Intro…
The title I’ve got for you today is, “What is faith?” Hopefully by the end of what I’ve got to say, we’ll not only know what faith is, but we will be able to live it. And to help us along the road we’re going to have assistance from two old pros who we’re going to meet shortly.
Hebrews…
The writer to the Hebrews has finished his case proving that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament hope & covenant. In amongst the thrilling theology he’s challenged his readers to hold firm to their faith in God through Jesus Christ. These last three chapters are a kind of summing up, one final massive encouragement and exhortation to the readers to carry on with the race ahead.
And here in chapter 11, the writer turns from the theology of the Old Testament, and all the spiritual parallels, to the human stories that are in its pages. You see, one thing you and I need to get our heads round is not so much the facts of the bible, and the theories of the bible… we need to be practitioners of the bible: seeking to discover what it means to run the race with God as our Master and Companion. And that takes humility and prayer, to learn from the failures of those in the past, and to follow where their example truly reflects Christ. It’s not about ram-raiding the past, to steal some verses for our own situation, but it’s discerning truth and applying it correctly. We don’t take verses willy-nilly for our own purposes, and we don’t blindly copy the things written in here.
So here we are in chapter 11, which forms one large block… v.1 and 2 are about God commending the ancients for their faith… and v.39 is about God commending them for their faith. So that kind of bracketing is a hint to you and I, that this is about the examples of faith in the Old Testament that God commends. And it’s my hunch that the writer wants these examples to be commended to his readers; that they too will learn from them.
Race illustration…
Winter is the season for cross-country running. Places like Heaton Park suddenly become a muddy melee of runners on the day of the race. In cross-country running there are occasionally relay events, where a team of four take turns to negotiate a 4-mile course. I want you to imagine that we are at one such a race. You’ve looked at the course, and you’re straining to see the runners before you… to learn from how they negotiate the different sections. Your coach is standing by you as you wait for your turn, he’s got his binoculars out and he’s focussing in on the first runner from your team… a famous runner… your coach gives a detailed account on how your famous team-mate gets on. The next lap he just mentions your team-mate’s name… another top athlete. The third lap he just briefly skims over a few details of what’s happening, it’s not about who’s running, it’s about what’s happening, and what’ll be happening to you soon.
That picture is hopefully helpful to us as we hit chapter 11. In this relay race of running with the gospel, we’re part of the same team as the Old Testament guys. The writer, our coach, starts by focussing in detail on the famous first-leg runners… Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham & Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses & Rahab. Then at v.32 the writer lists just a bunch of famous names, those who were in the second-leg. v.33 is a catalogue of brief details some linked with the second-leg guys, some linked with un-named third-leg racers. And in this way, the writer, our coach, includes the whole team in his instructions, bringing it right up to date from famous front-runners to recent no-namers. It’s clear that we’re up next.
What faith is not…
There are a lot of authors of Christian books out there at the moment, and in fact a lot of preachers and TV programmes, who will tell you that, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (v.1)
This seems fair enough; it’s what verse one says, so surely they must be right. This set of people then go on to say, that faith is down to you believing that God WILL definitely do something. Healing is there if you are determined enough, plenty is there if you are determined enough, success & long life are there if you are determined enough. If you speak it, you shall receive it. If you believe it, you shall possess it.
Sadly, they have ram-raided the Scriptures and stolen verses for their own cause.
The writer of Hebrews is making the completely opposite point. v.13 sums it up for us, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They DID NOT receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” (v.13) Just in case we don’t get it from the detail of the stories presented, we read in v.39, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some doom and gloom story, here, we read in v.40 that, “God had planned something better for us that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
The writer to the Hebrews is on to his “Better Things” again, and we’ll get into that by and by. We have a catalogue of Old Testament characters, and a few descriptions of Inter-Testamental folks… now, some of them were triumphant, some of them were victorious… but others of them were tortured, beaten, imprisoned and killed. Abel is murdered, Enoch is spared death. Some saw the lions’ mouths shut, others were sawn in two. One lot were destitute, another bunch conquered kingdoms. ALL OF THEM were commended for their faith. The point is not that faith is like a slot machine which if we shake it we’ll hit the jackpot. The writer has a different idea of what faith is.
What is faith…
Verse one is not so much a definition of faith as a description of the result of faith. Because faith in these verses is about knowing God, looking to God and trusting God for the future no matter what happens. Even if God’s future is not visible even in our lifetimes, faith is about believing that one day we will experience the answer. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph continued to trust God that they would see his future, even as they faced death. And Noah, Rahab, Abraham and Moses faced life and lived life in the light of the fact that they trusted God no matter what. They built boats and hid spies despite the surrounding culture. It didn’t matter that there was no water, and that everyone else was carrying on as normal, or that their neighbours were ready to kill God’s people.
That is why the readers of this letter need faith like the people of God who have gone before. We need a trust in God that keeps us going when there is no revival. We need to keep our eyes on God when everything is going badly wrong. We need a cross-shaped faith, that sees God’s victory through death.
There are lots of runners here to study in detail, so that we can run the race ourselves, but I want us to focus on two old pros… no, not the old pro of Jericho… I want us to look at Abraham and Moses.
Abraham…
Abraham gets 12 verses, so let’s dig deeper.
Abraham’s example of faith is about where his home is. Home, the place you go to rest, the place you know, the place of safety. Abraham’s home city was not Ur of the Chaldeans (that was where he came from). Abraham’s home was where he was going, even though he didn’t arrive in this life. v.10 – “He was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” That’s why he was obedient to the call to go, even though he didn’t know where (v.8). That’s why he spent his days in tents, a stranger in a foreign land, that’s the inheritance he left his sons; not bricks and mortar, but a future home.
[vv.8-10]
The writer comes back to this again in v.13
[vv.13-16]
Abraham’s home was a heavenly one. Now, let’s get this clear, when the writer to Hebrews says this, he’s not meaning some floaty cloud experience after death. Rather, the writer sees the heavenly project, as the work God is doing behind the curtain that will be brought in on the Last Day. Abraham’s life was “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Abraham never arrived. He never saw the reality of numerous descendants. He never had a home country to settle in. It wasn’t so much that the Hittites and others owned the land, it was more to do with the fact that his home city is being built on God’s property… a city lit by the glory of God. The country he was looking forward to was not so much about a strip of soil between the Jordan and the Med.; he was longing for a better country – the one that you and I are a part of because of Jesus.
Now, I believe Abraham’s example of faith speaks to two groups of runners. Firstly, there are those of you who can relate to Abraham’s experience of living “like a stranger in a foreign country.” Maybe not the bit about tents, but you here, far from your country of origin. You are in good company, be encouraged, Abraham lived his life as a stranger in a foreign country. Abraham obeyed God when he didn’t know where that call would take him. Your life may be uncertain, your house may not be your own, but use this to ask God to grow in you the faith of Abraham. Ikea tells us that “home is the most important place in the world”, sadly they want us to spend all our efforts carpeting our tents rather than investing in the city whose architect and builder is God.
Secondly, for those of us who are not strangers in a foreign country, we need to take Abraham’s example as a spur to wake up, get up and be obedient to God. It doesn’t mean we have to move house, but it does mean we have to move home. Our rest, our comfort, our safety is not in 9 Acacia Avenue… it’s in the new-build, regeneration project called the new heavens and the new earth… God’s kingdom. If we are constantly making sure our home is there, then we will not be shaken when our earthly tent or terrace feels less than secure.
Moses…
Second pro-runner to watch is Moses…
[vv.24-28]
Moses example is down to where his treasure is, his security. His security was not in status. His security was not in approval. His security was not in safety. He dropped the title of Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. He dropped the pleasures and treasures of Egypt. He faced the anger of the most powerful man on the planet at that time. He joined with the most ill-treated group of people.
His treasure was in Christ & he rejected the pleasures of sin.
His treasure was in Christ… quite a surprising thing to say of one born 1300 yrs before Jesus.
Again, Moses was looking forward beyond his life. His faith was that he was a part of something that he would only see on the day of Resurrection. His faith trusted that God’s promises to him could be fulfilled to him after his death.
This is the kind of faith that God wants us to have. A faith that is about treasure that won’t rust or be stolen, but that is stored behind the curtain in the only bank that will be operating to eternity. What a challenge to us… are we willing to face the anger of the most powerful man on the planet? Are we willing to drop any status we might get? Are we willing to forgo the pleasures and treasures of England not Egypt for the sake of Christ?
This is good news as we face a recession in the economy. It could be that we change our focus from treasure that doesn’t last to treasure that does. Don’t invest in gold, fine wines & art… invest in God, the people of God & the kingdom of Christ.
Christmas time has become a time when we show how much we invest in the treasures and pleasures of Egypt. We spend more, eat more, waste more… for what?
Maybe we won’t have much cash this Christmas, but we can still invest in a faith like Moses.
Both Moses & Abraham looked to God, knowing & trusting him for the future, even though they never saw the fulfilment of their hopes. They knew they were waiting for something better that we are a part of… God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ.
The race is yours now, the team’s chances rest on you. There will be a lot of mud, there will be pain, there will be exhaustion & soul-searching… and if it led your team captain to the cross, don’t expect anything less… but the prize… the prize, that’s something that no-one will be able to take away.
