Sunday Leftovers 8/10/08

Today was a great day of worship.  I certainly appreciate having Jim Moore come and lead worship for us.  I’m looking forward to his ministry among us.

Hebrews 12:1-3 is a very familiar passage to us.  I hope these insights might help us understand it better.

The cloud of witnesses: In 12:1, the writer of Hebrews refers to the great cloud of witnesses that surround the believer running the race.  Who are these witnesses and what are they doing?

The witnesses are the exemplars of the faith that the author of Hebrews mentioned in Hebrews 11.  The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 built up to the crescendo that we see in 12:1-3.  If we remember the context of suffering and persecution experienced by the audience of Hebrews, the faithful saints of the Old Testament time period proved that one can persevere the crises of the earthly realm when their confidence was fixed upon the God whose promises are certain.

It is tempting to look at the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1 as spectators of those competing in the present.  Drawing from the Greco-Roman athletic context, an athlete would often compete in an amphitheater with a crowd of spectators cheering him on toward the prize.  If taken this way, the Old Testament witnesses extolled in chapter 11 would make up a heavenly throng encouraging the Christian in the present.  They would be cheerleaders as such, watching their successors as they run the race they previously had run.  However, these witness are not so much spectators encouraging us on, but they are more like examples to which the suffering Christian looks for encouragement.  They have shown by their lives a devout faithfulness to God despite the circumstances they faced.  They endured hardship and remain loyal to God.  If they could do it then, the writer of Hebrews suggests, so also can the believers of his generation.  He exhorts them to look to these faithful examples as an encouragement to remain faithful themselves.

Everything that hinders and the sin that entangles: The author of Hebrews also exhorts his audience to throw off the sin that so easily entangles.  He uses the Greek word ongkos to describe the hindrance of the runner competing in a race.  Ongkos means can refer to any kind of mass or weight, heaviness, or even bodily fat.  The reference here is that a runner will divest himself of all superfluous weight (heavy objects, clothing, even excess body weight) in order to win the prize.  Likewise, the word for “entangle” used in reference to sin refers to something that clings so closely that it impede movement and progress.  Likewise sin and distractions (even if in other contexts are permissible and good) hinder a believer from competing at a high level on the race that God has marked out for us in Christ.

The pioneer and perfecter of faith: The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as the “author and perfecter of our faith”.  We might understand “author” here in the sense of pioneer.  Jesus has led all the faithful, even from the very beginning, along the path of faith.  In His incarnation and passion, he served as a personal example for believers who come after Him.  It would be impossible for us as followers of Christ to follow a path different from that blazed by our Lord before us.  It should not surprise us that the only way we will be able to follow faithfully that course is if we follow His lead.  Likewise, Jesus is the perfecter of faith.  He brought perfection to faith through the cross.  He is faith’s conclusion, when as Paul says our faith will be made sight.

Sunday Leftovers 8/3/08

Hebrews 11:32-40 has become one of my favorite passages of Scripture because of its brutal honesty that dissects the current Christian perception of discipleship.  We often tend to look at Jesus as the “missing piece” that finally makes sense of life.  Or, Jesus allows us to experience our best life now with no sickness, disappointment, failure, suffering, or traumatic crises.  Hebrews 11:32-40 makes painfully the clear the cost that comes with living by faith.

Certainly, the writer of Hebrews uses chapter 11 to show his confused and questioning congregation that the life of faith is one of ultimate victory.  Others in generations past had come to climactic moments where they had to decide between faith in God or self preservation.  The writer shows the benefit of faith in God, many of whom experienced that benefit in this life if only to experience it most fully in the life to come.

Lest the audience of Hebrews think that a renewed faith in God based upon his future promises translate into a dramatic change of circumstances where they persecution they were experiencing would miraculously go away, the writer reminds them of the faithful who did not experience their best life now.  Beginning in 11:35, the writer reminds us of members of the covenant community who were sawed in two, tortured, flogged, chained and imprisoned, put to death by the sword, persecuted, mistreated, and destitute.  Their faith in God did not dramatically change their earthly fortune, but it made the future reward even sweeter, choosing temporary suffering to the perfect and eternal blessing of God that He had promised to them.

Faith is never about what we get from God.  That comes by grace and we express our gratitude.  But faith allows us to live confidently in the here and now, no matter what we experience.  As such, as the writer frequently reminds us, we ought not to fix our eyes on the temporary nature of our circumstances which will change like the seasons of the year, but we must keep our eyes fixed on the future finish that God has prepared for us.  Faith is the confidence that allows us to live now with the future destiny we have in Christ still in mind.

Quote of the week: “The author’s twin points are that the promise-making God is faithful to His oaths, and that people of faith live in light of God’s promises”  (George Guthrie, Hebrews, 383).

Sunday Leftovers 7/27/08

The writer of Hebrews uses Abraham as the example par excellence of faith in chapter 11. This is completely consistent with the Jewish view of Abraham in the contemporary setting. Abraham was acknowledged to be the “father of faith” especially since Genesis 15:6 makes clear Abraham’s faith in God’s promise to him that he would have a son as an heir and progenitor of a great nation. If anyone showed faith in the future promises of God it would have been Abraham.

God first promised to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him with great blessing, and to protect him from any curse pronounced against him. According to Genesis 12:1-3, this promise would have been made when Abraham was approximately 75 years old. By Genesis 15, 10 years had passed and none of the promises had come to fruition. I suppose that in the “microwave mentality” of our contemporary world, this would have been more than enough time for God to act and fulfill those initial promises. Indeed, it was not God’s sovereign time which precipitates his interrogation of God in Genesis 15. God reassures him there (as well as in Genesis 17 when God initiates a reminder of the promises and gives Abraham the sign of circumcision as proof positive that the promises are still in effect). Despite his faith, Abraham allowed himself to be duped by his wife when she suggested that he conceive a child by her maid Hagar. God’s sovereignty overruled Abraham’s activity and still provided the promised son Isaac in due time. Abraham waited 25 years for God to make good on his promise. Even in spite of lapses, the pattern of Abraham’s reflected a strong faith in God that understood that God would make good on his promises.

The ironic point that the writer of Hebrews notes is that Abraham and the patriarchs did not receive the things promised. Despite their lack of sight, they lived by faith to the very end. The author makes clear that the significance of the promises God made to them far superseded their experience in this life. They looked forward not to a land bounded by seas and rivers and desert. They looked forward to an eternal city whose architect was God Himself.

The point that the writer makes to his own congregation (and to us today) is that faith is a lifelong journey, not a weekend road trip. We must maintain our confidence in what God has promised even when we don’t experience it now. In 21st century America, we are used to the quick and the glitzy. But what the writer of Hebrews calls us to is a steady life of faith that has confidence in God’s unchanging character, consistent activity, uncompromising will, and secure promises. That is the challenge before us.

Quote of the week: “And these things (he says) they said, ’seeking’ their ‘own country’. Ah! how great is the difference! They indeed were in travail-pains each day, wishing to be released from this world, and to return to their country. But we, on the contrary, if a fever attack us, neglecting everything, weeping like little children, are frightened at death. Not without reason we are thus affected. For since we do not live here like strangers, not as if hastening to our country, but are like persons that are going away to punishment, therefore we grieve, because we have not used circumstances as we ought, but have turned order upside down. Hence we grieve when we ought to rejoice: hence we shudder, like murderers or robber chiefs, when they are going to be brought before the judgment-seat, and are thinking over all the things they have done, and therefore are fearful and trembling.” (John Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Hebrews)

Sunday Leftovers 7/20/08

I’m starting a new feature that hopefully will appear every Monday. It’s been a crazy week for P-Jim, so that’s why I’m so late.

The “leftovers” feature will be some thoughts that derive from my study of the Sunday morning message. In some cases, I will want to re-emphasize some points I made on Sunday morning (but I do not intend to make the post a warmed up version of the message). Mostly, I hope to add material that for one reason or another could not be included in the Sunday message (i.e., time, complexity of material, background, etc.). I may also provide some insights from the commentaries, which I don’t usually like to quote in a message but so eloquently expresses my otherwise tedious thoughts and explanations. It is my hope that these weekly posts will be helpful for any disciple seeking to go deeper in the Word as he/she seeks to understand the Word better and apply its Truth to his/her life. I may also do this for Sunday evening messages and Wednesday night Bible studies.

The background to Hebrews. The author of Hebrews is unknown, although it was linked to the apostle Paul from very early on in church history. In fact, Hebrews was accepted into the canon because of a supposed link to Paul, either with the understanding that Paul was the author or the writer was a disciple of Paul. Most biblical scholars assert that Paul did not write Hebrews, mainly based on stylistic and syntactical grounds (i.e., the Greek of Hebrews is more highly polished than the Pauline epistles and reflects a great effort to follow traditional Greek rhetorical style mostly absent in the letters themselves. “As for who wrote Hebrews,” the church father Origen best states, “only God knows.”

The author, however, wrote to a Christian community in a state of crisis. As the title of the letter suggests, the book was intended for Hebrew (i.e., Jewish) Christians. These Christians were Hellenistic Jews (i.e., Jews who lived in the Greek speaking world and had accepted at least some aspects of Greek culture) most likely living in Rome who had become Christians. They had abandoned the practice of Judaism they had experienced from their birth to embrace Jesus as their Messiah. These Jewish Christians had begun to experience some “mild” persecution because of their radical commitment to Jesus. They were shunned by their Jewish families, friends, fellow synagogue associates, and the broader Jewish community. Since the Romans looked down on all Christians anyway, they were ridiculed in the marketplace and other public locales, they were restricted to the most menial jobs and as such lived in poverty and squalor, and some even had their property seized by the state or never received fair justice in the court of law. As such, many Jewish Christians wondered if following Jesus was truly worth it, especially if they could read the same Scripture and worship the same God in the company of the family and friends in the Jewish synagogue. Many were tempted to abandon Christ and the faith in order to return to Judaism and alleviate the suffering to which they were subjected.

The writer of Hebrews uses his letter to implore Jewish Christians not to do such a foolish thing. He establishes in the first 10 chapters the superiority of Jesus Christ to the revered persons and institutions in the Old Testament: the angels, Moses, the high priest, regular sacrifices. If Jesus is superior, their faith is not misguided. Instead, they need to steel their resolve and live out their commitment in obedience to God. Thus, the letter provides a severe warning for those Jewish Christians who turn their back on Christ: there is no other hope.

Chapters 11-12, which is the subject of the sermon series, provides encouragement for these Christians to remain steadfast in their commitment to Christ. In particular, the writer of Hebrews provides a catalogue of faithful men and women who persevered hardship and lived by faith. The motivation behind these chapters is to show other people, like the persecuted Jewish Christians, who maintained faith by obedience to God even in times of difficulty. So, we see Old Testament saints like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses as godly examples to follow.

The definition of faith. Faith is an interesting concept that I’m afraid is greatly misunderstood by most people. Hebrews 11:1 gives us a definition of faith that has become so real in my mind and heart. We usually associate faith with an intellectual belief, a body of facts or data that we give mental agreement to, or with a “gut” feeling that changes frequently, usually corresponding to our circumstances. The writer of Hebrews gives us two Greek words to anchor our understanding of faith.

The first word is hupostasis which can be translated as “firmness”, “confidence”, or “assurance”. It is a sense of resolute confidence or unwavering assurance. Originally the word was used to refer to a collection of documents that verified ownership. It proved or guaranteed ownership, much like a title to a house or car verifies ownership to prospective buyer or a contested claim. According to Hebrews 11:1, “faith” is a resolute confidence in the promises of God made to us through Christ and through his word. It is “being sure” (NIV) that those promises are indeed true and real and will be experienced in God’s sovereign time and way.

The second word is elengchos which is a synonym of hupostasis and thus can be translated as “confidence” or “assurance”. The word can also be translated as “conviction”, a sense of irrefutable trust that something is indeed true. In Hebrews 11:1, “faith” is the conviction in who God is even though we cannot see HIm. Though He is invisible to us we are unwavering in our confidence that He is who He reveals Himself to be. His character and His conduct are eternally consistent. He is working through history to bring out His promises and His purposes to fruition.

As Christians who possess faith, we do not merely hold to an intellectual understanding of God or mentally agree to what Scripture says to be true about Him (although a mental assent to who God is is necessary for faith and our doctrinal formulation of that faith). Likewise, our faith is not evidenced primarily as a feeling that changes with our circumstances, though our feelings should consistently reflect our faith. No, faith is a resolute confidence in who God is and what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. The greatest reflection of our faith in God is our obedience. We will act in accordance with what we believe as the heroes of Hebrews 11 give evidence. Obedience expresses faith because it says, “I conform my life to Your character and Your will, O God, no matter what the circumstance. My confidence resides in who You are and in Your ability to fulfill the promises You have made to me in Christ.”

Quote of the week. “The word elengchos, used here, means a conviction that is not a static emotion of complacency but something lively and active, not just a state of immovable dogmatism but of a vital certainty which impels the believer to stretch out his hand, as it were, and lay hold of those realities on which his hope is fixed and which, though unseen, are already his in Christ.” (Philip Hughes)

A Time to com-POST

This has been long overdue.  I guess that I could mean that by now there are far newer technological media of communication that surpass the appropriateness or usefulness of the blog.  I really am thinking more, though, that my intention was to start blogging when I became pastor at Forest Heights.  In any case, in these days of rapidly changing modes of communication, I will make my presence known in blogosphere until I can find another medium that, once in vogue, has seen it’s hey-day only to catch up late once again.

This blog will provide me opportunities to share with you my thoughts on a whole host of issues, especially as they relate to the church and the church I currently pastor, Forest Heights Baptist Church.  It will be like a comPOST of sorts, a variety of leftover material which I have processed in mind and heart to hopefully produce a rich organic soil from which new or encouraging ideas will flourish.  I hope to POST my thoughts often and encourage you to POST comments on what I’ve written so that the soil might be richer.

The word com-POST is uniquely chosen.  It is laced with all sorts of meaning, which I will not reveal now.  I don’t want to ruin the poetry of the word.