The Life of Faithfulness (Hebrews 11:1-3)
Faith and faithfulness are two ways of expressing the same thing. In fact, the same word translated "faithfulness" in Galatians 5:22 is translated "faith" in Hebrews 11:1. It doesn't really alter the meaning being expressed. Faithfulness is faith-living. It is a way of living that emerges out of our faith. In Hebrews, the writer describes lives that reflect the faithful-ness the Spirit wants to produce in us.
"Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" (Proverbs 20:6).
Do you think faithfulness is in better shape than the proverb above implies or is faithfulness generally in short supply today?
What support would you give for your response?
Who I Am (Hebrews 11: 13-16)
Faith and faithfulness begin with who I am, not with what I do. Faithfulness defines a way of living that is grounded in identity. For most people, identity is defined by what they can see. My values, priorities, and decisive lifestyle characteristics are shaped by things I can see. Comfort, success, power, prestige, and pleasure are some of the visible values that play important roles in people's lives. What I do and how I live are determined by those chosen values. I make decisions about my life because I can observe how these things work out in our world. I can earn a lot of money if I learn certain skills. I can enjoy a certain quality of acceptance and esteem if I act in certain ways. I will be safe from harm if I practice certain patterns of living. That's how our actions, goals, and priorities take on meaning. They are consistent with observable values and realities in our world.
Faithful living is about living a life that is consistent with another world, a different value system and reality. That's what the writer to the Hebrews is referring to when he talks about the heroes of the life of faith being "aliens and strangers on earth" (Hebrews 11:13). They looked to a different home, "a better country" (v. 16). They lived their lives by faith, according to the values and priorities (the reality) of God's kingdom, the place He had prepared for them. Unlike the observable world that shapes our values and living, this Kingdom cannot be seen except with the eyes of faith.
Because their eyes were focused on God's heavenly kingdom, these heroes of faith acted in ways that don't make sense from a human, earthly perspective. But they make perfect sense from the perspective of faith. The writer to the Hebrews calls us to a different way of living. He wants us to live like we don't really belong here on earth at all.
What did the people mentioned in Hebrews 11 have faith in?
What was this faith founded on?
Faith Math (Hebrews 11:4)
In the kingdom of God, math works differently than it does in our world. I was never a great math student, but I know that if you add to what you have, you have more. If you give away what you have, you have less. If you give away the best you have, you are left with less than the best. Cain understood that. It made perfect sense. And he made his offering to God in the sensible way. But Cain failed faith math. Abel, on the other hand, was a student of kingdom math. You give God your best in faith, and you are better off than you were before. God understood that and gave His approval (see Genesis 4:4).
Faithfulness means living according to God's math. When our stewardship is shaped by earthly logic, even if it is generous, it will not truly be faithful. When we give according to God's terms (whether they seem to make sense or not) and because His kingdom calls for it, we are living by faith.
What did being faithful cost these faith heroes?
Does faithfulness always cost us something?
Is it always worth the cost?
Faith-full Living (Hebrews 11:5-6)
Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24) lived the life of faith. He didn't accomplish any great deeds (that we know of). Scripture just says he "walked with God" ( v. 22). But this walk was outstanding enough that God just took Enoch away-he never died. Hebrews says that this happened by faith. In Enoch's case, it doesn't mean he believed so strongly that his believing overpowered death. It means that in the day-to-day conduct of his life, Enoch lived like a citizen of the heavenly Kingdom. He raised his family and handled his affairs according to the values and priorities of God's kingdom. Apparently, he did that so thoroughly that God just decided to go ahead and move him directly to the place where he had already been living: His heavenly kingdom.
We sometimes assume that heroes of faith became heroes by doing some great deed, some bold expression of courage. But Enoch was simply faithful. He lived his life the way God wants us to live in His kingdom. That means that he was probably careful Lo honor his commitments. He could be depended on. If he were a Sunday School teacher, he would have been on time and prepared. He would have been consistent in his giving. He would have treated people with the respect God attributes to them.
You would have known that you could count on Enoch. His spirit, priorities, and attitude would have been right. Some of the other heroes of Hebrews 11 had more dramatic achievements. But Enoch's achievement--the consistent faithfulness of his life--was so pleasing that God simply took him without his experiencing death. No other hero of Hebrews 11 was honored like that. The quality of simply living faithfully may seem unimpressive to us, but not to God.
How did Jesus show His faith and faithfulness during His ministry years?
How did He show His faith and faithfulness during the last week of His earthly life?
Faith at Risk (Hebrews 11: 7 -10)
Noah and Abraham made bold decisions by faith. Noah risked public scorn and ridicule by building an ark where there wasn't any water. Abraham packed his bags and left his home at God's call without knowing where he was going. Both of those decisions were foolish, even dangerous, by any earthly risk assessment. But Noah and Abraham made their risk assessment by faith. Their criterion for judgment was drawn from the reality of the Kingdom. Their safety net wasn't visible to the human eye; it was only visible with the eyes of faith that looked to a better hope.
I know that both Noah and Abraham had to have been courageous men. But what really set them apart wasn't courage. It was vision. They had the ability-by faith-to see God's reality. What looked ridiculous or hazardous with earthly sight appeared entirely reasonable through eyes that could see God's reality.
How does Jesus' faithfulness impact our faithfulness?
Faith's Potential (Hebrews 11:11-12)
Abraham's story of faith in leaving his home is followed by another expression of his faith. This was a different sort, however. Abraham simply lived in trust, believing God would be faithful to do what He had promised to give him a son. Abraham trusted in His promise. Of course, all the earthly evidence argued the contrary. Abraham had grown old and so had Sarah, his wife. As anyone knows, 90-year-old women do not get pregnant and have babies. But Abraham's eyes were on another country where different rules apply. In that country; if God says 90-year-old women get pregnant, you can count on it being true.
So, by faith, Abraham lived his life trusting God. Because he did, he "was enabled to become a father" (Hebrews 11:11) and Sarah was enabled to become a mother. In God's world that makes perfect sense.
Sometimes faithfulness means just "keeping on keeping on." It is life lived by faith for the long haul. We sometimes get in a hurry. Like Sarah (Genesis 16), we want to help things along. We want to see results. But faithfulness may mean just hanging in there until God's timing is right. It may not seem reasonable by the world's standards, but faith lives by different rules and trusts God that they are right.
Fruitless Faith (Hebrews 11:39-40)
Hebrews says that although these and other heroes recounted in chapter 11 were "commended for their faith, yet none of them received what they had been promised" (Hebrews 11:39). This summary assessment, reflecting on the lives of the exemplary faithful, is a challenging conclusion. But perhaps that is because we have not yet really grasped the full meaning of living the life of faith. We move toward faithful living, willing to temporarily live as citizens of another place. We are willing to use kingdom math and live at risk.
But we look for resolution or vindication on this world's terms. I'm willing to give sacrificially while anticipating a tangible reward in the foreseeable future. I'm willing to take a risk because I expect God to make sure I come out of this a winner. Our natural tendency is to look for kingdom blessings on this world's terms and timing. But what if the benefit of success, of our sacrifice, and of our service never appear on this world's terms in our time? What if the results of my (faithful) kingdom living can only be found in the Kingdom?
Faithful living, as we can see in the lives of the heroes recounted in Hebrews 11, is about living on kingdom terms, both in our actions and expectations. This is not my final home. It does not-it cannot-speak the final word.
Living by Faith
Faithfulness is the quality of living on God's terms. It is living faithfully: a citizen of another Kingdom. It means living by the values, priorities, and reality of that Kingdom even though they cannot be seen or verified in this present kingdom. We take our cues for living and dying from God's eternal kingdom. The decisions we make and the way we live may not make sense from this world's perspective. But they make perfect sense from the only perspective that really matters to us: faith.
Faithfulness is most often shown in the small things of life.
What small thing do you need to be faithful in this week?
