Sermon for August 11

The reading

Hebrews 11:1-16 [12:1-2]

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 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. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and "he was not found, because God had taken him." For it was attested before he was taken away that "he had pleased God." 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old — and Sarah herself was barren — because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 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." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 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.

12:1 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, 2 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.

The message

I thought I had just gotten over a cold / sickness that I was dealing with throughout the week and felt okay this morning, until about 2 minutes before church, when I started to feel very sick.  Also half way through my sermon a young kid from church loudly burst through the front door (about 10 ft behind me) just to say hello (I think).  All good stuff when we look at the fact that the point of this text is to call people away from distraction and towards God’s saving power, given to us through the gift of faith.  I also felt thankful that we had a church service / liturgy where God’s word, forgiveness and love was expressed in song, prayer, sacrament and fellowship, in spite of my not making a lot of sense, getting distracted,  not liking my manuscript halfway though and going off on tangents that didn’t make a lot of sense. An experience that reminds me, this is God’s work and having some order to church is good.     

This week, I hosted the Elmhurst Clergy meeting. It’s a monthly prayer group of pastors and other leaders from churches in the neighborhood (this time the woodside people actually outnumbered the Elmhurst folks). Since it was a nice day out and someone was allergic to cats, we meet outside in the backyard. As we meet, there was some construction going on next door, with all of the banging and machine noise that goes along with it.  We briefly thought about moving but all said, well we’re used to noise, even celebrating that we do ministry in life, in a city, with all the distractions that come with that work.  Our days are filled with distractions. We do not wait for things to get quiet, we share the word in all conditions.

Today, we finished our 4 weeks with the Letter to the Hebrews.  There are 2 lenses or ways of understanding the purpose and first audience of this letter.  First, they were Jewish in their history, understanding and tradition. They knew the Law, Old Testament and the expectations for the messiah well. When the first audience heard the stories of people like Abraham, Abel and Noah, they would have instantly said, oh yeah, that’s true.  Second, this communication was written to try and restore a community that had grown dull and lazy in their welcome, faith and attention to the word of God. We do not know if this fading in faith was due to rival teachers and world views influencing the community (like Corinth), persecutions or some other factor inside the community or outside the community.  The initial excitement in faith had been lost.  The community had become distracted from Jesus.

Today, we might call this burnout. It remains a concern for large churches with overwhelmed leaders during times of non-stop growth, adding new people, programs and missions, The joy of growth becomes a monster that must be fed. It is a problem for new or small churches whose members and leaders are overwhelmed with doing it all, frustrated with poor buildings, memories of the not so distant past and the failure of great ideas. Joy of salvation becomes fear for the future. 

All of these examples and countless others, are the same, the biggest distraction is we make church about us, our work, our ideas, our energy, our resources, our triumphs and failures.  Today, the author of Hebrews reminds us, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

To address these distractions, the author of Hebrews focuses on Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. Using the image of Jesus as the great high priest, who like ancient Melezidek, comes from outside the tradition and unlike anyone else whose sin offering is not temporary and whose sacrifice needs no repeating. The author also focuses on faith. 

Today, we end our time with the author’s argument that faith comes through God’s word.  In our tradition, Luther wrote about word alone, that faith comes through hearing, that God’s word, read, preached and shared brings people to faith. (Faith is not simply another work, like keeping the commandments, loving your neighbor or not cheating)

What is faith?  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Last week, the author of Hebrews the structure and order of the temple to illustrate the radical change that Jesus brings.  This week, the author uses examples from the ancient world, the stories of people that the first audience would have known well to show what does faith look like. Faith is not simply defined as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen   The author of Hebrews defines faith through images, stories, the witness to the actions of God’s people. The ones mentioned, Noah, Abraham, Enoch, Abel all take bold, unusual actions with the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.  Abraham moves his family, when they had no logical reason to, becoming refugees in a strange land instead of keeping a good, stable life and inheritance right where they were. He moves with the assurance of things hoped for,  Noah builds a boat when there are no rain clouds in the sky and no history of it ever raining that much, Noah acts with the conviction of things not seen.  Abel, one of the children of Adam and Eve, his faith directed him to give a greater, more acceptable offering than Cain (there is no prosperity Gospel here, after this Abel becomes the first recorded murder, Cain kills Abel)   Then there is Enoch, whose story is mysterious but one where he lives in a certainty about thing unseen, who ascends to heaven (Genesis 5:24  Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away).

The author goes way back into history, focusing on the first people to hear God’s word and respond, reacting with trust (mostly) and obedience (again mostly),  All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. 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.  If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire better country, that is, a heavenly one

Each of them, although only getting glimpses of God’s plan, put faith first, Noah, stops everything else to take on this all-consuming construction project, Abraham walks away from hard earned comfort to go to a new place, endure challenges, Enoch, walks with God, expecting no reward,  Abel, offers his sacrifice with no thought of self preservation, how will my brother react (poorly).   

 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