Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1).There is a picture that I love. It is Jesus himself holding the door open to a room. A man has arrived and Jesus is inviting him into the room which is filled with people of all races and times, dressed every way imaginable. They are all sitting at a huge table and eating and drinking and in general having a good time. The door is death, the table is the eternal feast of the saints in the rest of God, the people are those who have gone before.
It is one of my favorite paintings. In it I see dinner with those who have come before, sharing, laughing, eating together, praising.
That is the thing with Christianity. You are not alone. You are not a member of a small church somewhere in Nebraska. You are not part of a denomination. You are a child of God and, as such, are part of the largest family in existence.
A lot of people have come before us and a lot will follow us. We see those who were great people of God years, centuries, millennia before us. Those who come after us will see us and our faith.
We see examples and we are examples. And those examples give us the chance and ability and opportunity and encouragement to do what is right in our lives.
Hebrews 11 gives a list of some of those who have come before. And its main point is that faith is visible and produces action. By faith these people did things. And by faith they received the grace and salvation of God.
Romans 15:4 says: Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
Those who came before us encourage us. They do so both by their lives and the simple fact that they did what they were supposed to do.
They were like us in so many ways. Sure, they were different, they were sometimes thousands of years before us, they dressed funny and spoke in comprehensible languages. But they share a common bond with us: they were children of God.
We see them and we are encouraged. And we react to them. We see their spiritual journey and we continue on ours. We see them struggle against adversity and we continue in our struggle. We see them sin and pick themselves up and go on. We see God forgive them. We see them fight against almost insurmountable odds yet keeping on.
Sometimes we see them die in pursuit of God’s will and we hear God say in Revelation 14:13: Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!
And we know he loves us as much as he loved them.
Let us be examples of godliness others can see. Don’t let those down who went before or who come after.
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