“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews.11:1
With so much uncertainty in the air as we move through the stages of the Corona-Virus responses from our government, we know that one thing is for sure though, change is here to stay and the world post lock-down will not be the same as the one we left behind.
To help us navigate these ambiguous days ahead, we have kicked off a brand new preaching series as part of our Church Online Sunday experiences, called “ARE YOU CRAZY?” based out of the chapter bursting with faith stories in Hebrews 11.
Like never before we need to be a people who tap into the currency of heaven and pick up the postures of faith for our lives, families, businesses, church and nation’s future! God is calling us to refuse to walk in the paths and direction of fear and anxiety that the world has to offer, but rather to jump into the slip-stream of faith which causes us to respond in ways those around us might not understand.
For faith is not a denial of the facts, but rather it is a recognition of the superior fact!
If we are to allow faith to write a different headline over the narrative of our days, we are going to have to keep our hearts tethered to His Word, allowing His voice to be the loudest in our lives. With that in mind, we are encouraging you to immerse yourself in the Hebrews.11 chapter, as well as the backstories of all the chronicles of faith that we find in it.
Let’s briefly take a look at why the book of Hebrews has so much relevance to us in our present day situation by answering two big questions:
1.WHO WAS IT WRITTEN TO?
The recipients of this letter are not identified, nor is the city in which they live. Neither is the city from which this epistle originated revealed to us. And yet, this does not mean that we know nothing about them or their circumstances. Here is some of what we do know:
They were Jewish believers
The letter was written to Jewish believers in Rome. We know they were Jewish as they were very familiar with Jewish practices and beliefs. In one sense, they knew their Old Testament. The author assumes this, and often cites Old Testament texts, or he refers to Old Testament personalities or institutions.
They were believers in Christ
The author assumes that his readers (perhaps with a few exceptions) were believers in Jesus Christ (see Hebrews.3:1).
They were people facing persecution
The recipients had been believers for some time. They had already endured some persecution for their faith (see Hebrews 5:12; 10:32-34).
None of them yet had been martyred, which means they were in the middle of Nero’s reign in Rome. Their homes were being vandalized. Their possessions were being confiscated. Some of them had been in prison. It was getting pretty tough to be a Christian. It wasn’t costing them their lives at this point, but it was costing them pretty well everything else. But just like us, their financial and social futures, as well as their ability to gather freely as Christians, was at best uncertain and impeded.
2.WHY WAS IT WRITTEN TO THEM?
In this time of persecution, the Jews here in Rome had a way of escape from suffering. The Jewish believers could get out of trouble by going back to the synagogue. At this time Christianity was illegal, but Judaism was still legal, with synagogues officially ‘registered’. The church was an underground church, rather as in the communist era in Russia and China, and in some parts of the Muslim world today. The cost of escaping back to the synagogue was that they had to publicly deny their faith in Jesus.
They had heard about Jesus and believed he was the Messiah. But having joined the church, they now found their children being persecuted at school, their windows being smashed and their property being confiscated. Many had begun to make the trade of faith in Christ for apparent safety from persecution.
The writer of this letter uses sailing metaphors to urge them to stand firm- “don’t pull up your anchors, don’t drift away, don’t lower your sails”. He is trying to stop this drift back to operating on the currency of fear and what seemed “safe”.
The letter’s major theme that leads from this situation is showing that Jesus is greater and better than any other allure, temptation, doctrine and even earthly “security” that they could be offered.
After establishing this, the author’s exhortations graft in that it’s not just a cry to “hang on”, but when we see Christ in all His beauty and magnificence, even in trial we are called to press on and advance. “Let us go on, let us go for the finish, let’s go on for the prize”
PRAYER FOR US
In The Message translation of Hebrews.12:2 which gives an appeal to its readers after the faith stories of Hebrews.11, we read the great petition that can sum up a major call of the letter. “Strip down, start running- and never quit”.
As you begin to study this amazing chapter hold that phrase in your heart and trust God to strip you of the allure and temptation to drift, ask God for courage to combine the fresh faith rising in you with obedience, and then believe that God’s grace and provision is more than enough for you to not only navigate the next few uncertain months, but also to complete the race He has for you!
Blog written by Gabe Phillips
Gabe and Fiona lead the Life Changers Milnerton and City congregations