Witnesses

Each week as I create the bulletin for my church, I review the texts and think about them so I can create a front cover that will reflect the focus of that week's lessons.  Sometimes, a single word jumps out at me, while other times, it is a turn of phrase that catches my attention.  (I am not sure it is always the theme that the pastor or the rest of the congregation thinks it should be, but I try!)

This has been an arduous month for me, for a variety of reasons, and this week a phrase really hit home.  In Hebrews 12:1-2 we read:

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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (NIV)

What beautiful imagery this presents in my mind.  I have written on this text previously, but these words never fail to move me.  The race analogy is one that is immediately relatable, although I think there are deeper meanings than we often understand in our modern day reading of the passages.  There is so much to feast on in these two verses, it is hard to know where to start.  But I see this as a three part promise from God to us, both as individuals, and as all of humanity.

When you translate from one language to another, the subtle meaning can easily be lost, even if you grasp the broader context.  The Greek word which we translate as witnesses is actually martus, (which is the root of the English word martyr) but is also well translated as "legal" witnesses, as opposed to merely spectators.  So what is the difference?  Why does this distinction matter?

A spectator is outside of the situation, a bystander watching with interest but not actually a part of it, while a legal witness is involved firsthand in some way.  And there is more to that phrase which gives us context for this statement, especially if we look backwards in the text and see what comes before this passage.

The Greek word nephos, which is used in this passage, is not only literally cloud (as in fluffy-in-the-sky wisps) but also refers to the highest seats in a stadium.  Contests in the first and second centuries were often enough fights to the death (estimates vary from 15%-25% of all gladiators died in battle, for example.)  Winning was not so much about trophies or money or advertising contracts as about their very survival.

The people sitting on high, in the elevated seats, were the wealthy and privileged, who watched the contest for sport, without ever having endured the contest themselves.  Sometimes the contestants were criminals who were brought in chains, other times they were highly trained athletes who expected to live for another day, but all sacrificed their safety and even their lives for other people's enjoyment.

The great cloud of witnesses refers to those faithful people mentioned in chapter 11 who bear first hand testimony to the power of faith in difficult circumstances, i.e. Moses, Abraham, Noah, Isaac, and Rahab.  Not one of those people was perfect.  Doubt.  Immorality.  Deceit.  Foolishness.  Vanity.  Impatience.  All were bound by the chains of sin and fell short of God's plans for their lives.

They are not spectators, sitting up above us in judgement, or even simply watching us struggle with the temptations of this mortal life, uninvolved and lacking understanding.  They have been on the field before us, witnesses who have themselves been entangled by the sinful human condition.  Thus, they can give first hand testimony regarding the truth of God's faithfulness in their own lives from their vantage point in God's presence.  How uplifting to know they are set before us as encouragers in persevering in our own daily struggles, knowing they understand the battles we face living in the secular world even as we keep our face turned towards God.

What does it mean when it says Jesus is pioneer and perfecter of faith?  (Notice it does not say our faith, but simply faith, a broader and more general term.)  What is a pioneer, and what does it have to do with our daily life?  What does it actually mean to be a perfecter?

A pioneer is someone who goes first, someone who discovers or experiences what was previously unknown.  A perfecter is someone who finishes and brings something to completion.  God knows humans are sinful.  We will not perfectly follow the map God has planned for our lives.  We will make poor decisions, mess up, willfully misbehave.  We live with strife and constant dissention, hurting ourselves and each other over things large and small.  But although we are powerless to overcome sin on our own, Jesus leads us, both individually, and all together, in his perfection to the cross.

The final part is easy to misunderstand if you don't read carefully.  That passage goes on to tell us that he leads us, not in misery, but in joy.  But this does not mean that Jesus happily endured the pain and humiliation of the crucifixion.  His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, begging God to remove this burden from him, tell us otherwise.  Rather, we see that he demonstrated how to look beyond the immediate moment, knowing that the greater joy was to come in the end, at the finish, when he would be sitting at the right hand of God.

So, to put all this together again, in far less beautiful language, God has promised us that:

• We are not alone in our struggles.  God has provided knowledgeable encouragers in heaven who have been there and done that to support, guide and uplift us, even when we inevitably falter and fail.
• From the beginning of our life to the last moment, Jesus is our perfect guide, and we should keep our focus on him.
• Just as Jesus bore the shame of the cross for the greater joy in heaven of salvation for all who accept his grace, we too can bear the pain and humiliations of this life knowing that when we trust in him, he will faithfully bring us home to heaven when our race is finished.

God is good.