We come on this special Sunday to remember those loved ones who, in the words of the poem High Flight, have slipped the surly bonds of earth. Those who have finished their course of faith and now rest from their labors. I entitled the sermon after the great hymn which Christians have sung since 1864. It was a song that is traditionally sung at our Annual Conference Memorial Service to remember the clergy/spouses who died in the previous year. And it will be sung today in churches throughout our nation and this continent as we recognize “all the saints” who has died and now rest in the Lord. I find the third verse of the song very fitting especially on this day, O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia, Alleluia!
We look at this text of Hebrews 12 and recognize this letter was meant to encourage and give assurance to those who were in conflict or trouble. Perhaps they were facing death, or they were struggling with losing loved ones. So, the writer gives the magnificent image of the saints who have gone before us. And the text states we are:
Surrounded (By A Cloud of Witnesses)
When we are surrounded, we generally think in more negative terms as in battle an army is surrounded by their enemies. They are trapped with NO way out! Or like a lamb surrounded by wolves. Jesus, on the cross quoted Psalm 22 which is a lament that dogs or evil men have surrounded me. They have pierced my hands and feet. (Ps 22:16-17). But the writer of Hebrews is turning this in a much different direction saying more positively that we are surrounded by a heavenly host. We are not alone. Matter of fact this cloud of witnesses is like our cheering section in an arena! They are part of the great heavenly host surrounding us. Even Jesus on the cross though surrounded by evil men was more greatly surrounded by 10, 000 angels! (Matthew 26:53)
In greater reflection on this I was reminded of a story of the prophet Elisha. He was a prophet who was able to help Israel evade their enemy, the King of Aram. Elisha knew where the Arameans were going to be and alerted Israel. You would want Elisha on your side! Since he was being outmaneuvered so often the King of Aram thinks his own men are betraying him, giving away their position to Israel. His commanders told him there were not traitors. But the prophet Elisha knew where they were going to station troops. So the King asks, “Where is Elisha? Let’s go after him”. They said, “He is in Dothan”. Now the king sent a large number of troops and chariots to surround the city of Dothan. Elisha’s servant woke up that morning and saw all the Arameans surrounding them. He was in a panic seeing they were surrounded. Let’s pick up the reading from the scripture about this.
2 Kings 6:15-17 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Now let’s be clear here. The physical reality is that they were surrounded by the enemy. We can draw many parallels from this story. In this life we are often surrounded by difficult circumstances, natural storms like hurricanes, infirmities and diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. As Paul wrote, we are engulfed in a world that is groaning and moaning for its full deliverance. Today we reminded that we are surrounded by a sense of grief and loss as we face our last and greatest enemy…death itself. We cannot avoid these hard realities.
I am still moved by the words of a family member who stood by the graveside of his beloved grandfather and in deep grief wept and said, “It is hard to believe someone you love so much is no longer here with us”. Yes, we grieve the loss where there was someone so loved as those we remember today.
Sadly, at least at first, Elisha’s servant could not see there were more of the heavenly host surrounding them than of the enemy. This is really seeing from heaven’s perspective. In a similar way the message of Hebrews is given to help us see beyond these struggles and the physical realities to behold a more glorious vision. We find encouragement when we know we are surrounded by this cloud of witnesses which is greater than any other force that surrounds us!
Hebrews 11 the prior chapter, gives example after example of OT saints who serve as models of faith for us. They are part of this cloud. Our loved ones who have gone before us are now part of this cloud of witnesses.
The imagery pictured here is like we are in a sporting arena and people in this cloud of witnesses are looking at us and cheering for us as we run our race. This is part of the communion of the saints!! So, we are never alone. We are SURROUNDED by the saints.
So first we are to look and see that we are surrounded by saints. This cloud of witnesses is meant to serve as great source of encouragement for believers who are still living.
And lastly, we are: Secured (Eyes Fixed on Christ)
Hebrews is placing Jesus as our model of faithful living. And it reminds us that Jesus died and now is risen and won the victory. He is seated in glory at the right hand of God. Think about that for a moment! He has achieved the victory!! He has achieved the victory for our loved ones who have died through His death and resurrection! And he has achieved it for all of us here today! We are eternally secured in Christ!
Now Jesus has charted the course and so we are simply to run the course before us. But we cannot miss this next part. Now it tells us that we must run with patience…this is a long race, not a dash.
But most importantly we must fix our eyes upon Jesus.
The people the writer of Hebrews was addressing were in difficult circumstances. It would be easy for them to drift from their faith or be distracted and detoured by all the negative experiences and turn away. That is true for us today. We are so easily distracted from what is most important.
In the scriptures we remember the classic example of Peter walking on the water. Amazingly, he got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But he made a nearly fatal error. You remember what happened? He took his eyes off Jesus while walking on the water and sank. Thankfully, he cried out and Jesus saved him! (Matt.14)
A few years ago, I was walking around the nice neighborhood where Beth’s family previously lived. I was walking and admiring the timber-framed homes and the designs by the architects. And as I was looking away from the road in admiration of the homes, I ran right into a garbage can! It just happened to be garbage pickup day! I was embarrassed at that moment as other people were walking on the other side of the street and saw me stumble into the garbage can! But that became a tremendous learning experience as I thought immediately about how easy it is to get distracted and forget where the real focus of our lives should be.
As Paul wrote… Philippians 3:8
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Paul is saying that everything we may be looking at, even our successes…even nice timber framed homes… are like garbage because of the greater value of knowing Christ. So, we run this race of faith fixing our eyes on Jesus who has already achieved the victory.
In the arena we are not looking at the crowd…although it is good to have cheerleaders.
We are not looking at other runners or other people. Although they may be great friends. Our eyes are fixed on Christ. Otherwise, we will not finish this race and join the heavenly cloud.
I want to close with a great quote from C S Lewis
If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next … Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither. —C. S. Lewis, Irish professor, apologist (1898–1963)
Today we are fixing our eyes on Jesus. We are coming to His table! And we are experiencing a new and fresh communion with Him and all the saints in glory and here on earth.
Jesus makes a wonderful promise in John 14:2 I go to prepare a place for you! And I will come again to receive you unto myself so that where I am there you may be also.
This is the promise for all the saints who have died in faith that we remember today. And this is the promise for all of us here today that will join that cloud of witnesses when our time comes! So, we sing and celebrate and experience this Holy Communion “For All the Saints”.
May the Spirit that lived in Elisha help us see… “Those who are with us are more than those who are against us”. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! This matches the last verse of the great hymn For All the Saints, From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the ‘COUNTLESS HOST’, in praise of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia, Alleluia!”
Let us pray.
Lord, open our eyes to see that we are surrounded by all the saints and the host of heaven.
Lord, give us faith to surrender anything that would distract us or destroy our faith in You.
Lord, keep our eyes fixed on You, not our problems, not our circumstances, not others.