“Inspired Faithfulness, Part 1: A Cloud of Faithful Witnesses” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, August 17, 2025, Year C / Proper 15 (20) – Psalm 82 (not in lectionary) • Hebrews 11:1-3, 29-12:2.
THEME: Persevere in running the race of the life of faith, inspired by other witnesses and living in a way that inspires others.
Have any of you ever run a Marathon?
If you have, then you know just how daunting a challenge it is. For starters, running 26 miles is a physical challenge of the highest order. It takes months of training just to prepare for the race. But running a marathon is far more than a physical challenge. It is also a test of mental strength. Most long-distance runners will tell you that running a marathon is 90% mental. In order to complete the race, marathoners have to push through pain. They have to fight through fatigue. Most of all, they have to overcome doubt.
In other words, it takes faith. Belief is what makes it possible for them to do the seemingly impossible, to overcome limitations, and find the motivation to persevere, to finish the race. But, as you and I know, we cannot simply pluck belief out of thin air. Belief requires inspiration. Runners learn to draw inspiration from other runners. One veteran marathoner put it this way. He said, "It is very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against that little voice inside you that wants you to quit."
That is the lesson you and I can take from this morning’s reading. Today we kick off a 3-part sermon series called “Inspired Faithfulness.” For the next three Sundays we will explore the Book of Hebrews to see what it has to tell us about persevering in the faith.
At first glance, Hebrews may seem like an odd place to draw inspiration for our faith. This letter was written by an early Jewish Christian who learned the faith from the apostle Paul, who was of course also a Jew. He is writing to his fellow Jewish converts to persuade them to keep the faith, despite serious persecution by fellow Jews who have rejected Christ. The lens through which the author writes is profoundly and thoroughly Jewish. He starts by giving us the classic definition of faith, “The assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things not seen.” Then he walks us through a chronological list of Old Testament paragons of faith, from patriarchs to judges, and kings, and onward to the prophets.
This list culminates with Jesus himself, a fellow Jew well versed in the covenant, and the one whom God chose to be the Messiah for all peoples. He is both pioneer and perfecter of the faith. This list is extraordinary. It is a genealogy of faithfulness. For Jews, genealogy was critical. Lineage was the proof of a person’s right to inherit the promise that God made to their ancestors. The writer’s point is that the fulfillment of God’s promise comes through the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. It is the promise of eternal life, life lived in the constant presence of God. The promise will be fulfilled for all peoples when Jesus returns with the Kingdom. That is why persevering in the faith is so important. Just like a marathoner, the race of faith is a long one. Completing it takes perseverance. Perseverance comes from faith, and faith comes from inspiration.
But where do we get inspiration? Inspiration comes from the others who run the race that we run. The writer of Hebrews calls them a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. This great cloud of witnesses includes all those folks who have passed down the faith to us and are no longer with us, having persevered to the end of their earthly lives. It also includes contemporary witnesses, those who are alive and running the race of faith with us today, at this very moment. All of these – living or dead – are the source of inspiration you and I need to persevere.
Like them, we are sometimes tempted to quit the race. You and I know that the life of faith is uncertain and often ambiguous. On the one hand, it may lead us to experience miraculous things, things that are as awesome and unlikely as the parting of the Red Sea. On the other hand, we can be sure it will lead us through times of trial and even persecution, like Daniel in the lion’s den. These are the hard times, the times when we are inclined to doubt that God is even with us, let alone providentially guiding us.
At times like these, we would rather not follow Jesus in trusting God’s goodness. We would rather not carry our cross. We would rather not give ourselves in service to others. In short, we would rather quit the race.
No one knew this temptation better than Jesus himself. The joy that he now knows is the joy we all look forward to when we complete the race. That is the essence of faith. The ability to see beyond what is right in front of us, our day-to-day challenges, and to recognize God’s hand at work, guiding us, molding us, and shaping events to draw us closer to him and the ultimate joy he has in store for us. We have to realize that none of us can do this alone. We need the inspiration of others who run the same race we do.
I learned this lesson firsthand when I was in my 20s. My best friend in New York was a jogger. After work, the two of us would run around the Reservoir in Central Park. It’s about a mile and a half long. We would go around twice and then go out and grab dinner. 3 miles was about as far as I could go and I was satisfied with that. But my friend had grander ambitions. He decided to run the Boston Marathon. That is 26.2 miles. He trained for months to get ready. But as the day of the race got closer, he began to have doubts. There is one section of the Boston Marathon that is notoriously difficult. Around mile 20 there is a steady uphill stretch. It is about ½ mile long. It is called Heartbreak Hill – and for good reason. By the time runners reach it, they have already climbed three other hills. Heartbreak Hill is where many of them decide to quit.
A few weeks before the race, he asked me if I would come to Boston and run Heartbreak Hill with him. I hesitated, but eventually I agreed. The day of the race, I met him at mile 20. And, oh, was he glad to see me. Together, we started up Heartbreak Hill. It was a slog. It wasn’t long before I was huffing and puffing. But then I thought about how much harder it was for my friend. We took it slow, and eventually we made it to the top. Then something happened that I did not expect. I had planned to stop at the top of the hill and get a cab to the finish, but all of a sudden I had more energy. So, I just kept running with him. 6 miles later, we crossed the finish line together. That was longer than I had run in years, and yet I felt like l could keep going another 6 miles.
The inspiration I thought I was giving to him, he was also giving to me. Friends, that is exactly how the life of faith works. We inspire each other to persevere in faithfulness.
Who in your life has inspired your faith? Maybe a parent or grandparent? A Sunday School teacher? A Mission worker? As Reformed Christians, we have a long legacy of heroes who give us inspiration: Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox. There are others who followed Christ despite persecution, Christians like John Newton and William Wilberforce who worked to abolish slavery in England. There are more recent heroes of the faith who inspire us: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom and others who defied Adolph Hitler’s regime, at a time when the church had become coopted by the Nazis.And at the top of our list of faithful witnesses is Jesus himself, who persevered in faith until the very end so that we might know the joy of life in God’s Kingdom.
But, as we consider the list of faithful witnesses who inspire our faith, we also need to ask ‘How does my faithfulness inspire others?’ So, let’s ask ourselves: How do I respond to hard times and the challenges I face? In the midst of trial, do I recognize God’s hand at work, guiding me and drawing me closer to him as I navigate these obstacles? What about when things go well? Am I seeing God’s hand in these blessings? And am I responding with gratitude, praise, and joy?
Friends, this is what Jesus did. So, let’s keep our eye on him. Because this is not only how we run the race of faith. It is how we finish it – and finish it strong.
May it be so.
