Sermon

A Cloud of Witnesses

Scripture Text:

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that 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 sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Sermon:

Having just come back from a week-long family reunion alongside 22 other Haverkamps and five of their dogs, I don’t think Jesus’ proclamation about division in families is quite as shocking as it first appears.

One of my dad’s sisters brought a family photo album along that week. I love looking at photo albums – seeing my parents, my aunts and uncles, and grandparents stretching back several generations, in all kinds of clothes and hairdos. And when I see the photo albums I know the stories behind the pictures and smiling faces, too. You probably do, too. I know a little about what these people were going through at different points in their lives: the deaths of children, cancer, divorce, and just like Jesus said, the divides that can open up between family members, whether caused by something necessary or something stupid. I also know the great triumphs in my family behind those photos – surviving the Depression, my mother’s family making a new life in America, graduations, careers, and people moving beyond the dark times in their lives. It’s important to understand the weaknesses of our families – yes, there’s always dysfunction and that forms part of who we are and our own weaknesses.

But our families, no matter how dysfunctional, are also bearers of strength for us – our families, even if they all they did was give birth to us, were also survivors. And their faith and their strength are also part of who we are.

The writer of Hebrews is looking back over our family of faith in the same way. We hear a sort of photo album of people of the Bible: the people who crossed over the Red Sea; Rahab, the prostitute who hid the Hebrew spies; the people who marched around the city of Jericho; Sampson and Daniel, who shut the mouths of lions; the people who won strength out of weakness like Gideon and Esther.1

People who suffered and people who survived. People who triumphed and people who struggled.
So, we’re never alone. We’re all part of a family — blood family, adopted family, and faith family — with experience both in surviving suffering and in living and thriving. People who carried on because of their faith in God’s power in their lives, no matter what else was happening.

We can find that family in our own photo albums at home and in the Bible. We can find that family in the stories passed down about people in the church throughout history. We can know that our family strengths live even in the family we don’t know much about – whether they died too soon, or whether we were adopted, or whether they were lost to us because of arguments, immigration, mental illness, or any of the many things that can divide families from one another.

Now, some of the people in the Bible and in our families were very successful. They toppled armies, they won praise, they became kings and queens and leaders in their communities. Others were not exactly successful. They were persecuted, they were put in prison, they lost their homes, they died of terrible diseases, they died far from home.

But in our families and in the Bible, these people are all mixed together! We do not have separate sections in our photo albums for the “winners” and “losers” or “those who suffered more” and “those who succeeded more.” And the Bible doesn’t do that either. But we can know, as the writer of Hebrews says over and over again, that all these people lived their lives in faith. “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” And so whether we find in our lives that we are happy, fulfilled, and successful, or whether we find that we feel disappointed, unsatisfied, or in great pain, or some combination of those, we can know that we are part of a family of people who have known all those things. We have company. And a life of faith can lead us down either road; neither means that we are especially perfect people or especially sinful people.

And yet, Hebrews also reminds us that whatever road we walk on, we’re not supposed to walk thoughtlessly or float along like we’re in an inner tube at a water park.

Faith is no reason to sit idly and let life pass us by, or a reason to hide away from the world. We have a race to run. A marathon, really. And we are called to summon every inch of our faith and strength to do that.

We don’t run that race alone, and yet, what if – even with the cloud of witnesses around us – it’s so hard that we’re not sure we or someone we love is going to make it to the end?

The most important member of our family runs ahead of us. We run the race that is set before us, the writer of Hebrews says, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Jesus runs ahead of us – and has run long and hard, through success and suffering, through his painful and shameful death on the cross to the other side – to life, joy, and resurrection. He is the pioneer of human life. And he is its perfecter. He invites us all to follow him, to know that if we run, he is running with us. He can provide whatever faith we are lacking and fill in whatever holes in us are hurting.

Remember that your family of faith surrounds you, remember the race that lies ahead of us, and remember Jesus is running ahead of you: our pacesetter, our pioneer, and our greatest witness.

Amen.

1 Adapted from the thoughts of Bryan J. Whitfield, workingpreacher.org

Uploaded on August 15, 2010 in by AdamFrieberg

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