Faith Endures

Scripture: Hebrews 10:26-11:3

²⁶ For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” ²⁹ How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴ 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. ³⁵ Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. ³⁶ For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

³⁷             For yet “in a very little while,

the one who is coming will come and will not delay;

³⁸             but my righteous one will live by faith.

My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.”

³⁹ But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.

¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ² Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Questions

1. Faith is connected to suffering and endurance in this passage, how does suffering and endurance produce faith in our lives?
2. What are the things we hope for and how do they bolster us in our faith?
3. How do confidence and faith work together in our lives and how do we build those?

Background

Related Scriptures: Genesis 12-17; John 20:24-31;

Faith (πίστις) is continuing to act or live in a specific way no matter the circumstances. It is being confident enough in one’s own beliefs that others find one reliable in their actions and attitudes.

In Hebrews 10 endurance is connected to the ability to resist retaliating in sin when others mistreat and abuse you. This is an ability to trust that God is the ultimate judge of the world and will do so justly.

The nuance of the word “accepted” is that the Christians found joy in being dispossessed because their suffering was because they were living for God and what was happening was evil that God would rectify.

Faith requires endurance and patience because faith is demonstrated in not retaliating when wronged because of one’s commitment to Jesus, but instead allow that God will judge the wrongs in the end.

Reflection

Hiking can be difficult when trails are not well marked, particularly when you have vision issues. Have you ever walked down a path only to look up and notice that the path seems to have disappeared and there are a number of obstacles like rocks and brambles where you thought the path should be. I have experienced this several times in my life and each time I stop on the path and think to myself, “did I lose the path or is it overgrown?” Now imagine this happening on a path that a friend has described for you as ending in a glorious vista or waterfall. You believe your friend, but the obstacles in the way are difficult and cause you to consider your desire to see the end or even whether this is the right path. Faith in that situation is trusting the friend who gave you directions and continuing the journey despite the obstacles in your way until you reach the end. Faith is not saying, “My friend may be right but this is not worth it” nor “I know they gave me directions but these must be wrong and I’ve clearly gone the wrong way.” Faith is the ability to continue the journey even when the road gets difficult and requires perseverance.

When the author of Hebrews talks about faith at the end of chapter 10 and throughout chapter 11 it is against the backdrop of enduring hardships. The recipients of the letter have faced great difficulty because of their faith in Jesus facing public abuse, imprisonments, and having property taken. But these Christians bore these insults well, and rather than lashing out at their persecutors or complaining and reviling them, the Christians glorified God. The community as a whole remember that God is going to be a just judge and if they have been wronged God will repay them. They understood that faith in Jesus is about acting like Jesus until the end of our lives. The path they are walking is that of emulating Jesus and emulating Jesus is no easy task. Often during our lives we are mistreated and wronged and we need to learn to endure mistreatment when we are mistreated because of Jesus. Just like the hiker needs to learn to overcome and ignore the obstacles that overgrow the path and block the way, so we need to overcome the temptations to not act like Jesus.

Walking in faith is trusting that if I live my life emulating Jesus there will be a reward at the end of my life here. The path is not simply an intellectual belief that Jesus rose from the dead, it is a lifestyle that follows Jesus. Faith is about living in a way that acknowledges that Jesus rose from the dead and reigns. Faith is being able to endure a world that acts like Jesus does not exist no matter the hardships. Jesus alludes to this when talking to Thomas in John 20:29 when he says, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” He is saying to Thomas, you have seen my wounds (you have seen the path clearly) and now you will follow me, but the people who are truly blessed by God are those who cannot see the path clearly but still continue. Blessed are the people who see the hurt in the world and their own lives but continue to help people. Blessed are the people who are able to absorb the anger wile responding in kindness. Blessed are the people who are disowned and rejected for being a Christian and learn to find family in the Church. Blessed are the people who do not have much but are able to share a glass of water with someone else in need because of the name of Jesus.

Thomas saw the path clearly, he saw Jesus standing in front of him clearly alive and transformed after death. He was given a clear look at the goal of life, you and I are not. We take the word of the disciples to be true. Blessed are we when we continue to live like Jesus when it would be easier to get off that path and live for ourselves. We have not seen the goal but we know the goal is real and it is through our commitment to walking the path with Jesus that we will see it. Yes, there are obstacles along the way and sometimes the obstacles feel very overwhelming but faith keeps us going. We need to focus on God’s trustworthy nature to help us remember the promised future so that when we are in the midst of struggles we can endure in the faith that God has opened up to us.