Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-january-30-2024
Hebrews 11:13-22
By Faith
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
Yesterday we thought about the first part of this passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, a reading that expresses the idea that faith has both a present effect – an effect on how we live now, and also a future effect that gives us hope for the future.
Now today’s part of the passage points out a number of examples of characters from the history of the covenant people as that history is reported in the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. These characters are declared to be examples of people of faith. And in each case, as we said yesterday, their faith moved them to do something in keeping with God’s plans. As it’s portrayed in this passage, faith is a force that spurs people to action.
Considering that the people listed in this passage lived at least 3,000 or 4,000 years ago, you might wonder how relevant their examples are to us as we strive to live out our faith in the digital age. But when you stop and think about the examples listed here, you find that the author of Hebrews raises a couple of ideas that are surprisingly relevant to us as contemporary followers of Jesus.
The passage starts out by reminding us that many of these great figures from the history of the covenant people died without seeing their hopes fulfilled in this world. But they had such a profound trust in the promises of God that they could go to their rest with the assurance that those promises would be kept. That seems to me to be a mark of genuine faith – and maybe also one of its benefits, because it protects us against the discouragement and despair that can come with unfulfilled hopes.
This reminds me of something I’ve thought about on mission trips. On a trip like that, you go somewhere and work – usually for a week – on a project that other Christian believers were working on before you got there. Then, when your week on the project is over, you lay down the tools and leave, knowing that other followers of Jesus will arrive, pick up those tools and continue the work. The promise has been made that a damaged house will be rebuilt or repaired or whatever. And the work continues until that promise is fulfilled. To me, laying down those tools and walking away seems like an expression of faith in that promise. It seems like a metaphor for living “by faith,” as the Old Testament figures in the passage maintained their faith in spite of the fact that they would not live to see all of God’s promises fulfilled.
Another very important point this passage makes is that followers of Jesus should think of ourselves as “aliens and strangers” in this world. (This is a point that the apostle Peter makes in his letters, too.) We are to be, as the saying goes, “in this world but not of it.” As followers of Jesus, we’re supposed to think of ourselves as citizens and ambassadors of another kingdom, sent into this world to represent that kingdom and to advance its interests. It’s fine for us to have some allegiance to the country in which we live, but our highest allegiance is always meant to be to the kingdom of God.
That idea can be a problem for Christians who think of their highest loyalty as being to “God and country.” They sometimes come to think that loyalty to our country is somehow the flip side of loyalty to God. But this passage in Hebrews – as well as the apostle Peter’s teaching – reminds us that being a follower of Jesus compels us to make a choice about what is our highest loyalty. Even in America, followers of Jesus are to think of ourselves as “aliens and strangers.”
For those of us who are Presbyterians, there’s actually a document in our Book of Confessions that sets out this idea that our allegiance to Jesus must come before our allegiance to any earthly power or ruler. It’s called the Barmen Declaration, and it was written by faithful Christian leaders after the Nazi regime took over the churches of Germany and demanded that all church leaders swear personal loyalty to Adolph Hitler. Many of those who refused to swear that oath were imprisoned or killed.
Being ‘aliens and strangers’ in this world means we should live peaceably and respectfully among the people of it, but that we should always think of our responsibility to God as coming before our responsibility to any earthly system, including our company, our political party, or our country.
Let’s pray. Lord, move in our hearts to fill us with the confidence that although we probably will not live to see the fulfillment of your kingdom, you are faithful to your promises and will fulfill them in your own time. And help us to keep in mind that you have called us to live in this world as ambassadors of your kingdom, and to represent that kingdom in all we say and do. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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