Epistle for August 14, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle and continues the survey of salvation history.

Last week’s epistle reading began with creation (Hebrews 11:1) and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

This week, Hebrews 11:29 picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

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.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history!  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

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 raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength 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.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith.]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

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.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Andrew Murray consecration Hebrews 12 1" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for August 7, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This excerpt from the magnificent passage in Hebrews 11 defies simple exposition.  It would be like looking at the Grand Canyon and saying, “that’s a big gorge!”  Of course that is true, but there is too much depth and too much complexity to simply leave it there. And yet, trying to sum up what a person sees from the edge of that natural wonder is boggling.

Hebrews 11 presents the same problem.  The first sentence alone requires at least a chapter in a book all to itself!

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What kind of faith is the writer speaking of here?  Justifying faith that depends upon radical trust in the grace of God revealed in Christ? Or is this faith of the creeds, relating to the content of faith revealed in the Scriptures? One thing is absolutely clear — the faith that is explored here is dynamic and deeply personal.

The words that are used to define faith are strong words.  Assurance is from the Greek upostasis, which can also be translated substance. This implies a sense of certainty and confidence, especially in the future of things hoped for.

And conviction, from the Greek elengkos can also be translated persuasion, evidence, demonstration. Faith isn’t something gossamer and vague — it is an inward evidence that transcends what can be experienced with the physical senses.  It makes us think of what Paul says about the witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16:

 …it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…

There is the sense that even though I cannot see those things that are described in the Scriptures — angels, demons, miracles, even God — they exist.  I cannot see oxygen, and yet I am convinced that it does exist and sustains me.  And until the last century or so it was impossible to “see” the atoms that make O2.  In fact one student of physics says this of the inability to “see” electrons and protons:   

… seeing something is not required to determine its properties, in fact many properties cannot be understood simply by processing the light that bounces off of an object…And as intellectual beings, we have developed other ways to study our environment, such as the electron microscope.  So just because we use alternative apparatus or techniques to determine the features of atomic particles, does not make our conclusions any less valid.

Similarly, we can say of the spiritual realm that though we are now dependent on faith, there will come a time that faith becomes sight:

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 might be called the “Faith Chapter” in much the way 1 Corinthians 13 may be titled “the Love Chapter.”

The chapter lists the people of faith that trusted in God despite adversity, and looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises.  The passage is framed almost as a kind of litany — each Biblical character or their actions is introduced by the same phrase — by faith. In each instance, the impetus of their action and obedience is by faith.

Although Hebrews never uses the Pauline language of justification by faith to describe God’s act of salvation by grace, it comes very close here:

 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

Clearly, it isn’t because of their election as God’s people, or their adherence to the law, or their proper sacrifices (the only perfect sacrifice in Hebrews is Jesus Christ), or their works that they are approved — it is by faith!

And in verse 3, Hebrews begins with the very first principle of faith — that God is the one and only Creator, who created all things from nothing:

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Notice also that the word of God is the agent of creation. It is impossible not to hear echoes of John 1 and Colossians when they describe Christ as the agent of creation:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being (John 1:1-3).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him (Colossians 1:15-16).

Our lectionary reading skips from verse 3 to verse 8 in order to focus on the Old Testament figure who is most famous in the New Testament as “our human father in the faith” (Romans 4:16) — Abraham.

In this section, Hebrews focuses on the broad outline of Abraham’s life and faith.  His faith is described as “faithful obedience” as he left his familiar home to go to an unknown land which would be given him as an inheritance. But even that land, which of course we know to be the land of Canaan, is only a provisional inheritance.  The real inheritance is to be a heavenly city:

 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews continues by addressing the miraculous birth of a child to an elderly couple, and to a woman who was barren during her normal childbearing years — Abraham and Sarah.   Hebrews offers a vivid and somewhat witty description of the great promise of God that was originally given to Abraham (Genesis 22:17):

Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

Hebrews pauses to sum up all of those who had been mentioned so far in this “faith chapter,” some of whom today’s lectionary Scripture selection doesn’t cover — Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob.  Of them, Hebrews says:

 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.

These Old Testament saints understood that their sojourn on this earth was transient:

They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

One theme comes through very clearly — the promises in which these saints believed were not yet fulfilled.  But they knew that what was to come would be vastly superior to the provisional fulfillment they had experienced:

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

APPLY:  

Believers are by definition optimists.  We really can’t continue to believe that everything will get worse and worse, because ultimately faith is about what God is going to do. God is preparing a heavenly city as the fulfillment of our faith.

Hebrews 11 reminds us that faith is about a vision of the future that transcends doubt, suffering, persecution, torture, and even death.  This is why these Old Testament saints were able to persevere even though they did not see the goal of their faith.

And as the closing verses of Hebrews 11 tell us, our faithful response to Christ is essential to the completion of their faith journey:

 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 11:39-40).

RESPOND: 

I was having a very civil debate with a non-believer who was raised in the church but consciously has departed from faith in Christ.  He has read Hitchens and Dawkins and others who have declared themselves “anti-theists,” but my friend doesn’t consider himself anti-theist or atheist — he has said he believes in “a god” but not the Christian God.

But as our debate began, he declared to me that he could predict where we would end up. He would dismantle the traditional arguments against the Christian revelation scientifically and epistemologically, and it would end up that I would say the same thing every Christian says to him — “it all comes down to faith.”

Actually, I couldn’t really argue with that.  I could argue that religious truth is like scientific truth in that the truth itself doesn’t ever change.  We may come to understand the truth that already exists, but none of us invents or creates it.  The scientist may come to understand it by discovery and experimentation, whereas the believer comes to understand by revelation and Scripture.  But none of us “invents” the truth.

As I reflected on our conversation later, it struck me that of course he was right.  By definition, my understanding of the truth is grounded in faith. There is no way that I can know all the truths revealed in Scripture without faith.  However, I would argue that scientists also sometimes employ a kind of “scientific faith” about certain hypotheses that they cannot prove by empirical observation while they await confirmation by experimentation.  But is that all that different from Abraham and people of faith? We are those who:

… looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Our Lord, by faith I look forward to the fulfillment of your promises, and your holy city.  In the faith of your saints I see the vision that sustains me and gives me hope — the assurance and conviction of those things not yet seen. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
"faith" by klds is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for August 18, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle, and continues the survey of salvation history that began with creation (Hebrews 11:1), and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

Hebrews picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

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.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history !  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

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 raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength 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.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith. ]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

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.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of  the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning  and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Andrew Murray consecration Hebrews 12 1" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for August 11, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This excerpt from the magnificent passage in Hebrews 11 defies simple exposition.  It would be like looking at the Grand Canyon and saying, “that’s a big gorge!”  Of course that is true, but there is too much depth and too much complexity to simply leave it there. And yet, trying to sum up what a person sees from the edge of that natural wonder is boggling.

Hebrews 11 presents the same problem.  The first sentence alone requires at least a chapter in a book all to itself!

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What kind of faith is the writer speaking of here?  Justifying faith that depends upon radical trust in the grace of God revealed in Christ? Or is this faith of the creeds, relating to the content of faith revealed in the Scriptures? One thing is absolutely clear — the faith that is explored here is dynamic and deeply personal.

The words that are used to define faith are strong words.  Assurance is from the Greek upostasis, which can also be translated substance. This implies a sense of certainty and confidence, especially in the future of things hoped for.

And conviction, from the Greek elengkos can also be translated  persuasion, evidence, demonstration. Faith isn’t something gossamer and vague — it is an inward evidence that transcends what can be experienced with the physical senses.  It makes us think of what Paul says about  the witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16:

 …it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…

There is the sense that even though I cannot see those things that are described in the Scriptures — angels, demons, miracles, even God — they exist.  I cannot see oxygen, and yet I am convinced that it does exist and sustains me.  And until the last century or so it was impossible to “see” the atoms that make O2.  In fact one student of physics says this of the inability to “see” electrons and protons:   

… seeing something is not required to determine its properties, in fact many properties cannot be understood simply by processing the light that bounces off of an object…And as intellectual beings, we have developed other ways to study our environment, such as the electron microscope.  So just because we use alternative apparatus or techniques to determine the features of atomic particles, does not make our conclusions any less valid.

Similarly, we can say of the spiritual realm that though we are now dependent on faith, there will come a time that faith becomes sight:

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 might be called the “Faith Chapter” in much the way 1 Corinthians 13 may be titled “the Love Chapter.”

The chapter lists the people of faith that trusted in God despite adversity, and looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises.  The passage is framed almost as a kind of litany — each Biblical character or their actions is introduced by the same phrase — by faith. In each instance, the impetus of their action and obedience is by faith.

Although Hebrews never uses the Pauline language of justification by faith to describe God’s act of salvation by grace, it comes very close here:

 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

Clearly, it isn’t because of their election as God’s people, or their adherence to the law, or their proper sacrifices (the only perfect sacrifice in Hebrews is Jesus Christ), or their works that they are approved — it is by faith!

And in verse 3, Hebrews begins with the very first principle of faith — that God is the one and only Creator, who created all things from nothing:

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Notice also that the word of God is the agent of creation. It is impossible not to hear echoes of John 1 and Colossians when they describe Christ as the agent of creation:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being (John 1:1-3).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him (Colossians 1:15-16).

Our lectionary reading skips from verse 3 to verse 8 in order to focus on the Old Testament figure who is most famous in the New Testament as “our human father in the faith” (Romans 4:16) — Abraham.

In this section, Hebrews focuses on the broad outline of Abraham’s life and faith.  His faith is described as “faithful obedience” as he left his familiar home to go to an unknown land which would be given him as an inheritance. But even that land, which of course we know to be the land of Canaan, is only a provisional inheritance.  The real inheritance is to be a heavenly city:

 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews continues by addressing the miraculous birth of a child to an elderly couple, and to a woman who was barren during her normal childbearing years — Abraham and Sarah.   Hebrews offers a vivid and somewhat witty description of the great promise of God that was originally given to Abraham (Genesis 22:17):

Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

Hebrews pauses to sum up all of those who had been mentioned so far in this “faith chapter,” some of whom today’s lectionary Scripture selection doesn’t cover — Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob.  Of them, Hebrews says:

 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.

These Old Testament saints understood that their sojourn on this earth was transient:

They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,  for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

One theme comes through very clearly — the promises in which these saints believed were not yet fulfilled.  But they knew that what was to come would be vastly superior to the provisional fulfillment they had experienced:

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

APPLY:  

Believers are by definition optimists.  We really can’t continue to believe that everything will get worse and worse, because ultimately faith is about what God is going to do. God is preparing a heavenly city as the fulfillment of our faith.

Hebrews 11 reminds us that faith is about a vision of the future that transcends doubt, suffering, persecution, torture, and even death.  This is why these Old Testament saints were able to persevere even though they did not see the goal of their faith.

And as the closing verses of Hebrews 11 tell us, our faithful response to Christ is essential to the completion of their faith journey:

 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 11:39-40).

RESPOND: 

I was having a very civil debate with a non-believer who was raised in the church but consciously has departed from faith in Christ.  He has read Hitchens and Dawkins and others who have declared themselves “anti-theists,” but my friend doesn’t consider himself anti-theist or atheist — he has said he believes in “a god” but not the Christian God.

But as our debate began, he declared to me that he could predict where we would end up. He would dismantle the traditional arguments against the Christian revelation scientifically and epistemologically, and it would end up that I would say the same thing every  Christian says to him — “it all comes down to faith.”

Actually, I couldn’t really argue with that.  I could argue that religious truth is like scientific truth in that the truth itself doesn’t ever change.  We may come to understand the truth that already exists, but none of us invents or creates it.  The scientist may come to understand it by discovery and experimentation, whereas the believer comes to understand by revelation and Scripture.  But none of us “invents” the truth.

As I reflected on our conversation later, it struck me that of course he was right.  By definition, my understanding of the truth is grounded in faith. There is no way that I can know all the truths revealed in Scripture without faith.  However,  I would argue that scientists also sometimes employ a kind of “scientific faith” about certain hypotheses that they cannot prove by empirical observation while they await confirmation by experimentation.  But is that all that different from Abraham and people of faith? We are those who:

… looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Our Lord, by faith I look forward to the fulfillment of your promises, and your holy city.  In the faith of your saints I see the vision that sustains me and gives me hope — the assurance and conviction of those things not yet seen. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for August 14, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Our lectionary reading for this week’s epistle picks up the thread of last week’s epistle, and continues the survey of salvation history that began with creation (Hebrews 11:1), and continued with the prime example of the “man of faith,” Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-12).  As we will see, this salvation history leads us to the ultimate object of faith in the person and work of Jesus.

Hebrews picks up the litany that punctuates each Old Testament hero or saving event — by faith:

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.

Here we see the heart of the salvation history of Israel — their liberation and deliverance from slavery; their conquest of Canaan represented in the conquest of Jericho.  Both of these events required the faithful response of the people, and led to supernatural intervention on their behalf.

What might seem astonishing is that even a prostitute, Rahab, is incorporated into the litany of the salvation history!  She has no ritual or moral purity of her own.  She is not an Israelite. It is her faith alone that saves her.

Hebrews then seeks to sum up the salvation history recorded throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), admitting that the scope of the story of faith is overwhelming:

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 raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength 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.

There are stories of prophets and others whose names are unmentioned here, but whose exploits illustrate the principle of faith that Hebrews is teaching — names like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

Tales of torture and persecution are included in the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books, and the writer of Hebrews may be referring to some of those atrocities as a way of celebrating the faith of Jewish martyrs in the time before Christ. [The Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books are not accepted as part of the official canon in Protestant churches, but still regarded as helpful to faith. ]

And yet Hebrews tells us that though all of these men and women were people of faith, their faith wasn’t to be fully consummated quite yet.  Faith is by nature oriented toward the future:

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.

Here we come to the concept of mystery that is introduced by the Apostle Paul.  This mystery is at the heart of the salvation history, i.e., it is the disclosure of:

 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory(Colossians 1:26-27).

In other words, the entire salvation history is fulfilled in the coming of Christ, and the faithful response of Jews and Gentiles alike who come to faith in Christ.

Hebrews then exhorts his audience, who are believers in Christ, to follow the example of those faithful Hebrews in the past:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of  the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

There is a metaphor here that illuminates the scene.  The Christians are running a race, as though they are in the Olympics.  Athletic games of that kind were a common occurrence in that day, especially in those regions influenced by Greece.

The cloud of witnesses refers to all of the Old Testament saints that the writer has mentioned in the previous chapter.  But the picture he paints is of a great crowd, perhaps sitting in the stadium watching and cheering for the new athletes of faith.

As with runners in a race, these spiritual athletes are encouraged to lay aside weight and sin which might encumber them and prevent them from running well.

But the real object is to follow Jesus who sprints on ahead of these spiritual athletes as the pioneer and perfecter of their faith.  These two words are significant.  The word translated pioneer is the Greek word archegon; the word perfecter is from the Greek teleioten.  Literally, these words also mean first and last, and beginning  and end.

Faith begins in Jesus and ends in him.  And life begins and ends in him. In the metaphor here in Hebrews, Jesus is the pioneer who leads the way in this spiritual race, and he is the perfecter — or as one translation has it, the finisher — who leads the runners across the finish line to victory.

Finally, we have the means whereby Jesus completes this race — the cross is the ordeal through which he must pass before he is seated as a champion at God’s right hand.  Note that there is a sharp contrast between the joy  that is the ultimate goal of the victor and the shame of the cross.  The believers who run behind Jesus have previously been exhorted to persevere in their race, however difficult it might seem, and are following Jesus who endured the cross. 

We have the beginnings of credal statements here:

he suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried.
On the third day he rose from the dead
And is seated at the right hand of the Father (excerpt from the Apostles’ Creed).

APPLY:  

Those who follow Christ by faith are by definition spiritual athletes.  The word used in Hebrews for race is agon — which is a technical term often used for athletic contests.  We note that agon is the root of agony. 

We are running a race. And we can take comfort that those who have gone before us are in some way cheering us on as the cloud of witnesses.  Witness is of course the Greek word martyrion, where we get the word, martyr.  Those who have themselves paid a price for their faith are surrounding us.

But even more comforting is the author and finisher of our faith — Jesus.  He has paved the way for us through his own agony.  But there is the sense that following Jesus does involve sacrifice.  We are told to shed every weight and sin that slows us down.  The imagery makes us think of the pounds that we pick up by self-indulgence, but also those habits that take our focus away from Jesus who runs ahead of us.

If we are to follow him across the finish line, we must keep the focus of our faith on him, and like him despise the shame for the sake of the joy set before us.

RESPOND: 

I like to think of myself as an athlete, although the truth is that the last time I was heavily involved in competitive athletics was in high school more than 42 years ago.

But some of those habits are still there.  I know that competing in games of any kind requires discipline, focus on the essentials, and the willingness to set aside those things that might distract us.

I practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study every day; and worship and/or preach every Sunday.  I also know that there are weights and sins  that can distract me from following Jesus.  I try to cultivate a sense of detachment from the world so that possessions and things and temptations don’t  distract me from running the race set before me.

What really comforts me, though, is the awareness that Jesus has already borne my sin upon the cross, and crossed the finish line, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  It is not my agony that enables me to cross the finish line, it is his!  And I follow in faith knowing that he has already completed the race on my behalf!

Lord, I thank you for despising the shame of the cross for my sake, that I might experience the joy of victory through you.  Give me the willingness to cast off the weights of this world and the sins that slow me down, so that I may follow you without encumbrance.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for August 7, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This excerpt from the magnificent passage in Hebrews 11 defies simple exposition.  It would be like looking at the Grand Canyon and saying, “that’s a big gorge!”  Of course that is true, but there is too much depth and too much complexity to simply leave it there. And yet, trying to sum up what a person sees from the edge of that natural wonder is boggling.

Hebrews 11 presents the same problem.  The first sentence alone requires at least a chapter in a book all to itself!

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

What kind of faith is the writer speaking of here?  Justifying faith that depends upon radical trust in the grace of God revealed in Christ? Or is this faith of the creeds, relating to the content of faith revealed in the Scriptures? One thing is absolutely clear — the faith that is explored here is dynamic and deeply personal.

The words that are used to define faith are strong words.  Assurance is from the Greek upostasis, which can also be translated substance. This implies a sense of certainty and confidence, especially in the future of things hoped for.

And conviction, from the Greek elengkos can also be translated  persuasion, evidence, demonstration. Faith isn’t something gossamer and vague — it is an inward evidence that transcends what can be experienced with the physical senses.  It makes us think of what Paul says about  the witness of the Spirit in Romans 8:16:

 …it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…

There is the sense that even though I cannot see those things that are described in the Scriptures — angels, demons, miracles, even God — they exist.  I cannot see oxygen, and yet I am convinced that it does exist and sustains me.  And until the last century or so it was impossible to “see” the atoms that make O2.  In fact one student of physics says this of the inability to “see” electrons and protons:   

… seeing something is not required to determine its properties, in fact many properties cannot be understood simply by processing the light that bounces off of an object…And as intellectual beings, we have developed other ways to study our environment, such as the electron microscope.  So just because we use alternative apparatus or techniques to determine the features of atomic particles, does not make our conclusions any less valid.

Similarly, we can say of the spiritual realm that though we are now dependent on faith, there will come a time that faith becomes sight:

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 might be called the “Faith Chapter” in much the way 1 Corinthians 13 may be titled “the Love Chapter.”

The chapter lists the people of faith that trusted in God despite adversity, and looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises.  The passage is framed almost as a kind of litany — each Biblical character or their actions is introduced by the same phrase — by faith. In each instance, the impetus of their action and obedience is by faith.

Although Hebrews never uses the Pauline language of justification by faith to describe God’s act of salvation by grace, it comes very close here:

 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

Clearly, it isn’t because of their election as God’s people, or their adherence to the law, or their proper sacrifices (the only perfect sacrifice in Hebrews is Jesus Christ), or their works that they are approved — it is by faith!

And in verse 3, Hebrews begins with the very first principle of faith — that God is the one and only Creator, who created all things from nothing:

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Notice also that the word of God is the agent of creation. It is impossible not to hear echoes of John 1 and Colossians when they describe Christ as the agent of creation:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being (John 1:1-3).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him (Colossians 1:15-16).

Our lectionary reading skips from verse 3 to verse 8 in order to focus on the Old Testament figure who is most famous in the New Testament as “our human father in the faith” (Romans 4:16) — Abraham.

In this section, Hebrews focuses on the broad outline of Abraham’s life and faith.  His faith is described as “faithful obedience” as he left his familiar home to go to an unknown land which would be given him as an inheritance. But even that land, which of course we know to be the land of Canaan, is only a provisional inheritance.  The real inheritance is to be a heavenly city:

 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews continues by addressing the miraculous birth of a child to an elderly couple, and to a woman who was barren during her normal childbearing years — Abraham and Sarah.   Hebrews offers a vivid and somewhat witty description of the great promise of God that was originally given to Abraham (Genesis 22:17):

Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

Hebrews pauses to sum up all of those who had been mentioned so far in this “faith chapter,” some of whom today’s lectionary Scripture selection doesn’t cover — Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob.  Of them, Hebrews says:

 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.

These Old Testament saints understood that their sojourn on this earth was transient:

They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,  for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

One theme comes through very clearly — the promises in which these saints believed were not yet fulfilled.  But they knew that what was to come would be vastly superior to the provisional fulfillment they had experienced:

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

APPLY:  

Believers are by definition optimists.  We really can’t continue to believe that everything will get worse and worse, because ultimately faith is about what God is going to do. God is preparing a heavenly city as the fulfillment of our faith.

Hebrews 11 reminds us that faith is about a vision of the future that transcends doubt, suffering, persecution, torture, and even death.  This is why these Old Testament saints were able to persevere even though they did not see the goal of their faith.

And as the closing verses of Hebrews 11 tell us, our faithful response to Christ is essential to the completion of their faith journey:

 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 11:39-40).

RESPOND: 

I was having a very civil debate with a non-believer who was raised in the church but consciously has departed from faith in Christ.  He has read Hitchens and Dawkins and others who have declared themselves “anti-theists,” but my friend doesn’t consider himself anti-theist or atheist — he has said he believes in “a god” but not the Christian God.

But as our debate began, he declared to me that he could predict where we would end up. He would dismantle the traditional arguments against the Christian revelation scientifically and epistemologically, and it would end up that I would say the same thing every  Christian says to him — “it all comes down to faith.”

Actually, I couldn’t really argue with that.  I could argue that religious truth is like scientific truth in that the truth itself doesn’t ever change.  We may come to understand the truth that already exists, but none of us invents or creates it.  The scientist may come to understand it by discovery and experimentation, wheras the believer comes to understand by revelation and Scripture.  But none of us “invents” the truth.

As I reflected on our conversation later, it struck me that of course he was right.  By definition, my understanding of the truth is grounded in faith. There is no way that I can know all the truths revealed in Scripture without faith.  However,  I would argue that scientists also sometimes employ a kind of “scientific faith” about certain hypotheses that they cannot prove by empirical observation while they await confirmation by experimentation.  But is that all that different from Abraham and people of faith? We are those who:

… looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Our Lord, by faith I look forward to the fulfillment of your promises, and your holy city.  In the faith of your saints I see the vision that sustains me and gives me hope — the assurance and conviction of those things not yet seen. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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