“Who’s Rooting for You?”
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Julie R. Harley – August 15, 2010 – First United Church of Oak Park
Have you ever noticed that when someone brings a baby to church and they’re
still small enough to be carried in a car seat or a stroller, people just ooh and aah over that
baby? We are blessed to have a lot of babies in our congregation, so I see this (and
participate in it) almost every Sunday.
We look at that baby and say, “Aren’t you beautiful? Aren’t you just the cutest
thing? Oh, he’s darling! What a sweetheart.” Sort of like the picture on the bulletin
cover this morning, of someone in a rocking chair showering their baby with adoration.
Babies don’t DO anything to earn all this attention. They get it just by BEING. How
great is that?
And have you noticed that that reaction kind of wears off by the time you hit . . . I
don’t know, maybe about third grade?
You’re not just the cutest thing anymore. You’re a kid. People look at you and
decide whether you’re one of the nice kids or one of the kids who’s gonna be trouble. It’s
a whole different world. No more unconditional gushing.
I kind of miss the old days. Don’t you? It’s pretty nice to feel like there are a
bunch of people who are really rooting for you.
When baby Lydia was born, her aunt gave her a velvet-covered photo book titled
“People Who Love me.” As Lydia grew, her mom added pictures of Lydia’s family and
friends. Once in the middle of the night, Lydia’s mom woke up when she heard a drawer
1
slamming in her daughter’s room. She got up to see what was wrong and found her
three-year-old daughter sitting up in bed, paging through the book.
“What’s wrong, honey?” her mother asked.
“Oh, mommy,” Lydia replied, “when I’m afraid, this helps me feel better.”
In that photo album of “People Who Love Me,” Lydia had her own little cloud of
witnesses. She know there are people who are rooting for her.
When John is 29 years old (quite a few years from now), he and his wife will have
their first child. And when he puts that baby in the crib at home for the first time, he will
open a card that says, “John, I am so proud of you. This is one of the greatest things that
will ever happen to you. Please know how much I love you and how much I love this
grandchild.” And John will close his eyes and take a deep breath.
Because his mother wrote this card for him while she was dying of cancer, long
before John was even married, long before the baby was conceived. And his father saved
the card to give to John at this moment in his life, because it serves as a reminder that his
mother is still rooting for him, though she cannot be here with him. John knows that his
mom will be rooting for him from heaven.
Not all of us have a “People Who Love Me” photo album, and not all of us have
handwritten cards from a deceased relative.
But we all have this book that’s called the Bible. And when we open it, that’s
exactly what we find inside. We find our own Faith Family Album. We find stories of
people who love us, people who are rooting for us – even if they died long before we
were even born.
They’re still rooting for us, from the world to come. They knew we would need
some encouragement somewhere along the way. It’s a pretty amazing thing when you
think about it. And I hope you’ll think about it today.
Remember the old TV show “Wide World of Sports”? They would show clips at
the beginning from sprinters breaking the tape as they won a race and skiers wiping out
on a slalom course. And every week the announcer would say: “The Wide World of
Sports. We bring you the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
2
That’s what we hear in Hebrews 11.
Many believers who came before us experienced the agony of defeat. Some were
tortured, some mocked and flogged, some were chained and imprisoned. The gory list
continues: people of God were stoned to death, sawn in two, killed by swords,
persecuted and left to wander in deserts, caves and holes in the ground. Think of the
prophet’s description of Jesus: “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He was
worshiped by some, but hated by others.
Many who are in the great cloud of witnesses experienced the thrill of victory.
Escaping from Egypt, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea during the Exodus as if it were
dry land. A prostitute named Rahab who hid the Hebrew spies found her life was spared
when the walls of Jericho fell. Gideon, David, Samuel and others triumphed over the
obstacles placed before them. Many faithful leaders in Hebrew scripture were great
warriors who won victory over their enemies.
All of them now are rooting for us, as we run the race of faith.
It’s a powerful thing to know you have at least one person who is cheering for
you. When someone is rooting for us, we are able to turn disaster into opportunity.
When someone is rooting for us, we are able to reframe discouragement into faith.
Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa after being held for 26
years as a political prisoner on Robben Island. When he assumed leadership, everyone
expected he would have built up a deep resentment for the white Afrikaners who had
imprisoned him. They thought he would grind the whites under his heel now that he and
black South Africans had regained their power.
But one of his first acts as leader of this nation was to begin attending the rugby
matches played by the predominantly white team, named the Springboks.
Other blacks couldn’t believe it. How could Mandela root for these guys, who
were a symbol of the old, racist regime? He could easily replace the whole team –
rename it, give it mostly black players and new team colors.
3
But President Mandela didn’t change a thing about the Springboks. He kept
showing up at their games. He was a devoted fan, learning as much as he could about the
players and taking precious time out of his packed schedule to show his support.
When South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1995, Mandela invited the
white captain of the team to have tea with him. Even the captain was not optimistic about
their chances of winning the Cup.
So Mandela shared with him a poem titled “Invictus” that had given him courage
during 26 years in a lonely prison cell.
Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody, but unbowed.
It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
On the day of the final match against New Zealand, the stadium was packed with
62,000 fans – both black and white. They had come to root for the Springboks, inspired
by the example of their leader.
You can guess who won the match.
The Springboks knew they were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and
they were able to play their best.
Who’s rooting for you?
In addition to those named in the book of Hebrews, there are others – living and
dead – who fill the arena. Their numbers grow each day.
People like Glen Lapp, Tom Little, Dan Terry, Thomas Grams, Cheryl Beckett,
Brian Carderelli, Daniela Beyer, Mahram Ali, Ahmed Jawal and Karen Woo. You may
not recognize their names. They were the 10 medical aid workers who returned from a
three-week journey to give free medical care to people in remote Afghanistan. On
August 5th, members of the Taliban rounded them up as they passed through Badakhshan
4
province, stood them in a line and put them to death. They were accused of trying to
spread the Christian faith.
That’s what happens sometimes, when you live with nonviolent compassion,
mercy and love . . . like a baby, like a child, like Jesus. People stop saying we are
beautiful, that we are precious, that we are loved.
They look at us and wonder if we’re gonna cause trouble or not.
It’s good to know that someone’s rooting for us. Because it’s hard to run with
perseverance the race that is set before us. In fact, without Jesus, the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith – I’m pretty sure we can’t do it.
And I disagree with the last line of our scripture text for today. Jesus is not
somewhere in the sky, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Every day Christ
comes deeper inside of us. That’s what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. Every time
your heart beats, he’s right there, rooting for you. Amen.
5