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KNOWING OUR IDENTITY:
PARTICIPANTS IN THE STORY OF GOD

Hebrews 11:32-12:2

Introduction

The other day as I was walking through the mall, I came upon the strangest sight. At one of those portable stands in the middle of the mall where they usually sell seasonal items or moneymaking gimmicks, a crowd of half a dozen or so teens were gathered in a circle. In the midst of a lot of cheering and laughter, I saw two of the young men wearing large, dark goggles. They were also wearing special gloves and boots with wires connecting all of their special gear. I watched as they punched in the air, ran in place, kicked at nothing, and quite often seemed to duck or jump or lean sideways. Like the 30 or 40 other people standing around this group, I became intrigued. I was amazed how intense these young men were--particularly to be engaged in hitting and kicking nothing but air. Soon I learned that they were engaged in a virtual reality game. What intrigued me the most as I watched them run, jump, kick, punch, and yell was how active they were in nothing! Although they were actively moving, still they were spectators of whatever was appearing in the goggles. No wonder we call it virtual reality--it all seemed so real, but it was only virtually real, which, I guess, is as unreal as unreal ever was.

As I walked away from the large crowd, amused and fascinated by the developments in technology for sure, I realized that our fascination with spectator sports had become even more sophisticated and advanced. Now we not only could sit in the stands and watch other players but also could pretend to be playing while all along never having to get into the reality of what was really taking place. How safe it is to be a spectator, an observer, one who remains in the grandstands, on the couch, at the sidelines. Yet from time to time we can find ways, safely from a distance, to pretend that we, too, are a part of the sport.

In a world where the lights shine brightly upon superstars, professional athletes, musicians, entertainers, and high-profile politicians, life for many of us can become a spectator sport. Whether we are seated in the balcony of the performing arts center, the remote seats of the sports arena, or more safely on our living room couch with the remote in hand, we watch as the great dramas of life play themselves out on center stage. As observers, we are safe, comfortable, and protected from the realities portrayed on the stage or carried out on the playing field. At the same time, as spectators, we are separate and distinct from the activity that is taking place. From time to time, we might put the goggles on and even imagine that we are actively engaged. However, we remain at a safe distance. Living life as spectators, we face no risks of vulnerability and no dangers of defeat. While at the same time, we live with the numb awareness that we are called to live the realities of life, not the virtual realities. We are called to move from the spectators' balcony onto the stage and to become participants in life!

Move One--The Dilemma of the Text: Spectators and Observers

Unfortunately, this mind-set of spectators and observers can so easily permeate our identity as the people of God. We can all too easily find a comfortable seat in the upper balcony, watching and listening to the stories of what God has done. Ironically, as we sit in the grandstands, as easily as the goggles of virtual reality convinced those teens that they were engaged in real battle, how easy it is to become lulled into a misty, virtual spiritual reality. We have read the stories and sung the songs of God's faithfulness to the heroes of yesterday. We hear the testimonies even today of the saints who have weathered the storms; we hears the stories of ambassadors for the gospel who have risked everything to do the work of God. But all the while, we remain in the grandstands. The story of God simply becomes another spectator sport, another spectacle to be viewed safely and comfortably from a distance. As a result, whether it be in ministries that take place within the church, Christian service to our community, or proclamation of the gospel to our world, we can easily stand on the sidelines and watch the "professionals" do the work. What results are two subsets within the people of God: participants and observers.

Is this really what it means to be the people of God--people who have read the stories, heard the songs, and observed the testimonies? Or is there something more to who we are than innocent bystanders and comfortable spectators? Is there something more to our identity as the people of God than putting the goggles of virtual reality on and imagining from a distance what it must have been like or what it is like to be one of those persons who ran the race, who wrote the song, or who gave the testimony?

Move Two--The Answer in the Text: Out of the Stands onto the Stage

Into the midst of the safe life in the grandstands, the Word of God bursts forth into our lives today: "Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run . . . the race" (Hebrews 12:1).* How easily it would have been for the earliest audience of the Epistle to the Hebrews to have remained in the grandstands and found the safety of their heritage. It was a dangerous time. Having experienced imprisonment, loss of possessions, persecution, and even death because of their faith in Christ, the people of God could so easily have withdrawn from the realities. It would have been so enticing for this generation of Christians to have vicariously lived their lives through the great heroes of the faith. Oh yes, they knew about the active faith of Father Abraham, who traveled to an unknown land. They were very familiar with the active faith of their ancestors who crossed over the sea on dry land. The songs and stories of the great judges and kings were on the tip of their tongue. They knew even in recent days of great heroes who had given their very lives for the kingdom of God.

How safe, how easy, it would have been for at least a generation or two to climb into the balcony and find comfort in recalling the mighty victories of yesterday and celebrating the remaining heroes of today. Certainly, the writer to the Hebrews rehearses the great stories. However, this rehearsal is not for the purpose of providing a safe hiding place for the readers. Neither is it for the purpose of providing a virtual reality in which the people of God can pretend to be one of their heroes.

Indeed, the great rehearsal of faithful is for one reason: Therefore . . . ! Because men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, and Samuel and women like Sarah, Miriam, Rahab, and Deborah have made up the story of God to this point, the people are now encouraged to join those heroes--to become active participants today in what they participated in yesterday!

The story of God did not end with these persons of the faith. The faith of today is not simply a rehearsal of yesterday's faith; it is the faithful engagement today in what our ancestors engaged in yesterday. Therefore, since the witnesses of yesterday were active participants, the people of God today are invited to that same active participation. What a story to be a part of! What a drama to be engaged in! The call to continue to the race, to endure, is grounded not in heroic antics and valiant pursuits of a few strong persons. Rather, the call to be the people of God in this world is grounded in the great story to which the people of God belong.

In order to establish an identity worth being persecuted for, worth losing everything for, and worth dying for, the writer of Hebrews reminds the people that to be the people of God is to be participants in something so much larger than themselves. It is to be a part of the story of God that extends across time and across geographical boundaries. Recognizing that they are presently continuing the story of God, the people of God are encouraged to come out of the balcony and to become active participants in the story of God--the race that is now set before them.

Move Three--The Challenge of the Text: Become Participants

That same word that was written to our ancestors who could so easily have engaged in virtual reality, spectator religion, bursts forth into our lives this very day. At the very heart of our identity as the people of God is the reality that we, too, have been caught up in something so much bigger than ourselves. As citizens of God's alternative kingdom, we are participating in something that stretches far beyond our own time and extends far beyond our immediate space.

Rather than observers of God's activity, whether past or present, we are active participants in what God has been doing before we were ever born and what He will continue to do beyond our lifetime. What He began in the journey of Abraham, He continues in our journey. What He started in the parting of Israel's sea, He continues as we cross the sea together. What He initiated through His weak but Spirit-empowered judges, such as Ehud, Deborah, and Gideon, He carries on through His weak but Spirit-empowered people today. What He began through His kings and prophets, He now continues through His kingdom community in this generation. His deliverance and victory in the midst lions, flames, and sword continues in His deliverance of His people who even today are perplexed but not in despair, knocked down but not knocked out. The endurance of those who were tortured, flogged, imprisoned, and stoned is now carried on through the endurance of men, women, teenagers, boys, and girls who refuse to give up when the circumstances become difficult. And the story has continued even beyond Hebrews 11. What more can we say of the disciples, Mary, Paul, Augustine, Francis, Luther, Wesley? Or even in our own recent memories, those men, women, and young people who refused to stand by and watch? Even more, the participants in this grand story of God stretch across all language groups, all cultural boundaries, all skin tones. This very day we are participating with millions upon millions of women and men, teenagers and children who join our hearts and hands in celebration that we are citizens of the Kingdom. All of those who have come before and all of those across the globe today are participating in one and the same thing: Jesus Christ--the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith!

The good news that bursts forth into our lives today is that we do not stand from a distance to observe these persons of faith; they simply provide for us the backdrop against which we now run the race. Today, as we recognize that we are participants in God's grand work, we are all invited to step onto the stage, onto the playing field, onto the track and to participate in the race that is set before us. As we run that race, we come to recognize that what we are doing is a piece of a much larger whole. Ministry is not limited to our personal activities, our immediate location, or our present generation. Obstacles, even failures, will never be the final word. This is God's kingdom. God's work. God's Church. And we are participants in that Kingdom.

Conclusion

Today, God is not simply calling a few superheroes and solo performers to get onto the stage and run the race. From the beginning, He has been calling persons like us to participate in His kingdom. Based upon what we are a part of--the great story of God that stretches across all time and space--we are invited by the grace of God to throw off all that would keep us remaining in the spectators' stands, and by His grace to step onto the stage of His present kingdom. And there we will discover that we link hearts and hands with Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Gideon and Deborah, David and Isaiah, Daniel and Jonah, Mary and Peter, Stephen and Paul, Francis and Augustine, Luther and Wesley, and the list goes on. There we will find that our song merges with many languages, our testimony is voiced with many cultural groups, and our hands are raised with many skin tones. Most importantly, once we have come out of the observation deck and onto the playing field, we will discover that we are a part of something even grander than a heritage of heroes; we are participants in Jesus Christ--it is His story. It is His kingdom.

Perhaps there is no more appropriate way for us this day to celebrate our identity as participants in the story of God than to share in the sacrament of Holy Communion. For as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we recall God's saving act of yesterday. At the same time, we anticipate the day when we will join the Church Triumphant around the great banquet table and feast in the presence of Christ. But likewise, as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we recognize that in this present moment, even now, the living Christ is with us. We are His people, citizens of His kingdom. And we join brothers and sisters all over the globe, hearts and hands, in acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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*Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.