OPEN: I love a good action movie - the kind they used to make. Movies where good overcomes evil; the boy gets the girl; righteousness triumphs and the hero rides off into the sunset. Those are “feel good” movies because everything works out the way it should.
One website talked about the movies where that kind of thing happens. “It's the end of the movie. The Drifter has to be moving on. There are other people in trouble, other wrongs to right, other paths to follow and so, he saddles up his horse and rides west into the setting sun. And the townspeople look on as his figure, silhouetted against the orange disk, disappears into the horizon. The music swells and the words "The End" appear on the screen” (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RidingIntoTheSunset)
Hebrews 11 has always struck me as a “Riding Off Into The Sunset” kind of passage. It’s often been referred to as the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11) and it lists such greats as Abraham, Moses, and Gideon and David and Samuel. These were heroes that stood up for God and for righteousness. And their story ended with them riding off into the sunset.
In fact, the Bible’s filled with many of those kinds of heroes. Heroes that “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped 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. Hebrews 11:33-34
THAT’S THE WAY IT OUGHT TO BE!!!
(pause) But, you know… life doesn’t always work out that way. Good doesn’t always win; the boy doesn’t always get the girl; and righteousness doesn’t always triumph. Sometimes there isn’t even a sunset to ride off into.
That’s why Hebrews 11 doesn’t stop by just telling us of the conquering heroes. We’re told: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated — of whom the world was not worthy…” Hebrews 11:35-38
And you catch a hint of that kind of thinking at beginning of chapter. Hebrews 11:4 tells us “By faith Abel (the first man mentioned in the chapter) offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though HE DIED, he still speaks.”
Did you catch that??? HE DIED! Abel was a man of faith – and he died! He was killed by his brother. That's not right. That's not fair.
And whether we like to hear that kind of thing or not…that happens alot in Scripture. Stephen preaches a powerful sermon in Acts 7, and then the crowd stoned him to death. The Apostles were the leaders hand-picked by Jesus to form the foundation of New Testament teaching - and every last one of them (except John) were martyred. They died because of their faith.
And who could forget the story of Paul: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” II Corinthians 11:24-27
And in the end – Paul was beheaded in Rome for his faith.
I don’t remember signing up for that!
And yet, that was the kind of thing that Jesus promised us would happen to us. He said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
IN THIS WORLD… YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE!!!! You might face persecution; You might face unfair treatment; You might be insulted or abused; You might face tragedy and loss and sorrow… and even death. The Bible is very up front about those truths.
BUT HERE’S ONE MORE TRUTH… and that truth is this: Jesus came to give us peace. Peace even when life isn’t fair. Peace even when things aren’t right.
ILLUS: Back in the 1800’s there was a successful lawyer and businessman named Horatio Spafford. He and his wife Anna had five children and it seemed that all was well with his life. But then, in 1871, his young son died of pneumonia. And in that same year, much of his business was destroyed in great Chicago fire. By 1873, he’d rebuilt his business and could afford to take a vacation with the family, so they booked an ocean liner to travel to Europe. However, because of an unexpected business issue, Spafford was forced to stay behind. But he promised he’d catch another ship and join his family later. About four days after his family left for Europe, the liner collided with another ship and quickly sank - 226 of the 313 passengers drowned, including Spafford’s 4 daughters. His wife Anna was rescued and sent a telegram to her husband “Saved, alone.” Spafford took the next available liner to be with his wife, and as his ship passed near where his daughters had died he was overcome with grief. But on that voyage, he penned the words to now famous hymn… it goes like this:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way; When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say “It is well, it is well with my soul.” It is well (it is well) With my soul (with my soul). It is well, it is well with my soul.
How could he write those words? He’d just lost his daughters? Well, he could write those words because he was a Godly man who understood that he couldn’t change what had happened. But he could face the heartache by the power of God.
When I thought about Spafford’s story, it sounded a lot like the story of Job. You remember the story of Job don’t you? Job had been a godly man, a good man, a righteous man – BUT he lost his riches, his children, and his health, and spent the better part of the book in total misery. But, it’s probably from that book that Spafford looked for comfort. It’s in the book of job that we read these words:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” Job 19:25-17
The first verse of Spafford’s hymn declared “When Peace like a River attendeth my soul…” And someone once asked: What does that mean - to have “Peace Like A River?” Well, according to the dictionary, peace is defined as: “freedom from disturbance… quiet… and tranquility. ... Peace does not mean everything in life is going to be still. It means that despite the ebb and flow of our circumstances, with Jesus in our lives peace washes over us, like a river. His peace reassures us that we are safe in the middle of everything. (definition found at https://bethelmusic.com/blog/peace-like-river/)
That’s what Paul wrote in Romans: “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Now, here’s the deal. esus never promised us a life without pain OR sorrow. This side of heaven, we’re not going to get that. That’s why Revelation 21:4 says “God will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
IN THIS WORLD WE WILL HAVE TROUBLE… BUT NOT IN HEAVEN
Now, what strikes me as interesting in Hebrews 11 is that God chose to tell us about heroes/heroines who didn’t quite “Ride off into the sunset”
We tend to focus on the conquering heroes; the successful warriors. But God also tells us about heroes that suffered and were persecuted and died. But… why mention them? Well, because you and I need to hear about these folks.
Notice what God tells us about Abel: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was COMMENDED as righteous, God COMMENDING him by accepting his gifts.” Hebrews 11:4
What does God tell us that HE noticed about Abel? 1) He was righteous, and 2) he offered a more acceptable sacrifice… (pause) and that’s it. But notice that I capitalized a couple of words in that verse… God commended him!
Abel was the first man God mentioned in this “Hall Of Faith” and ALL Abel did was offer up a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain did. Then God honors Abel by telling us his name and telling us that Abel was commendable.
What’s that mean to us? It means that whenever you and I do stuff that pleases God - GOD NOTICES!!!! If you’re struggling with something in your life, or you’ve gone through a tragedy or a loss in your life, and you have offered God your life as a living sacrifice, and you’ve done what you’ve done for God - GOD NOTICE! And He commends you. He points you out to others.
Do you know what “Commend” means? It means that God holds YOU up as an EXAMPLE for others. When you live for God – especially when that life has been hard and tragic, God mentions YOU to others. You may not know that God is pointing you out to others… but He is. God is COMMENDING YOU so that others will be able to look to you and they’ll be encouraged. Your life and your example matters because God will use you tp give hope to others by how you deal with your sorrow.
You might have thought it was a small thing… but God doesn’t! Your faith in suffering matters to God, and so He commends you!
Secondly – this life… ISN’T ALL there is. Hebrews 11:16 “… they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
You and I have a place prepared for us. It’s a better place; a better country; a better city; a better home than what we have now.
Someone once said “From heaven even the most miserable life will look like one bad night at an inconvenient hotel.” Teresa of Avila
I’ve spent bad night in bad hotels… but it’s only been one night. And when I get home I get to sleep in my own bed. And I eat food out of my own refrigerator. And I relax in my own chair. The hotel may be inconvenient… but I’m comforted by the knowledge that I’ll be home one day.
In the same way, in this earthly life we will have trouble. But this life is just like an BAD hotel for us. It’ll last for just a few short years… then we’ll get to go home! And I LONG for a better home. I LONG for a city promised by God. There’s an old Gospel song that goes this way:
“Looking for a city, where we'll never die. There the sainted millions, never say good-by. There we'll meet our Savior, and our loved ones too. Come O Holy Spirit, all our hopes renew.”
You see, when we become Christians - and we live for God (as these heroes in Hebrews 11 did) - when that happens, God says He’ll not be ashamed to be called our God. And we’ll live for Him for eternity. All we need to do is belong to Him
1. Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God
2. Repenting of our sins
3. Confessing Him as our Lord and Master
4. Being buried with Him a watery grave and rising to walk in newness of life
5. And the living for Him with all of our hearts.
