Nov 18, 2018
Fr. Phil Eberhart
"We are not among those who shrink back"
HAVING CONFIDENT FAITH
Have you ever wanted to just quit? I don't know... a sports team ... a cooking class ... driver's ed ? !!
The remedial class you were in after you got your ticket?
Or something more important than that?
Those who the writer of the Hebrews Letter was writing to were in that spot. The Jewish Church based in Jerusalem had been under-the-gun for a long time. This was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, as had it been written later, that would have been the headline! But we think it was close to that date and tensions, and persecutions were high. The believers of Jewish origin needed some encouragement and sometimes a kick-in-the-pants to move on - to go 'higher up and deeper in.' To not just quit the whole thing because it had gotten hard.
I think Jesus himself was fairly clear that this journey was not going to be a "walk in the park" - his invitation wasn't to a 'rose garden.' His invitation was, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, an invitation to "come and die!"
oooooo, sign me up!
This morning I want to look at our passage in its context from the mid 10th chapter to the early 12th chapter, some very familiar pieces of scripture containing the "let us" verses I referred to some weeks ago, to the Hall of Faith and the opening verses of Heb 12 that we are so familiar with.
Open your bible if you have it, or your Bible App to Heb 10.
So the whole of Hebrews is moving toward this pinnacle in Hebrews 12:1-2, and chapter 10 is a major part of the ascent, kind of the last sheer face to conquer in the climb. Throughout the letter, the writer has been taking the forms and rituals of the OT Law and the sacrificial system of the old way, and making comparison to the new way being offered by Christ Jesus - the new way that these Jewish Christians have already been initiated into through baptism, many probably on the day of Pentecost!
The old way of righteousness was through yearly sacrifice of "bulls and goats." But it is apparent, because there was now a system (what Jesus came in to literally "overturn") that these sacrifices had no lasting effect - they had to be offered over and over and over, year by year by year. But NOW, 10:9-10
9 And then he said, “God, I will be the One to go and do your will.” So by being the sacrifice that removes sin, he abolishes animal sacrifices[d] and replaces that entire system with the new covenant.[e]10 By God’s will we have been purified and made holy once and for all[f]through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah!
And so we continue to follow the "therefore's"... and the "let us's"
10:19 begins this section of conclusions, I've spoken recently about "The Bowl of Let Us"
Let us...
DRAW NEAR WITH SINCERE HEARTS
HOLD FAST OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH
CONSIDER HOW TO ENCOURAGE AND SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON
One more "therefore"...
don’t lose your bold, courageous faith, for you are destined for a great reward!
[Heb 10:35 NASB] 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
As Oak would say, "There it is!"... What the writer has been pointing us to the whole time!
And we have to ask ourselves the question, "where am I in this picture?"
Am I among those who may potentially lose my faith?
Do I need to heed the word of this letter? Lord, are you talkin' to me? ... You talkin' to me?
Yep, I think He is! To you and to me and to all of us.
As we read this passage yesterday in the Men's group I was struck by some of the similarities and by what may be ahead of us for the church. We have all felt some of the sting of our culture's bitterness toward Christianity, or maybe its toward "Church-ianity." Even so, those who name the Name of Jesus are increasingly scorned and excluded in our culture. We have not gotten to the point of shedding blood or death yet ... YET.
But the point of these passages are "Better get ready." These are the promises of Scripture that we never quote! In the west we largely have never had anything like this experience - not even a whiff of suffering, exclusion, or persecution. But its coming, I think.
How can we be excluded from what almost the whole rest of Christendom is experiencing around the world?
How did our writer put it?
32 Don’t you remember those days right after the Light shined in your hearts?[s] You endured a great marathon season of suffering hardships, yet you stood your ground. 33 And at times you were publicly and shamefully mis-treated, being persecuted for your faith;[t] then at others times you stood side by side with those who preach the message of hope.[u]
34 You sympathized with those in prison[v] and when all your belongings were confiscated you accepted that violation with joy; convinced that you possess a treasure growing in heaven[w] that could never be taken from you. 35 So don’t lose your bold, courageous faith, for you are destined for a great reward![x]
Friends,
The whole point of the Hebrew letter and the whole point of this morning's sermon is that last line!
The line that comes immediately after it, after the chapter division is the very definition of faith.
Faith is... the substance - the confident assurance - of the things we hope for AND
the evidence - the fingerprints we can see of the God that is - NOT SEEN.
THAT is the reason that the letter was written and the sermon was preached.
So What?
HEB 12:1-2
Therefore!!!!
Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnessess (martys) let us run the race that is set before us with confident endurance, laying aside that which so easily grows up around our feet and legs and hinders us! And FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, the Author and the Finisher - the starting blocks and the finish line - of our faith.
Keep on keeping on. The world we see is not the end product! We and it are 'In Process!" So keep on keeping on, no matter what comes our way. Keep the faith. Run the race to win.
let's pray...
O God, you sent your only Son Jesus to make a way for us to come back into right relationship with you. Help is in our weakness and fear, in our doubts and second-thoughts. Stir up our hearts and wills, indeed. Give us your grace, Father, to run and to win our race of endurance in faith. To the very end.
This we pray in Jesus Name and for His sake,
Amen.
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