Homily for
Holy Wednesday
Wednesday 12 April 2017
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A Parish of the Diocese of Bethlehem and The Episcopal Church
Readings:
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyWed_RCL.html
With each passing year, I become more fond of this image of the great cloud of witnesses. In this image, we are reminded that the fullness of the Church takes us beyond the limits of our human vision. These witnesses include those whom we cannot today see with our eyes but know in our souls are in our midst. This great cloud of witnesses is nothing other than the communion of saints, the fellowship of the people of God.
This fellowship is comprised not only of the notable saints of old whose stories are so powerful that the whole of the Church has marked them as saints, indeed as chiefs among the saints. It includes also those who have been known only in small portions of the Kingdom, such as that portion of the Kingdom of God in which we are now found. Certainly it is of great comfort to think of these ones, especially those with whom we have walked in this life and who have gone before us into the Church Triumphant. This cloud of witnesses reminds us that though we see them no longer in the flesh, we know that they are still alive, still serving their God and ours, and that their prayers to God on our behalf have not gone silent.
And why is that so powerful? And why do we hear this amid Holy Week? I think the answer is found in the fact that our commemoration of the Passion of Jesus drives us not simply to recall his life but ours also. The suffering and death of Jesus recalls for us that we live a life that often doesn’t make sense and isn’t easy. We recall in these days that Jesus endured our suffering and our death. There are moments when this seems more like a theory than reality. But then there are moments when life around us reminds us in powerful ways of the reality of suffering in the world and the truth that life can be difficult, that death is real. And if we are left alone in the face of this reality, it can quickly become overwhelming.
But the Gospel reminds us all the time that we are not alone, nor are we hopeless. Jesus is always with us, not as a distant presence, but as one who always draws near, who seeks to take the burdens off our shoulders, who caries us when we cannot walk ourselves. He walks in our shoes, and shows us how to walk by faith. And the wonder of this life of faith is that when Jesus does this, he shows us again and again that it is not just for us that he has shown this love. Jesus stands amid this cloud of witnesses and points us to them all, even as they point us to the Christ who stands among us always.
The moment that I see this the clearest is when I stand at the Altar as a priest. I cannot tell you how many times while standing at the Altar my mind wanders to a moment early in my priesthood when the dear Swedes among whom I served as a young priest taught me a little something about the communion of the saints by pointing to their Church which they had built with their own hands. In traditional Swedish style, the Sanctuary within the Chancel of their Nave contained a half-circle communion rail that wrapped around three sides of the Altar. The faithful whom I served reminded me that though we see only half of the circle, we know that the rail around the Altar, around Christ, whose presence the Altar symbolizes, is a complete circle. Here we who are the faithful in this life gather to be attentive to Christ. There the faithful who have served faithfully in their generation gather, still attentive to Christ. Christ brings together all of us, and calls us into relationship not only with him but with one another. Here we are reminded powerfully that life always wins!
I think we have lost some of that sense the more we have pulled the Altar away from the limitations of our human vision, the East Wall of the Church. Having lost some sense of this vision, we sadly at times lose sense of that communion that crosses time and generations, even the very boundaries of heaven and earth. This is not good for us. When we forget the wider picture, when we lose sight of the saints who surround us, we leave ourselves open to feeling isolated and alone. And when we find ourselves in such a place, we are vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed by the messiness of life and the hardships that seek to take life away from us and leave us hopeless and breathless spiritually. And when we are so vulnerable and isolated, we are tempted to believe that everything we hear in the Gospels is a mere pipedream.
Resist that temptation! Remember that the saints are in our midst. Rejoice even now amid Holy Week, even as we prepare to begin the Three Days’ Liturgy tomorrow night. Christ is victorious among his saints! Those whom we love but see no longer have been crowned by Christ with a life free from sin and suffering that shall never be taken away. Recall that the promise of the Gospel is that Jesus will bring us through all that this life and this world can throw at us, for he is stronger than all these forces, and is always bigger than our problems, our sufferings and our hardships. And then be that cloud of witnesses one to another and to a world who so desperately needs to receive again and again such a gift of peace and hope, of life and love, of a God who cherishes us and longs to draw us into eternal relationship that begins in this life and climaxes in the life of the world to come.
Father
Timothy
Alleman
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