So great a cloud of witnesses...

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses....

We should remember William Lloyd Garrison, who founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 19th century. There was Joseph Cinque, the slave on the Amistad whose trial became part of the momentum in the abolitionist movement, the author Harriet Beecher Stowe whose novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", attacked the evils of slavery, Frederick Douglas who as slave, author, statesman, and reformer, laid groundwork for a different future. Of course, Abraham Lincoln, whose blend of courage, humility not only paved the way for countless leaders from subsequent generations, but whose wisdom in navigating the waters of a cultural divide and civil war led to the Emancipation Proclamation. Let's not forget Ghandi, whose principles of non-violence laid the foundation for Martin Luther King Jr's leadership, resistance and dream. Rosa Parks refused the back of the bus. John Perkins rebuilt. There was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, introduced by John F. Kennedy, and ulitmately passed through the hard work of Lyndon Johnson.

Time would fail us all if we tried to mention the other millions, on both sides of the Atlantic who contributed; Quakers, Wilberforce, the underground railroad... it just goes on and on with names that will never be known.

These are they who have gone before us, the witnesses who testified through word and deed that all people have dignity, that all people have capacity for greatness, that all people should be treated with dignity and granted opportunity. These ideals, I'll add, weren't created in a vacuum. They were ideals born out from a world view that believes in a God who loves all the nations, all people, every individual - and that government should be structured to assure such dignity and access for all.

let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us...

We're entangled, all of us are: entangled in the fruits of choosing greed over prudence and generosity, entangled in the fruits of linking sexuality with recreation rather than intimacy, entangled in the the fruits of violence, fear, arrogance. But this is our time to set aside our sin... to take up the mantle of responsibility, allowing the torch of hope that is symbolized in this day to burn with increasing clarity in the weeks and months ahead.

let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us...

It's a race in which we'll feel like quitting; otherwise we'd have no need for endurance. It's a race in which each of us have a part to play - each day, as we rise from our sleep to serve and bless our world, to function as "artisans of hope", a phrase coined by an author I know. And from where to do we get our fortification for this race, for this hope, for the carrying of the torch as a means of honoring those who have gone before us?

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.

There He is - behind the breaking down of the dividing wall, the ending of slavery, the ushering in of reconciliation, the challenge to abuse of power, the call to justice - behind all of it, there He is: Jesus. The source. The life. The way. May we who claim Him as our life be found faithful, discerning, and a collective source of blessing for our world.