Cloud of Witnesses

Sunday (Nov. 4) our congregation celebrated All Saints' (traditionally observed on Nov. 1) along with many other Christian churches around the world. Having grown up in one of the "ahistorical" denominations, All Saints was one of those things I discovered as an adult exploring the wider world of Christianity.

In the church of my youth, it was "there was Jesus and the apostles...then later our congregation was established and here we are." What happened between the apostles and us was treated as irrelevancy. Yet, a lot has happened these 2000 years that has helped shaped us and influenced us today.

All Saints is one of those reminders that we, in this generation, didn't "invent" Church nor, as Paul points out, did the "gospel begin with us." We are heir to a tradition, whether we acknowledge it or not. Our "convictional genes" are part of our Christian, and our particular denominational, DNA.

We are who we are because of who they were--as that phrase in the book of Hebrews reminds--that "great cloud of witnesses" of all times and places, who faced "dungeon, fire, and sword," who remained true to the Christian faith as they understood it.

We don't own our DNA--it's something we receive, hold in trust, and pass on. Some day future generations will remember us as part of their "cloud of witnesses." May we be found faithful.