Witnesses of Faith

Introduction

Last week we started talking about the meaning of faith and how it is directly tied to acting. We can use words but until we act upon our faith, it is hard to know whether we are truly acting out of faith or just relying on our abilities. This week we continue that conversation but from a different perspective. This week we are talking about witnesses to faith. We read about these heroes of faith and how their faith is what made their righteous before God. It was their faith, not their abilities that God was proud of. It was not their perfection as the author points out they could not accomplish without Christ. They looked forward to the coming Savior who perfected our faith. Lets go back and look at these to see who the author is talking about in Hebrews 12:1.

Hebrews 12:1 NRSV

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,

Who is the cloud of witnesses

If you are like me, each time I read that verse, I ask the question, who is this cloud of witnesses that the author is mentioning. The answer is simple. The answer is all of these people in chapter 11 and many more on top of that. It is all the people who have come before us who are witnesses to the result of their faith and others.

Remember the story of the Israelites being told by God to cross the Red Sea. God caused the wind to blow and a path was opened up. They stepped forward in faith to talk through the Red Sea on dry ground.

Remember the story in Joshua where the Israelites are told to simply walk around Jericho for 7 days. They acted in faith and the mighty walls of Jericho fell down.

Remember Rahab in Joshua as well. Out of faith, she hid the spies and was spared from those who were destroyed.

Remember the stories of the Judges, in the book of Judged where each judge placed their faith in God to deliver the Israelites from their enemies against overwhelming odds.

Remember the stories of Samuel the last judge and the first prophet found in the 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Samuel learned of faith early in his life and feared nobody but God and faithfully did what God asked.

Remember the many stories we have of King David in 1 and 2 Samuel. David placed his faith in God knowing God would deliver him from his enemies, including King Saul. David placed his faith in God that every battle would be won because God was with them.

There are many stories though of those whose faith endured pain and suffering. These are the prophets and the martyrs. The faith of these people did not waver even in the face of pain and death.

Yet the author of Hebrews says at the end of chapter 11, they did not receive what was promised. Their faith while great was still missing something greater God had in store for all.

Perfecter of faith

Jesus Christ is that promise and he is the perfecter of our faith. He is the perfecter of all of these witnesses’ faith. Jesus Christ is the one who encourages us to keep pressing on. Jesus has completed our faith in the work of the cross for our redemption and in the resurrection for our eternal life with God.

Which of these faith heroes had Christ’s redeeming work and proof of their resurrection? None! Yet they all looked forward to God completing the unknown work. Their faith assured them God had a plan. Christ was the fulfillment of that plan.

When we read their stories, it may seem at first everything was complete yet the world had not been restored, humanity still struggled against sin. Their faith was God had a plan for this, even when they did not experience it in their life on earth.

Faith is our pillar

So how do we put action behind our faith? It is the same as these people we just read about. When God calls you to go, you go. God told the Israelites to cross the Red Sea and they went. When God says do something, then we do that something. The Israelites were told to quietly march around Jericho for 7 days and only on the seventh day, they shouted and the walls of Jericho fell. Rahab had faith in God of the Israelites so she hid the spies and lived in peace. When God told them to speak, the judges and prophets spoke to the people of God. This came at a cost to them, yet they did this anyway.

I think you understand what I am driving at hear. Each of these people acted out of faith. No matter what God was asking of them or telling them to do, the believed God’s purpose in this was good. They believed God’s plans were good. Even when they did not get immediate results or when they had to endure for a future glory, their faith allowed them to keep believing in God.

Faith is a pillar which we hold to. Christ is our assurance. Despite things not going according to plan, keeping on the task God has appointed us to, faith keeps us firm.

Witnesses

Think of how we look to each of these stories. We are encouraged by their faith. Our faith can encourage others too. Each of us is a witness. Each of us can act in faith and others bear witness to it. This is how we each encourage one another to seek God’s purpose and plan and to step forward in faith into the unknown. Each of these faith heroes did this and we have the testimony to read and share with others. Each of us too has a testimony of our faith. When we act on faith, there is a story to share. We then are added to that cloud of witnesses watching other people’s faith grow.

Next steps

So now what, while this all sounds so simple, we often get stuck in the first step. What do I do now? How do I act on faith? It all starts with prayer. As you have heard me all summer preach on, it is important to seek out and get to know what gift or gifts the Holy Spirit has given you. This helps you understand what may be next. If you have been gifted the gift of giving, then give cheerfully. If you have been given the gift of discernment, then speak out when God tells you. If you have been given the gift of healing, then pray for others. If you have been given the gift of exhortation, then encourage others.

Each of these gifts serves a bigger purpose than you. Each of these gifts work together. Each of these gifts work because we place our faith in God to respond because of our faith. Each of these gifts is for building up the body. When the body is working together in faith, mountains are moved, communities are impacted.

For me

I went to the quarterly clergy meeting this past Thursday. One of the items that challenged me was how do you work through the transition of change? Are we setting small, achievable goals to move forward or are we stuck between the past and the future? I would like for us to pray about this.

First I would like you to pray for what small goals we should consider for mission work. I had one person come to me last week recommending we help with school snacks and another opportunity is to help with clothing needs of a head start school. There are many options out there so lets set a goal for what mission work we want to set out to work on this fall.

Second, discipleship and spiritual disciplines is an important part of our spiritual growth journey. What goals do you as an individual want to set? How can the church or others help you to accomplish those goals? Do you need help setting those goals? Come forward with what you want to accomplish for following Jesus more closely this fall.

Lastly, I want you to pray about this last one. On my way home from that clergy meeting, I was wrestling with why I have dragged my feet on starting back up the Wednesday night bible study group. While I did not understand before on my way home, it came to me that perhaps Wednesday night needs to be an alternative to Sunday morning worship.

Sunday morning worship is setup a certain way and it is important that it remains that way.

However, what is Wednesday night was done with a different purpose? What we were to rethink church service in a way that still accomplished the general purposes but became much more interactive?

I was thinking about breaking the service up into different segments that served a goal.

First part of the service may be meeting as a community to talk about the community. In other words, this could be a time to talk about how God is working in the community or it would be a time to bring up ways in which the church could interact more with the community or try and help with a need in the community. The goal and purpose of this segment is to connect the church and community together.

Second part of the service will still be focused on discipleship. This means there may be a small bible teaching. This may mean we learn and practice a spiritual discipline that reinforces the teaching or gives us a way to practice it away from church. This may also be a time to celebrate accomplishments or moments you have witnessed God’s grace at work. The goal in this segment is about reinforcing we are learning and practicing what Scripture teaches us.

I know this may be a lot to try and think and pray about but this is how we can act in faith. I truly believe God wants us to focus on being in connection with the community. I truly believe God wants more of us in our commitment to following Jesus as disciples. Bring your ideas forward. Talk to each other about these ideas. Bring your questions forward. Lets talk through the questions and start to move forward into our new future of ministry together with God leading us.