August 18, 2019 – Hebrews 11:29- 12:2
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Examples of Faithfulness
Lectionary 20C – August 18, 2019
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
The writer of Hebrews writes to a congregation that needs encouragement.
Some are being persecuted.
Some are falling away because being a Christian does not lead to worldly success.
Some are apathetic and fatigued.
And some wonder what the point of Christian faith is – if it is worth the trouble.
While I don’t think any of us here are currently persecuted for being Christian,
we can probably relate to the other reasons for congregational decline.
First, there’s not much in it for me – it may not lead to some things our culture values:
wealth, success, fame, power. Oh well.
Second, it’s easy to become apathetic and unconcerned with the plight of others and
God’s mission to address that when we feel so much societal pressure to just take care of
ourselves and our own small circle of family and friends.
And third: with so much misinformation about religion and Christianity and Christian faith
out there it’s easy to wonder if Christian faith is worth the trouble.
So, this morning, the writer of Hebrews speaks to encourage you.
And he does so by inviting you to think about those who have come before you.
He invites you to think of them as examples of faithfulness,
as those who remained faithful to God’s mission to love, bless, feed, heal and
set free this whole world and every person in it
despite the great difficulties they faced.
The Israelites who braved tremendous odds to flee slavery
to a new life dedicated to God’s mission.
Rahab who risked personal danger to help the Israelites settle in a new, promised land.
He points out Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah.
He refers to king David and the prophet Samuel and the other prophets.
All of them faced adversity, and difficulty, and the urge to give up.
And – here’s the common thread – all of them persevered.
All of them were – in their own way – faithful to the things God called them to do,
to playing their own particular part in God’s mission to bless this world and
every person in it.
Now here’s the thing: none of these people was perfect!
Far from it!
One of the things I love about the Bible is its honesty about the people it tells stories about.
They are honoured in its pages not because they were perfect,
but because they persevered and were faithful – just like those among us who are
dedicated to holding food banks and community meals and lunches
every single week of the year.
And here’s another thing: they were all faithful in very different ways.
They were not all called to the same thing – there is no one way to be faithful.
Some worked behind the scenes – others right up in front on the stage.
Some ruled, some wrote, some spoke, some directed.
Some played supporting roles, others starring roles.
Each had their own particular role to play –
and each played a part in the community’s success in being faithful
in their time and place.
As a community,
First Lutheran Church is seeking to be faithful in its very particular time and place.
And each of its members has a particular role to play –
and each of its members is called to persevere and be faithful.
We are encouraged in this not only by the roll call of people Hebrews parades before us
this morning – and not only by countless others we could point to in history.
Augustine, Aquinas, St. Francis of Assissi.
Hildegaard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Mother Theresa.
Each of them flawed,
but each of them perseverant in the role they were called to play in God’s mission.
As encouraging as that is, it is perhaps even more helpful to look to those among us
who have also been perseverant through trials and difficulties.
This past week we had a funeral for one of our members who exemplified this in
his own very unique way.
His name was Daniel Martin, well known to most of us, our resident First Nations Artist and
a member here for the last 15 years or so.
Daniel attended regularly most Sundays and many – if not most –
of us own his paintings and cards.
Daniel was a survivor – he persevered.
At his funeral I read from Isaiah: those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
Daniel loved drawing eagles and eventually found his strength – but it wasn’t easy.
He was born on the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation.
Most of his childhood and youth was spent in a Residential School and
in a variety of foster homes.
His life was not an easy one.
He later contended with poverty and mental illness.
And yet, and yet – he persevered. He waited for the Lord – and the Lord found him.
And gave him strength.
Daniel found his strength in drawing – in school, throughout his childhood and youth,
through difficulty and mental illness, Daniel was always drawing.
I think drawing was how Daniel prayed.
When he was a young man he learned to draw in a traditional First Nations style.
His drawings came to reflect the beauty of the natural world and they almost all include
a cross motif that represents Christ,
that shines on the figures and holds all things together.
Daniel was faithful and persevered in the gift God gave him.
He found his purpose in drawing.
But drawing also helped him find community: as he peddled his drawings to all and sundry
in the West End he formed connections with people –
his drawing connected him to people, countless countless people.
He came to find his strength in purpose and in community,
particularly his spiritual home at First Lutheran Church.
And so he ultimately found contentment.
Daniel was a survivor: he endured, he persevered.
And there is something very admirable about that: he was faithful in his own way,
contributing his gifts to the world in the way that he could, through drawings that
reflected the beauty of the natural world and the faithfulness of Christ in
holding all things together – perhaps most of all when
things seem like they are flying apart.
I think it amazing that Daniel could be so firm in faith when he had suffered so much –
just like those the writer of Hebrews mentioned today.
But he persevered, and found his strength, like on the wings of an eagle:
he found his strength in having a purpose, in community, and in contentment.
And that is exemplary.
Like those others – and like us – Daniel was not perfect.
Like those others – and like us – Daniel fulfilled his role in God’s mission in a very unique way.
But like those others, Daniel persevered in faithfulness – trusting that Christ led the way
from death to resurrection, forging a path that he too could follow.
So let’s give thanks for Daniel and for all those who run the race of faithfulness with us.
Let us give thanks for Jesus, who forges a way for us all through
suffering and difficulty and death to a new day and a new life.
Let us give thanks for all the cloud of witnesses who have run the race faithfully,
and who now cheer us on to play our part and run our portion of the race faithfully too.
We are not alone – they have gone before us.
We are not alone – Christ stands at the end waiting for us.
We are not alone – for in the meantime we have one another.
Let us be encouraged, let us continue to be faithful, and together let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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