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Thursday, June 20
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Sunday, August 15, 2010
Hebrews chapter 11
Proper 15
Craig Shirley
Rated PG13 (violence and sexual content)
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is “colonizing many historical religious traditions and, almost without anyone noticing, converting believers in the old faiths to its alternative religious vision of divinely underwritten personal happiness and interpersonal niceness.” (Smith and Denton). This is the conclusion of still another report about the future of Christianity in the western world. If you have ever attended one of the presentations by our past youth workers, you know about MTD - Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It is a shallow, happy, noncommittal way to believe in God. It basically tells us that God created and looks over the world, that God wants people to be nice, good and fair, that being happy and feeling good about yourself is a central goal of any Christian, and that God is not involved in my life except when I need God to help solve a problem.
It doesn’t sound all that bad – except that it isn’t biblical. It isn’t what we teach as Lutherans – or Catholics or Presbyterians or even evangelical Christians.
I’ve experienced MTD to some extent in this congregation. People think Old testament stories are too violent for children to read, they don’t like probing into scripture texts that are difficult to understand or run contrary to the way they think, they don’t want to talk, think or hear about anyone possibility not being saved. “Let’s just all get along and be nice to one another.” But that isn’t what the bible tells us about life and our relationship with God.
For that reason, I decided to use this wonderful sweep of biblical history that is Chapter 11 of Hebrews to related to you as best I can the pure biblical story of these people – men for the most part – who are named. I will try not to interpret their actions but simply relate their stories. In turn, you must turn down your scientifically tuned brains and turn up your imaginations in order to hear these stories. The writer of Hebrews – a new testament book - is attempting to tell us the nature of faith – what it has looked like up to that point, using the example of “great” heroes of Hebrew scripture.
11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
Creation
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.
Abel is the first ancestor mentioned along with his brother Cain. They are the offspring of Adam and Eve, born after they are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Cain kept the gardens and Abel kept the herds. Both brothers brought their offerings before the Lord, but the Lord “had regard” only for Abel’s offering and “no regard’ for Cain’s offering. In other words, for reasons we don’t completely understand – God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Out of jealousy for this regard, Cain lures Abel into a field, murders him and buries his body. When the Lord confronts him, Cain responds with the infamous “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord curses him and sends Cain off to Nod to live in exile, but promises that no one will kill him for what he has done.
But it is Abel, the one who was murdered, who speaks to Israel and to us about faith. He speaks of the rightness and power of faith as the first person to ever offer sacrifice to God. The righteous are marked not for destruction but for life and so with his death, his voice speaks through faith.
Pre-history
5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and "he was not found, because God had taken him." For it was attested before he was taken away that "he had pleased God."
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
Next we hear of Noah and Enoch. Noah we are know, Enoch – not so much. This is where we depend on imagination. Enoch was one of the ancestors of Noah. He walked with God all his life and at 65 was father of Methuselah. When Enoch was 365 years old God took him – it appears – straight to heaven. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 dollars. Enoch pleased God by his righteous life and praised God. He displayed the two essential ingredients of faith: he believed that God exists and he believed that by living a righteous life God would recognize and reward him. Faith reminds us that believing that God rewards, that God is just, that the quest for God is never ignored, that the voice crying to God never falls on deaf ears, that God has power over the future and that all our futures belong to God.
Noah on the other hand, was not singled out for his intelligence or his morality. In fact, later on we find that Noah is just as immoral as all the rest of us. But Noah forsaw the flood to come and he perceived God’s divine intervention in the evil doings of the world and so he took heed. What seemed like the most foolish thing anyone could ever consider doing – building an Ark – became the righteous thing to do. It was a lesson to a humanity steeped in skepticism and unbelief. He constructed an ark for the saving of his household and the first order of God’s creation, the animal kingdom. And he did it all out of an unbending faith in God.
Patriarchs
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,
18 of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you."
19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead--and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, "bowing in worship over the top of his staff."
Next come the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and their wives Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel. What an amazing story this is – following 4 generations or more. First there is Abraham and Sarah, both approaching 100 years old and still promised a child, a son, by God. Sarah loses faith and gives her slave-girl maidservant to her husband as a sauraget. From that union with Hagar comes a son Ishmael – but he is not the promised one and is later sent away with his mother into the desert – probably to die. When their son Isaac is finally born, the promise is that eventually Abraham and Sarah’s descendents will be greater than all the sand in the sea –but then God calls on Abraham to offer up his only 12 year old son as a sacrifice. In faithful obedience Abraham prepares to do so and at the last minute, when God has thoroughly and completely tested Abraham – and Isaac for that matter – he provides another animal for sacrifice.
Later, when he is old enough, Isaac must return to the old country to find a bride – Rebekah, and they give birth to twin sons; Esau and Jacob. As they grow older, Jacob with his mother’s help, tricks his older brother into giving up the most important thing passed from generation to generation – the birthright. And he does it with a pot of stew. And so Jacob is on the run, as his brother seeks to kill him for his trickery. During that time Jacob wrestles with God, sees angels coming and going from heaven, and ends up marrying two women – sisters – when his father-in-law tricks him. He loves Rachel and works for his father-in-law for seven years to earn her hand – but the morning after the wedding he finds that he has married Leah – the older sister and must work another 7 years before he is allowed to marry Rachel.
From Jacob and his wives come twelve sons – the origins of the twelve tribes of Israel – with the favorite son being Joseph. Again, there is jealousy and hatred between brothers in still another generation and the older boys have Joseph with his coat of many colors sold into slavery in Egypt while telling their father Jacob he is dead.
In the end the family is all reunited in far off Egypt where Joseph has become an important person. His brothers, his father and all his family move there as the book of Genesis comes to an end.
Abraham obeyed beyond any possible understanding – even to being ready to sacrifice his own son. Isaac invoked his blessing upon both his sons but by his failure to recognize one from the other sent events in a whole new direction. Jacob wrestled with God and won and then in turn blessed his 12 sons but praised God that his lost son – Joseph – was found after so many years. And Israel; the land and the person – were saved when they moved to Egypt while a great famine enveloped the land.
Egypt
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible.
One can hardly over-emphasize the importance of Moses to this sweeping story. Born of Jewish parents perhaps as many as 400 years after Joseph, his mother sought to save him when the Pharaoh declares that all first born Jewish baby boys will be slaughtered – a declaration that will come back to haunt him. Moses was adopted into the Pharaoh’s own household and raised as royalty, while his own mother and sister wait on him and taught him of his Jewish culture.
When he comes to the defense of a slave he is banished from Egypt and thinks he will live the life of a sheep herder for the rest of his days. But God comes to him in a burning bush and calls him to return to Egypt and rescue the now enslaved people – bring them back to Israel so that they can once again be a nation.
Pharaoh is stubborn, God sends the twelve plagues, the last one the “passing over” of the angel of death from the homes of the Israelites. History repeats itself as the first born males of the Egyptians are slaughtered. Moses flees with his people from Egypt to return at last to the promised land.
Passing through the Red sea with Pharaoh’s army in pursuit, the golden calf, 40 years in the wilderness, the ten commandments, snakes and manna and water from stones, and through it all Moses endured. He argued with God when God was ready to destroy the whole rotten bunch. He was true to his heritage when he could have lived a life of ease as an Egyptian – not unlike the apostle Paul in a later time. Moses made the choice of faith. He looked away from things visible in all their tantalizing splendor and fixed his gaze solely on the unseen but unshakeable heavenly reward. Moses was not blinded by earthly wealth and power but instead acted on the basis of clear spiritual vision. And in the process one of the most sacred observances came to be, the keeping of the Passover meal which Jews have done for more than 4000 years.
Birth of a Nation
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
A struggling Kingdom
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented--
38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect
.
In spite of his faithfulness, for his one act of anger at throwing down the tablet of the commandments – Moses died before entering the promised land. But others were to lead them to victory. For the land that was to be Israel was now Canaan – it was inhabited by others and the Israelites had to take the land back by force – they claimed divine providence and therefore manifest destiny.
So they were not above sending spies into Canaan to scope out the enemy. And like spies of every time, they enlisted people from within the land to help them. That brings us to Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute who heard the two Israelites who in turn brought back important surveillance information that eventually brought down the city of Jericho. And she was not the only outsider who God enlisted in this mission. There was Gideon – of hotel bible fame – one of the Judges of Isreal. He was a farmer but God called him to fight the Midionites who kept invading the new land of Israel. He called for a general uprising, and 32,000 men showed up. But to show his faith in God rather than human strength, he started cutting the ranks; he got rid of the unfit, he invited those who were afraid, to return to their homes, and then he simply cut the ranks to only 300 men. He gave each soldier a trumpet and a jar with a lighted lamp in it. Then in a surprise night attack, they stole up on the Midianites , crashed their jars to pieces, blew their trumpets, and with a shout charged in on the enemy. The Midianites were panic-stricken and fled in confusion and the Israelites under Gideon won the day. Gideon would not let them make him king, but he was a judge for 40 years.
Barak & Deborah were another pair from the book of judges. They were fighting the Philistines and Barak the captain of the army was afraid to go up against such fearful foes. The woman Deborah promised that the Lord would be with them and so she agreed to lead them into battle. They returned victorious.
Jephthah was the saddest story. He was the son of a harlot and grew up with that title and that curse – even banished by his own people. But he could not forget their sufferings. In his day it was the Amorites that were invading Israel. Having been made chief by his countrymen, he went forth to battle in order to make victory more sure, he made a foolish and reckless vow that if they won he would sacrifice the first person that came to meet them on their return. It turned out to be his own beloved daughter. Bravely she assured him that she was not afraid to die for her country in this way, and urged him to keep his vow. It is probably she that we should remember, not the foolish Jephthah.
Samson is the most colorful of the judges. He was great and strong – a Nazarite, which meant that he dedicated his life to God. He lived a healthy outdoor life, abstained from strong drink and other vises and allowed his hair to grow long – from which came his great strength. But Delilah, a Philistine woman, lured him in, slept with him and cut his hair and he lost his strength. He became a slave of the Philistines who hauled him out for shows and ridicule. But as his hair grew back, so did his strength and his final act was to bring down the house, literally, on thousands of the enemy.
Samuel was the last Judge and resisted the nation for a long time in their call for a King. But finally, he anointed Saul the first king of Israel and the nation became a kingdom. Saul had his good features and his bad – but in the end he needed to be replaced. The young and handsome David; slayer of lions and giants, became the second king, and the most famous, as well as infamous. He ruled a united Israel and made it a prosperous and powerful land but also succumbed to the temptations of a married woman and in the process had her soldier husband killed so he could have her.
What a collection of people! What an amazing story. “By faith” Hebrews tells us, they were all able, in spite of their humanity, to accomplish the things God set out to do. “Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.” And we know what that something better was. It was of course Jesus. Now, 2000 years after Hebrews was written, and more than 4000 years after the first books of the OT were written, we know more about the story. We can add great people of faith who have lived since that time. But there isn’t time to mention them now. There isn’t even time for Jesus in this sermon. But it is time for us to realize that we cannot encapsulate the work of God in Christ through the ages in something as simple and sophomoric as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism – in some banal version of Christianity and faith that reduces religion to a simple set of moralistic edicts like “ be good, nice and fair to each other, be happy and feel good about yourself”. It simply will not work. It isn’t enough.
But neither should we wail and knish our teeth because, as you can see, things have been a lot worse . That is why we can find hope in these stories; “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“So Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.” And so we say Amen
Hebrews 11: 1-12:2
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible
Creation:
4 Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain
Pre-history
5 Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death
7 Noah warned by God
Patriarchs
8 Abraham and Sarah
17 Abraham offered up Isaac
20 Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau
21 Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph
Egypt
22 Joshp. At the end of his life, made mention of the exodus and gave instructions for his burial
23 Moses hidden by parents
24 – refused to be called a son of the Pharaohs daughter
Birth of a Nation
28 – Passover
29 Thru Red Sea
30 Rahab the prostitute and fall of Jericho
A struggling Kingdom
32 Gideon (judge), Barak, Samson, Jephthah, david and Samuel and prophets.
The example of Jesus
12:1-3
11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
Creation
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.
Pre-history
5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and "he was not found, because God had taken him." For it was attested before he was taken away that "he had pleased God."
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
Patriarchs
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old--and Sarah herself was barren--because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,
14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son,
18 of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you."
19 He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead--and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, "bowing in worship over the top of his staff."
Egypt
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
23 By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months after his birth, because they saw that the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger; for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible.
Birth of a Nation
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
A struggling Kingdom
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented--
38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
The example of Jesus
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
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