Out of Time

A final thought from Pastor Matt about the recent sermon series, Playing by the Rules. Because sometimes you just don’t have enough time to get it all in on a Sunday morning.

In Pastor Matt’s Bible Class on Wednesdays, we walk through every verse and talk about these kind of things–literary styles, writing conventions, word choices, translation challenges, etc.  It’s wall to wall Bible nerdery in there.  We shy away from nothing, and if it takes the whole hour to digest 3-4 words, so be it.

During the Playing by the Rules series, we took a look at the “faith hall of fame” section of the Book of Hebrews, from chapter 11.  I’m not sure if you noticed, but I went from verse 5 to verse 7, and skipped over verse 6.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

This is not a verse that lists members of the faith hall of fame–it’s an additional thought added that interrupts the list, which continues in verse 7 with Noah of “Noah’s Ark” fame.  Beyond that, I feared that people’s reaction to “...anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists…” would be something like, “Well… duh!”  Would someone actually approach God if they didn’t believe God exists?  How do you approach something that isn’t there anyway? 

This is a rabbit hole I decided I didn’t have time for on a Sunday morning.  Had we gone down said rabbit hole, we would have looked at verses 5 & 6 together.  The verse before this, Hebrews 11:5, lists Enoch among the faith heroes of Israel.

“5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  (Hebrews 11:5-6)

That quotation is from the Old Testament, Genesis 5:24.

“Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

(Genesis 5:24)

The author is making a case that all of these people trusted in God without knowing exactly how everything would work out.  They went to their deaths–or their “taking away” in Enoch’s case–believing that there was something more to come that God would do, and even if they would never see it in their lifetime, their faith was still placed rightly.  They were part of a shared faith journey that would culminate in Jesus Christ.

No one really knows what it means that Enoch was “taken away.”  That’s all it says.  Some interpret it to mean that he was taken up into the presence of God, and others that he was led by God to a place that was safer.  Either way, his extraordinary life described in Hebrews 11:5 is the result of the faith described in 11:6.  Verse 5 says Enoch pleased God.  Verse 6 says, “Since we’re talking about pleasing God, here’s what that means…”  Then in verse 7, it’s back to the list.

The author of Hebrews was making the case for faith in Christ to a Jewish audience who would have revered the people on this list from childhood.  He or she is therefore celebrating their faith heroes, affirming them.  In short–embracing Christ is not a rejection of these heroes.  On the contrary, Jesus Christ is where all of their lives were leading too.  Thus, to walk in their footsteps–all of whom pleased God–is to walk toward Jesus Christ as well.