Seeking Heaven

 

Text: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Focus: faith

Function: to help people live the new kingdom life by faith

11:¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹By faith, with Sarah’s involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

¹³All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, ¹⁴for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Good morning to the beloved children of God!

We’re gonna do a little bit of bible study on the text this morning. This passage reminds me of my early years in the faith as I was motivated to follow Jesus because of the possibilities that faith in Christ could bring me.

Faith is a difficult concept for us to muster because I believe that the ability to believe in God, the ability to trust God for our healing and restoration comes as a work, I believe of the Holy Spirit and not ourselves in our lives.

But at the same time, God has given to us choices and we have the choice to trust God or not with the way we live our lives.

So, although it is given to us through the Holy Spirit, it comes to us when we make the decision to rest in the love that God has for us and trust that God’s care for us is enough. We trust that in this day, God will give us our daily bread and we do not have to worry about the future. We can live lives that follow the love of Christ since God is with us in the form of the Spirit.

So, as a Christian, I don’t think there are things we can do, works that we can do, that can increase our faith because it comes to us from God and we have the promise that even when we are faithless, God remains faithful to us.

Think about breathing. We can hold our breath and stop breathing, a choice, if we want to. But we can’t forget how to breathe. In the same way our body breathes, the Spirit moves inside of us giving us the faith we need at the time. All we have to do is to let it flow and don’t hold our breath as the Spirit moves inside of us. It is kind of like, “we give in to the kind and loving impulses that we find welling up inside of us.”

The passage is explaining to us the importance of faith. Remember, there are three things important to our religion, Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these is love.

In our text, the author of Hebrews tells us that this is the way the ancient people found favor with God. They did it through living by faith in the fact that God was watching over them to bless them so that they can be a blessing to others.

God blessed them and through them, the savior was born to humanity. God was trying to show humanity what it means to walk with God.

The 11^th chapter of Hebrews is a retelling of a bunch of stories found in the Old Testament.

The story of the Old Testament gives it so much of its power, I love reading through the history of the people of Israel every year in my yearly devotions because I see how they remember the love and protection that God provided for them and kept them in a place where and when trials came, they could remember to rest in God’s love for them.

Like us, the Old Testament is full of “Higher Power” stories whereby the people deliberately point out the activity and blessing of God through difficult circumstances. God is with us.

It is the stories that keep us in the faith. We share our own stories with each other of how God has blessed or encouraged us and that builds the faith in others as well. There is power in our story.

The text recounts the story of the immigration of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob back and forth between the lands of what is known today as Iraq down to Palestine/Israel/ back again and finally settling in Palestine Israel. And it says it like this, however: It says that they were seeking a city whose architect and builder is God.

It was a spiritual journey of living a life of service to God and knowing that they were there to be the blessing of God that would lay a new foundation for the way people cared for each other.

They lived with the kingdom of heaven in mind. To be heavenly minded was not merely waiting to go to heaven when they die, but actively trying to bring the values and healing of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Abraham was a blessing to the people he met.

We don’t completely understand this heavenly mindset until Jesus comes along and talks about a different way of living. Jesus teaches us how to live in love for others as much as ourselves and gives humanity, especially the poor and downtrodden, hope.

Along with faith, God gives us hope.

He speaks of how these people have this promise that God is going to build this new kingdom, this new city that is inspired by heavenly principles, and they died without receiving the promise but they held on to God’s promise for them.

Hope kept their faith alive.

And they were looking for the kind of human civilization that Jesus preached about.

This chapter about faith does give me help when I am in the middle of trials because it reminds me of my own stories and how God has always made a way for us in the end.

Right now we are living in difficult times with all of the uncertainty of politics and how much these new import taxes are going to affect us. I confess, when I look at my finances, I get scared and wonder realize like others here that there is no such thing as retirement in this economy.

But then I remember this chapter of faith and I remember that I am God’s child and when I placed my faith in them, they, God, promised to care for my needs. Fear of circumstance leads me to remember to live by faith.

Seeking heaven is seeking God's plan for the here and now.