By Faith
As I read through the first 12 verses of Hebrews 11, I couldn’t
help but focus on the word faith. I
think that’s the author’s intent, so I don’t think I’m doing anything other
than what I am supposed to be doing.
Sometimes it is good to not have to re-invent the wheel and instead just
do what you are expected to do.
As I focused on faith, I began to realize that these stories are
all pre-covenant and certainly pre-Law.
However, they were not pre-promise.
God has promised to be with us.
So here are a bunch of people having faith that God is with us. They aren’t acting upon any kind of Law. They aren’t acting upon any kind of
prescribed behavior. They are just
responding to a promise from God.
I think that’s really a neat thought for me today. So often I think that conservative
Christianity gets the reputation of having to “live a certain way.” While that is true, it isn’t as narrow as it
is often painted. We are to live
according to the promise of God. We are
to live in such a way as we are brought into relationship with Him. We don’t have to be carbon copies of one
another. We certainly don’t have to be
carbon copies of the patriarchs. We need
to live in the same spirit of faith so that we are brought into relationship
with God. But that path might look
slightly different for each and every one of us.
Life isn’t about following the prescribed human notion of
righteousness. Life is about abiding in
God, listening to where He is calling us into faith, and then following. Life is about response to our relationship
with God. That’s what I love about the
opening dozen verses of this chapter.
Verse 13
Then we hit verse 13. This
verse – no, the opening phrase of this verse – caused me to really stop and
ponder today. “These all died in faith,
not having received the things promised.”
Woah. If that verse doesn’t stop
humanity in our tracks, I don’t know what does.
Think about it. Don’t we
make bargains with God often? And yes, I
mean often. We say, “God, if you let me
do well on such-and-such, I’ll be more faithful to You.” Or we say, “Lord, lift me out of this
struggle and I’ll devote more of myself to You.” Human beings are a “show-us-the-goods” kind
of people. We want to inspect the goods
before we buy. We want to try it out
before we commit. We want to purchase,
put it on credit, and pay it off all while we enjoy the benefit of ownership.
Is that really what verse 13 tells us the walk with God is
like? God makes a promise. People respond. People die before receiving the promise.
So I think back to Abraham.
He was told His descendants would number like the stars in the heavens –
which they do. But did he see the
realization of that promise? No
way! He lived, knowing that God would
make the promise happen. Abraham lived
knowing that God would keep his word.
Whether the fulfillment would happen in this lifetime of the next was
really not all that important. Abraham
lived with an eternal perspective. He
lived thinking centuries into the future.
That is deeply challenging for me today. That’s why this opening phrase of verse 13
stopped me in my tracks today. Do I live
with an eternal perspective? Am I
focused on the great-great-great-grandchildren of the people who call me
pastor? Or am I focused on the sermon I
have to preach in three days, the three meetings on my calendar today, and when
I’m going to find time to eat? If I go
through this week feeling as though God hasn’t fully fulfilled His promises to
me right now, am I going to be upset? If
that’s true, how can I possibly ever hope to live with an eternal
perspective? How can I ever hope to say
that I died comfortable with the fact that I had not received the things
promised? If I have to have the
fulfillment of God’s promise in my lifetime, am I really living with the
perspective of God? Or am I just duping
myself to think that I am? Am I just
placating my humanity by making it appear as though I am living through the
eyes of God?
More About Faith
Then we leave verse 13 and tackle the rest of the chapter. By faith person after person considered
themselves to be foreigners. By faith
person after person considered themselves a resident of the life to come
instead of a resident of the life that is.
By faith person after person accepted the fact that within this world
they are strangers. By faith person
after person accepted that within this world they are exiles. By faith, person after person considered
their citizenship somewhere other than where they were currently residing.
As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but to think of the old
Petra song, Not of this World, from
their album of the same name. I am sure
this is where they got much of their inspiration for the lyrics.
I am challenged by the thought carried through the rest of this
chapter. This is the witness of people
who were seeking a homeland. The rest of
this chapter is a witness about people who are seeking a better country – a
heavenly one. So I return to my introspection. Is this true about me? Does this play out in my life?
God is not ashamed to be their God. When the world tortures His own, God is not
ashamed of them. When the world cuts His
own in two, God is not ashamed of them.
When God’s own are abused, mistreated, beheaded, or rejected God is not
ashamed of them. Those who are seeking a
different citizenship than that of the world will find such a fate. But they shall not be rejected by God. That is a promise we won’t see fully
fulfilled in this life. Do I live as
though I’m okay with that?
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