Surrounded & Surrendered!

HEBREWS 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

HEBREWS 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

On Friday August 6, 2010, ten medical and relief workers were killed in Afghanistan. Some of these people, motivated by their faith in Christ, went to that country to serve the poorest and most remote villages. Dan Terry, one of the slain workers, had dedicated 30 years of his life providing health and relief services in this war-torn country. The medical team never tried to hide the fact that they were Christians. They served under an organization recognized and registered by the government. At Terry’s memorial service in the States, a tribute was made to him that read:

“When people cry for punishment
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
We commit to offering eye-care and dental care to any who suffer.”

A Taliban spokesman claimed credit for the attack, accusing the workers of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. The father of one of the murdered women said, “They try to be the hands and feet of Jesus, not the mouth of Jesus.” These people, motivated by their faith in Christ, reaching out in peace and compassion to the least of the least, are executed by the Taliban.

Where is God when this happened? Why didn’t their faith protect them from death? Our passage today speaks to these questions.

The author of the book of Hebrews has spent a lot of time and space in this letter to remind God’s people about faith and faithfulness. Go back and read Hebrews 11 and think about the various ones who are lifted up as examples of faith. These are people, human beings, who also wavered in their faith—men and women who took side-steps away from God’s best! But they are still held up as examples of faith—people who repented and returned to God.

If you go back to the beginning of this chapter you see Sarah and Abraham—we know Sarah laughed at God’s promise of a son in her old age. She attempted to provide a son by offering her servant girl to Abraham—but Sarah is held up as a woman of faith along with her husband Abraham.

Moses’ parents defied Pharaoh’s decree and hid their baby son, Moses. Moses grew up to be a leader of Israel. We know the people who passed through the Red Sea under Moses’ leadership soon became disobedient complainers, even murmuring against Moses—yet they are commended for their faith.

Rahab was a Palestinian prostitute—yet her faith becomes an example for us to follow. Her name appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. She turned her back on her culture and on her traditions to embrace the God of the Israelites who were about to invade her country.

The point I am trying to make is for us to see these people (and ourselves) realistically—human beings, full of faults and imperfections. Gideon questioned the values & practices of his parent’s generation; he experienced rejection because of his faith—he questioned God! Yet Gideon brought Israel back to the Lord. Samson was a worldly man, weak when it came to women, but used by God to call the people back to the Lord. David, said to be a man after God’s own heart, the song writer who pours himself out in the psalms, this man committed adultery with another man’s wife—and then had this man killed in battle. Yet David is held up as a man of faith because when God exposed the evil intent of his heart David repented.

Having faith in God does not mean a person is perfect. Having faith in God does not mean everything is going to be hunky-dory! God has not promised us a rose garden.
God has not even promised us that the object of our faith will be realized
in this life. Read Hebrews 11:13.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

Living by faith means we look at this world with different eyes—we relate to this world in a different way. Some people of faith died without receiving the things promised—then in v32 we see that some …gained what was promised…

A true paradox—almost a contradiction!

Remember …faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Look at verse 32 again. We find more paradoxes of faith!

Some became conquerors and others became prisoners—some were powerful in battle and others were flogged and jeered—some escaped death by sword and others were tortured
and put to death by the sword! Yet all of these were commended for their faith…

The point I am trying to make is that faith is not a magic formula that manipulates God. You can’t judge someone else’s life by your life. In this list there are kings who lived in palaces, royally clothed and there are others who wore animal skins and slept in caves—yet all these are held up to us as examples of faith.

The point I am making is that faith is not measured by poverty or prosperity. Faith is not measured by the circumstance of your life.

V39 repeats what v13 said: …none of them received what had been promised.
But in spite of that, faith perseveres—trusting that God has a better plan—God can bring good out of the worst situations. The Lord is with us in all circumstances of life—from the worst to the best.

So this is the great cloud of witnesses that surround us—common, flawed human beings, but men and women of faith who persevere in spite of their weaknesses, who cheer us on as we persevere in the race set out before us. But now the author of this letter adds another element to strengthen our faith.

We have an example to follow that the earlier saints did not have. v2: Look at Jesus—fixate on the man who lived and died and rose again. How was Jesus able to stay on message right up to the end? Listen and learn from him. Put his words into practice.

How was Jesus able to resist temptation? Find out and follow him.

How was Jesus able to glorify his Father in doing the most menial tasks that were set before him? Look at his life—his attitude—his actions—and follow him.

We are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. Be encouraged by the faith of those who have gone before us. Be inspired by those who are willing to lay down their lives for others. We can look to Jesus for further instruction and example—and then we are admonished to surrender!

To lay down everything that hinders us from following him. Take a moment to surrender yourself to the Lord. What are you carrying that is too heavy for you to carry?

…let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before u…,