Tenth Sunday After Pentecost (C) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Hebrews 12:2
Theme: The Race of Faith



Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The race of faith is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. All that matters in the end is the finish. Today the believers of old are commended for their faithfulness in the race of faith. Many of them ran the gauntlet. But God did not forsake them. Hebrews Eleven says, “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them.”1 Yet God was pleased to be called their God.

The Bible says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”2 This involves being alert to dangers that can’t at first be seen. A woman driving an SUV was coming to a green light in a quiet city suburb. Suddenly another motorist driving a sporty sedan shot through the red light. The woman alertly applied the brakes and swerved, narrowly missing a pedestrian waiting at the far cross walk. Evasive action was required to avoid accident and injury. A commercial airline pilot was circling above a busy international airport waiting for permission to land. Unexpectedly, one engine failed forcing an emergency landing. The pilot maneuvered the aircraft to safety- a difficult task given the congestion at the airport. Evasive action was necessary to avoid catastrophe. A marathon runner was on the last leg of the race. The pace had picked up for the finish. Suddenly, two contestants ahead of him got their legs tangled and went down causing a third to runner to stumble. Evasive action was required to finish the race.

Dear friends, walking by faith also requires evasive action. The Bible says, “Flee from idolatry.”3 We are to avoid at any cost everything that would cause injury to our faith. We are to shun every temptation and falsehood that would take us off the narrow road. Our Scripture says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”4 That means in our daily walk of life- including our understanding of the world, our decision-making processes, our method of valuing things, our determinations of what constitutes success or failure- Christians trust that God’s will and His truths are the surest foundation.

It’s not a fait accompli, it’s a struggle. As the years pass the distinction between a Christian worldview and a secular one becomes more and more clear. Our culture says we should walk by feeling. Do whatever feels best to you! Our decisions and valuations should be made accordingly- society says. Truth is becoming cultural and contextual, if it’s even recognized at all.

Critical and constructive methods of scrutiny- of determining right from wrong, truth from falsehood- are being thrown to the wind. Sometimes they’re labelled as restrictive and even oppressive. In their place comes the revered self and the privilege of personal choice. Now, to be sure, there are many benefits to the personal choices we have available to us today. But can it really be that truth is relative? Can everyone’s personal opinions, ideas, preferences, and values be just as valid as everyone else’s? Or, are some things more or less objective? And is that objectivity defined and measured by a higher authority?

I’m begging the question, of course, not because we don’t know the answer, but because we don’t want to know the answer- we don’t want to hear it. Sinners never do. The sinful human nature relishes the idea of being the definer and arbitrator of truth. We can play God, even it’s just in our limited spheres of influence and experience. The tendency is inborn- a consequence of original sin. We aspire to manipulate God and elevate ourselves at the expense of others. It starts from the earliest age. Consider, for example, these short letters written by children to their pastor: Dear Pastor, please say in your sermon Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete, age 9. Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished. Ralph, age 11. Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody, but He never met my sister. Yours Sincerely, Arnold, age 8.
Don’t think for a moment that in adulthood such self-interested thinking ceases. Dear friends, even our consciences know intuitively that higher authority exists- we’re not God. We might be pretty good at ignoring God’s wisdom and keeping Him at the margins of our lives, but He’s out there and He can only be deferred for so long. He’ll not only come into the picture at some point, but He’ll turn the whole scenario upside down- everything in our lives- if we’re not already firmly on His foundation.
Today Jesus labeled as hypocrites those who could look at the clouds and predict the weather but couldn’t interpret the signs of the times5. We can’t construct our own truths. This issue strikes right at the heart of our understanding of existence. Can some of us have been created in God’s image while others of us were descended from apes? Can adultery be good for some and bad for others? Can lying or gossip benefit some but harm others? Can abortion be beneficial to one mother and not to another? Is it ever beneficial for the baby? Can the earth be flat and round at the same time? Can two plus two equal four for some people but five for others? Can God be whoever and whatever we’d like Him to be? Will there not be consequences for false belief, for the blind and whole-hearted following of fabricated reality?

Walking by faith requires evasive action but we can only do it because Christ avoided nothing when it came to our salvation. He didn’t avoid the shame, the rejection, the suffering, and most of all, the experience of death. He went to the cross. Today Jesus says He has a baptism to undergo. He says He’ll be in distress until it’s completed. The ‘baptism’ He refers to is His crucifixion. He will be immersed in the fire of divine wrath against sin. He will be drowned in the sea of our transgressions. His crucifixion was a baptism of blood.

The life of the divine Son of God was given over to sacrifice so that the souls of sinners could be spared. Christian baptism connects us directly into the redeeming work of Christ according to the Scripture that says, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”6 In baptism the punishment for our sins is laid in the grave and just as Christ rose from death, we are raised to new spiritual life. [That’s what has happened for Milla Fieldhouse this morning.]

Baptism enters us into the race of faith. It’s a race we never run alone. The Good Shepherd is always in the lead. The Holy Spirit runs at our side. The great cloud of witnesses accompanies us. We can have the certainty of the Psalmist who says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.”7 We are fed by the body and blood of the Saviour, holy food for hungry souls. When the race becomes too much we’re never left along the way. The Saviour carries us to the finish. He puts us on His shoulders, like the lost lamb, and brings us home rejoicing. Therefore, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame…”8Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
18 August 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 Hebrews 11:36-38 2 2 Corinthians 5:7
3 1 Corinthians 10:14 4 Hebrews 12:1
5 See Luke 12:56 6 Romans 6:3-4
7 Psalm 23:4 8 Hebrews 12:2