During the summers of my pre-teen years—beginning at about the age of eight—I spent a lot of time playing baseball in what was called the "Old-Timers League." Why a league with a bunch of eight to ten year old baseball players was called the Old-Timers League, I can’t explain. The structure of the league, however, in comparison to little leagues today might merit it the name "Old-Fashioned League." Our uniforms all looked alike—basic gray pants and white t-shirt—with the exception that some teams had red socks and hats and some had blue. And, each team had the name of a local business across the front of the t-shirt as the team sponsor. Something like "Pipefitters Local Union #27" was a typical one. Our umpires were high school kids—one per game—standing behind the pitcher to call the game and wearing shorts, no shirt and tennis shoes with no socks. It was a plum job back then—working on your tan and getting paid for it. When I reached high school, in fact, it was my first paid job. Teams did not even have coaches—kids just organized their teams around friendships and anyone who wanted to play could play. If you didn’t have a team, just sign up and you’d be placed on one. Few parents attended the games, we played in the morning on weekdays and, besides, there were no bleachers for them to sit in. No fancy ballparks, the games were played on the all-dirt fields next to Kunsmiller Junior High School. No grass. No fences. We didn’t even have baselines. The "umpires" would just pace of the distance to first base, then third base and try to line up second base accordingly. No white chalk baselines…until the city tournament at the end of the year. For those games, nothing changed except we got baselines. And I can remember, as if it was yesterday, the man who came to line our basepaths. He took this two-wheeled canister filled with chalk, started at home plate and with no guidelines to follow marked out these remarkably straight basepaths. Some of the umpires tried their hand at it and the lines meandered all over the place. In "real" ballparks, they take a stake, pound it into the ground at the point of home plate and run a string up the baseline to use as a guide. But this guy, without the help of any guiding string, marked out a remarkably straight line. I was so impressed I went up and asked him how he did it. And he shared with me his secret. "See the drainpipe on that house across the street," he said, pointing up the third base line and beyond. "Yeah," I said. "Well," he went on, "I use that as my guide. I start at home plate, focus my attention on that drainpipe and walk toward it. For the first base line, I used that telephone pole as my guide."

It is something very much like that that the writer of Hebrews encourages us to do. With the testimony of our cloud of witnesses encouraging us forward, we journey on in the faith with our eyes fixed upon Jesus. When the distractions and difficulties of life threaten to cause us to meander off the pathway of faith, the way to straighten up is with eyes fixed upon Jesus.

If that great cloud of witnesses were to speak to us today, what do you suppose they would say? Recall that famous scene from the movie, Dead Poets Society. The Robin Williams character, Professor Keating, takes his students to the trophy case where there are pictures of teams and classes from years past. Keating invites the boys to lean forward to hear what the young men in those age-tinted pictures are saying to them. As they play along and lean forward as if to hear the whispers emanating from the pictures, Keating whispers in a raspy voice, "Carpe diem." Seize the day. Take advantage of the moment, enjoy the moment. Good words for these young students to hear. If we were to lean forward with ear inclined to hear what our cloud of witnesses are saying to us, what do you think they would say? "Look to Jesus! Keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus!" They would not draw our attention to themselves. Rather, they would point us to Jesus Christ. Like spectators in a stadium watching a race, our cloud of witnesses cheer us on in the race of our lives. To have our attention drawn to them would cause us to veer off course, even to stumble or fall and lose the race. That is not their goal or intent. Their goal—through the witness and testimony of their own faith journeys—is to draw our attention to Jesus.

Foundational to their witness is the celebration of Easter, the story of the resurrection of Jesus. It is the Easter story that gives meaning to our faith. Without Easter, the story of Jesus ends in tragedy, not triumph. Without Easter, the disciples and faithful followers like Mary Magdalene are left in despair, not joy. Easter give to us the goal toward which we are striving, the finish line for the race we are running. It is with eyes fixed upon a resurrected Jesus that our life’s journey has significance and meaning as we seek to walk the straight pathway he has set before us. In the words of the writer to the Hebrews, it is the resurrected Jesus who is the "author" and "perfecter" of our faith.

I find those words—author and perfecter—interesting ones for the writer to use. "Author" and "perfecter" are the choices made by the translators for the New International Version Bible. Other translations choose such words as the "beginning" and "end," (Good News Bible), the "leader" and "instructor" (Living Bible), "author" and "finisher" (King James), and "pioneer" and "perfecter" (Revised Standard Version). The words used by the writer of Hebrews are difficult to translate, thus the variety of choices made in various translations.

The word used for "Author" has, at its root, the meaning of beginnings. The starting place for faith is Jesus Christ. The starting place for finding meaning and purpose in life is Jesus Christ. And it begins with the Easter story. Obviously, there is much more to Jesus—and to life in Jesus—than the Easter story alone, but Easter brings power and meaning to the story. Easter defines the story of Christian faith. All things are made new in the light of the empty tomb and that changes everything. Jesus is the "Author" of that new life, the beginning for our faith.

Jesus is also the "Perfecter" of our faith. For this second description of Jesus in this passage, the writer of Hebrews basically makes up a word. Type "perfecter" into your word processing program and your spell check will redline it every time. The writer takes a verb and makes a noun out of it, something we do in the English language all the time. Someone who jumps is a jumper. Someone who runs is a runner. Someone who preaches is a preacher. And so on. But, it doesn’t work with the word perfect. Primarily, we use perfect as an adjective. That man is a perfect gentleman. Occasionally, we use perfect as a verb—the committee’s task is to perfect the motion for vote by the assembly. Never is perfect a noun, a title to describe someone, except one—Jesus Christ. Jesus, the only one who can be described as "perfect," living out the perfect example of what humanity can be. Jesus, who "perfects" our faith by going to the cross, paying the penalty for our sin, and giving us victory over sin and death through his resurrection. In doing so, he also serves as an example for the focused walk the writer is encouraging us to take. Jesus was able to endure the agony and the shame of the cross because he was focused on the end result—the new life of resurrection…new life for his followers because a pathway to God had been opened. With focused intent on that, for the "joy" that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross and brought completion to our faith story. Jesus is the "Author" and "Perfecter" of our faith and the foundation for our faith is the celebration of Easter.

The Easter story, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead makes it possible for all our fears, all our struggles, all our anxieties, all our uncertainties to be viewed in the glory of victory over sin and death. Because of Easter, we know what awaits us at the finish line of our lives. Because of Easter, our eyes fixed upon Jesus, we know where we are going. And that frees us, that points us in the direction we are to go in this life.

A few years ago, Billy Graham was to be honored by the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham’s first inclination, however, was to decline to attend due to his poor health—he suffers with Parkinson’s. The city leaders encouraged him to attend by promising they weren’t expecting him to address the crowd that would gather for the event. "Just come and let us honor you," they said. Once there, however, Graham couldn’t help saying a few words after several speakers had said many wonderful things about him. What Billy Graham, the great evangelist said, was this:

I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who was honored this month by Time magazine as Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train. Shortly after the train’s departure, the conductor came down the aisle, punching the ticket of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached into his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket there, so he reached in his other pocket. The ticket wasn’t there either, so Einstein began looking through his briefcase but still couldn’t find his ticket. Einstein looked around where he was seated, but still no ticket. Finally, the conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it." Einstein nodded his appreciation. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he got to the end of the car, before moving on to the next car, he turned around and was horrified to see Einstein on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor hurried down the aisle to Einstein saying, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry! I know who you are and I’m sure you bought a ticket. You don’t need a ticket!" Einstein, on his hands and knees, looked at the conductor and said, "Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going!" Then Graham said this. "See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My wife, my children, my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon…and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I’m going.

It is because of Easter that we know where we are going. And because we know where we are going, it makes it possible to live with courage and perseverance the journey of this life. The apostle Paul, who certainly faced difficulties in life—beaten near death for his proclamation of the gospel, imprisoned for his faith—would say of the hope of Easter in his life, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) If those words came from someone who had never experienced much suffering in life, the words would ring hollow and empty. But, they come from someone who, indeed, endured much suffering in life and his words ring full of promise and hope for us all. It was the truth of Easter and the promise of resurrection that gave Paul the ability to endure whatever came his way. With eyes fixed upon Jesus, with the finish line and the promise of Easter always in view, Paul continually moved forward in his life.

Let us do likewise. When the distractions of trouble or suffering come our way, let us continue to move forward with the cheers of encouragement from our cloud of witnesses ringing in our ears and with our eyes fixed on Jesus. When the temptations of self-indulgence and self-absorption seek to draw our attention, let us move forward under the inspirational witness of our cloud of witnesses and with our eyes fixed on Jesus and the example he has set before us. Let us move forward in our lives, with the words of encouragement from the writer of Hebrews ringing in our ears. Listen to this translation of this section of Hebrews, the translation of Eugene Peterson in The Message: "Do you see what this means—these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

He is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Never lose sight of that truth. Amen.