The Great Cloud Of Witnesses

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Hebrews 12:1-3

When Bob Homer was a young boy he had a paper route.

And back in the days of paper routes, the paper girls or boys would have to collect money from each customer by ringing their doorbell once a week.

And so, you got to know the people you delivered the paper to well.

In any event, one of Bob Homer’s customers was the pastor of the local Methodist Church.

Bob was collecting money from him one day and the pastor asked Bob if he might be able to come to the church on Sunday morning because he didn’t have anyone to hand out bulletins.

Bob told the pastor he would have to ask his parents.

Bob’s family didn’t attend church so Bob was unfamiliar with the whole thing.

To Bob’s surprise, his parents allowed him to go.

And that Sunday turned into every Sunday.

Bob came to love the people who were part of that little church.

It’s where he was introduced to Jesus through his saints.

Eventually, Bob felt a call to go into the ministry and off he went to seminary.

Bob was one of the pastors of the church I went to as a kid.

When I was about 11 years old, Bob came up to me after a worship service and asked me if I had ever thought about going into the ministry.

The day before I left for college, the doorbell rang.

It was Bob Homer.

He had bought me a small leather-bond Bible.

It was the first Bible that I really, really read.

Bob passed away a number of years ago, but I feel that he is part of the “great cloud of witnesses” the author of Hebrews writes about.

Over the course of my life as a Christian and a pastor, one thing I have been most blessed by are the people I have been privileged to know.

Hundreds upon hundreds of folks have given me a glimpse of Jesus through their words, actions, and loving presence.

And it continues to this day with you.

One day a man was walking through a beautiful church building with his 4-year-old son.

As they walked, the young boy looked around.

He stopped and was curious about the stained-glass windows that looked beautiful with their bright colors.

As he looked at the windows he asked: “Who are all the people in the windows?”

“They are saints,” said his father.

“What are saints, daddy?” the child asked.

The father was stuck.

How was he going to explain who saints are to a 4-year-old boy?

As the boy was still looking up at the windows and his father was still wondering how he would explain who saints are, the young boy shouted: “I know who saints are, they are the people that the light shines through.”

(pause)

Who are the people in your life through whom the light shines?

Who are the saints that have touched your life with the transforming love of Christ?

Perhaps they are still alive.

Maybe they are members of this congregation.

Maybe they have passed on, and, in a little while you will light a candle in memory of them.

Most of us are given our first glimpse of Jesus through one of his saints.

(pause)

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are not alone.

Not only are there a multitude of people who have gone before us and passed the faith on to us, there are also a multitude of folks who are running the race with us right now.

They are saints.

Saints are the believers.

Saints are the members of Christ’s Church.

Have you ever thought about it this way?

Right now, in this worship service you and I are surrounded by saints.

I know it’s hard to think of ourselves this way, because we know ourselves.

We know our sins and short comings.

And these things can make us feel less than, not worthy, not good enough.

And there is no doubt that we are all sinners.

But we are sinners saved and loved by God…

…by grace through faith and even the ability to believe is a free gift.

There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it.

It is given to us, free of charge, by the One who loves us more than we can imagine…

…so much so that the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus, “for the joy set before him, endured the cross” for our sake.

That’s amazing…

For the joy of saving us…

The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus has gone before us, he’s “marked out the race for us,” and that he is “the pioneer and perfector of our faith.”

Of course, the idea of a race as a way to explain the Christian life is a metaphor.