pulling for us. We are not running the race alone. We have Isaac and Jacob, Abraham, Sarah, and Moses, and Rahab, and Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, and Samuel. We have the more recent saints like Tony, Bill, Marion and Betty, and the many un named witnesses who have had their head in the clouds, but relied on their faith in god to lead them through the fog and out of the clouds, so they did not give up!

When basketball player Scott Wedman was traded from the Kansas City Kings to the
Boston Celtics he commented on how he felt the first time he put on a Celtic uniform. He remembers standing in the Boston Garden looking up at all of the Championship Banners suspended from the rafters. He said: "It was as if the ghosts of past Celtic stars were up there cheering on the current players." Some of the present day New York Yankee players testify to a similar emotion when they play in Yankee Stadium with the centerfield plaques behind them honoring such immortals as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. One player said:
"The legends urge you on to play your best. It's as though they're watching how you are doing."

What might be referred to as the "Ghosts" of the Celtics or the "Legends" of Yankee Stadium, might be referred to as "A Cloud of Witnesses" when it comes to the Bible and faith.

They are the "Stars" and "Heroes" of religious tradition: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Moses, David, Sarah and the Prohets, who through their faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, and escaped the edge of the sword. These witnesses urge us on to play our best. It's as though they're watching how we are doing." They may have been in the clouds, but they had faith that they would be led out of the cloud. This great cloud of witnesses continue to be with us.

In our Communion Service Liturgy we hear the phrase: "...and with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we praise your name saying... Holy, Holy, Holy Lord..."
"...and with angels and archangels and a Great Cloud of Witnesses." We are not in it alone.

The Bible is a tool of encouragement for us. It is an account of those who did "run with perseverance". In our life clouds seem to represent Doom and Gloom. There are people "Walking around with their head in the clouds." There are people who have a dark cloud hanging over them. So we continue to look for encouragement.

When Olympic Runner Roger Bannister ran the first 4 minute mile, he accomplished something that many people said could not be done. Now, many athletes have run a mile in less than 4 minutes, but someone needed to show us that it could be done. There is someone else who has run the race before us. Someone who showed us that it could be done. That person was Jesus Christ. He assures us that we will finally win the race. Even with those clouds of doom and gloom, we also hear that "Every cloud has a silver lining." Whether it's walking through the clouds to a Visitor's Center, or walking through the cloud of financial struggles, or poor health, or any of the Dark Clouds that hang over us; or even if you think of life as one big cloud. Our cloud does have a silver lining. Jesus Christ struggled against sin to the point of shedding blood so that the "Silver Lining Of Salvation" surrounds the Dark Clouds of our life. It is the story of these clouds of witnesses and especially the witness of Jesus Christ that gives us the encouragement we need to keep on going and not giving up!

Let Paul's encouragement to the Hebrews also be our encouragement: "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us." Whether it be the race to complete a Church Building Program - the race through the stages of grief over the loss of a loved one - the race to enter the empty nest syndrome while you prepare to send your child off to college - or simply the race to get yourself out of bed to face another day. Those who have run before us have handed the baton to us, and now they are cheering us toward the finish line.

At every funeral here at St. Peter’s, while the casket is brought forward the hymn “For All The Saints” is played on the chimes. They have finished their race - and they continue to cheer us on. They have been where we are going. But we do not go through this race of life alone.
For all the saints, who from their labors rest, who thee, by faith, before the world confess;
Thy name O Jesus be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.