Blog

by Logan Ames

As our nation recently celebrated our 242nd year of independence, I found myself thinking about how many people must have dreamt about it and pursued it only to never fully experience it. We in America certainly take it for granted because we’ve all been born into freedom and have never known what it’s like to be oppressed by a nation or a government. But that’s not how it was for the original patriots who risked and in many cases gave their lives for this cause. That being said, we still have a role and a responsibility today to continue that cause for two reasons: 1) so that those who come after us will continue to enjoy the freedoms we have enjoyed, and 2) so that the sacrifices and efforts of those who went before us would not be wasted. In other words, it’s up to US to carry the torch of freedom and keep it burning.

When you think about it, this has been true about any noble cause that has ever existed. Other than Jesus dying for the sins of the whole world on the cross, God never intended for one person to do it all. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t begin the Civil Rights Movement (Rosa Parks and others came before him) and he certainly was assassinated before he got to experience the fullness of the freedom and desegregation that he dreamt of. Others had to keep the torch burning. Robert Gould Shaw (portrayed by Matthew Broderick in the movie Glory) was a white man who fought and died in the Civil War for the cause of freedom for slaves. His torch would’ve burned out if others didn’t keep it going. It’s true about ministry as well. I have a friend who is leaving in September to go to Ecuador for a year to help develop pastors and churches there who are ministering to the natives. The organization he’ll be working for put out a publication that states the work of evangelism in Ecuador began with Jim Elliot and the men who were with him in 1956. They were all martyred, but the seeds they planted were watered by others and now missionaries and native Christians are beginning to reap the harvest there.

It reminds me of the words of the writer at the end of Hebrews 11. As I have taken you through this chapter, faithful hero by faithful hero in a series that started over ten months ago, I pray that these examples of faith have ignited a fire within you to carry on their torch. That’s what the writer of Hebrews also desired. In Hebrews 11:39-40, he reminds us, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." The idea of being made perfect is actually that they are made “complete." In other words, all these heroes of the faith that we’ve talked about over the past ten months had a faith that was not yet made complete. Now, that’s not to say THEIR faith was incomplete. They followed God with boldness and total dependence on him. But the faith to which they devoted themselves was based on something God had promised but had not yet come to fruition. In that sense, the universal, Christian faith was not made complete until Jesus came, lived, died on the cross, and was raised to life again.

What does this mean for you, me, and all believers and followers of Jesus? The writer tells us as the next chapter begins. In Hebrews 12:1, we see the word “therefore," which directly refers back to every single mention of a hero of the faith, as well as the very last words from chapter 11. The writer tells us that we have some advantages that these faithful heroes didn’t have. The Church (capitalized to signify all Christians past, present, and future) ought to consider what each and every one of these faithful heroes did and how they stood firm in the incomplete faith that had not yet seen the arrival of the Messiah. Hebrews 12:1 calls them “witnesses," which is actually from the Greek marturos and is where we get the English term “martyr." You see, a martyr isn’t just someone who loses their life; it’s what all Christians are called to be to the extent that God asks of us. I might have to give up my life or I might only be asked to give up my desire for popularity and approval of those who would have me compromise the truth to obtain those things. Either way, every follower of Jesus must decide whether they will stand firm in their faith or be on shaky ground in something else.

The writer of Hebrews then tells the Church that, since we are surrounded by these witnesses and their stories - an advantage many of the faithful didn’t have as they stood out among the unfaithful - we have reason to get rid of the things in our lives that hinder us from faith and avoid the sins that ensnare us (v. 1). He says we ought to persevere in the “race marked out for us” even when it’s difficult. The way to do that is what the writer explains is another advantage that we have - we can “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). None of the ancient heroes of our faith described in Hebrews 11 could fix their eyes on Jesus because he had not yet come! They knew of him only in the sense that they believed in the promise, but it was still something they could only imagine. To our knowledge, the name “Jesus” was not revealed to any of them. So, when the writer mentions our Savior by his human name, only those who have come after him can find strength from his endurance.

We are reminded in verses 2-3 of what exactly our Savior endured. The cross was not just physically painful but also publicly shaming. Yet, Jesus “scorned its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The author of Hebrews tells us that when we are struggling, we should consider not only all of those other faithful heroes, but the most faithful of them all - Jesus of Nazareth. If we consider all that he went through and endured, as well as his great reward of sitting at the right hand of God (the highest position of honor there is), we “will not grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3).

The heroes of the faith in the past chose to stand firm even though they had yet to see what was promised. If they could endure so much without seeing the promise come true, how much more reason do we have to continue to keep the torch of faith burning, knowing that God has been faithful in keeping his promises? If you are part of the Church, you have this responsibility for the next generation. I don’t know what God will ask you to endure, but I know that you have examples right in front of your eyes of those who have endured and have overcome even more. By the same faith that was central to the lives of so many before you, you can reason that God is bigger than your problems, that he has a plan, and that following him even when circumstances seem to be against you is more logical than rejecting him and his commands. As I said at the beginning of the series, faith in God is not blind. Follow the evidence, which includes all these faithful stories before you, and make your choice to stand firm in that faith. May God bless and reward you as you do!

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