Rochester, MN UCC - "So Great a Cloud of Witnesses" - Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Sponsorship is a hallmark of 12 step recovery programs. It is a process whereby a newcomer looking to get clean or sober finds a sponsor in the program who has a significant amount of time in recovery. The sponsor serves as a mentor and companion on the newcomer’s road to recovery. This is particularly effective because the sponsor serves as direct evidence that sobriety is possible. The sponsor is someone who has been right where the newcomer currently is, someone who has gone through the suffering and insanity of addiction and has come through the other side. It’s tremendously powerful to know that you are not alone, that others have gone before you; that there is peace on the other side of our present suffering.
In the letter to the Hebrews, the apostle Paul gives a lengthy list of the heroes of Israelite religion and the various sufferings and tribulations that they overcame through their faith in God. We hear of Gideon, Barak, Samson and David and others who, “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” Paul wants Christians to identify with these people and their faith in God. He wants us to see that others have gone before us. Others have endured great suffering just as we also suffer trials and tribulations. We are not alone.
Faith in God through Jesus Christ is what unites these ancestors to us. They drew their strength from faith in God and God’s promises of salvation. God enacted those promises and brought salvation through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Believers before and after Jesus’ death and resurrection are united to Christ, and in Christ to one another through faith. Paul writes, ““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 faith…” This Sunday, let's give thanks for the great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us, and ask God to strengthen our faith that we might share in the sufferings and triumph of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Andrew Greenhaw