Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-january-29-2024
Hebrews 11:1-3, 6-12
By Faith
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
It’s a core belief for those of us who are Protestant followers of Jesus that we are saved by faith alone. That makes this passage from the Letter to the Hebrews a particularly important one, since it talks about the nature of faith.
And considering how much Christians talk about faith, it’s not always clear just what we mean by the term. If you asked most of us to define faith for you, my suspicion is that the most common answer you’d get is that faith is ‘believing that Jesus is the Son of God.’ Some Christians would probably add, ‘and that he died for your sins.’ Others might add things like the idea that faith gives you the power to get what you want when you pray for it.
I’ve always wondered how non-believers – people who don’t consider themselves ‘people of faith’ – would answer the same question – What is faith? It wouldn’t surprise me to hear some non-believers say faith is a general sense of goodness and virtue that Christians have – a sense that we’re better than others. Of course, if that’s the sense we’re giving people, that’s a problem, don’t you think?
I suppose the common definitions of faith among followers of Jesus are generally right, but incomplete. They leave out a couple of elements of faith that today’s passage from Hebrews fills in.
The first verse of our reading for today says that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” That definition of faith has two different aspects to it, one referring to the present and the other one referring to the future.
Being “certain of what we do not see” expresses our confidence that the God we love and serve really exists, and that he is in charge and at work right now, even though we can’t prove that by logic and physical evidence. We live in a world that demands proof before it acknowledges the validity of any idea. But we can’t prove the truth of the gospel promises beyond any doubt. So our faith has to be based on trust that the witness of scripture faithfully describes things we do not see, and trust in other believers when they tell us about their experiences with God.
It’s worth noting that Jesus himself acknowledged that faith isn’t easy. You might remember the occasion. It was when he showed his hands and feet to the apostle Thomas after the resurrection. Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed.” So our master understands that it can be a challenge to be “certain of what we do not see,” and that faith is belief in the face of doubt.
Today’s reading also refers to a future aspect of faith: “being sure of what we hope for.” It’s been said that our faith is like “an arrow that we shoot into the future.” As we stand at the present moment, our faith in Jesus allows us to look into the future with confident hope. Some believers only have the hope of eternal life with Jesus in the heavenly kingdom. That’s obviously a wonderful thing to hope for. But it seems to me that the New Testament gives us an even greater hope – a hope for the fulfillment of that heavenly kingdom, when all of creation will be put right, the way God has always intended.
Today’s reading also points to one other aspect of faith that’s sometimes missed when people read this part of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews writes that the kind of faith God is looking for is faith that moves us to do something. Look at the examples the author of Hebrews gives us: Noah was moved by his faith to build a huge ark to preserve much of creation. Abraham was moved by his faith to leave his home and wander around in a wasteland for the rest of his life. Both of these men – as well as other examples mentioned later in the passage – didn’t just sit around being glad they were saved. Their faith moved them to join in the great work that God was doing in the world – work that’s still going on.
This passage challenges each of us to ask whether our own faith is the kind of faith God is looking for. Does our faith inform our everyday living, even though we don’t have visual proof of God’s work? Does our faith give us hope for a future in God’s kingdom and for God’s eventual victory over the forces of death and evil? And does our faith move us to do something for God’s kingdom, just as faith moved people like Abraham to adopt a new way of life at God’s command? Does our faith move us to serve others the way Jesus himself served others during his earthly ministry? Does our faith cause us to display the image of Jesus in the world through our service to those who are in need?
It’s important to think about this issue deeply enough that if people ask us what we mean by calling ourselves ‘people of faith,’ we’ll be able to give a coherent answer that Jesus would be OK with.
Let’s pray: Lord, we pray that you will renew our faith, so that we live with confidence and look to the future with hope. And let that faith move us every day to find ways to serve you, joining in the great work of bringing your kingdom to fulfillment, on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
Recent Comments