Hebrews 11:32-40 Hall of Faith

Hebrews 11:32-40 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

32And what more should I say? There would not be enough time for me to continue to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33By faith they conquered kingdoms, carried out justice, obtained things that were promised, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edges of the sword, were made powerful after being weak, became mighty in battle, and caused foreign armies to flee. 35Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others who were tortured did not accept their release, so that they may take part in a better resurrection. 36Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted; they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated. 38The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

39All of these were commended in Scripture by faith, yet they did not receive what was promised, 40because God had planned something better for us, namely, that they would not reach the goal apart from us.

Hall of Faith

I.

What would you find in a hall of fame? If it’s dedicated to a particular sport, you might find busts of those who had been inducted. Perhaps there would be some stats; a record of some of the most memorable things each individual had accomplished. If it’s a music hall of fame, in addition to busts or pictures, there might be some other memorabilia: instruments and original scores or lyric sheets. Any hall of fame you tour is meant to remind you what has been accomplished by some of the greats of the past. Perhaps it will even inspire you to follow in their footsteps in some small way.

Various versions of the Bible give this chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews some very unassuming headings: “Faith in Action,” “By Faith,” and “Living by Faith.” Perhaps the plainest heading of all is in the Evangelical Heritage Version, which simply says: “Faith.” Wouldn’t it seem at least somewhat appropriate to call this chapter the Hall of Faith?

Today, you tour the Hall of Faith. You start your tour of the hall before the verses of today’s Reading. The writer begins at the very beginning—with God at creation. Only by faith can anyone understand and believe what God accomplished.

Your journey through the hall leads you next to some of the most ancient inductees. There you see the portraits of Abel (Genesis 4:1-15) and Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24) and Noah (Genesis 6-9). The next gallery leads you past the so-called patriarchs; those who came after the flood, but before the nation of Israel was formed. Among the honorees are Abraham (Genesis 12-25), Isaac (Genesis 21-35), and Jacob (Genesis 25-49). Abraham and Jacob get extensive listings.

Then the Hall of Faith includes the birth of a nation. There you see Joseph (Genesis 42-50) and Moses (Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).

Looking at all the plaques and memorabilia and information about only these sections of the Hall of Faith would take you a lifetime. Then you come to the beginning of the section of the Hall of Faith that is today’s Second Reading. The writer says: “And what more should I say? There would not be enough time for me to continue to tell about...” (Hebrews 11:32, EHV).

You’ve really only scratched the surface of the Hall of Faith by the time you finish the exhibits of the ancients, and the patriarchs, and the birth of the nation of Israel. There were dozens, hundreds, thousands, even, of inductees from the history of Israel. The writer says he isn’t running out of inductees to list, but out of time to list them all, so he includes just a few by name. Some you probably know a lot about, others you might not be as familiar with.

There were “Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah... 33By faith they conquered kingdoms...” (Hebrews 11:32-33, EHV). They aren’t listed in chronological order, but you can read more about them in Judges 4-8, 11-16. The writer doesn’t list all the kings of Israel, but sticks to just the most well-known of all: “David...33 [who] carried out justice...” (Hebrews 11:32-33, EHV). He mentions “Samuel, and the prophets.” (Hebrews 11:32, EHV).

Some inductees he doesn’t name, just speaks about what happened: “...shut the mouths of lions” (Hebrews 11:33, EHV) references Daniel being rescued from the lions’ den (Daniel 6). “...quenched the power of fire” (Hebrews 11:34, EHV) refers to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). “...escaped the edges of the sword” (Hebrews 11:34, EHV) speaks about Elijah (1 Kings 19). “...were made powerful after being weak” (Hebrews 11:34, EHV) takes you back to Samson again (Judges 16). “...became mighty in battle, and caused foreign armies to flee” (Hebrews 11:34, EHV) refers again to David, and every other time in Israel’s history when they took on a superior force and won.

The Hall of Faith is pretty impressive. Great things happened to these heros of the faith. The writer says: “They... obtained things that were promised” (Hebrews 11:33, EHV). It’s awe-inspiring to walk through these galleries of the Hall of Faith. That walk through the Hall of Faith makes you happy to be a Christian.

II.

The Hall of Faith takes a sudden turn. The lights dim and the mood becomes somber. It’s almost like going into a Halloween haunted house.

This gallery seems to start with a cheery thought: “Women received back their dead by resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35, EHV). This group of inductees includes perhaps women whose sons were raised from the dead by Elijah’s prayer (1 Kings 17) and Elisha’s (2 Kings 4). It might also include various people Jesus raised from the dead during his earthly ministry.

But there is no more cheer in this gallery of the Hall of Faith. “And others who were tortured did not accept their release... 36Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted; they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated” (Hebrews 11:35-37, EHV).

Not everything in the Hall of Faith is sweetness and light.

Then you think back, even to those who came in the earlier parts of the Hall of Faith. Abel was the first victim of murder. Noah had to contend with an entire world filled with nothing but wicked people. The Judges like Gideon and Samson and others led a people who were constantly falling away from faith; Samson himself had spectacular lapses of faith. King David was an example of faith, yes, but also an example of a tremendously flawed believer. Recently we have heard from some of the prophets who were called by God to preach their messages in unusual ways; and we saw how disrespected they often were.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all inductees who had their doubts, or took things into their own hands. Joseph was sold into slavery as part of his accomplishments to be inducted. Moses was born into slavery, and faced lots of adversity before he led the people out of the land of Egypt.

Maybe being a Christian isn’t such an easy thing.

About all these inductees into the Hall of Faith the writer says: “The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:38, EHV).

Then he concludes: “All of these were commended in Scripture by faith, yet they did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39, EHV). Inductees into the Hall of Faith all looked ahead to something that was yet to come.

III.

What word could you use to refer to each one of these inductees into the Hall of Faith? Today is All Saints Sunday. Each one of these inductees could have the title “Saint” before their name on the plaque beneath their portrait or their bust in the Hall.

But what does that word “Saint” mean? Look it up online in the Merriam Webster dictionary and you won’t get the real biblical definition until the third definition. The listings say: “1. One officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness. 2. One of the spirits of the departed in heaven. 3. One of God’s chosen and usually Christian people.” Definition 3 still couches God’s chosen people with usually Christian, whatever they mean by that.

Webster’s original dictionary from 1828 has a better order: “1. A person sanctified; a holy or godly person; one eminent for piety and virtue. It is particularly applied to the apostles and other holy persons mentioned in Scripture. A hypocrite may imitate a saint. 2. One of the blessed in heaven. 3. The holy angels are called saints, Deut. 33, Jude 14. 4. One canonized by the church of Rome.”

Webster’s original dictionary lists the correct definition as number 1. A Saint is a person sanctified, or set apart, or declared holy by God. A saint isn’t voted into sainthood by some church body that has determined a person qualifies. Sometimes the Apostle Paul greeted people as brothers, or brothers and sisters; but he also regularly greeted recipients of his letters as saints (Ro 1:7, 1 Cor 1:2, 2 Cor 1:2, Eph 1:1, Php 1:1). He also passed on greetings from other saints to the recipients of his letters (2 Cor 13:13, Php 4:22). He encouraged fellow believers to greet some of the other saints who were in that location with them (Php 4:21).

In reality, the word “Saint” is another word for a believer. Today’s Hymn of the Day was “For All the Saints.” We listed some of the Saints Triumphant from Holy Trinity: those who passed into eternal life since the previous All Saints Day. They didn’t need to be voted into sainthood. They, too, are in the Hall of Faith.

The writer said all the inductees into the Hall of Faith “...would not reach the goal apart from us” (Hebrews 11:40, EHV). Those who are Saints Triumphant from Holy Trinity, as well as all those the writer to the Hebrews lists, as well as every believer from every time and place who have already passed into eternal life, are waiting.

IV.

The inductees into the Hall of Faith who have gone before us are all waiting for the same thing. The writer called it: “A better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35, EHV).

There were people raised to life in the Old Testament. Elijah and Elisha prayed for resurrections, and those occurred. Jesus raised people to life during his earthly ministry. But there’s a better resurrection still to come.

That “better resurrection” is all because of Jesus. Think of the struggles of Jacob as he wrestled with God a couple weeks ago. Think of Jeremiah’s struggle from last week’s First Reading as he struggled to bring people out of their spiritual apathy, or Martin Luther’s struggle to understand the righteousness of God that promises that people are saved by faith alone.

None of those struggles would get anyone listed in the Hall of Faith if it weren’t for Jesus. In the very next verses of his letter after today’s Reading about the Hall of Faith, the writer identifies how it all came to be in the first place. He says: “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:2, EHV).

There is the whole history of salvation. Jesus struggled against sin and Satan for us, and even death itself. He paid the penalty in full. That’s how he brought our faith to its goal.

The Hall of Faith is filled with saints who are saints by faith alone, by God’s grace alone.

As you continue to turn the corners from gallery to gallery in the Hall of Faith, you are reminded of the writer’s words: “The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:38, EHV). The world doesn’t think too much of people of faith, but they are far more valuable than they are given credit for.

V.

You turn another corner in your tour of the Hall of Faith. There are millions of faces lining the hall. You can’t even begin to recognize them all. You can’t read all about each one—there are simply too many. Each one is a saint by God’s grace. Each one is in the hall of the Saints Triumphant.

Just one gallery is left. It is the gallery of the Saints Militant, usually called the Church Militant. This is the gallery of saints who are still living on this earth, those who still struggle to live as the Children of God they were adopted to be. Your face is there among them. For a moment you wonder how you could possibly be in the Hall of Faith. Then you remember, and give thanks to God. You are here by God’s grace alone. Amen.