Hebrews 13:1-16 paints a picture of the ‘sacrifices’ of living a Christian life motored by Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of love for us.

Does the last verse of our reading this morning get your vote for the most underwhelming verse in the entire Bible? ‘Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.’ It sounds a bit like something you might say to a child as you pack them off on a school trip. Do good and share with others. Is that it? If that is it, we might be forgiven for thinking that here we have an ethic that lacks a certain ambition. ‘Do good and share with others’ sounds a bit weak as a message, doesn’t it? – and not as if it’s going to set the world on fire. If the world hears the church saying no more than ‘do good and share with others’, maybe the world can be forgiven for switching channels.

And how about this: “do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”. If that is true, then wouldn’t you say that God is easily pleased, with fairly small sacrifices on our part? I have titled this morning’s sermon ‘Small sacrifices’, even though I do think there is more to Christianity than doing good and sharing with others, just as there was more to that reading from the letter to the Hebrews than the last verse that was read.

When we look at the passage in its entirety, as I encourage you to do now, by turning back to page – in the pew bibles, when we look at the passage in its entirety, from the start of Hebrews chapter 13 onwards, we will find a set of small sacrifices that are part and parcel of the Christian life being set out one by one, before we come to one big sacrifice that makes all the small ones possible.

So let’s start by looking at these small sacrifices one by one. The first is there in verse 1 of chapter 13: Keep on loving one another as brothers. In other words, Christians ought to love other Christians. Some people might say that this sounds a bit exclusive, and not a very ambitious ethic. I did warn you, we’re talking about small sacrifices, and apart from anything else, we’ve all got to start somewhere. Keep on loving one another as brothers. But what does this even mean? Well, the addition of these words ‘as brothers’ in our English language Bibles helps us to understand what is meant by the Greek term, you might have heard it, philadelphia.

It’s easy for anyone to say that they love humanity in principle, in the abstract, in general terms. Very few would say that they did not, or did not at least think they should try to, love humankind in general. But brotherly love doesn’t work like that. In the context of family relationships, love is never in principle or abstract. Love in the context of family relationships is fierce and it is practical, or it is nothing at all. It is sustained on the basis of close and unsentimental knowledge of another person, with all their faults. Our brothers and our sisters may possibly have seen us at our best, and they are likely to have seen us at our worst. They know all sorts of things about us that we would rather not have broadcast. We trust them because they have our backs, and they love us regardless. When they do not love us like this, we rightly regard it as a kind of betrayal. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 1 tells us to love fellow believers like that, to love them despite all we have gotten to know about them by living with them in Christian community, to love them not sentimentally and in the abstract, but with determination and practicality. It’s not rocket science to do this, it’s not an earth-shattering new teaching we have here in verse 1, it’s just a small sacrifice on our part to keep on loving one another as brothers. Anything less you could say would be a kind of betrayal.

Moving on to verse 2 of chapter 13, we have the second of what will turn out to be six small sacrifices in this passage, over and above doing good and sharing with others. ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it’. So here we see the exclusivity of Christians loving one another as brothers opening up to welcome potentially anyone from outside the tribe. The Old Testament uses the word ‘strangers’ to denote foreigners, immigrants, non-Jewish people living in the land of Israel without much by way of support networks or social capital. This is what the Levitical law told the Israelites about how to treat such a person: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself , for you were strangers in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

Perhaps here in the letter to the Hebrews, the Jewish Christian community to whom the author is writing takes the place of the nation of Israel in forming the circle of insiders, but the biblical imperative to love the outsider is essentially unchanged. When we put verse 2 together with verse 1, we can see that Christians have to give up any idea of relating to each other within a cosy inner circle. The Christian community must always remain open to outsiders. Those without social capital and support networks must be able to find community within the church. We must welcome newcomers as warmly as we do old-timers.

It may be that doing this goes against the grain, and requires a conscious effort, for many of us. But it’s not too much to ask of non-Jewish Christians like us, who were once ourselves strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. It’s really a small sacrifice on our part. The door was held open for us, and if we have any communion with Christ, we must hold it open for others. When we do, we will find that the sacrifice was worth it. When in the book of Genesis, Abraham extended hospitality to passing strangers in the desert, it turned out that, unknown to him, he had angels for guests. When we extend a genuine welcome to outsiders, we too will be rewarded for this small sacrifice in all manner of unexpected ways. The inner circles of which we are a part will lose their inward focus and be opened up and transformed. We too may encounter God at the margins of our community.

The third small sacrifice may be found in verse 3 of Hebrews chapter 13. “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” We can start to see a progression here: love one another in Christian community in verse 1; love those on the margins of, or actually outside, Christian community in verse 2; and now love those who are suffering in prison, who are not just social outsiders but actually outcasts.

“Remember” them, we are told in verse 3, which means acting according to their needs, rather than simply recalling their situation. Conditions in the prisons of the first century were appalling. Prisoners were supplied with food, clothing and emotional support only by visiting friends and family. If friends and family did not visit, not only would prisoners be lonely, they would also starve or freeze to death. The love for outcasts that is called for here is not theoretical. If “a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food”, “what good is it”, asks the apostle James in his letter, if someone says to him or her, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed”? In the face of avoidable human suffering, it’s not much to ask, it’s really only a small sacrifice on our part, to remember those who have been left behind and forgotten by society, to offer more than words, and to actually do something practical to relieve their suffering.

The fourth small sacrifice in this passage is found in verse 4. “Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral.” Love each other, love the stranger, love the prisoner and outcast, and now love your spouse. Is it really such a big ask of those who are married, to love their spouses? Is it such a big ask for them to remain true to their vows, to forsake all others, and to keep themselves only unto each other, for as long as they both shall live? Everyone will have noticed the a-word that features here in verse 4, which is not much talked about in polite society, even though it drives the plots of many written and broadcast dramas, as do many of the other things forbidden by the Ten Commandments. It is worth remembering that the opposite of adultery is faithfulness, the courage to carry through on a commitment. This will involve the sacrifice of other paths not taken in life, but it’s a small price to pay, don’t you think, for keeping open the path we have taken, for remaining true to our word and for protecting ourselves and our families from unnecessary harm? Marital faithfulness may sound boring, and it may not be the stuff of TV drama, but it is a demonstration of love in action, just as much as is brotherly love, love of outsiders and love of outcasts.

The fifth small sacrifice does not concern what to love as much as it concerns what not to love, and it’s there in verse 5 of the chapter. “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’.” All of us need some money to get by and live on, but we are warned here to be careful not to love money. Anyone who loves money is a vulnerable position, because we can be sure of this: money does not love us. It is a false mistress; it is fickle, not faithful. It can be gained and it can be lost, and if it hasn’t already deserted us before we die, it will do so completely at that time.

In addition to this, money is a rival to God in the promises it holds out of safety, security, enjoyment and hope for the future. For depictions of the happy life enjoyed by people if only they will spend their money, we only have to look at advertisements on TV, and think about its messaging. But if we turn our attention to the news, and think about the messages it carries, we will learn that money can’t buy us happiness, and that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. So choose this day whom you will serve. “No-one can serve two masters”, warns the Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. “Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Safety, security, enjoyment and hope for the future are promises that money is in no position to make, so it is in truth a small sacrifice to stay away from, or give up, the love of money. We may make responsible and generous use of whatever money we have, while at the same time despising its false promises, and instead being devoted to and trusting God for our safety, security and future.

It’s a small sacrifice, because he has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’, and consequently we may say ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ In the words of Jim Elliot, the famous twentieth-century missionary, ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’.

However, I’ve got to be honest and say, the more I think about what is involved in loving one another, loving outsiders and outcasts, and retaining the love of spouses but avoiding the love of money, the more I wonder whether it’s accurate to say that the sacrifices involved are as small as I have been making out. If all of those imperatives are part and parcel of “doing good and sharing with others”, as we can now see that the letter to the Hebrews appears to say, perhaps this ethic of “doing good and sharing with others” is more demanding than it seemed to be at first. Perhaps it now seems so ambitious as to be actually quite difficult if not impossible to attain.

Yet the author of the letter believes that these sacrifices are achievable, on the strength of two considerations, both of which are set out in verses 7 and 8: the example of life set by the Christian leaders known to his readers, and their teaching of the word of God. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The power of the example of leaders who are known to us is of some value to inspire us, provided they are good examples, of course, to make the sacrifices we have been thinking about. But there is a far greater power in this respect in the word of God that has been taught to us, and by the word of God the author of Hebrews principally means the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 12 reminds us what is at the heart of that message: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

This is the reason I have been describing the efforts we make to live the Christian life as “small sacrifices”. They are small when compared to the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, which I described earlier as the one big sacrifice that makes all the small ones possible. The small sacrifices of the Christian life are not made possible merely by the power of example – as if the life and death of Jesus were sufficient to inspire our own efforts to live a good and self-sacrificial life. That way of thinking does not do justice to the words of verse 12: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

His is not an exemplary but an enabling power, a power that makes stuff happen, that brings about what it sets out to accomplish: the forgiveness of sins, and the renewal of life. On the cross, the Prayer Book reminds us, Jesus made a “full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world”. In the light of that big sacrifice, we are told in Hebrews chapter 13, “let us go to him, outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore”. His cross and resurrection are the motor of our Christian lives, and they enable whatever small sacrifices we are able to make in his service, and in the light of his love. If in any respect or to any degree we may be considered holy, it is because he has made us holy through his own blood.

At the end of our lives, we won’t be crowing about our own modest achievements: we will simply say that we are unworthy servants, and we have only done that which it was our duty to do. But there is one thing we will be crowing about, this we can start doing now, and that is this: “Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood”.

This brings us nicely on to the last of the six small sacrifices I said earlier I was going to talk about – I have talked about five up to now, which are in verses 1 to 5 of Hebrews chapter 13, and now I will talk about the sixth, which is in verse 15. “Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Confess the name of Jesus in singing – yes. Confess the name of Jesus in prayer – yes. Confess the name of Jesus in the creed – yes. Confess his name to one another here in church – yes. Confess his name also in the home and among family and friends, and to strangers and outcasts as well. Confess the name of Jesus in conversation.

In offering to God this sacrifice of praise, it may be that we will have bear just the tiniest postage-stamp sized corner of the kind of disgrace that he bore. If so, it’s a small sacrifice by comparison, don’t you think? “Offer to God a sacrifice of praise … and do not forget to do good and share with others”. And here’s the really amazing part, when you think about it: with such small sacrifices, God – who gave his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death on the cross for our redemption – with such small sacrifices, as we are able to offer……God is pleased.

There are many things in life that are uncertain, but the writer of Hebrews wants their listeners to know with certainty how ‘the mountain of joy’ is unshaken.

I’m not sure what you made of this Hebrews passage. There is a lot in these verses and on first read this passage can appear confusing. 

What is the writer getting at and what does that mean for us? If we look at it closely and remember the history of the Hebrew people then it becomes easier to understand.

This passage can be looked at in two sections.

 In the first section  v18 – 24 the writer compares two mountains and although the first isn’t named,  because of what is said in those verses we can see that in this passage there is a comparison between Mount Sinai a historical place in the ot where Moses was given the Ten Commandments and the Mount Zion – which is often the name used to describe the location of Gods presence for eternity, heaven as we often call it.

Then in the second section v25-29 there are comparisons between the earthly and heavenly location of divine warning (12:25),  between the shaking of things on earth and the shaking of things in heaven (12:26), and between that which is shakeable and that which is unshakeable (12:27–28).

Comparisons are a tool used in the bible to try and get serious points across. When we were studying the book of proverbs we saw there the use of  comparisons between the fool and the wise person for example. And so we know that the writer has carefully crafted these comparisons to communicate something really important to their hearers.

After Jesus’ death, his rising from the dead and going back into heaven Many of Jesus’ followers had expected Jesus to return soon, definitely in their lifetimes. 

When he was with them He’d told them about his death and rising and that he would return On a  final day of judgement and they would enjoy eternal life in Gods heavenly kingdom forever. Yet more and more of Jesus’ friends, those who had walked the earth with him, were dying.

Jesus had not yet returned, and the writer of Hebrews wants to encourage them to keep going. Even in persecution and the day to day circumstances, he wants them to keep their eyes fixed on The prize of eternal life. As we saw earlier on in the letter, the Hebrews writer was telling his readers to persevere, to keep running the race – to keep trusting in the death and resurrection of Jesus who brings eternal life. He wants them to reach the prize – eternity with God, made possible because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Today’s passage gives a sense that maybe the people this letter was written to are struggling with the intangibility of eternal life and are getting discouraged. And this passage is looking to address that. To renew their confidence in their faith and the future hope. 

What does intangible mean? If something is intangible it means it can’t yet be touched or experienced. It’s far off beyond our reach. Maybe seems beyond understanding. Whereas if something is tangible we’ve held it, experienced it right now. It meets the needs of the present moment and can be understood.

I saw a post on facebook yesterday that said it’s 127 days until Christmas – I don’t know if that excites you or fills you with dread. For me Christmas is way too far off to think about yet. The thing is with Christmas We know it’s coming but 127 days seems so far off – you could say it’s intangible. It doesn’t feel quite real. A lot is happening in the here and now. And we can’t think that far ahead. And yet sometimes looking ahead is essential otherwise we get to Christ,as day, no cards have been sent, food has been bought or presents given.

Just before the passage we read this morning the writer uses the example of Esau in the Old testament to introduce the section we’re looking at.- Esau and Jacob were Isaac’s sons. Esau as the oldest son had that birthright of being the oldest son, but his brother was sneaky. One day Jacob had made a stew, it was a good stew and Esau was hungry, he wanted some. He asked Jacob for some stew, but Jacob said I’ll give you some stew in exchange for your birthright. Not a fair exchange. But Esau wanted that stew. He traded something intangible—his birthright—something way off in the future that meant nothing to him in the here and now – for something tangible—a single meal. He couldn’t see past his present hunger to appreciate the true gift of his intangible birthright.

In using this story It seems that Eternal life for the hearers of the letter to the Hebrews might have seemed like it could be far off, or difficult to understand and comprehend, they were caught up maybe in the circumstances they were in. But the writer wants them to be confident in their faith in Jesus, to know the promise of eternal life, that it is true and is coming. And is worth looking ahead to and being prepared.

This will become clearer as we look more at the passage and remind ourselves of some of the history of the Hebrew people and then we can look at what that means for us today

In v18-25 we have a comparison between the mountain of fear and the mountain of joy. 

To describe the first mountain the writer uses words that conjure the senses – fire, darkness, storms, trumpet sounds – imagine a cacophony of noise and visual stimulation –

It takes the hearers back to the Old Testament when God met with Moses at Mount Sinai to give him the ten commandments and his presence engulfed the mountain with thunder and lightning, smoke and the sound like a trumpet 

This was too much for the people of Israel and they were filled with fear and begged not to hear God’s voice as they found his presence overwhelming (Ex 20:18)

They were also fearful of his anger. In the Old testament we read that God had chosen the Hebrew people to be his special people and that all that had to do to enjoy God’s presence was to be obedient and faithful to God. At yet we read that when Moses was receiving the ten commandments up mount sinai the Israelites got impatient waiting for Moses to return and so got Aaron his brother to make a golden calf for them to worship.

God got angry with their disobedience. He had chosen to reveal his presence to and instantly they turn their backs –  In Deuteronomy 9:19 – Moses tells the Israelites that when they did this He feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for God was angry enough with them to destroy them. Which is why the Hebrew writer quotes Moses in this section saying that Moses- “trembled with fear.” v 21

The first mountain is fear, its a mountain of disobedience or rejecting God’s presence and yet the writer is saying that his hearers need to remember they are not of this mountain of fear but they are of the second mountain.

They are to not fear God’s judgement because they are of the second mountain

What is the second mountain? This is the mountain they belong to – mount zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, And in that place they join innumerable angels worshipping God, As well as all of humanity who are enrolled in heaven, through belief and trust in Jesus’s sacrifice and offer of forgivness.

And Whilst acknowledging God is the judge of all, and that there will be a final day of judgement when Jesus comes again, the writer reminds his hearers that Jesus, is the mediator of that judgement. In bringing in the new covenant, his sacrifice was perfect, his blood shed perfected any previous sacrifices. When Cain killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament the act is to be condemned but Jesus blood does not bring condmenation but salvation. 

 And so, there is confidence for the hearers of this that on the day of judgment his hearers will join the angels and those already departed to worship God for eternity. Because of JEsus’ perfect sacrifice. There is joyful fellowship on the second mountain. And It is interesting that although the writing is about eternal life the tense used is the present – ‘you have come to mount zion’. Not that you will come, or that on that final day of judgement you will come but that you have come. It may seem like a far off thing but actually the writer is saying eternal life is not so intangible- it starts when you’ve trusted in Jesus sacrifice and. Forgiveness.

But why did the writer want to make this comparison between the mountain of fear and the mountain of joy?

We might get the answer from the second section of our reading. Which has a few more confusing comparisons. But After the comparison between the mountain of fear and the mountain of joy, he writes……. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.

Remember we’ve said that at Mount Sinai the fear had stopped the Hebrews from listening to God’s voice – they didn’t want to hear it and so in this section the writer is warning his current hearers to guard against this attitude and to not stop listening to God. 

He doesnt want them To fall into the trap of the Hebrews at Mount Sinaii and let fear and distractions pull them away from following Jesus’ way, from listening to his voice, his guidance, his way. He wants them to keep their eye on the prize.

These verses 25-27 – that talk about warnings from earth and warnings from heaven – show that there is accountability for the way the hearers are living their earthly life, in how they run the race of faith –  

Those earlier believers have to continue in their faith and can do so with confidence in JEsus’ perfect sacrifice and so need to listen to him.

And because of that they can be confident that when heaven and earth shake – an image of judgement, using imagery from the prophet Haggai indicating God’s final judgement (2:6) their relationship with God through Jesus will remain – they will remain in his presence.

One commentator said that this section in Hebrews shows that Jesus kingdom gives stability that his sacrifice is firm foundation to build faith and it cannot be shaken. Jesus is Unshakable, unchangeable 

And so because of that the Hebrews writer says the only response is worship. He says these words,

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.

Meaning – God is awesome in the true sense of the word – he is powerful and mighty and worthy of our praise, of our lives.

So we have seen that in this passage the writer is trying to help his readers grasp the truth that following Jesus assures them of eternal life, a kingdom that can never be shaken and results in joy and worship. And so they are to continue to obey Jesus having accepted him as the author and perfector of their faith. The writer doesn’t want them to think of eternal life as a intangible far off thing or to give in to any current circumstance that might keep them from Jesus promises but keep the eye on the prize – eternal life, living confidently in Jesus kingdom in the here and now and forever .

And The message is the same for us today. Just like Christmas is coming We can be confident that in the final judgement we can stand firm through Jesus’ sacrifice. But we are accountable. 

We can know that Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith – and that through his death and resurrection he has paid the debt for our sins, once and for all, offering forgiveness and eternal life. 

That he has paid the price for the judgement deserved. we can be confident of Gods eternal kingdom -and that we are not not stop listening to his voice, not rejecting Jesus ways.

What does that mean for us?

That might mean asking Jesus into your life for the first time. If that’s you, do let someone know. 

It might mean acknowledging areas of our lives where we are not listening to Gods voice

It might mean shifting our perspectives from seeing life the way the world sees it and seeing it through Jesus’ eyes

Gods kingdom is unshakeable – we can be confident of who Jesus is and so let’s live lives of confidence and worship in gratitude for all God has done through Jesus. Amen

The Christian life is often compared to running a race. But how are we to run that race in order to claim the prize that God offers to all who finish?

Most famous runners?

If I was to ask you who were the most famous runners you could think of, I bet most of you would come up with Usain Bolt and Mo Farah. They have both been incredibly successful. Mo Farah has won more global championship golds in long distance track running than anyone else and Usain Bolt is an eight tie Olympic gold medalist and holds the World Record for 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m relay!

They are also both big personalities and famous for the signs they make when they win races: Mo Farah has the Mobot, and Usain Bolt, the lightning bolt.

They are both inspirational characters. So how are they so successful? A couple of quotes might give us some clues:

Usain Bolt: “Do not think about the start of the race, think about its ending.”

Mo Farah: “Look at my success. I didn’t achieve it overnight. It has been the product of many years’ struggle…”

To be a top runner, you needed to be someone dedicated to be focussed on ending the race on winning the prize, but you also need to be prepared to face struggles. The same can be said about being a Christian.

Let us run the race…

Indeed, in our reading today, the writer to Hebrews uses the image of running and racing to make this point. He says:

“Let us run the race…”

This image shows us that to be a Christian is not a passive thing, it is active and dynamic. It’s not about buying the t-shirt and watching from the stands, but being in the race and running on the track. We’re not to be couch potatoes, but busy bees. Our faith shouldn’t just be a vague afterthought, but the driving force of every aspect of our lives.

The writer makes this point after chapter 11, where he has reminded us of some of the heroes of the Christian faith. People who has worked through great struggles in life, in order to pursue the greater prize that God had promised them. They are the kind of Christians that we are called to be.

The Christian Race:

So, how are we to run the Christian race?

Focus on the Promised Prize

Firstly, we are to focus on the prize.

The writer says,

“let us run the race set before us…“

We are not to just focus on the next step, but to consider the whole race and particularly the end of the race!

The writer began chapter 11, where he reminds us of the great heroes of faith by saying:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (11:1)

Faith is about hope, it is about confidence that God will give us what he has promised.

When Usain Bolt or Mo Farah run a race, they hope to win. The difference for us as Christians, is that we run the race, we know we will win the prize. Unlike a sporting event, the Christian life is not a competition, where only one or two win, because as the writer has already made abundantly clear, Jesus has already won the prize for us and God has promised us that there is an amazing future waiting for us.

The examples of faith in chapter 11, includes mention of those who were heading for the Promised Land. The Israelites who had been slaves in Egypt were promised by God, their own amazing land to live in. So, they set off on a journey. It was not an aimless wandering, but one with a goal in mind, the land that God had promised. Their faith drove them on towards the prize, with amazing miracles as they crossed the Red Sea on dry land and defeated the stronghold of Jericho, with just a shout!

In the same way, as Christians we are to live our lives, with an aim to reach the promises that God has ready for us. To receive the gift of eternal life and a place in his eternal home knowing him fully and ruling with him for ever.

• Baptism is in a sense the starting line of this Christian race. In baptism we are given those amazing promises of the prize that Christ has won for us.

But we can’t just be baptised and think that is all there is to being a Christian. It needs to be accompanied by faith and faith drives us on to the prize.

Too many people are baptised as Christians, but that is as far as their Christianity goes. They are like racers who go to the starting line and sit down. There is no concern to complete the race no desire to gain the prize. If that is you, then you need to get up and run the race set before you!

Keep Going through the Pain

But we don’t just need to start the race, we need to keep going. And sometimes that can be hard and tough.

I spoke at the beginning about two runners, Mo Farah and Usain Bolt. Usain is of course a sprinter, he runs short very fast races very quickly. The 100m is all over in just 10s! Not much time to even think.

Mo Farah on the other hand is a long distance runner. That’s a very different kind of race, which needs an attitude and a mindset that will persevere and endure through the pains that come along.

The Christian life is not a sprint, it is more of a marathon, more Mo Farah than Usain Bolt.

The writer to Hebrews says,

‘let us run with endurance…’

He is writing to Christians who have started the race well, but as the race goes on the pain seems to be setting in and the temptation is to give up to stop racing and forget the prize. But he wants to encourage them to keep going, to continue the race so that they do reach the prize.

At the end of chapter 10 he says:

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” ( 10:36)

In his list of great heroes of faith in chapter 11, he reminds us of the kind of things that the heroes of faith had to endure. It is a reminder to the Christians he was writing to, that their pain and suffering is nothing new or unique to them:

“Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated– the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.” (11:36-38)

Just as in long distance running, if you want to win the prize you need to go through the pain. There will be suffering on the way to the goal. We need to run with endurance, we need to keep going through the pain.

• There are sadly many who start off as Christians and run the race well, but when the going gets tough, they give up, they forget the prize and withdraw from the race.

Perhaps you know that is you. Maybe you have been a keen Christian in the past, but you gave up because it felt too much of a sacrifice or there was too much pressure or ridicule from non-Christian friends or family or perhaps you just grew weary  or bored of it.

Or perhaps you are in a place where you are about to give up for one or all of those reasons.

Don’t give up. Yes, it can be painful to be a Christian at times, but this race is worth completing, the promised prize is worth more than anything else and so many others have faced the same pressures and difficulties as you – and probably far worse, but have kept going through the pain to win the prize.

Throw off Sin

So, to run the Christian faith, we need to focus on the prize and keep going through the pain, but there is one other thing that the writer tells us we need to do:

‘throwing off … the sin that so easily entangles’

When you watch Mo Farah run, he wears a t-shirt, shorts and trainers and that is it! Runners do not wear much! In ancient times, when Hebrews was written they actually ran completely naked!

And of course they do not wear much. You are not going to win or even complete a long distance race, wearing wellington boots, jeans, and a big coat! If you want to run to win the prize, you need to strip down and wear the bare minimum!

When it comes to running the Christian life, it is not too many clothes that are the problem, but sin. That is the attitude, speech and behaviours that go against God’s will for our lives, that act more out of our selfish and warped desires than out of love for others or God.

If we want to run the Christian life, so as to win the prize we need to throw off our sin or else it will trip us up and we will come crashing down.

In the list of heroes of faith, we are told about Moses. You may know the story, that although he was an Israelite in Egypt, he was brought up in Pharaoh’s palace. He could quite easily have continued with that life, ignoring God and ignoring the plight of his fellow Israelites, whilst enjoying the sinful pleasures that being a part of Pharaoh’s court would have given him.

Yet, because of his faith, his desire to grasp the prize that God had promised for him and his people, it says,

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (11:24-26)

He knew that to run the race of faith, he had to throw off the sin that so easily entangles. We need to do the same thing, if we are to run the Christian race.

• Many may start the Christian race, but they find themselves caught up in sin that pull them away from faith. Drink and drug addictions, sexual flings, anger issues, jealousy, laziness or just become too proud of their own achievements to humbly accept their need for God.

It may be that that has happened to you in the past. It’s not too late, Jesus’s death on the cross, means that those past sins can be forgiven. You may have been tripped up by them in the past, but seek his forgiveness, throw them off, pick yourself up and start running again that you might gain the promised prize!

Our Greatest Example:

So, to be a Christian, to live by faith, means to look to the prize, endure the pain and throw off our sin. There are many examples in the Bible to show us how to do this, but there is of course one great example: Jesus.

The writer says, if you want to run the race, to gain the promised prize, fix your eyes on him!

Greatest Saint

Not only was he completely sinless, but in throwing off sin, he scorned the shame of the cross. The cross was designed to be the most humiliating form of punishment, an attempt to ridicule, belittle and humiliate the enemies of Rome. Yet Jesus scorned its shame, so that he could be obedient to the Father and so not sin. Jesus was the greatest saint.

Throwing off sin may seem like a sacrifice, but it is nothing compared to the sacrifice Jesus was prepared to make to deal with your sin.

Greatest Pain

Yet, in dying on the cross to bear our sins, he also endured the greatest pain.

You may struggle to run the Christian life and face great pains, but they will be nothing compared to the suffering and pain, Jesus endured for you on the cross.

Greatest Prize

Yet, Jesus endured the greatest pain to win the greatest prize. He did it all for the ‘joy set before him.’ He did it to win our salvation and to welcome us into his home as his brothers and sisters.

Are you up for the race?

Jesus is indeed, the author and perfector of our faith! Will you fix your eyes on him, get up and run the Christian race that God has set before you?

Heroes of Faith (Hebrews 11:1-16)

What super power do we need to persevere as Christians, even when there is pressure to give up? Faith! This was the super power of the heroes of the Old Testament according to the writer of Hebrews.

Heroes:

Super Heroes

Super heroes are really popular with people today. The Marvel film franchise has been incredibly successful in recent years with super heroes as diverse as Spiderman, who can climb up walls to ant man who can reduce his size to an ant. From Captain America, with his amazing discus shield to Thor with his all-powerful hammer and from Captain Marvel, an American astronaut who gains the ability to fly and superhuman strength to the Black Widow a former Russian spy with enhanced powers due to a super-soldier serum.

The list of fantasy superheroes is endless, we cannot get enough of them, perhaps because they are relatable as normal human beings like you and me, yet are somehow take us out of the hum drum realities of day to day life.

Historic Heroes

Yet, there are also real heroes. Historical or present figures that inspire us with their extraordinary achievements or qualities. We can look back to great leaders like Churchill or military leaders like Nelson. We can admire the grit and determination of sporting heroes like the Lionnesses, the England women’s football team that won the Euros last Sunday.

These kind of heroes can inspire us and set us examples to follow. Indeed,  the Lionnesses will no doubt inspire many young girls to take up football in the coming years.

Heroes of Faith

In our reading from Hebrews today, the writer begins a list of great Biblical heroes. They too are there to inspire us, to encourage us to follow their example, but in a sense they also have a superpower that points us beyond our everyday lives to something far greater. They are heroes because of their faith and the writer wants us to like them have a faith that endures.

The Importance of Faith

As you read through the whole of Hebrews, you pick up that one of the writers main concerns is to encourage the readers to hold on to faith.

Early on he says:

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)

Through the heart of Hebrews he is seeking to show, probably Christians who had converted from Judaism, that following Jesus was indeed the better way, because Jesus offers a better salvation that the old ways of Judaism were only meant to point forward to.

And what are they to do because of this, Bruce showed us last week from Hebrews 10:

• Draw near to God
• Hold on to God
• Spur one another on

The call to ‘hold on’ perhaps picks up the writers main concern. As we go on in chapter 10, he provides warnings about the dangers of giving up and encouragements to keep on making the sacrifices that being a Christian entails.

Yet, it was hard to hold on for the Jewish Christians then and it is hard to hold on as a Christian today:

In today’s world to be a Christian may mean that others think us weird, odd or just simply wrong. We can lose the approval of others and face criticism for our beliefs. When this happens we can feel the pressure to give up.

In today’s world we are bombarded with lots of conflicting and contradictory messages and we no longer know who we can trust. In such a setting it is easy to stop trusting in God’s word and give up on faith.

In today’s world to be a Christians can feel like you are in a minority, different and distinctive from those around you, almost like a refugee in your own home. You can feel the pressure to give up on God and make the world your home.

So, how can we hold on? The answer is that we need the super power of faith.

Faith, the Super Power (11:1-2)

The writer ends chapter 10 by saying:

‘We do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” (Hebrews 10:39)

It is faith that stops us shrinking back and helps us hold on to be saved.

One of Superman’s powers is that he can see through walls, he has a kind of x-ray vision.

In a similar way, faith’s super power is to help us to see beyond our immediate situation.

Hebrews 11:1 says:

” Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see.”

Faith takes us beyond the present to the promises God has made for us in the future, it takes us beyond our immediate struggles and fears to the God who is control. Faith enables us to see beyond and in doing so to be able to behave and act differently. In particular it enables us to see beyond the pressures of today’s world to the God who is there for us and has a brighter future prepared for us.

This is what the heroes of the Old Testament were commended for. They are to be our example to follow and live by. So, let’s dive in and see what he says about them.

*Faith sees beyond the world’s approval to the approval of God

The heroes of faith were commended by God, because of their faith! Their focus was not on the approval of the people around them, but on wanting to live to please God.

The three characters first mentioned are from the early chapters of Genesis. Abel was Adam’s son along with his brother Cain. Enoch is a more obscure character and Noah is probably the best known of the three!

Abel (11:4)

So, Abel by faith offered a better sacrifice than Cain. He wanted to give the best to God and was not afraid of upsetting his brother. Yet, Cain out of jealousy killed Abel. Abel became the first martyr, but his word and his example endures because of his faith.

Enoch (11:5-6)

Enoch was so keen to please God, that he did not even die. God just took him away from the world to be with him! Why did Enoch please God? Because he had faith both that God was real, but also that God rewards those who truly seek him. Fundamentally, because of these basic beliefs in the character of God, Enoch lived to please him. The rest of the Bible and the coming of Jesus underline these truths about God far more powerfully, how can we not have the same faith as Enoch and want to live to please God?

Noah (11:7)

Whereas Enoch believed God existed and rewarded those who sought him, Noah believed the flip side of this, that God will act in judgement on those who continue in rejecting him. So, he obeyed God’s warning about the judgement and so saved himself and his family by building an ark and being rescued from the flood. In so doing he had to reject the attitudes and outlook of the people around him and follow the path God had put out for him and so in a way condemned the world. No doubt the world of his day would not have approved of this condemnation, but Noah lived by faith and looked beyond their approval to God’s.

• Application: From whom do you gain approval?

So, one test of the reality of our faith is to ask the question:

• ‘From whom do you gain approval?’

There are different groups we can look to for approval:

Friends or followers on social media

Colleagues at work

Old friends

Parents or grandparents

Our children

Husband, wife or girlfriend or boyfriend

God

Most of the time these groups will approve of most of the things we do. The crunch comes, when we have to choose between a behaviour or action that one group approves of and another does not. Whose approval do we most value then?

If we truly believe God exists, that he is the ruler and judge of the universe who rewards those who seek him, then surely we will chose to value God’s approval above all others.

We will want to act as God wants even if it risks the disapproval of others who matter to us. That can be hard, but that is what faith enables us to do.

Faith sees beyond today’s world to the word of God

So, faith sees beyond the world’s approval to God’s approval, but it also sees beyond today’s world to the word of God.

Creation (11:3)

The idea of the word of God is actually introduced first, in verse 3, when the writer starts with Creation. The faith he talks about here is the kind of faith shared by Jews and Christians, but which marked them out as different from Greek thought.

Greeks believed that the basic matter of the universe has always existed, but that god had shaped the matter to create the world we now live in. The Jewish faith, however, had a distinct view, that God is the one that has always existed and created the universe from nothing.

How did they believe that? By faith! They believed the word of God about this in the Holy Scriptures. For Jewish Christians, the idea of faith that God can bring something out of nothing by his word is a fundamental concept they have grown up with. They know that God can bring about what at present is unimaginable by his word.

Noah understood this when he heard the word of warning about the flood. Although there was no sign of a flood, he built the ark, trusting in God’s word despite the reality of his own world and God’s word proved true.

Abraham (11:8, 11-12)

Similarly, Abraham acted out of trust in God’s word, even though the present reality showed no indication that what God was saying could be true.

So, God told Abraham to leave his home to receive an inheritance, even though the reality of leaving everything you know must have felt very risky and Abraham did not even know what the inheritance was that God was promising, he trusted in God’s word.

Similarly, to Abraham and his wife Sarah it seemed impossible that they could ever have a child, because she had never been able to have children and they were both old and passed it. Yet, God’s word proved true and they had Isaac in fulfilment of God’s promise.

Why did Abraham have such faith? Because he trusted that God is faithful. In encountering living God, Abraham trusted that what God said would always prove true, even if the reality of his present world seemed to suggest otherwise.

• Application: Whose word do you trust?

So, whose word do you trust? Whose word will you allow to guide you in life?

Again there are different sources we look to for guidance in life:

• Friends and family
• Teachers or bosses
• Google searches
• Newspapers
• TV
• Books
• The Bible

Much of the time their advice won’t contradict or conflict with each other. Yet sometimes they will. When that happens, which will you listen to? Which will you believe?

If you have encountered the living God revealed by Jesus and have faith in him, and believe that he is faithful, then surely you have to trust, his word, the Bible as the most trustworthy guide, even if it conflicts with what everyone else is saying.

This is what it means to live by faith.

Faith sees beyond the problematic present to the better future of God

Faith then, trusts the word of God, but for Abraham that word was mainly promise, and for us a lot of the good news of God is about promise, promise of eternal life. It points beyond our problematic word to the better future of God, it offers us hope we can be confident in.

Abraham (11:9-10)

Abraham followed God and moved to the promised land. Yet, at that time it was not his land. He was literally a foreigner or a migrant there. So much so that he lived in tents rather than having a settled house.

Yet, Abraham’s faith saw beyond the problems of his present existence to the better future that God was promising. He saw beyond his own death to the ultimate hope that God was holding out. He saw beyond his existence in tents to the city that God himself would build and provide.

Welcoming from a distance (11:13-16)

Indeed, this looking for a better future was what all of these heroes of faith were commended for. Faith is not about having the best life now, but in welcoming with joy the hope of a much better life to come.

When it becomes difficult to be a Christian it does not give up and go back to the old ways, which may have been a bit better, but pushes on and holds on for the better future that God promises. Faith sees the heavenly country that God promises as our true home!

• Application: Where is your home?

Again this raises a question. Where do you call home? Home is the place where we can feel most comfortable and relaxed.

Yet, as Christians we should not be surprised if living for God, can be uncomfortable. At times we will brush up against people that disagree with us, face the disappointment of those we love not holding on to the faith or coming to faith, feel the pressure to behave in ways that dishonour God and find that the truth of God’s word has been drowned out by the multitude of other seemingly more entertaining voices.

As a Christian this world may well not feel like home, but that is because our true home, our much better home is yet to come. Faith sees that better future and welcomes it, because it knows that no matter how good or bad the present is, God’s planned future for us is far better!

Faith sees beyond…

So, have you got the super power that the heroes of the Old Testament had. Have you the faith that sees beyond this present world to seek the approval of God, to trust the word of God and long for our home with God?

Will you hold on to faith?

Are you a hero or a zero?