Be a Bridge Builder
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, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
The College Football hall of Fame, like many other such pro and collegiate Halls of Fame, is unique from other museums in that it specifically focuses on people, players, coaches, and others who have excelled in their roles, further defined the sport and role of collegiate football, and in the process bumped up the standards of expectation. But perhaps the most important role the Hall of Fame has is to give encouragement to those who will follow in the Hall of Famer’s footsteps aspiring to be the next best college football player.
Hebrews 11 takes us through a similar “museum of heroes,” often referred to as the “Hall of Faith.” The writer of Hebrews lists for us individuals noted in the Bible not for extra-ordinary achievements, as if they had accomplished anything on their own, but rather for their extra-ordinary faith which God blessed in extra-ordinary ways. These give witness to a more defined understanding of what it means to be a people of faith and even challenge us to raise the bar of our faith pursuits.
Those listed and referred to are a remarkable collection of people who by society’s standards were often looked at suspiciously because they chose to put their faith and hope in God, trusting that with God all things are possible. As Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Yet, because of their faith, we are here today. Because of their faith, we have a hope that does not disappoint. Because of their faith, we have a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And, because of their faith, we can know that earthly death is only a means of eternal life for those who believe.
It is these very people we recognize as Saints. The word Saint is the English translation of a Greek word used to describe those called out of the world to be holy, set apart for God. Some we would quickly acknowledge to be saints. They are early church Fathers and Mothers who risked their life and reputation so that others could know and experience the love and salvation of God: Paul and Peter, but also Acquilla and Priscilla. They are Augustine, Origen, Luther, and Calvin; John and Charles Wesley, our Methodist founders, who received most of their influence from their mother Susanna. More recent people we would call saints and put into the “Hall of Faith” include Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, and Mother Theresa.
While these names may stand out, our own “Hall of Faith” would most assuredly include pastors, Sunday school teachers, parents and grandparents, friends, neighbors and others, common yet special people who showed us God. Most would not consider themselves saints. All of them would probably look at us with puzzled expressions and declare that they had done nothing special. But they have. They were faithful to God and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They passed onto us their love of God with a desire that we have the same or greater relationship with God than they experienced. As Hebrews 11:39 states, they are to be commended for their faith. Author Will Allen Dromgoole would suggest they are bridge builders:
An old man, on a lone highway, came at the evening cold and gray to a chasm, vast and deep and wide, through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim; the sullen stream had no fears for him; but he turned when safe on the other side and built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting strength with the building here. Your journey will end with the ending day. You never again must pass this way. You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide. Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head, “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “there follows after me today a youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been naught to me to that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim. Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.” The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole
Because of those saints, those “hall of faith-ers,” who lived in faithfulness before us, lived in the knowledge that others would follow them along similar paths, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, built bridges, we know God and accept his free gift of salvation and one day we will be able to traverse the span from life to life eternal. On All Saints Sunday we recognize and give thanks to God for the faithful witness of those saints, who stayed true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ even in the midst of hardship, harm, and death.
But just as they have built bridges for us, so, too, we are to be building bridges. It seems to be an awesome task … and it is. But we are not alone. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that those who have gone before now make up a great cloud of witnesses. We have their example; and, we have their encouragement. But more than that, there is one who goes with us. Jesus promised that he would never leave us but would be with us to the very end of the age.
We are here because of the faithfulness of others. As we honor their memory, let us accept the challenge to step out in faith so that all those who come behind us will find us to be faithful.