Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome Message

Good morning everyone!

So glad to be back up here to share with you this morning.

Go ahead an turn in your Bibles to Hebrews Chapter 11 starting in verse 17.

Thats Hebrews Chapter 11 starting in verse 17.

Before we begin I’d like to share a short story with you

Several years ago, my family and I lived in Northern Virginia just 20 miles or so from Washington DC.

Now you can’t live that close to the national capital region without making it a point to visit the city.

So, Corrie and i decided to take the kids, we only had Grace and Gwyneth at the time, load them up in my truck and make the trip.

Now, if you have ever been to Washington DC, you probably know that making a trip to DC is a challenge.

Although it is only 20 miles, the traffic is SO horrible that it can take 3.5 - 4 hours just to make the drive.

In fact, the traffic is so bad, that many people who work in DC don’t actually come home during the week.

They just stay in the city and drive home on weekends.

Fortunately, on this day, it is only going to take us 2 hours with traffic to make it.

I’m sitting in my truck, annoyed that I let Corrie talk me into this.

Especially because I am literally, SITTING in my truck on I-95.

We aren’t moving.

We are stopped in a traffic jam.

In fact, the traffic is so backed up and there are so few exits between where we lived and Washington DC, that it was not uncommon to see people hopping out of their cars to use the restroom in the median of the 8 lane super-highway that is I-95.

The kids are in the back, complaining about the trip, hungry, bored and restless.

Corrie is sleeping soundly.

I think that this is a waste of time.

What can possibly be so interesting about a bunch of old buildings and statues dedicated to men long since dead?

I convince myself that it will be educational for the kids so I should try to make it through.

Finally, we arrive.

And as we are unloading the kids, I realize, it is HOT.

Maybe not Northern Louisiana in August Hot, but hot enough that I know this is going to be a rough day for the kids, and me.

Now I’m really not looking forward to this.

So I start pushing the stroller as fast as I can toward the Lincoln memorial praying to myself that maybe Corrie will think that one memorial is enough and will let us go home.

But then, I see it.

Perched atop a mountain of stairs, like an ancient roman temple, marble pillars rising up from the ground like beams of bright white light.

To my right is the reflecting pool, gently flowing in the breeze.

It’s enormous.

I knew it would be big, I’ve seen the pictures of Martin Luther King Junior delivering his famous “I have a dream speech” from the steps of the memorial to what seemed to be an endless ocean of people.

The imported Japanese Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom with their pink and red flowers - they are the most beautiful trees I have ever seen.

And there, far off in the distance like an arrow pointing to heaven is the Washington Monument.

The massivness of the monuments is accentuated by the normal everyday sight of people walking, running, riding bicycles and ducks swimming in the reflecting pool.

My breath is taken away.

We continue throughout the memorial gardens and visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the obsidian black wall carved with the names of the more than 58,000 people who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.

It is somber and I find myself standing numbly as I see old men sitting in wheelchairs by the names of their buddies.

Some speaking quietly, others weeping softly, others just sitting there silently.

We walk through the korean war veterans memorial where ghostly figures of men bundled in thick winter clothes patrol forever through the gardens.

It is eerie and even a little frightening.

I’ve completely forgotten about the heat, and the fussing children.

Before this day, I knew the memorials held an important historical significance to this nation.

But now, they have gripped me and brought me face to face with the enormity of the deeds of men and women who have shaped my history.

I now understand the importance of memorials.

They are not just for teaching history abstractly, but for showing us the significance and impact the actions of heroes have had on OUR personal history, AND hopefully, teach us to emulate them.

And this leads me to our scripture for today.

But before we begin, let me pray.

Prayer

Father, we worship you for your incredible power, and we thank you that you have chosen to give us the gift of faith that empowers us to live lives pleasing to you.

Thank you for your word, and for the people who have gone before us who you have used mightily to accomplish your purposes - despite their flaws.

We offer ourselves to you today, and ask that you would use us to advance your kingdom here on earth.

Scripture

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

This is God’s Word.

Exposition

Today’s passage picks up where Jesse left off last week describing the faith of some of the most famous people in recorded history.

The author of Hebrews recounts the Old Testament description of Abel who is said to have “pleased God” by offering a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother Cain.

The author also describes how Enoch is said to have “pleased God” before being caught up to heaven while still living.

the author goes on to reason that Enoch must have had great faith, because it is impossible to please God without belieiving in Him.

He goes on to recount quickly the “reverent fear” of Noah and how through that faith, Noah built the Ark and saved his family.

He describes the Faith of Abraham through the story of Abraham leaving his family and travelling to the “land of promise” “not knowing where he was going”.

And the faith of Sarah that empowered her to conceive in her old age and give birth to the son through whom God would fulfill his promise to Abraham that his descendents would be as numerous as the sands of the seashore.

This section of Hebrews is sometimes referred to as the “Hall of Faith” because it highlights the amazing faith of some of the most impactful people in human history.

That phrase Hall of Faith is waht reminded me of the monuments in Washington DC.

You’ll notice that it isn’t called the Vietnam War Memorial - no its the Vietnam VETERANS Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument etc.

The monuments are named after people not events, because people and their actions are what is being remembered.

Similarly, this passage of scripture reminds us of the amazing faith of those who have gone before us, a faith we should strive to emulate in our own lives.

This passage of scripture is also helpful to us in that it helps to define exactly what Faith is:

1. first, it involves believing in the existence of God—not simply any god, but in the one who made his will known to the fathers through the prophets and who in these last days has spoken in his Son

2. Second, faith entails believing that God rewards those who earnestly seek him.

If the previous verses leading up to todays scripture highlight some amazing acts of faith, I would offer that the stories told in today’s scripture are even more incredible.

Let’s look at verses 17 and 18

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

This passage in Genesis 22 has traditionally been called the “Binding of Isaac” among the Jews and in Jewish interpretation as the classic example of the redemptive power of martyrdom.

This passage is also an amazing example of “active faith” as described more fully in the book of James.

Abraham’s actions were evidence of an incredible faith.

Here God “tests” Abraham with what may be the greatest trial possible.

God commands Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to Him. the very Isaac whom God had previously promised would be the progenetor of the entire nation of Israel with descendents as numerous as the stars!

Contrast this with the acts of faith attributed to Abraham earlier in this chapter:

Abraham:

Left his home and didn’t know where he was going

Lived in a foreign land

Lived in tents

I know many of you here are transplants from some other place - that probably doesn’t count as living in a foreign land, but getting up and leaving your home can be hard.

I’m not sure how many of you have lived in tents - I’ve done it for a while - it is definitely a shock to your system when you are used to being in a house with all the comforts of home.

But if we are honest, these things are NOTHING compared to sacrificing your CHILD.

Much less your son whom you believe will carry on your legacy into the future - even more if you have been promised that your legacy will be to BLESS THE ENTIRE WORLD!

This is a HUGE sacrifice to be making - I mean it’s so huge, I can’t even imagine it.

I mean I’m standing here thinking about this and trying to put myself into Abraham’s sandals and I literally can’t - it’s so foreign to me.

Now someone may be sitting there feeling uncomfortable with the idea of God “testing” us.

Are we misunderstanding this passage of scripture?

Does God really test us according to the Bible?

In Psalm 26:2 and 139:23 David sought God’s testing, asking Him to examine his heart and mind and see that they were true to Him.