No Lone Ranger Disciples--August 21, 2025
"By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:29-40)
Batman is famous for saying he works alone in order to protect his loved ones--but he's got Robin, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and a whole Bat-family of other supporting heroes to assist the Caped Crusader. Superman is the same, too, except that he's also got Supergirl and Krypto the Dog, as well as more recent additions like Superboy, Steel, and in his most recent cinematic adventure, the help of Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific. Even the Lone Ranger wasn't really alone.
We keep telling stories about extraordinary heroes who take on impossible odds by themselves (even Pee Wee Herman had the great line on the silver screen, "You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me--I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel..." before he went off, clad in his trademark bow tie and gray suit, to find his missing bike). But more often than not, even the heroes who see themselves as "lone wolf" types turn out to have a support network of others who stand beside them, encourage them, and fulfill their own calling in their own ways. The myth just doesn't hold up.
That's especially true for us as the people of God. There are indeed amazing stories of people God used in extraordinary ways, but none of them did it alone. And none of us today are left to fend for ourselves against the challenges we face living out our faith, either. There is definitely no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian," and the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews makes that clear. In this passage that many of us heard read in worship this past Sunday, we get a veritable who's who of outstanding characters from the stories of ancient Israel in the Old Testament. The anonymous writer includes the obvious big name biblical celebrities and epic moments, from the Red Sea crossing with Moses and the walls falling down in Jericho with Joshua to the memories of David and Samuel. But he also includes people and moments that don't sound as glamorous or glorious--the stories of those who endured torture, mistreatment, and mocking for their faith, as well as those who were killed or exiled, "of whom the world was not worthy," as he says in such a lovely phrase. Even those who were forced to wander in deserts and take shelter in caves were not alone, the writer says. They belong to a community of people claimed and called by God--what we sometimes call "the communion of saints"--which means that none of us lives the life of faith in isolation, even when we can't see the others who are sharing the journey with us.
For us as disciples in the 21st century, that's a much-needed reminder. For one, we live in a time, as we noted earlier, that still perpetuates the myth of the loner-hero... even though that myth doesn't hold water when you look at it very closely. And second, especially in the wake of these post-COVID years, it is still very easy for us to get used to being disconnected from other people, because pandemic life taught us to settle for life on screens rather than being together in the same place. In the age of ever-increasingly fragmented social media enclaves, too, we find it is more comfortable to retreat to our own personalized, algorithm-selected feeds of images and posts we that will reinforce what we already like or think--and which also further insulates us from having to see or interact with other people who are different. We are more primed than ever to fall for the mistaken belief that we can do it alone.
And maybe that's why we keep finding ourselves drawn to these stories, these names, and these faces of other disciples. We find that the myth is lacking, and that we really do need to be in the presence of others who will encourage us. We find that the company of other disciples gives us courage to face the things in front of us individually. There are indeed times when I have to face a situation that is unique to me--a decision that is mine alone to make, or a conversation I need to be the one to initiate, or an action that I have to take that nobody else around me can do. But even in those times, I rely on the witness of those who have gone before me, on the comfort of those who are beside me, and the hope of those who will come after me.
As we keep reflecting on the life of discipleship in this season, these words from Hebrews assure us that we don't have to follow Jesus alone--in fact, they humble us with the reminder that we can't. We couldn't if we tried, because we already stand in continuity with the prophets and patriarchs, rebels and revival leaders, saints and sojourners of the generations that have come before us and brought us to this place and time. Some of their stories are in the pages of your Bible. Some of them are in the centuries of the church's story, including faces and names from every language, culture, and nation. Some of them are the people in your life who have inspired and mentored your faith, from the well-known names like Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Henri Nouwen, or Mother Teresa, to the stories known only to you, like your fourth-grade Sunday School teacher, childhood pastor, or the family that used to sit in the pew behind yours in church who smiled and sang the faith in your ears every week. All of them together make up the fabric in which each of our individual threads is woven into something new. And to be sure, there will be people who tell stories of how you were the face, the hand, the voice that gave them exactly what they needed to follow Jesus in their own life as well. We do this together, learning from the examples of those who have gone before us, leaning on support of those who walk beside us, and looking ahead to the witness of those who will follow Jesus after us.
Whatever it is you are called to do as you live out your faith today as a disciple, you don't face it alone.
Know that is true.
Lord Jesus, remind us of the lives and support of those who walk with us as we follow you together.
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