a word of encouragement?

Hebrews 12:4-12

This passage strikes me as funny and profound. The author has just listed an inspiring group of people who lived by faith and endured incredible hardships and received incredible blessing because of their conviction that God would keep his promise. Then the author encouraged the readers to run their race with perseverance. Now, the author's encouragement? The hardship you are facing is God's discipline and God only disciplines those he loves, therefore, be encouraged because God loves you and you are his children. The key words in the passage are discipline, love and children.
The author also offers some perspective: while the trials the readers are facing are extreme and very real, they have not yet died for their faith. Others have suffered much more and persevered through it. So, the readers should continue to persevere.
Both of these are great reminders. First, that God loves me but his love is not the passive love that just lets me do whatever I want. As my Father, he will discipline me for his glory and for my ultimate joy. I must learn to see the hardships that I face as an act of love on God's part. Second, the hardships I face are absolutely nothing compared to the hardships others face. The hardships I face are not even directly related to my faith but are just part of regular life: getting cut off in traffic, running late, not having things go as smoothly as I want. I don't think I've ever been persecuted for my faith. Sometimes my faith could be seen to have inconvenienced me in that it would have been easier in the immediate to make an immoral choice. But I have never been thrown in jail, beat up, had my property taken or felt threatened because of my faith. Because of this, I think I have a responsibility to do what the readers of Hebrews did: stand side by side with those who are being publicly exposed to ridicule, insult and persecution.

run!

Hebrews 12:1-3

There are three exhortations in this section: let us throw off whatever hinders, let us run the race with perseverance and consider Jesus. All three flow out of the fact that there is a great cloud of witnesses who have a vested interest in our success. The author has indicated that the promise they were pursuing all their lives is only attained together with us. After talking about the faith of all these spiritual ancestors, the author return the focus of the book squarely back on Christ: fix your eyes on Jesus... consider him.
Chapter 11 does not take the focus off of Christ but backs up and takes the longer view: remember Abel? He was looking forward to the Seed. Remember Abraham? He was looking forward to the Blessing. Everything that the people of faith were building their lives on was anchored in Christ, the Seed promised to Eve and the Blessing promised to Abraham. So, even though the author is celebrating the faith of these people, everything is still centered on Christ.
The author calls the reader to have the same focus. In this case because Jesus provides an example and hope for those who are going through persecution. He endured the cross because he was focused on the joy set before him. The author calls the reader to consider his example so the reader won't grow weary and lose heart.
It's amazing to me how, right in the middle of trials and difficulties, my focus turns inward to myself. This is a good challenge to me. First, get rid of anything in my life that doesn't help me be the person that Christ has called me to be. This is easy to say but hard to do: do the tv shows I watch need to go? Is the music I listen to helping or hindering? Secondly, focus on Jesus. Consider his trials, his persecution, his death and his joy. I need to raise my eyes above the circumstances and see Jesus.

receiving the promise

Hebrews 11:39-40

The key word, as in this entire section, is faith. The author points out that all the people listed and referred to lived by faith and yet none of them received what had been promised. For the author, this is the essence of faith: building your life on what is unseen and hoped for. This speaks against the prosperity gospel which claims that faith gives you riches and success and fulfillment of the promise immediately. According to the author, faith makes you homeless and impoverished and even lifeless because the person of faith is not tied to the things of this world. The person of faith recognizes that there is something better ahead.
The author makes an interesting statement that the perfection or fulfillment of their faith would only happen through us. We, being brought to God through Christ, represent all the hopes of these people who lived by faith before us. In us, and through Christ, the promises God gave to these people are fulfilled. It is no wonder, then, that the author describes them as a great cloud of witnesses. They have a vested interest in our faithfulness because in our faithfulness they see the fulfillment of God's promise. This is what they lived, and sometimes died, for.
Two things: 1) I think we are too tied to the world. I think I am too tied to the world. I love my life. I love my job. I love my house. I don't love my car but I loved my other car. I love the things that technology has to offer and the comforts that this world has to offer and I long for most of them. I envy them. I am too often focused on this world and not on Christ. I value the treasures of this world too much and value the treasure of heaven, which is Christ, too little. 2) We too often see our faith as an individual private act. Paul constantly speaks against this, teaching that our faith is lived out in community. Here, the author goes even further saying that our faith is the fulfillment of the faith of our spiritual ancestors. So, run the race with perseverance... (but now I'm getting ahead of myself!)

the world is not worthy of them

Hebrews 11:32-38

The author speeds up the list at this point. He mentions a few names but talks more generally about all those who lived by faith through out Israel's history. At first the characteristics of these people who live by faith are epic: conquering kingdoms, administering justice, shutting the mouths of lions, quenching the fury of the flames, etc. Then the author looks behind the epic moments to reveal the cost of living by faith: torture, imprisonment, beatings, persecution, martyrdom, poverty, shunning, homelessness.
All of this was through faith in that they acted on belief in God and his promises which sometimes meant glorious victory in battle but also meant continuing in their faith in the face of opposition. We tend to think of the results of having faith as beautiful and good, and that will be the case at some point in the future, but we don't necessarily see the results of faith as being jail and torture. Here's an example of what I am trying to say: I have heard it said that some people are not healed of their diseases or injuries because they did not have enough faith. What this passage is saying is that faith is necessary to go through the disease. The person who is not healed looks forward to that day when there will be no more disease. They trust God to sustain them in the midst of their disease, knowing he could heal them if he chose but trusting him to do what is good and will bring him the most glory. That's the kind of faith that these people had in Hebrews 11.
This is the kind of faith that the author is telling me that I should have. I think that we too often see obstacles and opposition as evidence that God does not want us to go down that road. If we believe the destination and the route are from God, then we need to have faith that God will sustain us through whatever obstacles and opposition we might face. Even if I die, God will raise up someone behind me to carry on the task for the good of the kingdom of God and the glory of the King.

aiding and abetting

Hebrews 11:31

The author stays in Jericho but turns the spotlight on Rahab. Looking back in the book of Joshua, I find Rahab's story interesting. She indicates that all the citizens had heard news about the nation of Israel and were living in fear of them for it was obvious that God was on their side. However, she is the only one who acts on that fear by suing for peace.
I'm actually struggling with this passage. Probably because I don't fully understand the act of faith that hiding the spies was. To me, Rahab's move seems logical: it's obvious God's hand is with the nation of Israel and her only hope of survival is to side with him and them. However, it can't have been such a logical move if she was the only one to make it. Also, it would have required a significant amount of faith to continue to live in Jericho, trusting the word of the spies, for the time between the spies' visit and the actual conquest of Jericho. I also wonder if she started to doubt when she saw the battle plan unfolding; who conquers a city by marching around it?
There is a similar situation today: God is obviously at work and has provided a way of salvation that seems really logical but also requires faith. Most people in this world aren't making the "logical" conclusion and turning their lives over to Christ. Even some who have grown up with the message and understanding of salvation begin to doubt in the time they wait for the fulfillment of their salvation and they turn away. This reminds me that as logical as my faith may seem to me, it is not really all that logical for it is based on being sure of things hoped for and certain of things unseen.

the walls came tumbling down

Hebrews 11:30

I am really enjoying this chapter as I am forced to consider the faith behind the biblical stories I grew up with. I grew up with the story of Joshua and Jericho but never really considered the faith involved, both by Joshua and the people:
Imagine that you are the new leader of the nation. Sure, God has shown his power and affirmed your leadership by allowing the nation to cross the Jordan in a similar manner to the way he allowed them to cross the Red Sea. Now you are facing a new obstacle - a walled city. God's command is to take the city and get rid of all the inhabitants in the land but you have never led a military campaign before and your army certainly is not professional! So you start to pray, which is a good response to a shaky situation, and God actually speaks to you to give you the military plan: every day for six days, march once around the city. On day seven, march around the city seven times and then have everyone shout.
I can't imagine going back to my army as their new commander and telling them that this is the plan. I can't imagine standing up before the nation as their brand new leader and laying this out for them. People would think I was crazy! Yet, the people demonstrate incredible faith in Joshua as their leader and in God as the one who both appointed Joshua to lead and laid out this bizarre plan.
I think that our church has become too pragmatic in our decision making. I don't think we should discount logic and good sense too quickly but I think we may prize them too highly. I think that when we make pragmatic decisions we limit our ability to join in the work of God because we miss out on opportunities to see God do amazing things. I'm overstating my case because God is doing amazing things in our church but I worry that we are drifting more and more to a business model and away from the kind of reliance on and faith in God that would move us to march around a city blowing ram's horns.

pathways through oceans

Hebrews 11:29

The author continues the list of the people of faith by pointing out the faith of the fledgling nation of Israel who walked through the Red Sea as on dry land. This faith is probably best defined as being sure of what is hoped for. The nation was in an impossible spot; they were pressed up against the water by the approaching Egyptian army. There was no way of escape until God created a path through the water.
I am not facing as dire a situation as the nation of Israel but I do feel like I am approaching a bit of an impossible situation. My wife and I want to adopt another child but it feels like we are pressing up against the deadline of our move. What birth family would choose us when we are moving across the country in about six months? This, compounded by the fact that our agency had no placements over a 12 week period this fall meaning that there were (are?) very few birth moms choosing adoption, makes the situation seem impossible. Yet, we hope. I wouldn't say I have much faith because I am not very sure of what I hope for. However, my faith is not in the situation and circumstances but in God. I have faith that God can create a path through this ocean for us to walk on in that he can still match us with a birth family before we move or he will show himself to be sufficient in our sorrow if we do not have another baby before then. I don't want to face the possibility of the second option but, humanly speaking, it is seeming more and more likely.

more to life than this

Hebrews 11:24-28

The author focuses on Moses through this section, moving from the faith of his parents to the faith of the man himself. The theme of seeing what is unseen is explicit in this passage - Moses saw him who is invisible. There is also the theme of choosing: Moses chooses temporary mistreatment over temporary pleasure and disgrace for Christ over the treasures of Egypt. This must be because he realized that he would get something better than the temporary pleasure if he persevered through the temporary mistreatment and that disgrace for the sake of Christ would result in honour from Christ which is far better than the treasures of Egypt. This challenges me. I get caught up in the temporary pleasure that sin offers and the temporary treasures of this world. I know that I have something far greater because I have Christ but those commercials are enticing and I am soon led to envy and lust. I acknowledge that those things will not ultimately fulfill me but I am attracted to their shine!
The author mentions Moses' faith in keeping the Passover. Again, this demonstrates incredible trust in God: to escape the angel of death, apply the blood of the lamb to the door frame. Being a worrier, I would be up all night wondering if I applied enough blood, if the angel of death would see it, if I misunderstood the instructions, etc. This is a challenge to me as well: do I trust God to do what he said he would? Do I really trust that the blood of the Lamb is enough for my salvation?

no ordinary fella

Hebrews 11:23

The author begins to turn his attention to Moses, starting with the faith of Moses' parents. Moses' parents are not named in this section but they are commended for their faith. The form their faith took was that God would not have them hand their son over to be killed by the Egyptian executioners, believing that God valued life so highly that he would protect their son, and that Moses was a special child, that God had great things planned for him.
I think all parents have that dream but for Moses' parents it was more than a dream. They were certain, or convicted, of the potential of their son. I don't know what form their certainty took. I don't know if they were given hints in dreams or visions or voices but they responded to whatever instruction and vision they had.
I think it's one thing to have faith and make decisions about one's own life but to take those risks and make those decisions on behalf of another increases the level of responsibility. I think it demonstrates great trust in God. I feel that responsibility when it comes to my son. The decisions I make impact his life and I am becoming more and more aware of that. May I have the faith of Moses' parents and the wisdom from God to make wise decisions for my family.

it matters where you bury me

Hebrews 11:22

I never really thought about the faith of Joseph in this way before. Again, fitting with being certain of what is unseen, Joseph looks through time to the future and asks that his bones not be buried in Egypt because he recognizes that Egypt is not his home despite his phenomenal success there and that his brothers and their descendants will possess the land that God promised to them through Abraham.
On Saturday, at Refuel, I was told by Stephen that the word "certain" in v. 1 is the same word in 2 Timothy 3:16 translated rebuke. Stephen says that this word means to be convicted. The Word of God convicts me in that it provides me with convictions (firm beliefs that transcend circumstance) and in that it reveals my sin and guilt and reminds me that I am deserving only of God's wrath. The faith of these people in Hebrews 11 is more than a certainty, it is a conviction that God will keep his promise even though everything around them indicates that it will not come true. This was certainly the case in Joseph's life. He was so convicted that Egypt was not his home that he made them promise to take his bones with them when they moved into the land promised to them.
I'm trying to think of the promises that God has given me that I need to be as convicted about. I think for me it's the promise of Christ to return to this earth. In my head I know it to be true but I think I've lost the hope of that. I don't live in anticipation of it. I don't think it's because I love earth so much - although it definitely has its moments. I can't put my finger on why this is the case.

seeing the unseen

Hebrews 11:21

There is an interesting theme developed in Isaac and Jacob in regards to eyesight. Isaac was nearly blind and, as a result this and Jacob's scheming, blessed Jacob over Esau. Jacob was nearly blind and blessed Joseph's younger son over the older. Joseph thought this was a mistake due to Jacob's blindness but Jacob was emphatic. Both men were blind but were given special insight, in one case without his consent, into the unseen. Joseph's younger son would play a leading role in the history of Israel (Joshua was from Ephraim, for example). This fits very well with the author's theme: faith is being certain of the unseen.
I love the image of Jacob worshiping while leaning on his staff. All his life he was so dependent on himself and in his old age he is dependent on his staff for physical support and dependent on God for life. I pray that I would learn that lesson earlier in my life than Jacob did.

unfulfilled promise?

Hebrews 11:20

Isaac is the patriarch to whom the author turns his attention next but he only gets the briefest of mentions. I have to wonder if Isaac was a bit of a failure. He certainly had all the potential to be a great person of faith. He was the promised son (although Abraham was clear that he was not the Promised Son) through whom the promises of God to Abraham would be fulfilled. Yet, he remains pretty obscure in Scripture for someone that was carrying all that promise and he barely warrants a mention in this list of people of great faith. Even the thing he is commended for is pretty weak: by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. Which sounds pretty cool. It sounds like Isaac looked into what was unseen and made bold predictions about the future of Jacob and Esau. The problem is that the biblical record in Genesis indicates that he intended to give Esau the blessing he gave to Jacob. Jacob and his mom tricked Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing intended for Esau. From the record in Genesis, it is clear that Isaac's intentions were contrary to God's intentions. Isaac favoured Esau even though God had clearly indicated that Jacob was the one who would carry the line of the Promised Seed.
So here's what I take away about God from this passage: 1) that his ways are not the ways of the world. In Isaac's time, Esau should have been the one who received the blessing because he was the oldest. Even in our time, Esau was the more deserving. Jacob was a weasel; a sneaky, underhanded younger brother. But God chose to bless Jacob. 2) that God will fulfill his purpose and his promise even when humans are working in the opposite direction. Isaac's intention was to bless Esau but God's intention was to bless Jacob. In the end, God won (he always does!). 3) God is incredibly gracious. Despite all the unfulfilled potential and promise of Isaac, he still fulfilled the intention of God and finds himself on the list of people of great faith. That's the grace of God on display!
Besides a better picture of God, I'm taking away from this passage that it is better to join God on his plans and in his work no matter who much better I think my plans are or how illogical God's work seems. He will accomplish his purpose and my only choice is to join him or be against him. I think it's pretty clear what happens when I work against the purposes of God...

ultimate sacrifice

Hebrews 11:17-19

I am struck by Abraham's faith. Abraham trusted God enough to obey him even when it didn't make logical sense: God told him that through Isaac the promise would be fulfilled and now God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. As cruel as this sounds, it is consistent with the rest of the OT: the firstborn belongs to God because the firstborn represents the whole family and the family is sinful. The wages of sin is death and so the firstborn must die. However, God in his grace provided a ransom that could be paid to redeem the life of the firstborn. Abraham has faith, before this ransom was instituted, that God would provide a substitute for his son or that God would raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill his promise to Abraham.
This is really about worship. The danger for Abraham was that Isaac would become the promise rather than the one through whom the promise was fulfilled. Isaac points to Jesus who is the ultimate. Isaac is not. But the danger is that Isaac would become ultimate for Abraham; that Isaac would become the object of Abraham's ultimate attention, affection and worship. God is reminding Abraham that God is the ultimate.
I wonder what I am making ultimate in my life. Maybe the blessings of God are taking the place of the person of God. Maybe ideals and things of this world are taking the place of God. I know my reputation and the praise of people is always a threat to take over the ultimate spot in my life. I wonder what I love too much. I wonder what God might be calling me to sacrifice so that God can have the glory, attention and affection that I owe him. I can't think of much beyond my reputation and the praise of people.
I wonder how I would respond if God asked me to do something that did not make any sense from a human perspective. I wonder if God has asked me to do something like this (not literally kill my son, obviously, but give something up or do something that doesn't make sense humanly) but I have dismissed it as something that didn't make sense. I pray that God would give me great sensitivity to know what is threatening to take the place of God in my life and to know what is his voice and command even when it doesn't make sense.

longing for home

Hebrews 12:13-16

The author interrupts the description of Abraham's life to lay out a more general description of all the people who lived by faith in the OT. The author lists descriptors: still living by faith when they died, did not receive the things promised, lived as foreigners and strangers on earth, longing for heaven. The theme of being certain of what is unseen is continued in this passage.
The main theme of this passage is that the people of faith realize that they have no place to call home here on earth. They are longing for a heavenly country for which they were made and, according to the author, God is pleased with this faith for he has prepared a city for them - a place they can call home.
This passage teaches me that God is trustworthy and is the fulfillment of all my longings. When I long for a home, a place to belong, God has already built it. My role, according to this passage, is to have faith that I will someday find myself as a citizen of this city. I am struck by the faith of these people who, even though they were dying without receiving the things promised to them, still held on to faith that not even death could prevent God from fulfilling the promises. I want that kind of faith - that despite all the circumstancial evidence, believes that God can rise above or worth through the circumstances to fulfill his promises. I am also struck by the allegiance these people had to heaven. It prevented them from feeling truly at home in this world. I am a proud Canadian and feel very at home in most of Canada. However, the truth is that Canada is not really my home. I fear that I have become too attached to this country and to this world. I would like the Spirit to cultivate a healthy longing for heaven in me.

looking for a city

Hebrews 11:8-12

The key words in this paragraph are: faith (repeated four times), obeyed, promise. The focus of this section is Abraham, with a minor focus on Sarah. The author contrasts the temporary nature of Abraham's (as well as Isaac's and Jacob's) sojourn in the land to the permanent nature of the city that they were looking forward to. There is a comparison, or word-play, between the faith of Abraham and Sarah and the faithfulness of God: "By faith Sarah... considered him faithful."
The focus of this section is that Abraham's faith moved him to obedience even though he didn't see the whole picture. In fact, Genesis 12 and Hebrews 11:8 make it clear that he obeyed without knowing where he was eventually going to end up. This section also makes it clear that the Promised Land was not the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise. Abraham understood that the Promised Land was just the beginning and was temporary - there was still a permanent city that was to come. Revelations 21 describes this city for us. I look forward to the same thing that Abraham looked forward to in faith.
This passage speaks of God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promise even in the face of the impossible. He fulfilled his promise to Abraham even though Sarah was old and barren and Abraham was as good as dead. This tells me that nothing will stand in the way of God fulfilling his promises and his purposes in this world. Even though a thousand people and circumstances will stand in the way and logic demands that it is impossible, God still has the ability to work in and through and beyond circumstances. This is the faith that Abraham had. It is the faith that I can have as well. For example, it seems impossible that a birth family would choose us when they see that we are planning to move in six months. However, if God's plan is that we would adopt again, he will not allow that deadline to stop him. Today I trust the God who works in impossible circumstances.

holy fear

Hebrews 11:7

The next person to make the author's list of those who had great faith is Noah. I think it's a bit strange that Noah, whose story takes a few chapters in Genesis, gets one verse, while Enoch, whose story only takes a couple of verses in Genesis, gets two verses. I get the impression that Enoch was more important to the Hebrews than the biblical record would indicate (this is supported by Jude's quotation from Enoch).
The key words in this verse are: faith (repeated three times in one verse!) and righteousness. The author emphasizes his theme of being certain of what we do not see. Here it is the coming judgment that Noah does not yet see but he has faith that what God told him would come to pass and, in faith and holy fear, built a boat to escape the judgment. His faith condemns the world and makes him an heir of righteousness.
I struggle with the whole concept of fear. I know I am supposed to fear the Lord and most pop-commentators say that means to respect the Lord. However, I think fear went a lot deeper than just respect in the biblical accounts. But I don't know why I am supposed to fear the Lord. Jesus says I should fear the one who can not just harm my body but can condemn my soul and my body. That would be cause for fear. But the bible makes it clear that I don't have to fear that condemnation any longer because I have put my faith in Christ and the fact that his death has paid the penalty for my sin; if God were to condemn me now, he would be unjust. If I approach God on my own merit, then I have much to be afraid of. But I approach God on Christ's merit. I guess I fear God in the sense that he will continue to deal with and eradicate sin and anything that does not conform to the image of Christ. I am afraid of what he might take from me. I am also afraid that God may not be trustworthy. I know that this is an irrational fear but there have been times in my life when I felt that God was setting me up with great hope and expectation only to pull the rug out from under me... sort of like Lucy continually pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he's going to kick it. I guess there is a sense of fear that with God in control he can and will do whatever he wants to bring him glory. However, I know that God is good and so that fear is not at all warranted.
I think that it is significant that Noah's fear was in regard to the coming judgment. Maybe that's supposed to be my fear as well; not because of what I might face but because of what people in my life will face apart from Christ. I also think it is significant that Noah's fear was holy. It was a different, pure, righteous kind of fear. I think this means that it was rooted in God's character and that it didn't debilitate him but motivated him to action. When I understand who God is and who I am apart from Christ, that shouldn't freeze me up - it should move me to act.

pleasing God

Hebrews 11:5-6

The author is continuing the list of those people in Israel's history who lived by faith. The key words in this section are taken, please God, faith. The author focuses on Enoch in this section. Enoch doesn't get much press in the Bible but the press he does get is very significant. He is barely mentioned in Genesis, standing out only because he walked with God and was no more because God took him (Genesis 5:22&24). The author picks up on that theme here in this section recognizing that it was Enoch's faith that made it possible for him to please God.
The author's argument is that Enoch pleased God because he had faith in God. The author argues that it is impossible to please God without faith in him because in order to please God, one must come to God and in order to come to God one must have faith that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The emphasis that God places on faith continues to astound me. Here I am reminded that Enoch was commended because of his faith. God was pleased with his faith. In the parable of the talents, it is the servants' faithfulness that is commended. The master is pleased with their faithfulness. I tend to complicate things beyond where they need to be complicated. I make all kinds of effort to please God. The reality is that God is pleased by my faith.