Today we ll be looking at the Roll Call of Faith in Hebrews. It s one of those passages that needs very little commentary, and so for the most part,

Transcription

1 Today we ll be looking at the Roll Call of Faith in Hebrews. It s one of those passages that needs very little commentary, and so for the most part, I m going to read the text and say very little about it. This passage was originally a sermon, and it stands on it s own, so I ll try not to monkey it up with my comments. Mainly, I ll spend some time with the beginning and ending of the text. So here goes... 1

2 The author of Hebrews, the Preacher as he s often referred to, gives to us here his working definition of faith. It s the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. In other words, says the famous Presbyterian preacher, Thomas Long (1997), faith already possesses in the present what God has promised for the future... People of faith have a confidence today, here and now when all hell is breaking loose around us, that the promises of God for peace, justice, mercy, and salvation can be trusted (p. 113). And the Preacher is about to give... A number of citations in this presentation come from: Long, T. G. (1997). Hebrews. Louisville, Ky: John Knox Press. 2

3 ... a litany of people who had faith, who trusted in the promises. But faith is more than an inner assurance. Faith is the reality of those promises moving as an advance force and operating behind enemy lines (Long, 1997, p. 113). Thomas Long illustrated it this way: Faith as an inward reality sings We Shall Overcome. Faith as an outward reality marches at Selma (pp ) for justice and equality... The second phrase of this verse speaks more about... 3

4 ... what faith understands about our existence. Faith says there is more to this life than what we can see. Like Paul said in the second letter to the Corinthians, What can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal, so we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 4:18; 5:7). Through the eyes of faith, we do not live in a meaningless swirl of energy and matter but a purposeful creation, an expression of the love of God sustained by God s hidden (Long, 1997, p. 114) labor of love. Through the eyes of faith, God s grace and love is everywhere. As Thomas Long wrote, Faith is the ability to see with the inner eye, to see what cannot be seen with the natural eye (p. 114). So now the Preacher treats us to a long list of people who exercised this kind of faith... 4

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14 Verses 39 and 40 seem a little puzzling, but maybe what the Preacher was trying to say was the ministry of Jesus Christ establishes a great unbroken cord of faith that stretches from the beginning of human history all the way into the heavenly sanctuary in the City of God, where the cord has been securely fastened and anchored by Jesus (Long, 1997, p. 126). In this unbroken cord, the people of faith hang onto the cord and to each other. Like an unbroken chain, we need each other. One link is joined to the next and the next... And now the Preacher brings home the message in his finale... 14

15 So now we are transported to the sports arena where we, the people of faith, are drafted as the final runners in a great relay race of faith. The baton has been passed from Abel to Enoch to Noah to Abraham, each runner handing it on to the next (Long, 1997, p. 128). Now it s our turn. The previous runners have taken their seats in the stadium (p. 128). They make up the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. It s our turn to take the baton and run our leg of the race. So we have to get rid of anything that would hold us back. We have to get rid of the sin that trips us up and binds us... As I was researching this passage, I found a quote... 15

16 ... from Cleo Fields. At age 25 he was a state senator in Louisiana, the youngest state senator in the country. He spoke during the 1988 presidential election as Jesse Jackson became the first African American in a major party to run a nationwide primary campaign. He said, Booker T. Washington started to teach so Rosa Parks could take her seat. Rosa Parks took her seat so Fannie Lou Hamer could take her stand. Fannie Lou Hamer took her stand so Martin Luther King Jr. could march. Martin Luther King marched so Jesse Jackson could run. And today we could add: Jesse Jackson ran so Barack Obama could become president. Politics aside, we can see how important it was for each person in the struggle for civil rights to do their part. Pastor Joyce Hollyday says... 16

17 ... Each step forward in the civil rights struggle depended on the faithful step of someone else. The same could be said of every movement for freedom and justice everywhere. Those who take the initial and middle steps may not see the promise, but they have moved the world that much closer to it. And their perfection depends on us. The vision only keeps moving forward as long as we pick up the ball and run. The efforts of all those who went before us end in failure if we don't do our part (Hollyday). If we go back to our working definition of faith, this is the faith that moves as an advance force operating behind enemy lines. This is putting our faith in the race, running our leg of the race. And as we run the race, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. He ran the first leg; he pioneered the way, and he will make our efforts complete... And as Historian Vincent Harding points out

18 There is a great cheering squad for us. In the midst of everything that seems so difficult, that seems so powerful, that seems so overwhelming, they are saying to us: 'We are with you,' and 'There is a way through'...don't give up! No excuse for drooping-at least not for long. No excuse for not running-or at least walking strong...'cause we are surrounded, folks. So, let's...get down with some real longdistance walking and running-and maybe even some flying like eagles, in due time. That's our tradition. That's our destiny. That's our hope. So go right on, brothers and sisters...there is a city to build (Cited by Hollyday)... And this week we can be sure that the Great Cloud of Witnesses cheering us on includes Bobby Cumbow and Lisa Burson. What a comfort it is to know they re rooting for us! 18

19 What are the things that hold us back? How can we throw off the extra baggage and keep our eyes on Jesus? How can we operate as a cheering cloud of witnesses on this side of glory? And today we will observe communion, knowing that as we celebrate this ancient ritual, we are joining the cloud of witnesses. We celebrate with them Jesus love for us and his conquering of sin and death. 19

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