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Continuing The Witness: A Sermon Resource

By Rev. B. Chris Dorsey

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the first verse, the text refers to the "cloud of witnesses" gathered to watch the runners complete the race of faith. Based on the list of forbearers of the faith that occurs in Chapter 11, one can certainly call attention to the ways in which we continue the work that others have begun. This is particularly true when one considers the efforts of persons in our society and in our church who have worked towards creating a just society where we are reconciled to one another and to Christ. In his commentary on Hebrews, Fred Craddock invites us to see the cloud of witnesses as those whom "God has already approved or confirmed their faithfulness, and they are now gathered around us for whom the race is not finished." He goes on to say that their presence provides inspiration and positive influence on those of us still running the race.

There is perhaps another more apt theme to explore. When we consider that a significant part of the race we run as Christians is about racial reconciliation and striving toward building the Kingdom of God, we can see that the cloud of witnesses becomes an even more striking metaphor. It is true that the cloud of witnesses stands as a testimony to the efforts of those who have gone before us. It reminds us of their successes and their failures; we learn from them and we are inspired by them. But in another sense, it reminds us that just as we evaluate those who have gone before us, we too are being watched. Our actions are being watched by those who have gone before us; those who are here with us and those who will come after us. In other words, the cloud of witnesses is all around us. In this sense, the text challenges us to be mindful of the witnesses all around us who are watching us run this race towards being a reconciled church.

It would be easy for us to stop at congratulating ourselves on the progress that has been made so far. We do this by looking to the past and seeing how far we have come since the dark days of chattel slavery, Jim Crow, and other forms of oppression and civil disparity. We can easily identify the progress we have made when we compare our actions and our attitudes with the social norms and practices of the past. The witnesses of the past, the disenfranchised and those who fought for freedom and equality, are no doubt pleased with how far we have come in guaranteeing basic rights to vote, granting equal access to public facilities & services, and promoting awareness and appreciation for a multi-cultural society. Yet, our forbearers would also encourage us to continue to make strides in areas where we are still in need of improvement. The past encourages us not to be complacent with the gains we have made and to push harder to make more gains. Furthermore it requires that we be vigilant about not erasing the gains that have been made.

During the late fifties and sixties, tremendous effort was made to desegregate our schools and ensure that everyone had access to the same quality of education. Progress was made, and lessons were learned. It may not have been a perfect process, but it was necessary to end discrimination and segregation. We are not now facing another challenge for the ability of our nation to ensure each child has access to a quality education. There is an increase in parochial and private schools at the elementary and secondary educational level. This is being accompanied by a political push to have local governments issue vouchers from public funds to allow people to send their students to private school. The idea is that this will encourage competition and lead to better schools for all. On the contrary; it will re-instate segregation along socio-economic lines which are still strongly marked by race and ethnicity. Reconciliation demands that we not allow ourselves to be led down the path to segregation. The cloud of witnesses from the past is watching to see if we will go further than our ancestors were able to go or if we will allow ourselves to regress.

In addition to the witnesses of the past, we are also being watched by the witnesses of the present. We who profess a faith in Christ are being watched closely by a world that is increasingly skeptical of religion as a force for good. Additionally, there are seekers out there who offer conflicting views of what the Christian message is all about. Thirdly, there are newly born Christians who are still learning about the faith they have been born into. If we truly believe that we are called to love God and love neighbor then we must be prepared to show the witnesses that are present among us that we are genuinely committed to the cause of Christ. How can we hope to model for the world what the kingdom of God should be like, if we are not aggressively working towards reconciliation within the church?

Many of the leaders in our churches, have failed to adopt anti-racist strategies for transforming our churches and our ministries. In fact, if we look at funding for reconciliation ministries, it has been dramatically reduced almost to the point of non-existence. These days, reconciliation seems to be more talk than action. We are often content to put up banners or include special anecdotes or stories in our bulletins about racism. Meanwhile we allow systemic racism to go unchecked. We don't stand up to environmental racism, because it doesn't affect our neighborhoods. We are largely apathetic about issues like racial profiling and redlining practices in our cities. The cloud of witnesses among us is looking not just at our billboards, our bulletin inserts, and our mission statements; they are looking at our actions.

We must also consider that we will become the past for those who will come after us. The future will turn its evaluative gaze towards us and we certainly pray that it will look favorably upon us. To ensure that history will see us have having run a successful race, we must be self-critical and constantly challenge ourselves to look beyond what we want to see. We want to see that racism is no longer a reality. Yet the truth of the matter is society is still plagued by systemic racism that escapes our superficial lenses. The signs are there if we are brave enough to look for them. We understand that systemic racism is often concealed by a cloud of self-congratulation and security. We delude ourselves into thinking that racism is a thing of the past and everyone is treated equally in society. This is not the kind of cloud the text is celebrating. This cloud is made of denial, apathy, and complacency. If we hope to accomplish true reconciliation, we must learn to look through this cloud. We must look towards the future.

We must be mindful of the future witnesses who will look at what we have accomplished and judge our successes and failures. We must be self-aware and self-critical if we are to be faithful witnesses to the future witnesses. To do this, we must look at our current crises and ask how many more are waiting to happen and how can we work now to prevent them. How many more Hurricane Katrina's (the aftermath, not the storm) are waiting to happen because we allow systemic racism to perpetuate the sins economic disparity and poverty? Other examples are there for us to see. If, we look closely enough. The cloud of witnesses in the future is certainly watching to see if we learn from our mistakes and challenge ourselves to do better.

As we run this race our forbearers(the oppressed, the disenfranchised, immigrants, low-wage workers, the fighters for freedom and civil rights) are watching us. They want to see that their efforts have not been in vain and that we are continuing the struggle for freedom, equality, and reconciliation. We are also being watched by this present generation (the skeptics, the seekers, and the catechumen) to see if Christianity in practice can be what our faith claims to be in theory: a welcoming community of believers who strives for radical equality and the kingdom of God. And we cannot forget that we will be judged by future generations as well. We are being watched by our children, our grandchildren and those who will come long after we are gone. They are watching and waiting to see if we will succeed in making the world better than it was when we arrived.

Reconciliation, like any race towards a goal, requires vigilance and determination. It requires perseverance. But the text reminds us that Jesus has set us on this course and ultimately our faith in him is what enables us to complete it. Jesus set before us the task of working toward building the Kingdom of God. And, through our faith in Jesus Christ we look forward to the joyous rewards of realizing the Kingdom of God. If we persevere and are true to the claims of the Christian faith, then the perfecting faith of Jesus Christ moves us towards the joy of being reconciled to God and our fellow human beings. That is the good news of the text.

The cloud of witnesses is encouraging us on from the past to see if we will complete the work they started. There are witnesses among us who at this moment are watching to see if we will do the necessary work to eliminate the systemic barriers that keep others from succeeding in life. And, there are witnesses ahead of us waiting patiently to see if they will inherit a better world that brings us closer to the ideal expressed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin of racism that clings so closely, and let us continue to work towards reconciliation with perseverance looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. The one in whom we are all reconciled.

About the author: Rev. Chris Dorsey is an ordained Disciples minister. He is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in theology at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. As a minister, activist, scholar, and father (to Alanis Dorsey), he believes in the critical work of dismantling racism for the betterment of our global community and future generations, who are our "future witnesses."