A Great Cloud casts a Giant Shadow...

Run a marathon... 26 miles?  No way!  That sounds difficult if not impossible!  I really don’t have the desire, nor the stamina to take on such a challenging endeavor.  Tell you what, how ‘bout I just stand along the way of the race and watch everyone else running?  I’ll cheer them on, encourage them.  But, I can’t run.    

Now, that might be the reaction from many of us to running a real marathon of 26 miles.  I know its not on my bucket list.  But how do you feel when you contemplate your journey as a Christian?  Are you prepared for the long haul?  Do you have the stamina and strength to make the journey?  We’re told that our lives in Christ will be much like a marathon, not a sprint.  

Actually, the question is not so much whether the Christian life is a short sprint or a long marathon, but do we really understand that the Christian life is a race that must be run if we want to claim what God has promised awaits us at the finish... a crown of life? Just like what happens in a real race, some train and finish well while others are in it for the free T-shirt and suntan. Which one are you?  How do we run in a way so we can win?  First, let me say, winning this race, is simply finishing the race.  It’s not about beating fellow runners to a finish line.  In this race, finishing and finishing well is the victory.

Okay, if you are a Christian you will need help to run this race to victory.  It’s not a race we can run on our own strength.  We can depend on God’s grace and His help to run the race. In fact, at times He will even carry us along the way during difficult times.  God as your race partner is essential to even be in the race.  But I think we need more.  We need examples of real flesh and blood sin-prone humans who have run the race and finished well.  God has provided just what we need... its like a hall of fame... a legion of honor, made up of people just like us, who ran and finished God’s race.

The Bible calls such ones “a great cloud of witnesses” and they can be our encouragement and we can draw strength from their experiences.  Who are “the cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1?   Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Here the writer to the Hebrews exhorts all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, the “author and perfecter of our faith” (v. 2), to do two things. First, we are to remove or put off any burden that keeps us from Christ-likeness, especially sin because sin ensnares us and keeps us in bondage. Second, we are to persevere, patiently enduring all things until we grow and mature in the faith.  James reminds us that trials serve to strengthen our faith and bring us to maturity (James 1:2-3).  Hebrews 12:1 is reminding us to persevere through our trials, knowing that, by God’s faithfulness, we won’t be overwhelmed by them (1 Corinthians 10:13).

So who are the “cloud of witnesses,” and how is it they “surround” us? To understand this, we need to look at the previous chapter, as evidenced by the word therefore beginning chapter 12.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of the Old Testament believers looked forward with faith to the coming of the Messiah.  The author of Hebrews illustrates this eloquently in chapter 11 and then ends the chapter by telling us that these men and women of Old Testament times had faith to guide and direct them, but God had something better planned. They didn’t have a clear picture of the future or of the magnitude of God’s promises, but they trusted in God enough to build a sustaining faith that carried them through a life of loyalty and obedience to God.  They had hope and trusted by faith that God would fill in the details of His promises in His due time.  

Hebrews chapter 11 recognizes these faithful men and women who paved the way for us.  Trail blazers!  Pioneers!  What the Old Testament believers looked forward to in faith—the Messiah—we look back to, having seen the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning His first coming.  

We are surrounded by the saints of the past in a unique way.  It’s not that the faithful ones who have gone before us are spectators to the race we are running.  Nor should we expect them to be engaged spiritual helpers for us in our journey.  Rather, they are a figurative representation and means of encouragement... they did it... they made their journey with God and finished well... so can we!  That’s the message of Hebrews chapter 11 and 12:1-2... many many have gone before you and me with much less information, much less clarity, and they held fast to a faith in a God who never fails to keep His promises.  

So, a great cloud of witnesses have gone before us! Since God and man began carving out a relationship, men and women from all walks of life, from all places on the earth, from all generations, can attest to the power of God in their lives.  Most especially has this been encouraging since the Day of Pentecost, when the  Church was born and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came into the lives of born again believers:  they heard, they listened, they trusted, they obeyed and they succeeded in their journey with God’s help.  Countless millions over the past 2,000 years have run their race to glory.  Some known, but most are nameless and faceless, known only to God for their faithful lives and their races finished well.  

Today, we should act as if they are all in sight and cheering us on to the same victory born of a life of faith that carried them to the finish and their crowns of eternal life. We should be inspired to keep on keepin' on... motivated by the godly examples these saints who have gone before us, whose lives of faith encourage us to run the race for life... eternal life, strong to our finish. 

Run for the crown!  You can make it.  We all can, if we simply trust and obey and look to those who are already there.  We can draw courage and strength from “that great cloud of witnesses” for the race set before us!

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  
1 Timothy 4:7