(Hebrews 11:32-40)
“You’re in good company.” The scenario doesn’t really matter, does it – it’s never a bad thing to hear those words. They are often spoken by someone else to reassure us when we’re afraid of failure or something else we did or said that might embarrass or isolate us. We feel like we’re the only one in that specific situation, but those words reassure us, revealing that someone else we may have never expected has actually experienced the same thing, and that everything ended up turning out just fine for them.
The church recently observed All Saints’ Day. What is All Saints’ Day? It’s a reminder that you’re in good company. The best, in fact. Not just the company of those sitting with you on a Sunday morning. Not just the believers of a certain denomination or church body. And no, not just all the believers spread all over the earth, but even our fellow saints in the heaven-side of church, those saints who have gone ahead of us and are where we want to end up one day. Yes, fellow saints, we’re in good company. And the best chapter in the Bible to remind us of that is Hebrews 11.
For us to really appreciate Hebrews 11 though, let’s see how it’s introduced at the close of the chapter that precedes it. Before we come across the Hall of Fame list of saints, listen to how the writer to the Hebrews assures us that we’re in good company. He writes, “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39). I don’t know that there are words in Scripture that are more well-suited to serve as a rally cry for believers than these! “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”
Let us rejoice and rally behind these words, celebrating both the saints we’re surrounded by here on earth, as well as those who saints rejoicing with us in the Church Triumphant in the halls of heaven. Make no mistake, though the temporary matter of physical life/death may separate us from those saints, we share the same rallying cry, “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”
But who exactly are those we belong to who have faith and are saved? People like Noah, who dedicated decades of his life to building a boat with not a drop of water in sight while surrounded by scorn and skepticism! Or like Abraham, who followed God’s lead to move from point A to point B, without even knowing where point B was, and who was willing to sacrifice his own Son – the son who was supposed to be the first of countless offspring to follow! People like Moses, who chose to identify with slaves rather than royalty. People who crossed dry ground while flanked by walls of water, and people who believed that marching in circles would collapse the towering walls of an enemy city.
And those are just some of the saints listed before we even arrive at today’s verses! In that list we have survivors of starved lions, saints unflustered by flames, and those willing to endure a martyr’s death. No, we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Take note how the writer the Hebrews classifies all of these saints – our fellow saints: he writes that “the world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:38). Let that sink in. Let it sink in, especially in light of how easily we find ourselves wanting the world’s recognition and renown. How much time do we spend chasing after the praise of people when Scripture’s praise is the other way around! Men and women of faith stand out so much that the world isn’t even worthy of them. Now that’s a compliment!
Then the writer restates a point he has made repeatedly throughout the chapter, and one that we want to make sure we apply today and for the rest of our lives: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised…” (v.39). Surely their acts of faith would have been exemplary on their own, but they’re even more remarkable when considering they never received their reward on this side of heaven. That’s because God had something better in mind for them, just as he does for us. “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (v.40).
We don’t get the rewards or the results here because God’s got something better waiting for us.
We forget that, don’t we? We want better right here and right now. And, if we could be so bold, we’d also like it with as little effort as possible. “What good is all this church and Jesus stuff if things don’t get better for me right here and now?” “What’s the point of church membership if there’s no additional benefits – like the free shipping I get from my Amazon membership or the great bulk prices and return policy I get from my Costco membership?” “Why put up with the inconvenience and the sacrifice of putting my faith into practice if I don’t receive what’s been promised during this life?”
Let’s be very careful, brothers and sisters. God’s got something better waiting for us. That is for certain. But don’t let your desire for a better here and now convince you that it’s worth trading for the better that God has planned.
No – look at Jesus’ words elsewhere in Scripture and get a clear glimpse of the better that God has planned for us. Let that fuel your faith. What’s the better that God has waiting for us, the better being experienced to a degree right now by the saints who’ve gone to heaven before us? “God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:3-4). Jesus told his disciples they were in good company whenever they suffered for their faith, and that they should “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven” (Luke 6:23). The “better” we’re promised is not here and now, but in the future, and faith guarantees it.
Let’s let that faith fuel our faithfulness, just as it did in all of those names listed in Hebrews 11. These names are attached to remarkable deeds of faithfulness. Let the lukewarm, indifferent, casual Christian take note: faith fuels faithfulness. It is not stagnant. It is not powerless, useless, or worthless. No, we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. Let your name be listed in the addendum to the Heroes of Faith chapter! What bold act of faith will accompany your name?
By faith, will you positively impact thousands through active ministry or volunteer work? By faith, will you become a leading evangelist, responsibly for bringing hundreds or thousands to faith? By faith, will your network and your connections open doors to help churches thrive? Will your bold acts of faith fall into the category of those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 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” (v.33-34)?
But beware. The list of examples in Hebrews 11 is not only examples of saints who were extraordinarily empowered conquerors, but also saints who were extraordinarily empowered to endure persecution and even martyrdom.
Are you prepared for that? Are you just as eager and full of faith to embrace that maybe your faith fueled faithfulness will be known not for the greatness God achieved through you, but for resilience and perseverance through suffering and trial which God highlights through you?
By faith, you may grapple with a chronic health issue with patience and poise. By faith, you may stand firmly on Christ even in a relationship with a spouse or S.O. who does not. By faith, your generous giving is never stifled by your perennial financial struggles.
Will your bold acts of faith fall into the category of those “who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated…” (v.35b-37). Some of the saints stand out, not because of their super strength, but because of their suffering!
In the same year that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the door of the Castle Church, he taught on this section from Hebrews and said, “He who relies on Christ through faith is carried on the shoulders of Christ.”
Picture a father and his toddler making their way on foot through a sea of people to find a good spot to watch the parade. As the child, you are staring up at the waists of people all around you, clinging desperately for dear life to your father’s hand as he leads the way through the crush of people. Then, dad grabs your other hand and swings you up onto his shoulders where, rather than fearfully looking up at a smothering crowd of giants, you now suddenly find yourself squared securely on your dad’s shoulders, with both of his hands at his chest, firmly clinging to your legs while you now have a clear view of the crowd beneath you.
Which do you prefer? The sidewalk, shrunken beneath the towering passersby, or the shoulders, where you’re safely propped up above the current of the crowd beneath you?
That is the difference faith makes as you navigate not through a crowd of people, but through a cruel and pressing world: by faith you are carried on the shoulders of Christ! Those shoulders, dear friends, are the same shoulders which bore the cross for you and were condemned for you, and the same ones which rose triumphantly to guarantee you a better resurrection than just those women referenced who received their children back from the dead for a time, but a permanent resurrection that is for eternity.
The words “by faith,” purposely repeated throughout Hebrews 11, are powerful not because of the people who demonstrated such faith, but because of the One on whom their faith rested: the conquering Christ. Faith that is in Jesus Christ is assured of something better to come. And in the meantime, that is also the kind of faith that fuels our own faithfulness. So go, be who you are by faith and show it powerfully through your faithfulness, always remembering and being encouraged by the fact that you’re in good company.
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