Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Hebrews 11 has long been known as “The Faith Chapter.” Check most versions of the Bible and you will notice the “Faith in Action” subtitle under chapter 11. We are quick to quote Hebrews 11:1 to ourselves and others when we walk through difficulties, as a call to faith, a call to believe even when we can’t see the end result. But, could it be there is more to this passage than we realize? As pastors, when we preach this text, we have the opportunity to call our people to something deeper. It calls us to a shared remembrance of the faithfulness of God to our ancestors and the practice of faith that sustained them. And this shared remembrance of this ancient story calls us to do the same – put our faith and trust in God – the One who was and is and will always be faithful.
As we look at our world today, it would seem as though “faith” is on the decline. I am not just speaking about faith in a religious sense. More and more people are losing faith in a lot of things – medical science, politicians, institutions, structures, religious institutions, God, and the list could go on. There seems to be less faith going around, especially when it comes to the church. At one point, in the not-so-distant past, people who had no faith background would turn to the church in moments of crisis. That time has come and gone. Today, more and more people find the church to be a place whose faith has become misguided. What happened to faith? Is it lost? Can it be reclaimed? Is there hope for us? For the church? As I read Hebrews 11, the answer is a resounding YES! There is hope – when our faith is placed in the faithfulness of God!
When you Google the definition of “faith,” this is what pops up:
Faith: 1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something. 2. Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
According to this definition, faith – complete trust or confidence – comes from fear or anxiety (“apprehension”), rather than resolute confidence in something or someone. According to this definition, experience and action play no role in faith – fear leads to faith, and yet that is not what we see in Hebrews 11.
Our text this week gives us a great definition of faith. Let’s break it down a bit: “Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB).
Now FAITH - The word for faith is the Greek word, pistis (πίστις). It can be translated to mean faith, assurance, and belief. This definition carries an understanding that faith is a conviction of the truth. It’s a belief in the character of one who can be relied on. As we look through Scripture, we find this exact word for faith throughout the New Testament – most notably in the Gospels when Jesus speaks of faith (Matthew 8:10, Matthew 9:22, Matthew 15:28, Matthew 17:20, Mark 4:20, Mark 10:52, Mark 11:22).
Is the CERTAINTY of things - Faith is the hypostasis (ὑπόστασις), the substance, foundation – the resolve, firm trust of things
HOPED FOR – this hope is a waiting hope – waiting for “things” with joy and confidence. According to blueletterbible.org, this word is connected to salvation – that ultimate fulfillment of which we wait for with joy and confidence (G1679 - Elpizō - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Kjv), n.d.).
A PROOF (some translations, evidence) – this faith has been proved, tested. We only see this word, elegchos (ἔλεγχος), twice in the Greek. Once, here in Hebrews and the only other time we see this word is in 2 Timothy 3:16, when Paul writes, “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke (elegchos), for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NASB).
OF THINGS – that which is done or being accomplished
NOT SEEN – cannot be seen through the power of sight, but this word is also used as a metaphor elsewhere in Scripture to describe believing in something so much so that even though we can’t see it with our eyes, we can perceive it and discover it.
If we were to rewrite the definition of faith, based on the breakdown above, it would read something like this: Faith is – the conviction of truth that is the foundation that secures us as we wait with joy and confidence – a confidence that is proven because of experience and we can [have faith] perceive that God is accomplishing God’s good work, even when our eyes can’t see it.
This understanding of faith gives us the background we need to move into verses 8-16, as the writer of Hebrews examines the faith of our ancient biblical ancestors. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, that given this definition of faith, those that have gone before us have given us a testimony of what faith in God looks like in practice; they are giving witness to their faith in God and the work of God in the world. The writer of Hebrews describes how our biblical ancestors had faith in God; how they trusted God. Even in this account, the writer of Hebrews is giving an account, a testimony of faith. He uses the faith of Abraham and Sarah to give witness to the faithfulness of God. God was faithful in the lives of Abraham and Sarah, God promised them a child, promised them a land, promised them descendants more numerous than could be counted. Abraham and Sarah never saw the fulfillment of all of these promises and yet, their faith was secure. Why? Abraham and Sarah placed their faith, their trust in the faithfulness of God so much that even though they never saw the fruits of those promises, they trusted that God would remain faithful to those promises and that in God’s timing, those promises would be fulfilled.
Not only do we see that faith is a call to believe. I believe we also see there is a dual nature to faith, it is more than just belief. Faith is belief that leads to action. For Abraham and Sarah, their faith, the conviction of the truth that God IS and WILL BE faithful carried them forward and called them to action. They continued to follow God’s leading, and they continued to trust and obey what God told them – their faith was more than just believing that God was going to do something. Their faith called them to step out in obedience, to walk the journey of faith with God, trusting in God’s faithfulness, without always knowing the next step or what the journey would hold. They trusted and had faith, even when that journey led to a mountain called Moriah and an altar where the promise (Isaac) was to be sacrificed.
Faith is important. Where we place our faith is important. As David E. Graves writes, “Faith matters. Our faith gives assurance that God has our best interest at heart, knows what we hope for, and holds our future” (Bartlett, 2015). Let’s be honest though, having faith is not always easy. It can be hard to have that confident assurance that God can be trusted, especially when things are not going the way we want them to or when we cannot see the end of the story. That is why this passage is so important for our people. In a world like ours, a world where faith is on the decline, this passage is a call to remembrance. It is a call to remember the never-ending faithfulness of God. It is a call to remember that the God who was faithful to Abraham and Sarah, is the same God that was faithful to Isaac and Jacob, Rahab and Ruth, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph. This God is the same God that was faithful to the disciples and the early church. And this God will never cease to be faithful. This God will be faithful to you, to me, to God’s church today.
We need this call to remembrance. We need the hope that comes from faith in Christ. We need to be reminded that faith in God is never misplaced! Faith in God is the foundation we can build our lives on and when we do, when we build our lives on this confident assurance, this conviction of truth, then we can wait with joy and confidence, knowing that God is at work – even when our eyes cannot see.
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Bartlett, D. L. (2015). Feasting on the word. Year C, volume 3, Year C, volume 3,. G1679—Elpizō—Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/1/1/s_1001