Intentional and Invitational (Hebrews 11)
Today we are wrapping up our slow journey through Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, the hall of heroes. But it’s really just the beginning, isn’t it? We can read what God says to us in the Bible, we can hear what the Spirit says to us, but it doesn’t do us much good unless we put it into practice, by changing the way we think, speak, act, live.
Last Sunday, John talked about how costly it is for us to follow Jesus by faith. We are promised that everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. May we each increase in our desire to know Christ, which is to experience his resurrection power and be a partner in his suffering.
Our key Scripture today is Hebrews 11:39-40, and I’ll be reading these verses from the New Living Translation:
Hebrews 11:39-40 (NLT): “39All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.”
Let’s examine this text phrase by phrase and see if we can mine some treasures today. The first phrase is “all these people.” Who are all these people? Here’s the list included in Hebrews 11 – even though I’ve read this chapter many times, I was surprised at who is included in this list. I’ll list verse reference for the first mention of each one who is associated with an action done “by faith”: people in days of old (v.2), all who believe that God created the universe from nothing (v.3), Abel (v.4), Enoch (v.5), anyone who wants to come to God (v.6), Noah (v.7), Abraham (v.8), Isaac & Jacob (v.9), Sarah (v.11), Joseph (v.22), Moses’ parents (v.23), Moses (v.24), the people of Israel (v.29), Rahab (v.31), Gideon (v.32), Barak (v.32), Samson (v.32), Jephthah (v.32), David (v.32), Samuel (v.32), all the prophets (v.32), women who received back loved ones from the dead (v.35), others who were tortured, jeered at, oppressed, mistreated, wandering, hiding (v.35).
“All these people . . .” It’s often helpful to notice what is not being said, in order to get the full force of what is being said. It doesn’t say, “a select few of these people”, “some of these people”, or “the vast majority of these people.” It doesn’t say, “the people with special privileges or titles” or “the people who were blessed in an unusual way” or “the people who were super lucky”. I have some questions for you – you don’t need to answer aloud, just think about them.
Do you more easily believe that God loves YOU unconditionally, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve said, no matter what you’ve thought? Or, do you more easily believe that God loves THEM unconditionally, no matter what? Do you more easily believe that God’s forgiveness for YOU has no limit? Or, do you more easily believe that God’s forgiveness for THEM is limitless? Do you more easily believe that nothing can YOU do could make God love you less or more than He already does? Or, do you more easily believe that nothing THEY do could change His love for them? You get the point. Our text clearly says “All these people.”
What did “all these people” do? In the NLT, it says “all these people earned a good reputation.” The Greek word that is here translated “earned a good reputation” is a word that comes from the root martyréō. This is one of those times in studying Scripture where it’s very helpful to read this in a variety of translations. Here are some of the other ways it’s translated into English: “commended”, “obtained a good report”, “obtained a good testimony”, “gained divine approval”, “pleased God”, “won God’s approval”. It brings more clarity when we realize that it’s not just any good reputation, but specifically a good reputation with God that all these people earned.
Incidentally, martyréō is the same root word used for our English word “martyr.” The primary definition of martyr is something we are familiar with in Scripture and in Church history. A martyr is defined as “someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or cause as demanded by an external party.” This kind of suffering is what Jesus calls us to be willing to endure, along with New Testament writers, early Church Fathers and Mothers, and Christian leaders down through the centuries.
There’s a second definition of martyr that has arisen much more recently, which I mention as an example of how language changes, taking this word that brims over with honor and faithfulness and distorting it to mean something completely different – “someone who tries to get sympathy from others when he or she has a problem or too much work, usually when that person caused the problem or chose to do the work himself or herself.” I included this not just because it’s an interesting side note, but because I think it highlights our human tendency to take the high calling of God to live a selfless, God-focused life and twist it into something that end up being selfish, self-focused. As followers of Christ, we must guard against such watering down of words, which inevitably lead to watering down of thoughts, watering down of actions, watering down of what it means to live a Christlike life.
Our next phrase speaks of what all these people, each of our heroes, were commended for. It tells us how they earned a good reputation with God. Because of their faith. Faith is defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” There must be a someone or something in which faith is placed. Each one in our hall of heroes placed their complete trust and confidence in God. Hebrews 12:2 urges us to look to “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
OK, so here we are – “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith.” Very encouraging! The last phrase in Hebrews 11:39 hits us as kind of discouraging, though – “[they] did not receive what was promised.” Yikes. That sounds bad. But is it? Maybe it sounds discouraging or negative only if we think that the goal of life is to receive what we’ve been promised. But is that the right goal? What are we aiming for? What should we be aiming for? Some possibilities are suggested in one of the most influential journals in the world, Nature. A recent article names these things as the goals towards which all persons should strive: positive emotions, engagement in meeting daily needs, meaningful relationships, finding meaning in life, and accomplishing ambitions. These all sound great, but are those what we should be aiming for more than anything else? Certainly we should care for ourselves, body, soul, and spirit. But I feel the need to be a wet blanket here and point out the obvious – every one of those goals is primarily self-focused. My emotions, my needs, my relationships, my finding meaning, my ambitions.
Jesus tells us to be intentional in Matthew 6:33 (NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” The Message translation puts it even more plainly in verses 33 and 34 – “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” We can trust God to provide ALL that we need. Not surprisingly, Jesus gives us goals like no goals on earth. The New Testament and Church history include story after story of what it looks like to follow Christ. Stories characterized by faith. Stories characterized by suffering. Stories characterized by God’s provision, God’s power, God’s presence.
Listen to what the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians in a section that the editors entitled, “Do Not Trust in Who You Are or What You Can Do.” I invite you to join me in making this a personal commitment to God. Philippians 3:8-11 (NIrV) – “I consider everything to be nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. To know him is worth much more than anything else. Because of him I have lost everything. But I consider all of it to be garbage so I can know Christ better. 9 I want to be joined to him. Being right with God does not come from my obeying the law. It comes because I believe in Christ. It comes from God because of faith. 10 I want to know Christ better. Yes, I want to know the power that raised him from the dead. I want to join him in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death. 11 Then by God’s grace I will rise from the dead.”
Notice verse 9 – being right with God comes from God because of faith in Christ. The thing that sets the one true God, whom we worship, apart from ALL other gods throughout human history is this. I’m quoting this directly from our Vineyard Statement of Faith: “We believe that God is the Eternal King. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory.” I would venture to say that this doctrine, known as the doctrine of the Trinity, is the most important doctrine to know and understand, because it is the strong foundation upon which all of our other beliefs rest. You know how in the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” Windex bottle-toting Greek father Gus Portokalos said, “Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of the word is Greek” (even “kimono” lol)? Same with the Trinity. Give me a Christian belief, any belief, and I show you that the belief is rooted in the Trinity.
As technical and potentially dull as statements of faith might sound, they’re actually pretty important. The bit about God existing from all eternity as One True God in three persons is mind-blowing. It means that within the Godhead, as mysterious as it seems to our finite minds, there is a community of persons bound together by love. God IS love. And the most amazing good news ever is that because of what Jesus has done for us, each one of us is invited and welcomed to enter into this love relationship, here and now, and enjoy His limitless love and justice and wisdom and goodness forever and ever!
That segues quite nicely to the second and final verse we’re looking at today. Hebrews 11:40 says “For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.” This verse assures us that “God has something better in mind for us.” Whatever it is we think we need, God has something better in mind for us. We can trust Him completely! It also explains that our hall of heroes, each of these men and women of authentic faith, would not individually be completed in Christ apart from us. The “us” in this verse refers to those who in the present are still present here on earth. In our individualistic era, we might be tempted to get a big head reading this verse – oh, they’re not done until we get there! But the point is that there is only one Church down through the ages, comprised of Christ Jesus, all believers who have gone before, all believers who are alive today, and believers who are yet to come. The Church begins with Christ Jesus, the head of the Church. Each believer is mysteriously added to the body of Christ. Together, at the end of the ages, the body of Christ will be fully formed, complete, perfect.
Recently our oldest son got married in Montenegro. Peter & Alex both enjoy everything about food, delighting in picking berries, whipping up pancakes, savoring a delicious cut of meat, ordering from a menu. Often the next meal is planned even before the current meal’s dishes are cleared away. For their wedding reception, they decided they wanted to prepare all of the food, along with each family member and friend who were present. Some of the food took days of preparation, some was cooked earlier in the day, some was made after the wedding ceremony. There was a flurry of activity in kitchens on five levels of the apartment building where we all stayed. Many of us ran up and down stairs all afternoon, gathering, delivering, and helping as needed. The components of the feast were delivered to the main level one by one, and slowly an incredibly beautiful and delicious spread was assembled. It would have been very unsatisfying, inappropriate, and quite strange if each dish had been consumed by just the ones who had contributed to its preparation in a location far from the main area. No one dined alone. We waited until everyone and everything was ready. When all of the preparations were completed, all the guests had arrived at the reception area, and most importantly, the bride and groom were ready to go, we all sat down to enjoy a magnificent feast.
I think that the apostle John, in describing what he saw in the vision of what is to come in the book of Revelation had probably been to a number of weddings. He used the best language available to him to try to convey how beautiful, how wonderful, how incredible it will be when all of the body of Christ are assembled at the end of the ages. After everyone has arrived, we will all sit down and enjoy the feast together. It’s gonna be a huge table! We can’t even begin to imagine how incredible this celebration will be! The angel who described this to the apostle John said in Revelation 19:9, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” Of course, God has already invited the entire world to this feast. Every single person. No one is excluded. But Jesus also told us in a parable describing what the Kingdom of Heaven is like that we are to tell those who have been invited to the banquet, “Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!” We are to “go out to the street corners and invite everyone [we] see.”
What does all this mean for us today? How can we be more intentional in seeking the Kingdom of God? What would it look like for me to be more invitational this week, and who would the Lord have me invite to participate in the Kingdom of God?
We prayed at the beginning that we would hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We prayed that we would leave here today trusting and following Christ more fully. Lord, we want to be more intentional and invitational in Your Kingdom. Let’s pay attention to whatever the Lord is stirring in our hearts. Let’s respond to Him in faith and in action. I encourage you to share these things with someone you trust.
We are about to close our time together today, but if you would like to pray together with another person, you’re welcome to come to our prayer zone over here and someone will sit with you in prayer after the service.
Our closing prayer today is known as the Prayer of St. Francis, well-known as a prayer for peace, but I invite you to pray this with me today as a prayer of dedicating our lives afresh to Christ Jesus.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love. Where there is offence, let me bring pardon. Where there is discord, let me bring union. Where there is error, let me bring truth. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith. Where there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring your light. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives, it is in self-forgetting that one finds, it is in pardoning that one is pardoned, it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
In Christ’s name, Amen.
