WORSHIP/SERMONIC THEME
Opening Statement: American novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote a novel that proclaimed You Can’t Go Home Again. But the stories of the human race are nonetheless replete with homecoming stories of people who did go home again, and in many cases, they recognized what home was really about for the very first time.
Quotation: In contrast to Thomas Wolfe’s observation, Rod Serling, the play writer from New York, wrote: “Everybody has to have a hometown…In the strangely brittle, terribly sensitive makeup of a human being, there is a need for a place to hang a hat, or a kind of geographical womb to crawl back into, or maybe just a place that’s where you grew up. When I dig back through my memory cells, I get one particularly distinctive feeling that’s one of warmth, comfort, and well being. For whatever else I may have had, or lost, or will find, I’ve still got a hometown. This nobody’s gonna take away from me.”
Application: Regardless of where we’re from or where our respective hometowns might be located today, we all can relate to the idea of a “geographical womb” to crawl back into from time to time in order to experience the emotions of coming home and being a part of what we know as “Family Reunions,” “High School Class Reunions,” “Get-Together’s,” or simply “Homecoming Day”. Even if Sunman or the surrounding area is not your hometown, and even if your home as a child was less than ideal, or even if your home life today is in shambles, and even if your family is being challenged by what seems to be insurmountable odds, we invite you to “hang your hat” for a little while this morning; to “crawl back into this geographical womb” and be at home among us. We have no hidden agenda today.
Invitation: Today, we have no desire to place additional obligations on your shoulders. We simply extend to you an opportunity to reconnect with God and with His people. Look around you today. Recognize the familiar faces of those who have journeyed alongside you for many years. Remember those experiences and moments in times past that made you smile and smile again. Appreciate the many faces, both new and familiar that are among us today. Make a new friend or renew an old acquaintance. Most important of all, redirect your thoughts toward a God who has been faithful to bring you to another Homecoming season.
So whether you’re coming, or going, or already there, we have this simple message, “Welcome home.” It’s time to celebrate homecoming.
Title: Sojournings and Homecomings
SERMON
Background: In the New Testament book of Hebrews, it appears that the Hebrew writers’ audience was enduring some kind of persecution and they were considering going back to old Judaism, rather than stay with the Christian faith. They were discouraged. Life had trampled them to the point of rejecting their faith in Christ.
Illustration: We often speak of someone in an athletic contest who gets trampled by his or her opponent. I can remember trying to do track and field in high school. I did the running long jump and ran (allow me to rephrase “walked and crawled”) the 440-yard dash in high school. While I did OK in the running long jump, I got trampled in the 440-yard dash. Do you know what it’s like to be running your very best race and have 4 or 5 guys 20 or 30 yards in front of you at the finish line? Man, it’s discouraging to get trampled. I made all of the other runners feel great. But I left the track feeling horrible.
Application: Have you ever been trampled by life? Have you ever been trampled by a newspaper reporter or your boss? Have you ever been trampled by somebody you thought was your friend? I run into trampled people all of the time, and so did the writer to the Hebrews.
Introduction: To encourage a group of “trampled” Christians, the Hebrews 11 writer presents to us a kind of spiritual homecoming. He gathers together the names of those who have faithfully passed the legacy of faith on to the next generation. He reflects on the lives of these heroes and heroines of the faith. He talked about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel. Time and space restraints did not permit the writer to write about all the different ones who kept faith alive in their generation, even though it meant great personal sacrifice to each one of them.
Key Word: In the middle of this long list of the faithful, there is a momentary pause in the person-by-person account of the faithful in order to tease out certain implications from the lives of these of whom he has mentioned. The writer mentions FIVE RICH SPIRITUAL QUALITIES OR IMPLICATIONS manifested in the lives of these Old Testament personalities. We will be looking at these today.
Recitation: 11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
First, Their Confidence
11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them…
All of these heroes died with an unfulfilled dream, but confident that God would keep His word because they died, not in rebellion, but in the faith. God’s promises for a better place to live were deeply engraved on their hearts. They dreamed of a place where sin, separation, and death could not plague them anymore. But they did not have the joy of seeing this fulfilled in their lifetimes. Nevertheless, down to their dying breath, they died with complete confidence that God would keep His promises to them.
A person of faith has this quiet confidence that God will take care of them, even though dreams are shattered and plans lay collapsed at their feet and they feel trampled by life. They may not see the fulfillment of all their dreams, but nevertheless they persist in the faith and die in the faith with a kind of quiet confidence.
Second, Their Witness
11:13…acknowledged [confessed] that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth…
These heroes and heroines formulated a kind of traveling community in conflict with the cultures around them. Their values and priorities were not the values and priorities of the other nations among whom they lived. This world was not their home. They belonged to another world and they lived their lives in obedience to that which was to come. They refused to get themselves permanently entangled with the temporal. They never allowed themselves to get too comfortable with life.
The phrase “strangers and aliens” is well attested in the Bible. In the Old Testament narratives the patriarchs and their descendants refer to themselves as “aliens and strangers” in the land (1 Chron. 29:15; Genesis 23:4; Psalm 39:12). And Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
People of faith have a clear witness. While they enjoy the blessings found in God’s world, they also make a statement about the control that these things have over their lives. People of faith have a different set of priorities and speak a different language with an eye on the eternal.
Third, Their Quest
11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
These exiles and strangers were seeking a home. There hearts were set on heaven. Their citizenship was there. This was what motivated them. From Genesis on, the Scriptures never allow us to loose sight of the idea of traveling or the journey/quest motif. The Bible is one gigantic travel story with God’s interventions along the way! It begins in the Old Testament with the individual patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph) journeying from one place to the next, seeking a permanent dwelling. Then it progresses to the nation of Israel who journeyed into Egypt thanks to Joseph and journeyed back out again thanks to Moses and then journeyed through the wilderness for many years. They were a kind of traveling community in conflict with the cultures around them. They eventually had to journey into captivity despite prophetic calls to repentance and some of their offspring even journeyed back home again with Nehemiah’s leadership. And then, we get to the New Testament, and this journey motif still drives the text. Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth. John’s says in his Gospel that once he got here, he “tabernacled” or “tented” among us. His parents were even on a journey when he was born. They had to journey into Egypt to protect him. After which, they journeyed to Nazareth. From there, Jesus journeyed from place to place preaching the gospel, and telling stories about prodigal sons who wander away and journey back home again. Finally, Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem, where he accomplished salvation for all of us, and then He journeyed back to heaven again. From there, he called Paul to be one of his chief spokesmen, who took three missionary journey’s to spread the Good News.
People of faith realize that they’re on a journey, that this world is simply one little phase of this journey that extends into the eternal realms. This world is not your home; it’s a place of temporary residence. Enjoy your homecomings, but don’t get too comfortable here. You’re on a quest and you’re not home yet.
We wonder why life deals such harsh blows to us. Well, remember, you’re not home yet!
Fourth, Their Discernment
11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one…
They did not just merely anticipate heaven; they evaluated the things of earth. Looking at the things that were seen, they quickly discerned that all the marks of transience, impermanence and perishability were upon them. To give their lives to these things was to misplace their time and ability. The patriarchs never looked back.
People of faith have this ability to distinguish between the temporal and the eternal.
Fifth, Their Security
11:16 …Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Strangers and illegal aliens often experience hardship, social ostracism, and economic deprivation. But God made them a promise. No matter how bad things got, He would always be proud of them and gladly provide for them and give to them a city with all the amenities and conveniences that this implies.
People of faith stand to inherit God’s blessings and provisions. This is their security.
APPLICATION
The vision and the heroism of these great heroes and heroines of the faith challenge us; they confront us; they rebuke us; and they inspire us. The Hebrew writer was persuading his readers to not turn back and in so doing encourages them and us to press on. How do these heroes/heroines impact us?
First, They Challenge the Things or People in Which We Place our Confidence
I’m reminded of godly Job. He didn’t know what was going on in his life – why he was suffering to the extent that he was, but he makes this incredible statement of confidence in God and His goodness. Job said, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him (13:15).” God, I may go to my grave without ever knowing what is going on in my life, but I want you to know something. You’re my only hope. And if I die, I’ll die believing in and obeying you. This is my commitment and confidence today.
Second, They Confront our Cowardice
They made bold confession to their faith in God. They were alienated and ostracized for their viewpoints and values. Many of them were trampled by life and yet they remained faithful.
Third, They Rebuke our Materialism
The majority of people live as if this world is the only world. The faith heroes challenge that assumption and the lifestyle that stems from that kind of thinking. If this world is all there is, I must grab as much life as I can while I can. But if there’s another world to come, what’s the hurry? The faith heroes call us to a far simpler lifestyle and remind us that self-contented affluence is never to become a replacement of outgoing compassion.
Fourth, They Inspire our Obedience
My prayer is that God will help me to live my life for the things that really matter, to extend the legacy of faith to may own children, and to live in light of the world to come.
CONCLUSION
I want you to think of the day when you will be wrapped in the arms of Jesus. Dare to imagine that moment. You finally see the Savior you have served, trusted, and longed for. There He is, the Savior who gave His life for your redemption and who brought you to faith and turned you from death to life. I don’t know what that day will be altogether. Will we fall immediately on our faces in grateful adoration? Or will we run instantly into His arms? Either way I know the Lord will draw us to Himself and wrap His arms around us and say, "Welcome Home." At that moment in time, all of the “tramplings” of life enduring while on our earthy sojourning will forever be dissolved, and we will hold Him and He will hold us and we will weep for a long time. Imagine that moment.
