Hebrews 11: 1 – 3, 8 – 16; Luke 12: 32 – 40; Genesis 15: 1 – 6; Psalm 33: 12 – 22
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). So began our reading from the letter to the Hebrews. It’s a memorable and succinct definition of faith. But definitions on their own can be somewhat indigestible, and in any case faith is much more than assent to an intellectual proposition. Faith involves trusting God and stepping out a journey.
An easier starting point for reflecting on our own faith might be the picture of the old man Abraham looking up at the stars which you may have noticed on your pew sheet.
Abraham is one of the Bible’s archetypes of faith. He was the great patriarch of the Jewish nation. It all started when he trusted God and set out on a journey. Genesis tells us that he was called out from his home city of Ur to a new land promised by God. As our reading from Hebrews recalls, in Abraham’s lifetime and for several generations afterwards, the nation did not settle, but lived as nomads. Abraham himself never settled in the promised land.
Our reading from Genesis recalls God’s promise to him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. However, for many years he remained childless. His son Isaac was born to him in old age. So Abraham stands for us as a model of persevering trust in the promises of God even when the evidence might suggest otherwise.
For Abraham faith involved not assenting to a set of ideas about God, but responding to God’s call, setting out on a journey and trusting, despite having no child, that he would indeed be the father of a great nation.
For us too, faith is often more like a journey than an assent to a proposition. Bunyan recognised this when he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, and this poem by R. S. Thomas describes something similar:
‘The Journey’
And if you go up that way, you will meet with a man
Leading a horse, whose eyes declare:
There is no God. Take no notice.
There will be other roads and other men
With the same creed, whose lips yet utter
Friendlier greeting, men who have learned
To pack a little of the sun’s light
In their cold eyes, whose hands are waiting
For your hand. But do not linger.
A smile is payment; the road runs on
With many turnings towards the tall
Tree to which the believer is nailed.
If we are to be people of faith, like Abraham, we’re to keep on travelling. There may be people and things which seek to divert us; some will be more attractive than others. The way may not be straightforward, and the process may not be comfortable, as doubtless it was not for Abraham. We will have to encounter the Cross.
So Abraham trusted God and set out on a journey towards the promised land.
For the writer to the Hebrews this is more than just physical land, for Abraham and his family saw themselves as strangers and aliens on earth (v13). So the homeland they were seeking was the holy city whose architect and builder is God (v10) or, as the writer puts it “a better country, a heavenly one” (v16). Other NT writers call this the “kingdom of God”.
We too can experience not only the sense of embarking on a journey of faith, but also the longing for a homeland which is beyond anything in this world.
Frederick Buechner writes of this in a letter to his grandson for his 21st birthday:
“Whether we’re rich or poor, male or female,……. our stories are all stories of searching. We search for a good self to be and for good work to do. We search to become human in a world that tempts us always to be less than human or looks to us to be more. We search to love and to be loved. And in a world where it is often hard to believe in much of anything, we search to believe in something holy and beautiful and life-transcending that will give meaning and purpose to the lives we live. ..…my birthday wish is that after wandering through many a street for many a long year to come, you may find your way at last to the fountain in the square.”
The fountain in the square is a metaphor for Christ, the source of living water. Our Gospel passage from Luke gives us further encouragement to keep searching, for Jesus says to his followers: “’Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’” (Luke 12: 32).
The way to the kingdom is not without risk. It could mean giving up everything, as our Gospel reading says. Certainly, as R. S. Thomas suggests in his poem, it means prioritising God over all the other people and things which compete for our attention, not allowing ourselves to be distracted. It means listening to the voice which calls us out to search for our homeland. Abraham listened, took the risk and set out on his journey, trusting in God’s promises to him.
If faith can be seen as a journey towards our homeland, I imagine we are all at different points on the journey. Some may just have set out. Others may have been on the road for many years. Some may have become discouraged because the way seems long and hard – “the road runs on with many turnings”. Wherever you are on that journey, I wonder what the next step might be for you?
Wherever we are, we can take comfort in the words of the Psalmist:
“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” (Psalm 33: 20 – 22).