Scene: The rubble and wreckage of a battlefield

Katy Emslie-Smith August 21, 2025 3 0

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Hebrews 11:29-12:1 (NIVUK)

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched round them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

(12) 1 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,

The work has started. A team in protective suits and hard hats is moving in to clear the rubble and waste of a battleground. Broken walls, shattered glass, empty shells, a child’s shoe, a spilled shopping bag. It is hard and testing work, lifting and sorting the debris of fighting, taking care to look out for the edge of a landmine, the tip of an active shell. The landscape is largely grey, ash and stone amongst broken tarmac, puddles dark with films of oil and grease. Yet scattered amongst the wreckage, frail against the hot breeze, poppies raise their fragile coral heads and cornflowers begin to dot the monochrome with blue. A butterfly flits and oxe-eye daisies open their buds like stars on a midnight sky.

The heroes recorded in this letter to the Hebrews showed faith mostly in situations of conflict; siege and flight, imprisonments and persecutions. In the rough and tumble of human history each cleared a patch of ground from the debris of battle to make way for the message of God’s presence with his people, even in the most extreme of circumstances, and for the sowing of the seeds everywhere of the gospel of grace, forgiveness, mercy and joy.

What battlegrounds are we being asked to clear? Perhaps the rubble of the actions of previous generations? Maybe the fallen masonry of our personal lives? Sifting through the dust and obsolescence of our churches? Contributing to healing and restoration in areas of overt conflict in our world?

We do our clearing in the hope of resurrection life. Where people testify to the message of Jesus’ risen life, an increasing cloud of witnesses, we will see the scarred lands of battle healed, tender green shoots of new life, the bobbing heads of flowers among the wreckage.

Prayer:

Hard hats on! Inspired by the faith of those gone before us, Father God help our efforts to bring peace in place of conflict.

Amen