Proper 14 / Pentecost 12 / Ordinary Time 19
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
-- Hebrews 11:1
This famous definition of faith comes in the midst of the author's urging that the believers not falter in their faith during a difficult time. It would be an appropriate reminder for any church that is going through a difficult time or for any group struggling to achieve a cause against seemingly impossible odds. People who continue to advocate for peace in this war-torn world, or ethics in the midst of corruption, might find their hope in these verses. Most people seek encouragement by identifying small signs of progress.
The author of Hebrews recognized that sometimes you have to strive for those things that seem impossible even when you can see no signs of progress. To reinforce his belief that these are things worth striving for, the author reviewed the history of faith that revealed a variety of examples of the achievements of faith against all odds. He began with the creation story as a way of suggesting that acts of faith were a legitimate path from the very beginning.
In the beginning there was nothing that would give evidence that creation was even a possibility. Yet, according to the testimony of Genesis 1:1 ff, God was able, by merely speaking a word, to create the world out of nothing. This was not even a struggle for God but was simply the result of God expressing his divine self with a word. The question is how should people live in response to this mysterious power that is able to create visible reality out of invisible? The answer is that we are to live by faith.
The author offered some preliminary examples of living by faith and then came to Abraham as a primary example of living one's life through trusting in this invisible mystery that we call God. Abraham was pulled forward in life not in response to visible rewards but because of a promise made by an invisible God. It was by faith that he left everything behind to obey a God who promised a land that he had never seen. It was also by faith that he believed that God could produce progeny through his marriage to Sarai, even though it was clear that both of them were well past childbearing age.
Living in faith does not mean simply setting out for a goal and persevering until you achieve it. Rather, according to Hebrews, it means trusting against all the evidence that God can fulfill God's promises. The author of Hebrews made clear that his examples of faith all died before they "received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them." To live by faith is to trust that your efforts on God's behalf are worthwhile even when you cannot see any results. We are a paragraph in God's unfolding story and none of what is written in faith is wasted.
-- Hebrews 11:1
This famous definition of faith comes in the midst of the author's urging that the believers not falter in their faith during a difficult time. It would be an appropriate reminder for any church that is going through a difficult time or for any group struggling to achieve a cause against seemingly impossible odds. People who continue to advocate for peace in this war-torn world, or ethics in the midst of corruption, might find their hope in these verses. Most people seek encouragement by identifying small signs of progress.
The author of Hebrews recognized that sometimes you have to strive for those things that seem impossible even when you can see no signs of progress. To reinforce his belief that these are things worth striving for, the author reviewed the history of faith that revealed a variety of examples of the achievements of faith against all odds. He began with the creation story as a way of suggesting that acts of faith were a legitimate path from the very beginning.
In the beginning there was nothing that would give evidence that creation was even a possibility. Yet, according to the testimony of Genesis 1:1 ff, God was able, by merely speaking a word, to create the world out of nothing. This was not even a struggle for God but was simply the result of God expressing his divine self with a word. The question is how should people live in response to this mysterious power that is able to create visible reality out of invisible? The answer is that we are to live by faith.
The author offered some preliminary examples of living by faith and then came to Abraham as a primary example of living one's life through trusting in this invisible mystery that we call God. Abraham was pulled forward in life not in response to visible rewards but because of a promise made by an invisible God. It was by faith that he left everything behind to obey a God who promised a land that he had never seen. It was also by faith that he believed that God could produce progeny through his marriage to Sarai, even though it was clear that both of them were well past childbearing age.
Living in faith does not mean simply setting out for a goal and persevering until you achieve it. Rather, according to Hebrews, it means trusting against all the evidence that God can fulfill God's promises. The author of Hebrews made clear that his examples of faith all died before they "received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them." To live by faith is to trust that your efforts on God's behalf are worthwhile even when you cannot see any results. We are a paragraph in God's unfolding story and none of what is written in faith is wasted.
