wandering after a promise

Good morning sisters and brothers,
This 11th chapter of Hebrews is a remembrance of some of the heroes of the faith. The author uses them as examples of faith to encourage the congregation to which he/she is writing. The paragraph before this recalls Abel, Enoch and Noah and their faith in God. Today the author moves on to Abraham, who gets more attention, both in scripture and in this narrative. The idea is that faith allows us to trust God's promises and to live by hope, looking forward to God's future even when our situation is hard. Abraham is a great example because he left everything he knew behind when God called him and set off into the unknown with just God's promise to follow.

The second paragraph moves from remembering Abraham to looking at the big picture. The big picture seems to be that people of faith make their home with God and make that relationship their priority. That means there's a sense in which we are all wanderers here on earth. We are home, but still looking for our true homeland, which is with God. This line of thinking makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Many of us have seen faith used to point people to heaven in a way that encourages them to ignore the reality of the present. That's the kind of faith Marx calls an opiate, and not without justification. We know from Jesus and the prophets that our faith calls us to be engaged and active here and now to make the world a better, more just place and to serve our neighbors. At the same time, Hebrews is right to remind us that this present life and home is not all there is. Our ultimate allegiance is to God, so we shouldn't be too comfortable here. Our goal is engagement without loosing sight of the fact that none of the things around us last forever. God is faithful and in the end our home is with him.

God bless,
Sam

Hebrews 11:8-16
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 he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—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 country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.