This August, we are working our way through the final chapters of the book of Hebrews, which provides what we might call “final instructions” that the writer wants to leave behind for a beleaugered community. These were people holding onto hope in Christ’s imminent return and its delay was reaching crisis point. The community was encountering the inevitable struggles, sufferings, and even doubt, that accompanies people who confess faith in Christ’s promises. In this, like other books of the Bible, Hebrews is written for us. (You can hear the first sermon in this series from last week.)

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 continues on the theme of “faith,” which started earlier in the chapter. In this portion of the writing, the author seems to be acknowledging that naming all the ways our world does not match God’s vision for creation isn’t the challenge we face. The challenge is discerning how we live and continue trusting in God’s promises made known in Jesus in the face of a world that doesn’t match God’s vision.

Faced with this reality, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we don’t have to figure out how to proceed on our own. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses – a veritable hall of fame of faith – who have traveled before us whose lives and stories remind us of what God’s people can do when filled with faith! People whose lives reflect what Martin Luther described as a “living, daring confidence in God’s grace so sure and certain that the believer would stake [their] life on it a thousand times.” (See Ponderings below for a link to the Dancing Saints, one church’s vision of this great cloud!)

Who would you name in your hall of fame of faith? Who are the people who have planted faith in you? Who are the ones who have shown you what faithful living looks like in the midst of struggles, suffering, and doubt? Who are the ones who cheer you on and have believed in you even when you might not believe in yourself!

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses cheering us on and dancing among us as we live in trust and hope of God’s promises of abundant and everlasting life. We are not in this journey of faith alone! This is surely good news.

There is one other important final instruction that Hebrews leaves us. It’s contained in three words . . . “by faith Rahab.” Rahab was not even an Israelite and here she is listed among the great cloud of witnesses!

Hebrews final instructions also remind us that if we’re never surprised by any of the faces in that great cloud, maybe we’ve missed the point, maybe we need to look more closely . . . maybe, just maybe, we need to remove our blinders.