Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is writing to a community facing persecution and uncertainty. How will you hold onto your faith under these pressures? Faith, (our faith and not the faithfulness of God) can be fickle at the best of times.

So the Author parades all the great names of the faith before them; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the prophets and others. These people had great faith because they hoped for what could not be seen and for what they might never see. You are part of that faith tradition. Their faith is now part of your faith and you are now part of this community’s faith.

The Author concludes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, --------- let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

Not just the people with us now in our faith communities, but also that great cloud of witnesses are surrounding us and supporting us. That body of Christ just keeps getting bigger. Look at your church on a Sunday. The place is packed! From all of them and from each other, we draw the strength to run the race of faith before us, looking to Jesus, the perfector of our faith.

Rev. Chris Howard
13th August, 2007