Last week I wrote
about the Hebrew author’s definition of faith.
We saw examples of faith that the author brought forth and zoned in on
the Faith of Abraham. I concluded that
faith is more than just believing something.
Faith is having the conviction of God so deeply set in our hearts that
it defines who we are. We are children
of God. It is an all-in faith. We are willing to give our all to this
faith.
This week we
continue through the list of heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 29-12:2. Take the time to click on the
link and read this passage of scripture now.
Here the author shifts from the example of what faithful living looks
like to examples of “how faith in God made a difference in the response of a
group of people in Crisis.” Examples
included the children of Israel crossing the red sea, the walls of Jericho
coming down and Rahab’s life being spared.
It is worth going back and reading each of the stories that were
referenced and reflecting on how God was present in each of those
circumstances. What the author of
Hebrews here is doing is encouraging a community of believers who are going
through deep hardships by directing them to remember the stories of the faith
of their ancestors and what a difference that made in their lives.
I wish I could tell
you that being a follower of Jesus Christ was a magical formula for protecting
you from the hardships of life and that nothing bad would ever befall you but
that is just not the case. In fact, for
many people, following Jesus creates hardships as it did to the community of
believers in the first century. Part of
living in this fallen human world is that hardships are going to befall
us. Tornados are going to destroy houses,
terrorists are going to blow up buildings and commit mass murder, children are
going to die, tragic accidents are going to happen. Some of us are going to fall into deep depressions
that cause us not to be able to lift our head in the mornings. Some of us are going to wonder where our next
meal is going to come from. Some of us
are going to be robbed and cheated. Some
of us are going to feel like nothing good ever comes our way. When we fall into these stages of life when
one thing happens on top of another it is easy to disconnect from our faith and
from our community of faith. It is easy
to lament and ask the questions of why? If
you have never been in that situation, don’t worry, you will. I can almost promise you that. I imagine that is what the community of
believers in the first century were feeling.
This is the reason the author delivers this sermon to them. The author wants to encourage them in this
time of deep hardship to remember the God stories of their lives and of the
lives of those who have gone before them.
It is helpful for us to look at these Old Testament stories but we also
have our own cloud of witnesses we can look to.
I want you to stop
for a minute and think about who that is for you. Who has gone before you and shown you how to
be faithful in the face of hardships.
Whose life can you look back to and say God was with them? Stop reading right now and write down the
names of those people. For me it was my
grandparents, my best friend’s mother, my son’s caregiver, an episcopal priest
who befriended me, and one of my dearest friends. My grandmother Dotson faced a cancer
diagnosis when she was only in her late 40s.
The prognosis was that she would only live 6 months but she lived 6
years. Those years were difficult on her
body as she took chemo and radiation.
She was sick 3 weeks out of every month but I never heard her complain
and she held tightly to her faith. My
best friend’s mom faced more adversity in the last few years of her life than
anyone I have encountered but on her death bed at the young age of 47 she was
singing praises to God and quoting the 91st psalm which was her
favorite. My dear friend Cindy fought a
courageous battle with cancer and never once did she give up hope. As we watched her health deteriorate, we many
times lost hope but she would fuss at us and never would she allow us to speak
any negativity in her presence. It helps
when I go through the hard times of life to look back to these influencers of
my faith and remember how they handled adversity and how God was present with
them in the midst of their hardships.
Take some time and write down the God stories of your cloud of
witnesses. Go back and read them when
you are facing hardships. That is what
the author of Hebrews is doing for the 1st century Christians
here. The author is reminding them of
the God stories of their history to spark hope in their adverse situation. He then
offers them direction.
As the book of
Hebrews transitions into chapter 12 we are reminded who the “pioneer and
perfecter of this faith is. It is
Jesus. We are told to run the race that
is set before us with perseverance. We
are told to get rid of the baggage that weighs us down and to fix our eyes on
Jesus, follow his example and complete the race.
It has been a long
time since I have done any recreational running but I remember when I was in
high school I had to run two miles to qualify to be able to go to a summer camp
I wanted to go to. Before even a mile
was finished I was ready to give up and throw in the towel. Camp became much less important when my lungs
were hurting, my legs were hurting and my side was hurting. I had not conditioned myself for running two
miles. I tried to just do it all at once
and when hardships began to take over my body I just wanted to quit. I think that is the way it is with our
Christian journey as well. When we don’t
condition ourselves to be on the journey for the long haul it is very tempting
to quit when we begin facing the hardships of life.
Because I am not a
skilled runner of long distances, or of any distance for that manner I did a
bit of research on what it takes to be in condition for the long run. There are thousands of blogs and articles
written on how to condition for long distance running. Each one is different but the one thing that
was common among all of them was a regular routine of workouts and taking baby
steps. To get good at anything takes
routine and disciplined practice, whether it’s playing an instrument,
learning a new skill, or running a
marathon. You also do not take a person
who has never run before and put them on the starting line of the Boston Marathon
and expect them to finish.
To be able to complete
the journey set before us as Christians and not give up- when we face hardships
and trials we must develop routines that will give us the strength to run
through the hardships. John Wesley
called such things means of grace. We
must institute spiritual disciplines in our lives such as reading scripture and
praying on a daily basis. We need to
study the one who was the perfector of faith, Jesus. We need to know him as well as we know
ourselves and be able to react as he would react but to do that we must know
him. We cannot expect to come to church
once a month or twice a year and never do anything else to feed our spirits and
think we will have the strength to finish the race any more than we can expect
to live sedentary lives 364 days a year and then go finish the Boston Marathon.
In September we will be beginning a sermon series at
Asbury-Dryman’s Chapel call the Disciple’s Path. I would encourage anyone in the Otto area who
desires to learn more about the practices of being a disciple of Jesus Christ
and thus having the tools to finish the race to come and join us for that
series. There will also be a bible study
which will track with the sermon series where we can go deeper into the
practices of being a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Stay tuned for more details. Perhaps you are facing hardships in your life
right now and are ready to give up.
Please don’t. Instead look to
your cloud of witnesses and come and find out what practices you can put in
place that will help you finish the race.
Perhaps you have never entered the race.
Come find out what it means to be on the Christian journey. It takes practice, it takes remembering but
it also takes community.
Back to my two mile
run in high school. I didn’t quit
running and I finished the race. Do you
know how I finished the race? I finished
the race because there were people in my group who wanted to see me succeed and
they ran alongside of me. Every time I
would stop running one of them would come up beside me and run with me,
sometimes dragging me along as they cheered me on telling me that I could do
it. I did do it and there is nothing
like the feeling of seeing the finish line and sprinting that last quarter of a
mile to break through the tape and know you succeeded. That is what church is about. Church is about having those cheerleaders who
will come up beside you, cheer you on, carry you when needed and never let you
stop running.
Where are you in the
race of the Christian journey? Have you
never entered the race? Have you stopped
running? Do you need to beef up your
training to insure you can finish the race in spite of hardships that might
come your way? Wherever you are I invite
you to take the next step in the journey and if you need to talk through what
that next step is, I am always ready and willing to talk. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, Amen.
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