A sermon on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 by Nathan Nettleton

When we did that exercise in sermon preparation by congregational brainstorming at camp a couple of weeks ago, our discussion focussed around prayer and what we can reasonably ask for and expect from God, and what happens when we pray persistently and there doesn’t seem to be any answer. Sitting in the background of that discussion was another question, which we wisely decided couldn’t be the focus of the sermon, because there is only so much you can do in any one sermon, but it comes up again in today’s readings, so I’m going to come back to it now. It is the question of faith, and specifically what is faith and what does it mean to exercise faith. We noted the question at the time, because many of us had had the experience of being told that the reason some prayers don’t get answered is because those who prayed did not have enough faith. Faith is sometimes seen as a measurable commodity which, if we can muster enough of it, can persuade or perhaps even oblige God to do what we want. And we expressed our discomfort with that view, but we didn’t pursue it. Tonight though, we heard an extract from the Bible’s most extended discussion of faith.

The letter to the Hebrews is most famous for this eleventh chapter with its tribute to the faith heroes of the past. We heard part of it tonight, and we’ll hear a bit more of it next week, and you’ll fill in the gaps if you are using the daily readings. It includes some brief theories about what faith is, but most of the chapter simply recalls some of the heroes of Israel’s history and identifies faith as the key to what made them memorable examples worthy of following.
There are three things about this chapter that I want to draw to our attention: the variety of experience that is attributed to faith; the frequently unfulfilled experience of faith; and the question of why the concept of ‘faith’ is so central to following Jesus.

Hebrews 11 lists a number of notable heroes, but then it wraps up by saying that there are too many others to mention and giving some summary statements about their experience and their contribution to the history of God’s people. One of the things that is most notable about all this is that the experiences related are so diverse. Some, such as David, are recalled for their military victories, defeating invading armies and establishing powerful kingdoms. Others, such as some of the prophets, are recalled for the suffering they endured as they were rejected and persecuted by their own people. Triumph and tragedy, success and failure; but all are grouped together and celebrated for their faith. Both great victories and humiliating deaths are attributed to the exercise of faith and held up for us to honour and emulate. Clearly there is no suggestion here that the exercise of faith will guarantee happiness, success, respect and popularity. And conversely, and very importantly, there is no support for any theory that success proves the existence of great faith, or that failure points to its absence.

Among the things that faith does not guarantee is that you will live to see the fulfilment of the promises in which you have put your trust. One of the dominant themes of the whole chapter is that these heroes were able to maintain their faith even though they did not see the promises they had received made good. Verse 13 clearly says that all these heroes of the faith died without receiving the things God had promised, and yet they caught a glimpse of what was coming and that was enough to sustain them. That’s a big challenge to a generation like ours which is so addicted to instant results and immediate gratification. It has been suggested that many of the social and psychological problems in our generation have been created by our willingness to sell what we really need to get our hands on what we merely want right now. What is being celebrated in these verses is the willingness to go on trusting God without seeing any concrete results to demonstrate the value of doing so.

It is interesting also to note here that the fact that they didn’t see the promises fulfilled clearly implies that the promises were not of the pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die variety, but rather were promises for this life in this world. One of the responses of many of today’s Christians to the lack of seeing God’s will done on earth is to reduce Christianity to something that has consequences only for our inner lives and/or for life after death. It is understandable, but it is a cop out. The line that says “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” could be read as suggesting that what these heroes hoped for was all about heaven, but you’d have to ignore much of the detail of the stories that are being recalled to read it that way. It is probably more accurate to conclude that their hope was for heaven on earth — that they were not willing to take mediocre accomplishments and pretend that they measured up to what God had promised. They continued to faithfully hold to their belief that God’s kingdom would be established on earth — if not in their lifetime, yet still it was coming.

This leads us on to our last question, that of what the concept of ‘faith’ actually means and why it is so central to Christianity. In the NRSV, the first three verses read as follows:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 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.

In the Laughing Bird Paraphrases, I’ve rendered them like this (and our New Testament Professor has given it his okay!) :
Faith is the capacity to put all your eggs in the one basket, when even the existence of the basket must be taken on trust and hope. It was the ability to take decisive action based on faith alone that made our forebears such memorable heroes. Even our belief that the universe came into existence on God’s say-so is based solely on faith. The existence of material things might be provable, but the belief that their origins lie in something that is not accessible to scientific observation can only be grounded in faith.

The emphasis I’ve tried to highlight there is that Christianity is not something we can have a cast iron, provable certainty about. The ideas of faith, hope and trust are so central to the Christian life because there is so much about it that must be taken on faith because it cannot be proved. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to speak of having faith that one plus one equals two. That’s not something that requires a lot of faith. Faith is something that takes over when certainty ends. That’s the point. That is not to say that faith is based on nothing — we can have a lot of experience of our relationship with God that backs up our faith, but that still doesn’t mean that you could prove to a scientist that it wasn’t all a mixture of wishful thinking and delusion. When your prayers are answered, you can’t prove that it wasn’t just coincidence. These things are not provable. Faith takes over when certainty ends.

This is not really that strange. There are lots of things we do in life that are based on faith and not certainty. When I married Margie it was not because I could be certain what she would be like for the rest of her life. It was because my experience of her gave me faith in her — enough faith for me to make a vow committing myself to her for the rest of my life. When I chose my new puppy a few weeks ago, I couldn’t have any certainty about how she would grow up and develop. I had one hour to watch her and her siblings and parents and then I had to put my faith in my observations and my abilities as an owner and trainer. Time will tell how well placed my faith has been, but I certainly can’t know beyond doubt.

We make lots of our everyday decision without being able to be 100% sure that we are on the right track. We put our faith in our own ability to judge a situation, or in someone else’s dependability, and then step out, taking action on the basis of that faith. That’s why doubt is not really the opposite of faith. Doubt is the opposite of certainty or of knowledge, but it is really a part of faith. Faith is the ability to keep taking action even when doubts are saying that this is not a good idea. Faith is only a relevant concept in areas where doubts exist. If you had no doubts you’d be acting on the basis of sure knowledge, not faith. If you had no doubts, you wouldn’t need faith.

Sometimes it is the ability to keep going even when the doubts are particularly strong that is the real expression of faith. As the prophet Habakkuk said (3:17-18), when everything is saying that trusting God is futile, when “the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; when the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; when the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” Sometimes faith is choosing and committing to act on a trust we can’t presently feel or intellectually justify to ourselves.

That is what makes these stories of the heroes of the faith so significant. They were able to step out and do extraordinary things without any solid proof that things would work out. Sometimes they probably didn’t think things would work out, but they simply committed themselves to doing what appeared to be the right thing to do, whether it would work out or not. And as the stories emphasise, they maintained their faith even when they didn’t see things work out. They kept on trusting, acting on the basis of their faith in God, and believing that God’s promises would all be made good.

You will still come across Christians who seem very threatened by any hint of doubt, and who will tell you with all the conviction they can muster that God is provable and that the resurrection of Jesus is provable and that miracles and answers to prayer are provable and that anyone who is not persuaded is simply rebellious. Usually such dogmatic assertions are trying to cover up a great insecurity. They are clinging to the idea of certainty as a kind of security blanket to help them face the fear of the unknown and unknowable. And of course, even in both law and science, there are different sorts of proof. Proved on a balance of probabilities is quite different from proved beyond reasonable doubt, and both are different from absolute scientific proof. Genuine faith is not about pretending that doubts don’t exist. It is the ability to live with the uncertainties without being crippled or hindered or burdened by them, but instead to live with grace and courage and boldness and integrity. Above all it is the ability to live with faithfulness. That’s not just a word play. It is a necessary reminder that faith is not a measurable commodity, but a way of being, a way of living, a faithful stance towards life in the company of Jesus and his people. A way of living that starts here, as we gather around the word and table of our Lord, in faith, hope and love. So let’s stand and declare our faith, and then pray our faith, and eat and drink our faith, and go out to live faithfully, to the glory of God.