August 19, 2001
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Faithful Yield Prayer: In these moments, O God, be present to us all. Open our hearts and our minds so that by word and deed all that we offer to you will be acceptable in your sight, O God our strength and our redeemer. Amen. This eleventh chapter of Hebrews is written as if it were a catalogue in the Old Testament Hall of Fame. Over here is the story of Abel. Here is the legend of Enoch. There is a large section devoted to Abraham. Not only does Moses have a portrait and a few artifacts, but an entire room. Here are the sandals he removed before the burning bush. Over there is the staff he carried for forty years, and the other items that mark his remarkable life. A first time visitor to the to the Hall of Fame is led to ask the guide, “why are these stories in a place frequented by Hebrew Christians?” The guide answers this way. Hebrews was written to a community of faith living in the tension of two worlds. Raised as practicing Jews, these Hebrews have become followers of Jesus Christ. Then the church was not the dominant religion, it was not a worldwide religion. It was a still emerging movement of people who made the same confession so many of us have made. “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and I receive him as my personal savior.” Like us they were baptized, they celebrated the Lord’s Supper, believed in the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. They fed the hungry, they clothed the naked, they gave water to the thirsty, and visited the sick, lonely, and imprisoned. They became the church of Jesus Christ. But then their faith waned. It had become difficult to practice the faith to which they had devoted their lives. Because of their faith in Jesus Christ, some of them were been persecuted, they were put in prison, their houses and businesses were seized, and in some cases, their families cut off all contact with them. There are days indeed when even without the threat of imprisonment and the loss of what is dear to us, our faith wanes. Some days it may feel like our faith in Jesus is failing us all together. We wake up some mornings and all we can do is put one foot in front of the other, and even that is a difficult chore. You have done all that you have been asked to do, but you find no success. Parents have taught their children the best values they can, but they nevertheless find themselves disappointed when their children go another way. Children who rely on their parents for security and protection, find themselves living always in anxious anticipation of the next barrage of abuse. We work hard every day, but cannot seem to get out from under the bills and creditors that lay claim to our resources. The cry is the same from us, “Lord, Jesus Christ, help me.” Each of you can add to my list of things that cause us to grow weary and our faith to grow weak from time to time. When it does, think of the letter to the Hebrews, a letter that can be summarized in just three words, Keep the faith. We were driving home from church one Sunday afternoon when I was little. The pastor’s sermon must have been on faith, perhaps it was on this same passage. I remember asking my parents what faith was. My father answered with words that I later learned were from Hebrews 11.1 in the King James Version: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, we believe the promises God has for us, and we live as if those promises are already fulfilled. Eugene Peterson interprets Hebrews’ definition of faith this way: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.” (The Message, 471). When we live as faith-filled people, though we cannot put a face on God, we live with the reality that God has already promised to be with us; to love us unconditionally, to stand with us as when we stand for what is right - simply to be our God. It is part of the Christian reality to seek a world where justice reigns for everyone, in which every person is valued, and every life is worthwhile. It is to declare that God’s intention for the world is that all of the created order, heaven and earth, land and sky, people, and all that fills the earth contribute to a place of peace and boundless love. Keep the faith. Our reality is that we have not come close to seeing the completion of the promises of God. God continues to do new things in us and for us. We may not be the recipients of the fulfillment of the promise, but we can trust the promise and the promise maker. We know that the fulfillment is coming. So tell me again, why do we need this Old Testament hero Hall of Fame? We have it so that we can remember the story of Hebrew Christians and their spiritual ancestors who moved and lived in faith, even when being faithful was not easy thing. Hear their stories again and hear in them a word of encouragement to hang in there a little while longer. “It‘s tough now”, God says, “but it will not be like this always, and your faith will be stronger once you have gone through this ordeal.” Hear the word to us as the Hebrew Christians are inspired to live by the faith they have confessed. Keep the faith. So many of you lived in faith the first time you sent your children off to school for the first time. I have a friend about to send his youngest child off to kindergarten; and he wants to keep his kids close by, and it is an act of faith for him to send his boy off to school. We live in faith when we join a church, confess our love to another for the first time, entrust ourselves to another. Many of you have already, and some of you will sit here in the first pews and let go enough of your dear sons and daughters as they give themselves in marriage and intimate partnership to another person. We live in faith when we enter contracts to buy a house or car, when we sign a credit card slip, when we take a job, plant a crop, take a test at school, as we are tested in life, as we are every day. It is so we come to understand that by God’s grace, what saves us from a life of total and devastating despair is our faith in God. The faith that saves us is beyond our faith in loved ones; it is not about our faith in a system of government, of the power of voting, or a favorite sports team. It is beyond our faith in a trusted news anchor, or employee, or employer, or pastor or teacher. It is about trusting God absolutely, not matter what, and to help us see our story in theirs. The long list of heroes and heroines of the Hebrew Bible tells us about the former prince of Egypt Moses who became a liberator of an enslaved people, and I think what is the prophetic, freeing word for me and for us to proclaim in this community. Rahab is on the list. She is a woman who made her living by dishonoring the body God gave her as a gift by selling it to men. Nevertheless she is among the commended faithful because at risk to herself and her family, she hid those who had been sent to scout out the promised land, ahead of the coming newly freed people. What is the risk we are being asked to take in order to provide sanctuary and hope to those who need us? They along with others took risks, which is never easy. They found strength they didn’t know they had, they endured torture, they sacrificed everything therefore making sacred and holy their own lives. Yet for all of that they lived with the promise whose fulfillment they did not see, not because God is cruel and vengeful, but because there is the promise of something greater that would not be fulfilled until the time of Jesus. What will we endure for the sake of bearing witness to our faith in the world? We can continue to learn from these men and women whom we include among our cloud of witnesses. We can appreciate as one writer tells us that “the reference to the “cloud of witnesses” works on two levels. First, taking “witnesses” in its simplest sense, these are onlookers, presumably those invoked who serve largely as spectators of the race. They stand along the route to encourage the efforts of the runners. Second, however, the “witnesses” are those approved by God. In other words, this “cloud of witnesses” is not an indifferent gang of spectators who turn out on a pretty day to see who might win the race. On the contrary, this particular group of observers is anything but neutral; having already won God’s commendation, they line the roadway to encourage those who follow.” (Texts for Preaching, p. 475.) This cloud of witnesses are like Olympic gold medallists who stand cheering the next generation of athletes. They are the people who have helped and motivated us. You have a list of witnesses, I am sure, and I would love to hear about them. But right now, let me introduce you who some of the people are who are surrounding me. Their race is won and they stand out there cheering among a glorious cloud. They are my parents, Charlie and Alvah, my first teachers and theologians. They taught me to love God, to believe in Jesus Christ, to trust the Holy Spirit, and to love the church. They encouraged my love of reading and baseball, they showed me how to laugh, what a great marriage looks like, how to be in a family, and how to stand with people who hurt. They are joined by teachers like Fred Francis, my college New Testament teacher, and one of my favorite professors from seminary, Ronald Osborn who was and is my favorite church historian. There are mentors and friends, pastors and church school teachers who are among the saints in heaven. Here at Broad Street, we are indeed surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. They include the folks who built the first meeting place, and they built this building. There are pastors and lay leaders, secretaries and deacons and elders. They helped us find perspective, to let go of all that holds us back and weighs us down. The race of faith is long, and there is much on the journey that makes us tired. But God has surrounded us by loving witnesses and has planted in us what we need to make a faithful yield, and to make it to the end. There the promise will be fulfilled. When the promise is fulfilled, we will know the total joy of our hope made alive. Waiting for us is not torture, but financial health for this congregation and for ourselves. It is not abandonment by our families, but fulfilling relationships. It is not relying on business and people as usual, but finding room to enfold others into the warm embrace we found when we first arrived here. It is not an abstract faith with no focus and no foundation, but faith in Jesus Christ, who is the chief witness to our race. There is Jesus, the pioneer and perfector, the author and finisher of our faith. There he is, cheering us on as we in his name do the work of ministry. Can we see him as we do the work of healing hurts, encouraging hearts, and holding each other accountable? Can we hear him as we preach and teach, touch and pray, and live in obedience to God? Do we understand him as he sacrifices himself, makes himself holy and sacred all the way to the cross and beyond for us. Can we find in him all that we need to be the faithful folks God has called us to be? Keep the faith and keep moving, Jesus and all the saints are rooting for us. Finally, Eugene Peterson sums it up this way. “Do you see what this means - all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running - and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way; cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (The Message, p. 474) God grant us energy, patience, discipline, mentors and beloved friends to run along side us and cheer us on as we go. To God be the glory. Amen.
Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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