Heroes of Faith (Hebrews 11:29-12:2)

Just over a week ago some of the primary-school aged young people from our church were involved in their school’s concert. They did an amazing job showing incredible dance skills to songs from a range of popular musicals. Each part of the performance was received with massive applause from a packed theatre full of relatives and friends.

It takes a lot of courage to perform in front of a big crowd so all of these students are to be congratulated for getting up on stage and giving it their best efforts. Could you imagine what it would be like, however, for some of the biggest performers in the world to sing or dance in front of massive audiences? For example, Wembley Stadium in London, one of the most prestigious venues in the world, seats up to 90,000 people! What do you think it would it be like for artists like Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift to perform in front of that many people?

If music or the performing arts aren’t your thing, how would you like to play football on Grand Final day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,000 people? Performing at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 people would be a bit different to the MCG because on Grand Final day probably about half of the people would be barracking for the opposing team and would be very happy to boo you if you did something wrong.

It can be really hard to get up in front of people if we think the people who are watching us are going to criticise or laugh at us if we make a mistake. It becomes much easier if you know that all those people are on your side, supporting you and encouraging you in what you were doing. Imagine that: one hundred thousand people all cheering you on to do your best!

That’s the picture that we read about in Hebrews 12:1-2. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes about a ‘huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith’ (v1 NLT) that surrounds us. He’s writing about a crowd that’s much bigger than the audiences in the MCG or Wembley Stadium. It’s all of God’s people from across the centuries. They aren’t there to criticise us. They’re not just waiting for us to mess up so they can laugh at us. They’re not there to heckle us like an Adelaide Oval full of Crows supporters booing an opposition player who is lining up in front of goals. This ‘huge crowd of witnesses’ surround us to encourage us and to cheer us on in our lives of faith as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and continue towards our eternal destination. Like a Wembley Stadium full of Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift fans, this crowd wants us to do well. They are there to encourage us to live a life of faith in Jesus and reach our heavenly home with him.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews tells us about some of the people in this crowd. The first part of this week’s New Testament reading, Hebrews 11:29-40, talks about the people of Israel who crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land (Exodus 14:15-31) and who marched around the walled city of Jericho (Joshua 6). He writes about Old Testament heroes of faith such as Rahab (Joshua 2), Gideon (Judges 6-8), Barak (Judges 4), Samson (Judges 13-16), Jephthah (Judges 11), David (from 1 Samuel 16), Samuel (from 1 Samuel 1), and the prophets. We can imagine all these Old Testament heroes in the crowd, cheering for us, encouraging us, urging us to keep on trusting God and his powerful love for us, just like they did. They all knew how difficult life in this world can be and how hard it can be to trust God’s promises. However, they were faithful to God their whole lives and that faith got them through really difficult and often dangerous situations. Now, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews asks us to imagine them in the crowd around us, together with all God’s people, encouraging us to keep trusting God’s promises to us as we live in faith, hope and love.

We are not just people who receive support from this ‘great crowd of witnesses.’ God makes us part of that crowd through the Holy Spirit so we can be that crowd for each other as well. Trusting God’s promises to us and living a life of faith in Jesus is never easy, so we not only need to receive the encouragement from that crowd of witnesses, but it’s important that we are encouraging each other as well. As we walk together as a community of faith, help each other in Christ-like love, and together keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who is ‘the champion who initiates and perfects our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2 NLT), we are vital and tangible parts of that huge crowd of witnesses to our sisters and brothers of faith in this world.

It can be pretty scary getting up in front of a crowd of people to do something, whether that’s singing and dancing, playing football, or sharing our faith. It becomes a lot easier and even enjoyable when we know that they are on our side to support, encourage and help us. Maybe the next time you’re in front of a crowd, or you see a massive crowd of people at a football game or a concert, remember the ‘huge crowd of witnesses’ that are around us to encourage us in our faith. They are there to remind us that God is faithful and we can trust him with all things and in all situations. Then let’s join in with that crowd of witnesses by encouraging the people around us in the life of faith as well.

More to think about or discuss:

• How would you like to be in front of a huge crowd, either to perform or play sport? Can you imagine what would it be like for you if they were all on your side, supporting and encouraging you in what you were doing?
• What do you find most challenging or difficult about trusting Jesus or living a life of faith? How might learning & remembering the stories of the Old Testament heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11 help you?
• How might you be able to join in with the huge crowd of witnesses by encouraging a sister or brother in the faith? What could you do this week to do that?