For All The Saints

Recently, as I was reading through the book of Acts, my attention was caught by this passage in chapter 14:

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:  “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.  In the past, he let all nations go their own way.  Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”  Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

This is such a powerful account of what it was like for the early Christians to introduce people to the life, healing, and hope that Jesus brings. It is such a privilege to be the one to tell someone about Jesus, and truly, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news to a whole region. However, that is not what struck me as I read through this chapter this time.  One of the great things about reading the BIble is that different things can jump out to you every time you open it, and this is what I noticed on that particular day:

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:  “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.  In the past, he let all nations go their own way.  Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”  Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Somehow, this was so comforting to me. We seem to live in an age of The Crowd. You cannot get away from it - it is always lurking about, forcing its will and opinion on everybody. This crowd is always shouting and doing impulsive things, going whichever way the winds of the age blow it. The crowd never actually helps anyone, it just stirs up chaos and unrest. Yet this book of the Bible was lived and written roughly 2000 years ago, and we see that the mindless, faceless crowd was present even then.  Our time is no different than any other time, we just have televisions and computers and cell phones which we won't turn off that keep the crowd in our face all day.

On this first day of November, let's take a moment to celebrate another crowd entirely. This is the great crowd that we can read about in Hebrews 11, which has been building and building all through human history - the great Cloud of Witnesses. Hebrews 12: 1-3 says...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

This is a different crowd altogether. It is a gathering of the tremendous body of believers who have gone before us - men and women from all over the world, of every color and every income bracket, some that we have all heard of but most of them forgotten by the history books. Some have come from times of war and some from times of peace, but all have lived and died with faith that God is who He says He is. Now they are gathered together, watching and waiting for the end of this age.   They have finished their race and now cheer us on as we finish our own. 

We have a choice. We can choose to be a part of the impulsive, shouting crowd that is driven by the times and personalities of the age - the crowd that does nothing but bluster and confuse. Or we can choose to join the enormous company of men and women who have gone before us and have lived their lives to the fullest for God and His glory, no matter what the rest of the world is doing.

Today, don't grow weary and lose heart. You are not alone - so many others have gone before us and paved the way for us to endure to the end. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and thank God for the Cloud of Witnesses that cheers and encourages everyone to stay the course and finish the race!