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<\/a>Every year my church spends the month of November\u00a0studying the lives of the\u00a0saints of the church. This was an attempt to commend to us the lives of those everyday saints all around us, who point the way to a good life, and give mercy and grace hands and feet in our world.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0The outline format reflects the way I manuscript my sermons\u2026 just makes it easier for me to try and memorize as much as I can.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nEvery year we take the month of November to remember the lives of the Saints who have gone before us:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Hoping to learn from them how to live as a Christian<\/strong> in this world.<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s important because it\u2019s not always easy to navigate<\/strong> life as a believer in the midst of a culture that wants to tell us how to live.<\/li>\n
- We have this faith<\/strong>, and this ancient tradition.<\/li>\n
- We have this life<\/strong> in which we\u2019re constantly interacting w\/culture.<\/li>\n
- And the two seem to clash constantly<\/span> in our lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I think the first time I felt this tension between the Christian life & the life of the culture around me was on Sunday afternoons as a child. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- In my family we weren\u2019t allowed to play outside<\/span> on Sunday.<\/li>\n
- This was part of how we observed the Sabbath.<\/strong><\/li>\n
- I remember leaning over the couch<\/em>, pushing the curtains<\/span> aside, & peeking out the window<\/span> as my friends rode bikes up & down the block\u2026<\/li>\n
- \u2026thinking to myself that Sabbath was just some horrible<\/strong> form of persecution my mom & dad thought up for me.<\/li>\n
- Of course, at that age, any<\/strong> demand my parents made felt like a horrible form of persecution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Later on, I think I was in 7th<\/sup> grade, my best friend was a Christian, but he went and got himself a girlfriend\u2026 so I had to find some other friends\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- One weekend I spent the night with a group of guys at a friend\u2019s house, and this kid\u2019s mom<\/strong> let us go to a party.<\/li>\n
- (I don\u2019t think I told my parents about that part of the deal).<\/li>\n
- The party was supposed to be a bunch of middle school<\/strong> kids, but when we got there it was like the party from 16 Candles.<\/li>\n
- Music blaring, jocks in the living room, stoners<\/span> in the basement,<\/li>\n
- Girls in the kitchen (talking), and alcohol everywhere<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- We walked in, made a loop<\/strong> through the house, eyes as big as silver dollars<\/em>, & wound up in a huddle on the front lawn saying:<\/li>\n
- \u201cOh my gosh. Did you see<\/strong> that? Everybody\u2019s drinking.\u201d<\/li>\n
- We called his mom<\/strong> & got a ride back to his house & swore that we would never drink in High School\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Of course: Fast Forward to high school\u2014My best friend had a new girlfriend now (I don\u2019t know what his deal was).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- I wound up at another<\/strong> party with those same four guys.<\/li>\n
- This time, though, they<\/span> were all drinking\u2026<\/li>\n
- I think I\u2019ve always had a little bit of an outsider<\/strong> complex\u2026<\/li>\n
- (it\u2019s an artist thing).<\/li>\n
- But in Middle School<\/strong>, I had a group of friends & felt like I belonged.<\/li>\n
- Suddenly\u00a0in High School<\/strong>\u2026 it was like they went a one way\u2026 & I couldn\u2019t go with them.<\/li>\n
- I remember leaving<\/span> that party all by myself.<\/li>\n
- It was a lonely<\/strong> drive home\u2026 in my 1969 VW Beetle<\/li>\n
- (Yes, I was destined for social failure<\/span> even then).<\/li>\n
- This began a long<\/strong> period of loneliness & isolation for me.<\/li>\n
- Anyone else<\/strong> have a similar experience?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I was talking w\/Cole about it this week, & he said this is one of the main struggles he sees in High School kids today. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- They feel like their faith costs<\/span> them a lot of friendships\u2026 in fact:<\/li>\n
- Our Youth pastor, Cole, says a lot of students begin questioning<\/strong> God<\/strong> because of this.<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s the first time they\u2019ve experience loss (or what feels like persecution),<\/span> because of their faith.<\/li>\n
- They start wondering why God<\/strong> says I can\u2019t go drinking w\/my friends at 16.<\/li>\n
- Why do my parents have these rules<\/strong>?<\/li>\n
- Why am I faced with so much loneliness<\/strong> when I\u2019m just trying to do the right thing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Some chuck their faith altogether. Others will embrace it more deeply. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Most will slowly distance<\/strong> themselves from church & youth group.<\/li>\n
- They don\u2019t totally bail,<\/span> they just keep their distance\u2026<\/li>\n
- Because getting too close<\/strong> to this Jesus guy & his crazy followers can sometimes come with a hefty price tag.<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s not just HS kids, is it\u2026 this is a temptation for all of us\u2026 distance<\/li>\n
- I think this is the exact<\/strong> response to the high cost of faith that is being addressed by the writer of Hebrews.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Hebrews is written to a church<\/strong> that is experiencing a serious crisis.<\/li>\n
- Scholars aren\u2019t exactly sure who wrote<\/strong> it, but it seems to have been written to 2nd<\/sup> generation Xians who were living in Rome.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Hebrews is a kind of \u00bd sermon\/ \u00bd letter addressed to a group of believers who\u2019ve already been baptized & instructed in the faith.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- In fact, we\u2019re told they\u2019ve been following Jesus long<\/strong> enough that they should<\/em> be teaching others by now, but they are not (Ch. 05).<\/li>\n
- And this is a problem\u2026<\/span> something seriously stunted their growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Hebrews is written in the latter part of the 1st<\/sup> Century.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- It was a time of upheaval<\/strong> in the relationship of Jews to the Roman Empire, & the Xians (a Jewish sect at the time), to the other Jews.<\/li>\n
- These Christians had been experiencing very real persecutions.<\/span><\/li>\n
- They were being shamed<\/strong> in public, viewed with suspicion, & relegated to the margins<\/span> of culture.<\/li>\n
- Their response<\/strong>, it seems, was to slowly back away from their faith.<\/li>\n
- They didn\u2019t discard<\/strong> it altogether, they just began to hold their discipleship at arms length.<\/li>\n
- They stopped growing & progressing<\/span>\u2026 and so:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
PT: Somebody thought this was a big enough problem, they took the time to write the book of Hebrews, to address what was happening\u2026 CH 10:<\/p>\n
\u201c32\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>\u2026recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,\u00a033\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nMediterranean culture was an honor\/shame culture, so being \u201cpublicly exposed to abuse\u201d wasn\u2019t like a Facebook shaming or celebrity scandal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Public dishonor brought serious social<\/span> consequences.<\/li>\n
- Xians who went against the norms of Roman culture would have to face hostile social pressures.<\/span><\/li>\n
- One could easily<\/strong> lose their livelihood.<\/li>\n
- People would just stop doing business<\/strong> with them.<\/li>\n
- Public abuse<\/span>, persecution, prison,<\/span> the plundering of their possessions,<\/span> this is not something one could just laugh off.<\/li>\n
- Some of them began to back away<\/strong> from their faith a little bit.<\/li>\n
- They stopped<\/strong> attending worship.<\/li>\n
- Their commitment to God and the other believers became thin.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So in one sense, the writer\u2019s hoping to encourage them, build them up, & cheer them on. In another sense\u2026 calling them out, reprimanding them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Heb. 10:39, he says, \u201cwe are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.\u201d<\/li>\n
- We<\/strong> don\u2019t shrink back\u2026 lose heart\u2026<\/span> that\u2019s not who we are.<\/li>\n
- We have faith<\/strong>! (Faith is a huge theme in Hebrews).<\/li>\n
- In fact in the beginning of ch 11 there\u2019s a famous definition<\/strong> of faith:<\/li>\n
- \u201cFaith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The goal toward which he\u2019s pointing them is this hope & conviction that flies in the face of their current situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- And the way the writer does this is he reminds them of the saints<\/strong> who have gone before<\/span> them, & the way they kept the faith.<\/li>\n
- He tries to remind them who they are<\/strong>\u2026 where they come from.<\/li>\n
- And he launches into this litany<\/strong> of saints\u2026 like a Hall of Fame list:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u201cBy faith Abel<\/strong> brought God a better offering than Cain did\u2026 By faith Enoch<\/strong> was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death\u2026 By faith Noah<\/strong>, when warned about things not yet seen,\u00a0in holy fear built an ark\u00a0to save his family\u2026 By faith Abraham<\/strong>, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,\u00a0obeyed and went,\u00a0even though he did not know where he was going\u2026 by faith even Sarah<\/strong>, who was past childbearing age,\u00a0was enabled to bear children\u2026 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac<\/strong> as a sacrifice\u2026 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob<\/strong> and Esau<\/strong> in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph\u2019s<\/strong> sons\u2026 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus<\/strong> of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones\u2026 By faith Moses\u2019<\/strong> parents<\/strong> hid him for three months after he was born\u2026 By faith Moses<\/strong>, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter\u2026 By faith he left Egypt\u2026 By faith he kept the Passover<\/strong> and the application of blood\u2026 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea<\/strong>\u2026 By faith the walls of Jericho<\/strong> fell\u2026 By faith the prostitute Rahab<\/strong>, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAnd then it\u2019s almost like he knows that he\u2019s belaboring the point but he can\u2019t help himself\u2026 so he says:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon<\/strong>, Barak<\/strong>,\u00a0Samson\u00a0<\/strong>and Jephthah<\/strong>,\u00a0about David\u00a0<\/strong>and Samuel\u00a0<\/strong>and the prophets<\/strong>,\u00a033\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>who through faith conquered kingdoms,\u00a0administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>quenched the fury of the flames,\u00a0and escaped the edge of the sword;\u00a0whose weakness was turned to strength;\u00a0and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies\u2026 others [now he\u2019s given up on even recording all of their names\u2026 He just says \u201cother\u201d \u2026 the great unnamed saints] were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.\u00a036\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Some faced jeers and flogging,\u00a0and even chains and imprisonment.\u00a037\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.\u00a0They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,\u00a0destitute, persecuted and mistreated\u201438\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>the world was not worthy of them. [I love that line, repeat] They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves\u00a0and in holes in the ground. 39\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>These were all commended\u00a0for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,\u00a040\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us\u00a0would they be made perfect.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nTwo\u00a0important things to notice:\u00a0<\/strong>First<\/strong>: nobody was held up as an example because they were brave or virtuous or successful\u2026 but only because they were faithful<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- You know, when Abraham & Sarah were living, they didn\u2019t think that thousands of years later we\u2019d still be talking about them.<\/li>\n
- They weren\u2019t worried about how their lives would look on paper.<\/li>\n
- They were just living life<\/strong>, trying to be faithful in a strange land.<\/li>\n
- It\u2019s one of the requirements for sainthood.<\/li>\n
- You can\u2019t know<\/strong> that you\u2019ll be held up as an example for everyone.<\/li>\n
- It disqualifies you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
PT: The people on this list were plain old ordinary everyday people. They did not live their lives for an audience. They were just living their lives. But, because they walked by faith<\/em><\/strong>, God was able to use them in extraordinary ways. This means, I think, that some of the most powerful saints in our lives, will not be the hall of fame list from Heb. 11, but plain old ordinary everyday people in our own lives.<\/p>\nThe second thing to notice comes at the end of this section. V. 39. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- \u201cThese were all commended\u00a0for their faith,<\/strong> yet none of them received what had been promised.\u201d<\/li>\n
- This is something every<\/strong> Jewish Xian back then would\u2019ve gotten.<\/li>\n
- That we<\/strong> tend to overlook it.<\/li>\n
- ALL<\/strong> of the people on that list were commended for their faith\u2026<\/li>\n