A Heritage of Faith

Hebrews Series

Hebrews 11:29–12:2 NRSV

29 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. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32 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— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 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— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 1 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, 2 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.

This is the Word of God for the People of God.

Thanks be to God.

I. Introduction

These days, more and more people are curious about their family roots. Some send off their DNA to websites like Ancestry.com or 23andMe and discover relatives they never knew about.

But you know, long before the internet and DNA testing, families right here in Mississippi kept their heritage alive in other ways.

I think about those old family Bibles that many of us grew up seeing—pages worn thin, filled with names, births, marriages, and even handwritten notes in the margins.

Or those shoeboxes of black-and-white photographs tucked away in a closet.

Or the stories passed down at the kitchen table, where grandparents and great-grandparents made sure the next generation knew where they came from.

Whenever I hear those stories in my own family, it gives me a sense of pride and identity. It reminds me that my life didn’t start with me—I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me.

I want to share something with you all.

Since the age of ten, I haven’t had a grandparent.

Both my paternal grandparents died a year or a few months before I was born. I never had the pleasure of meeting them.

My maternal grandmother died when I was ten. I have some memories of her but I can’t say that I truly know her.

My mother’s father was not in the picture so of course I never got the opportunity to meet him.

I can remember growing up and hearing people talk about their grandparents or spending the night with their grandparents.

I hear people talk about how they could go beyond their parents and speak to their grandparents.

JaLease had the joy of knowing both sets of her grandparents, even her great grandparents.

I look at how she beams with joy when talking about them or sharing memories of them.

I look at how she interacts with her only surviving grandmother and I cherish those moments on her behalf because I know what the alternative is.

Something that is important to me is that Gianna gets to experience the love of her grandparents.

Grandparents and other ancestors are links or bridges to our identities.

They are a bridge to the past.

Think about your own grandparents for a moment.

Think about all the stories they told you.

Stories about people you’ve never met.

Think about how you were able to place yourself right there in those moments.

Think about the pride that you gained from learning about your family’s origins.

It makes you feel whole doesn’t it?

Last year, my father’s side of my family had a family reunion and the people who planned this reunion wanted to place a real emphasis on everyone learning more about their heritage.

Hearing those stories just gave me deeper sense and appreciation of where I came from.

One of the primary people mentioned in the history of my family was my great grandfather, Rev. John Roberts.

They talked about how he was a pastor and how much he meant to the community in Canton.

Hearing stories about John Roberts resonated with me and I instantly began to feel a connection with him because we shared in the same calling from God.

Since hearing about him, it has been my life’s mission to learn all that I can learn about him because I stand on his shoulders.

Just outside the sanctuary, we have the portrait of every pastor who has served this church.

These saints, many of whom have gone on to glory like; Bishop Clay Lee, Henderson Rasberry, Kelly Pope, Art Kinsley, Buddy Bayliss, and the list goes on.

These men and women were giants in our denomination and seeing my portrait on that wall humbles me and it reminds me of how blessed I am to serve a church whose roots run so deep.

I sometimes come here just to admire that wall and give God thanks because that wall is essentially apart of Leavell Woods’ story. These people were essentially our Moses’, David’s, Samuels, and Elijah’s.

We stand on their shoulders. Not only do we stand on their shoulders but we stand on the shoulders of the hundreds of lay people who have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into this ministry.

Our story, is that old family Bible, the old photos, the stained glass windows, names on the fellowship center. These things make up the photo album for the church.

They remind us of where we came from.

And that’s the same truth the writer of Hebrews is teaching us. Hebrews 11 is like God’s family album. It tells us about Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Rahab, David and so many others who lived by faith. Then Hebrews 12 says we are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,” like they’re still cheering us on from the stands.

Just like those old Bibles, photographs, and family stories remind us of our earthly heritage, Scripture reminds us that we have a heritage of faith.

We are part of something much bigger than ourselves—God’s story, carried through generations, now passed on to us.

In those difficult times on our faith journey, it doesn’t always feel that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

At the time of difficulty, we can’t see the bigger picture. During those moments, we just see the walls closing in on us.

We can become discouraged or even get to the point where consider leaving our faith.

This is what is happening here in our text on this morning.

A group of Jewish Christians are experiencing difficulty on every front and they need some encouragement.

Things are so rough that there were some among them who gave in to the pressure and renounced their faith. They were faced with the threat of persecution or death because of their faith in Christ and they chose to fall away. Scholars call these the lapsey.

And I could only imagine how those who chose to stick with it felt after seeing people that they considered spiritual brothers and sisters fall away at their own choosing.

That had to be hard.

That had to be difficult.

Then on top of that, they are faced with the same threats of persecution.

The persecution that these people were experiencing were not what Christians in America went through.

So often we hear that “we”, Christians are under attack here in America but when you think about the things these Christians in the book of Hebrews during the early church had to experience, I think we would be careful to say that we’re under attack.

I’m pretty sure each of us made it here without having to worry about the government police and national guard questioning us about where we are going because it’s Sunday.

We don’t have to meet in secret and switch worship locations every week out of fear of being persecuted.

There are no secret churches that I know of.

We don’t have to worry about government police coming in and shutting us down because we are worshipping. In fact, we have a high ranking officer from Jackson Police Department here on our premises to ensure that we can worship safely. (Shoutout to you Officer Looney for your faithfulness in serving us. We appreciate you!)

But we don’t have to worry about the things that those Christians in 68-70 AD had to worry about.

I can remember going to college and assuming everyone considered themselves a Christian. I had no idea that people practiced a religion that was different than mine. Then I met someone who didn’t believe in Jesus and I was shocked.

The vast majority of people within our context consider themselves Christian, whether they attend church regularly or not.

This is why most churches in the south are full on Easter, Mother’s Day, and Christmas Eve.

But that is not the world that these early Christians were living in.

They had to meet in secret.

The vast majority of society in that time either were pagans or in these Christians case, were Jewish.

To practice another religion or to denounce the religion you were born would have grave consequences. You would be disowned or in the case of these Christians who converted from Judaism to Christianity, they could be killed without consequence.

Three things defined you in that day. Your family name, your nationality or heritage, and your religion. Your religion was often tied to your heritage.

So if this is how people identify you. If this is what makes you, you. Then we can see how difficult it was for them to leave behind any part of themselves.

This is why the disciples giving up their professions to follow Jesus was a big deal. They left behind everything to defined them to follow a strange man.

Each one of these Jewish Christians took a risk by essentially saying I’m leaving me behind. Everything that defines me. Everything that’s important to me, I leave behind because this Good News that I heard is liberating. This community that I am joining cares for neighbor and speaks about grace and tells me that I am a son or daughter of the almighty God. Not only that but this God loved me enough to give up his only begotten son for me.

This son defeated death so death is not end. I can have eternal life. Moses, David, Samuel, Gideon, Abraham, you name it. All of those great figures in Israel’s history didn’t even have access to this but I do. Sign me up!

They left behind everything that made them comfortable. They exhibited the same faith shown by Abraham when he left his father’s house.

And they did all of this knowing how it would be perceived.

And y’all, it was perceived just as they had anticipated it would be but it was even worse than that.

There was the threat of being stoned and beaten by the Jewish authority leaders.

There was the threat of being shamed by those they grew up with.

They were being disowned by their own family.

And to make matters wore, the Roman emperors hated the Christians.

Nero used many of them as human torches to light his extravagant dinner parties by burning them alive.

Then in 64 AD, the city of Rome almost burned to the ground and guess who Nero blamed for it; the Christians.

But he failed to mention that he did nothing despite knowing that the city was burning to the ground. Instead scholars report that he simply played the violin while all of this was happening.

Another emperor would make Christians fight to the death in the coliseum and when they didn’t fight, he fed them to the lions.

They were sawn in half in public.

They faced all manner of things.

This is what these Christians were dealing with. They were facing persecution from their own people and the Roman establishment.

This was absolutely the most difficult time for a person to be a Christian.

So, there’s no wonder why their anxiety was high. There’s no wonder why they need to be encouraged.

And so, the writer does just this.

He commends them for their faith. Then he reminds them of their family tree. He reminds them of their faith heritage and essentially tells them to keep the faith.

Yes, things are difficult. They are hard. Some among you have fallen away but God will be faithful to you. You just have to be faithful to him.

The reason why I know is because of those great saints before you.

Each them did impossible things and it was done through faith.

They are a part of the great story of our God and if God was faithful to them despite their shortcomings, and ALL of them had their shortcomings. Then he will be faithful to you.

Because you have something that they didn’t have nor could they perceive at the time. You have Jesus and the promise of the resurrection. Things may be tough now but know that your story won’t end with you dying in the mouth of a lion. It doesn’t end with you hanging on a tree. It doesn’t even end with you being lit on fire.

Your story never ends because of your faith in Jesus.

You are justified through your faith in Jesus and because Jesus is the author and finisher, the perfector of our faith, you will have eternal life.

And guess what, those sisters and brothers who you watched become martyrs share in that promised resurrection. You are never alone because those who have gone on before you. Those who have run the race are right there with you cheering you on.

I don’t know about y’all but that’s Good News to me on this morning. It is Good News that we don’t run this thing called life alone.

Those saints who have gone on before us are there rooting for us and y’all that’s comforting and encouraging.

It is encouraging to me that my great grandfather is there among that great cloud of witnesses cheering me on.

It is encouraging and comforting to me that those saints who have made the church what it is are among that great cloud of witnesses.

I want you to do something for me. I want you to think about our church or a church that has shaped you along your faith journey.

Think about those people who impacted you but are no longer with us.

Think about those whose contributions to this church make it what is today.

Then I want you to call the names of those people.

(Pause)

We must make sure that their work is not in vain.

We have to build upon the legacy that they left.

And the beauty of all of this is that the writer reminds us that we can’t do this thing alone.

We have to look to Jesus and follow him to continue the work that he began in those who have gone on before us.

When I think about those old family Bibles, the faded photographs, and the stories told around the table, I’m reminded that one day, someone will tell our story.

Just as we cherish the heritage passed down to us, future generations will look back and see how we ran our race.

As United Methodists, we have a rich spiritual heritage. I think about Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley.

She was a woman with very little in terms of wealth or influence, but she lived by faith. With a house full of children and endless responsibilities, she still carved out time every day to pray.

She taught her children the Scriptures, and in doing so, she passed on a faith that shaped the world.

Because of her quiet but steady witness, John went on to lead a revival, and Charles gave us hymns that still strengthen the church today.

How will you run the race?

In the name of the father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen