Sermon in Minneapolis 05.06.2005

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our services with opening prayer and thanksgiving. Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, again we thank you for this opportunity that we have been able to gather around your holy and unperishing word. And we ask for your service blessings. Be with us today, as always, and reveal unto us the reason and mystery of our salvation. Feed us with your everlasting bread from heaven. Strengthen us through your gospel message, and protect us and guide us along this narrow way of life through the power of your gospel. We ask for service blessings in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is the second Sunday after Trinity, which has the theme, the call into his kingdom. And the epistle text for today is from Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1-3: Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Amen.

This letter to the Hebrews, which was written by an unknown author to us, was to those people who were scattered about and not in any one specific locality and congregation. But it was written to those people of Jewish background who had been converted into living faith and were now members of God's living kingdom here on this earth. And perhaps for the most part, the greater portion of these so-called Hebrew believers, if we could call it a Hebrew congregation that was scattered about, received its origination at the first Pentecost. When we remember when Peter delivered that sermon on the first Pentecost, on that day, the number of believers in Jerusalem increased by 26-fold, from 120 to around 3,000 souls on one day.

But the times were quite difficult for these so-called Hebrew believers. As is mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews, they experienced great times of persecution. And the persecution was so difficult, so heavy at times, that many who had received the grace of repentance now began to fall back into their former way of life, into the way of Judaism, giving up their living faith.

This chapter 12, we could say, is a direct continuation of chapter 11. Chapter 11, as we know, is defined as the chapter of faith, which gives the definition of what faith is. And then goes on to explain throughout the chapter in great detail, giving examples of those former saints during the Old Testament times, who closed their eyes in living faith and received the testimony.

The beginning of chapter 11 begins with the definition of what faith is: Now, faith is the substance of things that I hope for. It is the evidence of things that are not seen. Faith is such a matter that it cannot be proven or tested. Scientists in their laboratories with all of their instruments, wisdom and knowledge, can in no way prove living faith.

Just a simple example from natural life, which may illustrate the nature of faith: During times past, especially in the rural areas, there was often root cellars underneath, for example, the kitchen floor, where potatoes and other such things would be stored for the winter's needs. One time, the father was down in this root cellar, and the young boy came to the edge of the hatch, the open doorway, knowing that his father was down in the dark root cellar. The father says, "Jump, and I will catch you." The boy looks down into the deep, dark hole, does not see father or anything else, but the father. The father says, "Jump, and I will catch you." Even though he cannot see anything, he has such firm trust in the word of his father that he would catch him if he jumped, that the little boy jumps into the safe arms of his waiting father below.

So here, the writer to the Hebrews says, Hebrews says, that faith is the evidence of things that are not seen. So, Luther says that faith is not pure knowledge, but it is that firm trust in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, who is the Savior of sinners. Not only this historical knowledge that he once lived and died on the cross and rose from the grave, but also this firm trust that he is my Redeemer today. By faith he dwells in my heart and is the propitiation for my sins.

So this faith is kindled or is born by the hearing of the old gospel; faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God, or hearing of the word of God. And so, Luther says that this is not of our own power, wisdom, or initiative. As he explains in the third article of the Creed, "I believe that I cannot of my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or even come unto him." It's not of our own. But the Holy Spirit has called us through the gospel. It has enlightened us by its gifts, even as it calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the one true Christian church here upon this earth.

But isn't it so that we, who are weak and failing because of our old portion, the old Adam, the corrupt flesh and blood that we have, we oftentimes doubt that, "Am I truly a believer? Am I believing in the correct way? Will I one day be able to make it to my destination, the home in heaven?" And so, Luther says in this way, if a believer does not have doubts, or does not experience doubts, one can then begin to doubt that, "Are you truly a believer at all?" Doubts are part of our lot in life and walk as a child of God and a believer. This is not because of the faith, but this is because of the weakness of our old carnal portion.

The essence of faith is this: it is strong, as Luther says, as Paul says, I think to Timothy, "I know upon whom I believe and I am sure." As Jesus says, if you have enough faith as the amount of a tiny mustard seed, you could say to the mountains, "Move," they would move from their places, and be cast into the oceans. You could say to a tree, "Rise up and move," it would be uprooted, and it would fall into the lakes and into the oceans.

So we can say that faith, and the essence of faith, is firm, sure and strong. But we are weak and doubting, because of the old portion, the carnal old Adam, that we carry. We carry with us. And we have this hope of heaven, which is pictured to be as an anchor, and the anchor is already attached, beyond the borders of time, to that eternal shore of glory, there in heaven. And with the hand of faith, we are as if holding on to that rope, attached to that anchor. This is the hope, living hope that we have, that one day we will reach the quiet, peaceful harbor there in heaven.

So, as I mentioned, the previous chapter, chapter 11, gives many illustrations of former saints, who traveled in faith, who kept the faith till the end, and then received the testimony that they were heaven acceptable. For example, the writer to the Hebrews mentions Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Isaac, Joseph, and the list goes on and on. And even the harlot, Rahab. And always says that they died having received the testimony that they were heaven acceptable.

So we could say that a believer always receives or has a three-fold testimony. First of all, there is the assurance to us of the word of God, that we are in the footsteps of the Great Shepherd. And there is the testimony for us of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. And then when one passes from this life, there is a testimony that is left with the congregation, with the children of God, the members of God's kingdom, that he or she was a child of God, endeavoring to keep faith in a good conscience.

So, we could say that this now, this chapter 12, which is before us, is a direct continuation of the chapter 11 that proceeded. And the explanation is in the 23rd verse of chapter 12, which says that we have come unto Mount Zion, which is to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

And so here, the writer of this epistle says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about, or encircled about, with so great a cloud of witnesses. And this cloud of witnesses is referring, among others, in part, to those former saints that were mentioned in the previous chapter. They are part of this general assembly. This general assembly is made up of believers, those saints which have already reached the destination and gone to glory. And it also is made up of those believers who are living here in time, here in this world, scattered throughout the globe.

And so, there are those saints who are already in the bosom of Abraham, waiting for that final judgment. And those ones we cannot see with our carnal eyes, but we are joined to them by the ties and the bonds of the Spirit. But then, we are also joined together to those believers, to those that are gathered here in this assembly this morning. But we are also joined and tied to those who are scattered throughout the world, in various parts of this continent, and wherever they may be, in the other continents.

And so, we are joined to those who are gathered in the bonds of the Spirit. And so, we are joined to those who are gathered here in this assembly, in various parts of this world, in various continents around the world.

And so, when we are thus circled about by such a great cloud of witnesses, the former saints and the saints who are living here in this time, wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, then it gives an exhortation to those who are gathered here in this world, and to those who are not gathered in this very world: Let us lay aside every weight or burden and then also sin which doth so easily beset us.

Here, the writer to the Hebrews is talking about two matters: one is weights and the other are sins. These weights which we could say are burdens or burdens of the world and the other are sins. What I mean by these burdens are not sin, but yet they encumber us on our way and on our journey.

What are these weights? What are these burdens that weigh us down and make the journey, the travel as a child of God, difficult? We may experience personal trials in our life. For example, we may be going through personal sickness or illness. Or if, for example, a loved one has recently been taken from our life. Or we may be going through other personal crises here in this life, which are not as a result of sin or fault on our part. These are the cross, part of the cross, that Jesus refers to, that he who desires to follow me, let him deny himself, take up the cross, and come and follow me.

So these are not sin, but yet they are weights which slow us down. And we can even speak about these to another travel friend, a companion, a brother and sister in living faith. And even when opening up to speak about these, and able to hear the gospel, this gives us strength to endure even such weights and burdens.

But then the writer to the Hebrews says, not only weights, but then also we can lay aside the sin which doth so easily beset us. We are not angels here in time. We carry two portions. We carry the old Adam, which is the carnal portion, which has not repented and will never repent during this time. As the apostle Paul says, that the flesh battles against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. The good that I wished to do, I find myself doing not. And the evil that I would wish not to do, that I often find myself doing. Oh, what a wretched man I am. Who can deliver me from this body of sin and death?

And so our battle, our endeavor here on this earth as a child of God, is one of continuously trying to find the truth, continually mortifying our flesh through the power of the Spirit. And so we need to wash each other's feet as Jesus gave as an example. Not in this that we would become more righteous or more blessed or more in a better saved condition, but know that the burdens and the weights of sin could be laid aside so that we could take light footsteps as a child of God.

And as has often been said, if a person would continually neglect the caring for the conscience, eventually this will and would lead one to death of the soul. And so we need to wash each other's feet as Jesus gave as an example.

As the writer to the Hebrews mentions, referring to the travel of the wilderness journey, of the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, that began that trek through the 40 years in the wilderness, and of that generation that started the journey, only two were able to cross the River Jordan and pass into the wilderness.

And so we need to wash each other's feet as Jesus gave as an example.

And so here he continues, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. We need patience. It is like a long distance run. It is not the first one who crosses the finish line who receives the reward. But everyone who eventually crosses the finish line will be rewarded with the eternal crown of glory there in heaven. Whether one is still able to be running or whether one is crawling on their hands and feet and just able to drag themselves across the finish line. When the finish line is crossed, one has kept the faith, and the faith till the end. The reward will be given: the eternal crown of life there in heaven.

So then he tells us how to run this race: By looking unto Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith.

Sometimes little children, young boys and girls, have played a little game. They take a log or a plank and perhaps set it on two chairs. And they try to walk across this narrow plank from one end to the other. And whoever makes it across receives a point. And if they fall off this log or the plank halfway between, then they would lose a point. And then the person who receives the most points by the time the game ends is declared the winner.

But have you ever tried walking across a narrow plank? And if we would, for example, look to make sure that we don't fall to the left, isn't it so that perhaps then we will fall? Or we will fall the other direction to the right? And if we guard ourselves by looking to the right side of the plank, isn't it so that we end up falling to the left side of the plank?

Herein is a very clear illustration of how it is during our walk of faith as well. If during our walk of faith we would constantly guard, for example, the left side, or the right side, of the journey, that this is where the enemy is going to come from, and pay no heed to the right side, that is where the enemy often then attacks. If we look to the right side of the road and just guard the right side, thinking that is where the dangers of the journey are going to come from, isn't it so that the enemy then begins to attack from the left side? Such is the nature of the journey.

The writer to the Hebrews says, and in that little game, if we pick a point of reference up at the height of the horizon, far out in the distance, we find that we are able to walk a straight path across the plank and easily make it from one edge to the other.

And so this is what the writer to the Hebrews is saying as well. In our walk of faith, we are walking on this narrow way of life. And even though it is narrow, and it seems that our footsteps often want to stray sometimes to the left, or at other times to the right, the Psalmist said, it is such a way that even the foolish will not go astray from this pathway.

And so we could say the mystery, or our solution, our help, is to look unto Jesus. He has that point in the reference, in the far, far distance, out on the horizon. And that is our goal of faith. That is the reason why we are believing. That is the reason why we endeavor to keep faith and a good conscience. For we live here in this time, but a brief moment. And the goal of our faith is that we would be heaven acceptable when we can close our eyes to this world and be translated from this time to the bosom of Abraham, to the glory of heaven.

So look upon Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, he despised the shame, and he is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him, Jesus Christ, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.

So, brothers and sisters, again this morning, we are not able to continue to take footsteps along this narrow way of life, nor remain on this narrow way of life through our own power, reason, or strength. But it is alone through the power of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

Jesus Christ is our salvation. He is our righteousness. He is our purity. He is our sanctification and redemption. So even now we can uplift our wearied, tempted, and tried eyes from the dark pits of our evil heart. Uplift him to Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith. And through his works he desires to lift us and carry us, and will one day bring us to our home in heaven.

And we also have these grace helps; for example, this morning we have Holy Communion, which is the table of the Lord set before us. And herein our weak faith is strengthened. Our hope is renewed, and the bonds of love are also strengthened. In Jesus' name, Amen.