Hebrews 12:1-2; Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost; August 21, 2022;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Endurance… athletes have it, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

“No Pain / No Gain”

“He’s such a great player, when the team really needed him, he played even though he had a broken leg!”

That’s endurance. We admire it so, in athletes. I think it’s those water polo guys who’ve got my vote for endurance. They play 8 min quarters treading water, they’re not allowed to touch the bottom, even when the clock stops! The average is 12 min. And it is a full contact sport.

Endurance. We know what it is, it’s reaching down to something that’s really deep inside of us, maybe a survival instinct or something, something that gets us through a really tough spot, that normally would send us down for the count.

So, St. Paul tells the Hebrew readers of his letter, “Persevere! Hold on! Dig deep and get the job done!” Since what he says applies to us, he’s telling us that when stuff gets hard to take turn your attention to yourself, if you dig deep enough you can get a hold of that unique human quality called faith and win the race! Right! After all that’s endurance, right?

Wait a second! I don’t think that that’s what he’s saying at all. To really get what he’s talking about we’ve got to back up a few verses. We could take it that way except for one troublesome little word right there at the beginning of the text. “Therefore” In other words he’s saying, because of all that I just said, do what I’m about to say. So, what is he talking about that sets the stage for this endurance we’re suppose to have.

Well, it’s the great faith chapter of scripture. It’s St. Paul’s description of faith in action. It’s endurance on steroids! And it starts with that wonderful, yet confusing phrase,

Now faith is the assurance of thing hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb 11,1)

Then he goes through a long list, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah. And the first section turns on these words.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised. (v 13)

then it goes to Moses who chose

to be to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin (v 25).

And the children of Israel who wandered in the dessert for 40 years before they received the Promised Land. These were all real people who did real things in a real world. They are Paul’s example of endurance. But wait! He’s not quite done yet. This sounds pretty good. Starting at verse 32:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Ah that sound’s pretty good doesn’t it! Sounds like running a winning race. But Paul doesn’t stop there listen to this:

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, (Hebrews 11:32-39, ESV)

And now, after all that Paul says “therefore” run with endurance. I think it’s that last part that Paul is really emphasizes, you know the being imprisoned part; the living destitute part; the being sawed in two part.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1, ESV)

Notice how even though some of the folks he mentioned seemed to have a great victory while others only suffered, not one of them received the promise… yet. And yet they are the example of endurance, a great cloud of witnesses that’s before us. They all believed. They all had faith. But let me tell you, St. Paul isn’t talking about some deep-down human quality here. He’s not saying, “they toughed it out so you can too.” He’s pointing to something even better even stronger than something human beings can dredge up in time of need. And it’s all right here in these few words that he says to us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV)

Let us also lay aside the weight, the sin, just like they did. Then Paul tells us exactly how to do that; he says, “looking to Jesus the found and perfecter of our faith.” That’s what they did, that cloud of witnesses. They faithfully set aside the sin that could have entangled them. They ran the race that was given them, even if it meant getting sawed in two. They put their eyes on Jesus and ran to Him.

You see, their faith wasn’t some abstract quality, their faith had an object. It was Jesus. It was what He does to get rid of the burden and weight of sin. They could run whatever race they were given to run because of Jesus.

Now the amazing thing is that they didn’t see Jesus as clearly as you and I do. They didn’t have the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross carrying our sin, so that we can lay it aside. St. Paul mentions that too.

They did not receive what was promised, since God has provided something better for us.

I like having a cross with Christ’s body here in the sanctuary. Well, St. Paul says that clearly too:

we preach Christ crucified. (1 Corinthians 1:23a, ESV)

That’s what he means when he says, looking to Jesus. Jesus Christ crucified dead and buried! That’s where He gave our faith a foundation. That’s where He perfected it. That’s the object of our faith, so says Paul.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)

And that’s why the endurance. Everything around you would have you look somewhere else.

“What good is Jesus if He doesn’t make your life easy?”

“Jesus can be your financial advisor if you just follow these ten easy steps, you’ll be financially secure.”

“Jesus is one way to heaven; I’ve got another way to get there.”

“Look deep inside yourself to find real strength.”

That’s taking our eyes off of Jesus… on the cross.

I told you when I first came here, that Jesus Christ and Him crucified would be the focus of everything we do. And it is so easy to get sidetracked. Satan’s got to mix us up into thinking that other things are more important (and right now he’s got his fingers in just about everything we’re trying to do) He doesn’t want us to be focusing on the cross. He wants us focusing on our sin. He doesn’t want us looking to Jesus; he wants us worrying about the weight. Because he knows what Paul is really saying. And so do you, it is the object of our faith.

It’s simple. Jesus Christ carried your sins, the weight that so easily tangles, to the cross. There He bled and died and buried them in the grave. You don’t have to carry the burden. You don’t have to work to remove them. You don’t have to do anything but drop them at the foot of the cross, where He picks them up and does away with them forever. So that you can run… without the weight that side tracks; without the sin that would have us at each other’s throats; without the load of worrying about how others have hurt us; with endurance… right to the cross. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:12-17; The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost; August 14, 2022;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:12–17, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

"I don't go to church because it's full of hypocrites!"

"Well, there's always room for one more!" Sin is an ugly thing. But sometimes we give the idea to other people that we in the church think we are without it. That we in the church think we have somehow gotten past sin, and so we look down our noses on the sins of other people. Dana Carvey's Church Lady. “Well, isn't that special?” A hypocrite is someone who says they believe something but don't really believe in their heart. The word hypocrite is the ancient Greek word for an actor. Someone who pretends to be something that they are not. To be a hypocrite is indeed sinful (that is unless you are on the stage). And we are often, in the church, hypocrites,

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves in the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8).

That is when we give the impression that we are without sin, or that our sins are insignificant and other people sins are great. What’s at the heart of it is that we think that sin is on the surface. Because we think that deep in our hearts were good people. That we, because we go to church, deserve to receive God's grace. And that going to church helps us to prevent the outward sins and that's what makes church a good thing to do. And, we think, that's what makes us better people than the people who don't go to church.

The truth is all sin is damning. And Jesus was particularly critical of hypocrites. (Matthew 23:27ff). He calls them "whitewashed tombs". Beautiful on the outside but full of dead people's bones on the inside. He calls them snakes. He says they lead people to hell by their words and actions. When it comes to being a hypocrite Jesus calls it a deadly sin. And it's so easy for us to fall into the trap. We don't go to church because we don't have sin. We go to church because we are sinners. In fact, the church is for sinners only! It was Martin Luther who said that the church is a hospital for the sin sick.

At first in our text, it may look as if St. Paul saying something good about himself. After all he says God made him an apostle because he "judged me faithful." But Paul is no hypocrite. The telltale sign comes in a very simple word in the middle of the text. Listen again:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Paul isn't saying he was a sinner when he persecuted Christians but is not a sinner any longer. He says, "Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." It's not a thing in the past that isn't true anymore. St. Paul calls himself, currently, a sinner. There isn't some magic that happened to him on the road to Damascus that removed sin from his life. He is plagued by sin every day. He struggles to do what God wants him to do. He struggles to avoid doing what God clearly says in His Word he should not do. Paul wants to do what God wants him to do. But he falls well short, and he knows it. In other words, Paul is a Christian. In Romans chapter 7 St. Paul describes his struggle:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:15–24, ESV)

Paul is not describing something extraordinary here. He is describing the normal Christian life. He's not describing his life in the past. Notice how all the verbs are all present tense. He is describing his Christian life now. Christians are not without sin. In fact, we see our own sin more clearly in light of God's law. The quote from Luther on the bulletin says it.

The Law Discovers the Disease. The Gospel Gives the Remedy. Martin Luther.

We should always be on guard to not give the impression we believe we are sinless. You and I, sinners that we are, deserve the same punishment as any other sinner in the world. Our sins are damning. St. Paul talked about this very thing when he wrote his letter to the Philippians.

... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12b–13, ESV)

He's not saying, "do something good, so that you can be saved." He is saying "see the truth about your salvation." You are a damned sinner unable to save yourself. God works to save you. That's exactly what the Good News is! God saves you and you do not deserve to be saved. God has no need to save people who are not sinners. You and I are saved simply by God's grace, that is his undeserved love.

St. Paul describes exactly how this happens in this text also. He says God changed his opinion about Paul when he "judged him faithful". (We call this Forensic Justification). God looked at Paul and instead of judging his sin, he is remarkably judged by the sin of Jesus. Of course, Jesus has none! Paul was not faithful, but Jesus was faithful in Paul's place. God changed his mind about Paul because Jesus offered his life of good works in place of Paul's life of sin. And Jesus offered his perfect life as the substitute punishment that Paul deserved for his sin. It was not earned by Paul but came by God's grace. Just as Paul says in the text,

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

In other words, Paul trusts in Jesus Christ for his salvation.

Dear Christian, what Paul describes in his life is true for your life as well. You are a damned sinner. You deserve nothing but God's wrath and eternal punishment. You struggle with sin every day of your life. You will struggle with sin every day until death kills your sinful flesh. But thanks be to God,

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...

You didn't stop being a sinner when the water was poured on your head in Holy Baptism, but God "judged" you faithful! Because when the water is poured on your head the great exchange is made. God changes his opinion about you when he judges you faithful. God looks at you and instead of judging your sin, he judges the sin of Jesus. Of course, Jesus is without sin. You are not faithful, but Jesus is faithful in your place. God changes his mind about you because Jesus offers his life of good works in place of your life of sin. And Jesus offers his perfect life as the substitute punishment that you deserve. It is not earned by you but comes to you by God's grace. So, you can say with St. Paul, the "grace of our Lord overflowed for me."

So, this is what it means to be Christian. Not to be without sin, but to have sin forgiven. To live in the freedom and joy of knowing that our sin is not counted against us but was nailed with Jesus to the cross. Not to look down our nose at those who are sinners, because we stand with them in their struggle. And to strive to do what is pleasing to God, not for the sake of earning anything with him, but instead in gratitude because the "grace of our Lord overflowed for[us]." Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Hebrews 11:1-16; Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost; August 7, 2022;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:1–16, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is known as the faith chapter. It's like that famous chapter in 1 Corinthians about love. You know, "love is patient, love is kind… And the greatest of these is love." Here we have a definition of faith and a litany of the faithful.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (11:1)

It is a wonderful description of faith. We indeed take God at his Word and believe in things unseen. For example, we believe God created the world in six days and that he spoke it into existence from nothing.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3, ESV)

And this reading ends talking about how we look forward to a "heavenly country" (16) that our Lord has gone to prepare for us. We take it to be true by faith, unseen.

The book of Hebrews begins also by speaking about God's Word.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1–2, ESV)

The Word of God is none other than his Son, Jesus Christ. The one who was the active force in creation and the one who lived, died, and rose again to save his creation from the corruption of human sin. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, did all of this to fulfill the promises he made to Adam and Eve to restore them to himself through the forgiveness of sins. There is no speaking of faith in Scripture without a connection to the one who is faithful. Faith must have an object. You can't have faith in nothing. People today try to speak about faith as if faith in faith is enough. If I hope hard enough, if I have a positive attitude, things will work out okay. Faith is not a power in itself to do anything. It is trust in the object of faith. The object of our faith is God, who works in Jesus Christ, who became man and died on the cross to save us from our enemies; sin, death, and the power of the devil. And he rose again from death and ascended into heaven and promises to return to bring us to a new and perfect homeland, and eternal home in a newly created, perfect world. Jesus, the object of our faith, is also unseen to us. And yet, we gather in this place to hear the Word about Jesus and to rejoice in all that God has done for us, unseen. And to cling in faith and trust to the Savior who ascended into heaven and promises to come again and restore to us a world without sin, without death, without pain, or suffering of any kind. This is the homeland that we, and the faithful, those listed here in Hebrews, and all those on our roles, that went before us, seek.

But there is more to faith then trusting in the unseen. And in fact, the faith chapter goes into some detail to describe this second aspect of faith. That is, trust in the reality of God and his work for us in Jesus Christ, necessarily includes a faithful, righteous response. And that is precisely what we have listed by name. All the faithful listed here, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and all the others listed after verse 16, had faith in things unseen, but also lived out that faith in action. The righteous response of Abel in giving his best to God cost him his life. Enoch lived his life faithfully and was taken to God without death. Noah faced ridicule and scorn building an ark for an unseen danger. And Abraham and Sarah left all they had and moved to a new country and land that God promised to give them. The list goes on and on. It is a list of the faithful, righteous response, lived out from faith, that is trust, in one who is unseen but shows himself to be faithful.

But by far, the most interesting verse in this whole reading is this one:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13, ESV)

It's the "not having received the things promised" that's so interesting. Not only did they live in faith in the unseen, but they lived in that faith without receiving what God had promised them. In other words, they simply looked forward and trusted in God's promise to deliver them out of their life of sin. And all that they did was lived in the knowledge and trust of a future unseen. All that they did was lived in the knowledge and the trust of a Savior unseen. They had faith and trust in the God who promised to deliver them. Notice, the emphasis of this chapter is not the amount of their faith. There is either trust or there is not trust. This passage doesn't push us to ourselves or some power in us. We sinful human beings are so eager to justify ourselves that we often make faith something we do. And we say things like "if my faith were stronger, I would not have…"; or "I don't know how I would've gotten through that without my faith." As if to make our ability to withstand contingent on some secret power within us that God has given us. These faithful witnesses show us differently. They encourage us to have faith in the object. Strong faith is not some internal, in the heart force or strength, but it is rather a realization that without Jesus Christ and his faithfulness we would be entirely lost. Strong faith is total dependence on the work of Jesus Christ to bring us forgiveness and deliver us to the unseen homeland.

In a way, faith is having the eyes to see what God says is true is true, unseen. Faith is having trust in God that even when things seem to go very badly, we know that God is in control. God does not promise that his faithful people will be free from trouble.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, ESV)

So, when trouble comes, look at it with the eyes of faith. If the church doesn't act like the church should act. See instead the promises of God that he works through word and sacrament to bring us the gifts of life and salvation. When death interrupts your life's plans, and all seems lost in hopeless; see instead the promises of God in the resurrection of the dead and eternal happy reunion with those we love who died in faith. When your relationships with people are torn apart by conflict and anger; see instead a crucified Jesus who died on the cross for forgiveness, not just yours but also for your enemies. When the world around you pushes against you to accept its way of thinking; See instead trouble that God allows to push you closer to him and trust him all the more. When our Lord's return seems forever in the future; See instead his gracious patients to redeem all the lost.

Seeing with the eyes of faith isn't easy. Faith is not easy. In fact, for sinful human beings faith is so often turned inward instead of to the one true faithful object of faith. He hangs on the cross. He hangs on the cross for you. He bleeds and dies for you. He cries out to the Father, forsaken for you. His lifeless body is buried in the grave for you. He rises from the dead and ascends into heaven for you. And he is coming again for you. And all your trouble, and all your hardship, and all your pain will then be seen fully and completely. And all that he allowed in your life will be seen not with the eyes of faith but with the eyes of reality. You will then know that all was done for the sake of you sharing eternity with him. He is faithful. He keeps his promises. You can have faith in him. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.