Witnesses to LIFE All Saints
Witnesses to Life All Saints
( one of
the alternate readings today is the ending vs of Hebrews 11)
Heb 11: 32-12:2
Who are
our role models today? We all have them
or are looking for them. We all need
friends, mentors and wise people to help us in our journey through life that we
may live lives that are full with correct choices and paths of righteousness
and humility. What happened I have
thought this last week to the young ( 15 years old) High School student who was
a prom king one week , and the next week texted his friends and some family
members in school to be at a certain place where he would take a gun out and
shoot them? Two have died along with the
shooter up to this point I have heard and others remain in serious
condition. Young lives , 14 years, ended
for no apparent reason that we know of at this point. That young man needed someone he could go to
for help and listening. He needed to
share what was bothering him with a person he respected and could trust. They are called mentors in one tradition. They are people of faith and hope who call
out the best in us.
Who are
those people of reknown and love in your life that care about you? In Hebrews we read of names that may be
unfamiliar but their stories are stories of faith and standing up for what was
right at that time in the eyes of God.
Gideon, Jephthah, David , Samuel who through faith subdued
kingdoms. As we approach an election
next week, are we not looking for people of character that are unafraid to lead
with true wisdom and vision?
Gideon is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 by the writer to the Hebrews who acted by faith. Things were not going
well in Israel. The Midianites were
oppressing them. They cried out to God
and an angel of the LORD Judges 6:11 appeared unto Gideon telling him that the
" Lord is with thee." Gideon has a very human reaction. " Oh my
Lord if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all
His miracles ..?"Judges 6:12 He tears down the false idols of Baal and the
people come after him. Gideon leads the people to reject the false teachings
and gods of Baal and he fights with Midian defeating them by 300 men Judges 7:7
. He follows God's plan and puts a
trumpet in every man's hand and a pitcher which they would break, and they defeat the Midianites.
Gideon
was a person who listened to God despite the odds and he lead others by
following the guidance of God. We all need people like this as well in our
families, places of work and church.
We
know of David and Samuel, but who was Jephthah?
He was raised to deliver Israel from the Ammonites in Judges 11. All of these listed in Hebrews 11
"through faith subdued kingdoms."
We
have the better thing 11:40 , an inheritance received through the promise of
faith in Christ. " God having provided some better thing for
us.." We are encompassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses . Jesus is the " author and finisher "
of our faith as we run with " patience the race that is set before
us."
Those who follow Christ in our relationships are true mentors to
us. They befriend us and listen to us.
They are what the Irish called true " soul friends." To be such a person we must listen to God
first in our lives and follow His directions for the future.
The
young man who turned from prom king to murderer was responsible for his actions
as we all are, but there could have been signs along the way that others could
have seen to assist him, to listen, and to come alongside with true godly
wisdom to share with him what was more important than the things and the
situations we may feel defeat in .
We
desire to be people of God who " run with patience the race that is set
before us looking unto Jesus" , but a light to others as well so that they
may have the light of Christ. As the
hymn writer said in talking about the saints of God -living and gone before us
to God, "
They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still, The world is bright with the joyous
saints Who love to do Jesus' will. You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or
at sea, In church , or in trains, or in shops, or at tea, For the saints of God
are just folk like me, And I mean to be one too."
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