Faith in Difficult times

Steered away from Luke reading

The New International Version Chapter 12

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.

Harsh

in response to Peter’s question: “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

I wonder if there’s a complacency to Peter and the disciples here: “Surely these warnings can’t apply to us? We’ve already got things sorted out.”

So Jesus is speaking to a people who think that the worst is over, and warning them to be on their guard.

Hebrews 11 is different.

Pastoral.

Compassionate.

Written to a people who are struggling through the most difficult times.

A people who need to know that what they’re going through is not the beginning, and it is also not the end.

The New International Version Chapter 11

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews follows an arc

The identity of Jesus, the reality of sin and death, and the triumph of the promise

And in the middle, we have this soaring ode to faith and faithfulness

We’re right in the middle of the drama, and sometimes it feels like it’s all out of control.

We don’t know from day to day whether we’re in for succes or suffering

So we ttry to tie things down. Get a handle on the world and what’s going to happen.

We move from having confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see, to fearing that things won’t get better on their own.

When that happens, we try to re-shape the world in our own image. We go from having assurance about what we do not see, to demanding assurance from what we do see.

That’s when we fall into what I call the tyranny of the two “shoulds”

The Tyranny of “Should”

Our lives are so often dominated by two “shoulds”

The world should be a better place

I should be a better person

Faith in the middle

How do we get ourselves out of this trap?

That’s what Hebrews 11 is all about. It’s an encouragement and an inspiration that these “shoulds” don’t have to dominate our lives.

Did you notice that there are two kinds of people held up as paragons of faith? Those whose lives are marked by miraculous success, and those who are marked by suffering. Their lives were not shaped by the “shoulds”, but by faith that transcended their own lives and the circumstances of the world that they lived in.

Let’s listen to these words of encouragement again:

The New International Version Chapter 12

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

What we do, how we live, the faith we embrace is the purpose for which Hebrews is written. As an inspiration. As an encouragement. To live in the here and now with faith, with Jesus as our point of reference, our anchor, our guide.

· The heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 endured all kinds of persecution, adversity and hardship, and their faith endured. That’s what makes them heroes.

· They got it. They understood. They knew that God transcends our lives. They knew, even though they didn’t know the right words to say, that Jesus is better.

· The original readers of Hebrews understood as well – they too lived through persecution and hardship and adversity. And they heard the message loud and clear – your faith has divine and eternal significance. Run the race. Persevere. When all else fails, fix your eyes upon Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

· Perhaps in our day and age, the book of Hebrews taes on a new resonance. No longer have we got it easy in the church. No longer are we at the centre of society, at the top of the pyramid, in a privileged position in the world. We are having some small taste of adversity.

· This letter has become once more a source of inspiration and encouragement for us.

· Run the race. Persevere. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

He’s been there for us in the past.

The future is secure in his loving arms.

We’re invited to live lives of hope, assurance and faith in teh middle, because it’s Jesus who walks with us and shows us the way. His way.

The New International Version (Chapter 12)

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.