( Hebrews 12:12-18, 22-25a ) - [ Deutsch ]
I had invited guests. The bell rang and I opened the door. Who was at the door? It was Elijah, Jonah, Sarah and Peter. From the first moment I could see that they were tired, exhausted, at the end of their tether. What could be the reason? I found it strange. They were religious people. All should be well with them. I invited them in; asked them to sit down. I was curious and asked them: ”Why are you looking so tired?”. They did not answer me. They looked at each other. Did they not have the courage to answer me? But why? Was it because they believed that one should not show weakness? Especially as a believer in Christ one always has God on your side. Very strange.
At last they did confide in me. They admitted that they were tired. Tired in body and soul. Elijah was tired because he was full of fear and he had no self confidence. Jonah had burnout after success at work. Sarah had no hope any more for a child of her own and the people around her were making life difficult. Peter was tired because he always had to defend Jesus when his co-disciples disappointed him.
Dear congregation.
My thoughts went back more than 2000 years; to the time of the Old Testament and the New Testament. There was wars raging; there was discord; fighting; dissatisfaction in each other. Very much like today. Many people were tired and exhausted. There were whole nations who had no hope for the future. The Hebrews were like that. The religious enthusiasm of the first generation of Christians had subsided. Everything became lukewarm. The Hebrews had lost their passion for God, their hearts were not in it anymore.
In the 12th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews the author deals with this slackness. In the first few verses of the chapter he tells the Christians that to be a Christian is not always easy. It is not heaven on earth. The way of a good Christian does not go through paradise. It is often a road through the desert. Just like the road the Israelites had to travel when they left Egypt. The desert is full of poisonous snakes; no water and little to eat; extreme weather conditions and lots of enemies. A real death zone. The Hebrews were tired of it all and the author of the letter to them tried to encourage them. He wanted them to focus on their religious duties again. This is what he wrote to them: (Hebrews 12:12-18, 22-25a)
“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and week knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Make sure no one is immoral or godless like Esau who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. You have come to Mount Zion to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels. You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge of all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.”
Christians also become tired because even with Jesus by their side life is not always easy.
Problems are not solved immediately. Christians do not automatically have everything in their grasp. Christians must also make the right decisions. And that is not always easy. Everyday life can be overwhelming. Do you recognise this? Sometimes we should examine our faith. How would you evaluate your own faith at this moment? On a scale of 1 to 10, where will you be?
Some of you can now be asking yourself: Can a Christian become weary of faith? Shouldn't a Christian always have a smile on his face and a positive outlook on the world? Isn't everything always going swell? After all, we have Jesus as our savior. Our path ahead is surely looking fine. Does a weariness in faith have a place in our lives? Yes. Children of God may be weary. No one is perfect because we are all humans. God loves us in spite of everything. When our faith is grinding slowly or when we try to avoid thinking of him, God still loves us. He finds ways to lift us up out of our weariness to get our faith scale well balanced again. He did it at that time with Elijah and Jonah and Sarah and Peter:
Elijah was lifted by an angel who ordered him to get up and showed him the way with a goal at the end.
Jonah overcame his lethargy after a long argument with God.
Sarah lifted herself up by waiting patiently for the promises to her became true.
Peter was lifted out of his tiredness by the transfiguration of Jesus; the anticipation of the Easter experience served to understand Jesus' upcoming suffering as a path to glory.
Do you recognise yourself in one of these or maybe any other Bible figure? Has anyone suffered a drought in faith or an exhaustion in faith? Did you find a way out of it? Or are you still in it? Are you scared to admit it to yourself? Are you reluctant to discuss it with someone else?
In our Bible text for today it sounds as if the Hebrews had been left to themselves to get out of their weariness and to face their obligation to the congregation. “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and week knees. Make level paths for your feet, so you can pursue peace and experience sanctification through the triune God – the deity of the new covenant who you cannot see or touch, but who wants to come into your hearts and dwell therein.” These words are directed to more than one person. This advice is offered to more than one person. Therefor we must support each other; the strong must help the weak and the weak must accept the help offered. This concept is not generally accepted in the world today. I think it would be wonderful to simply receive strength in your tired limbs so that this train of responsibility can start – strengthen yourself, pursue peace and sanctification, and make sure that no one misses this train of grace. If only it can be so easy.
It is a challenge for tired people to get up by themselves. People weary in faith also find this difficult. There are after all reasons for this weariness. Maybe you are disappointed in God; maybe you are not convinced of God any more; maybe you have waited so long and have given up. Or maybe you belong to the group of people who say: ”I may not be negative about God. God is love; how can I even think that God has forgotten me. Or that he does not see my suffering.?
It is so easy to swim with the stream of the congregation and to say and do what they do. Thus we protect ourselves and avoid conflicts. But in times of crises we are forced to look into the mirror and notice that what we believe differs from what the others are saying. Then we have get up and do something. We must ask ourselves: ”What do I really believe? Of what am I convinced?” It is easier to avoid critical questions and to carry on with your life and to disown the truth.
But is that what God wants of us? All positive changes begins by being honest. God wants us to be completely honest with him. In any case he always knows what is going on in our hearts, and what our feelings and convictions are. We can hide nothing from him. Only when we face our own doubts do we come nearer to God. Only then do we open our hearts to the power and love of God. And only then do we experience the strength in our hands and in our feeble knees and then we can take forceful steps with our feet and not stumble along. Then we can fulfill God's mission and pursue peace and a holy life without which we will not see God. Then we can meet God, the judge over everyone and everything. We can also meet Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. Then God can use us for his kingdom.
This is what our text is all about: be honest to yourself and trust in God. Stop trying to fool yourself and face God's truth. That is the only way to Jesus our savior, whom you have not seen yet, and whose everlasting love we can already feel in our hearts if we are open to it. The text is an expression of the grace and love of God: “You are not alone to face everything that comes your way. I am there for you. I stand in for you especially for the wrongs in your life; for your mistakes, your fears and your doubts and your debts. This is possible through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and his blood. He helps us, he gives us strength. To hold on to God and his strength is the only way out of our adversity. Then we can pursue peace and look after our fellow men and women, that they do not stumble and that God's grace does not pass them by.
In 1964 Margaret Fishback Powers wrote the poem “Footprints in the Sand”. I want to read it to you and to my friends Elijah, and Jonah and Sarah and Peter. There are copies of the poem for you at the doors to take home and to keep for encouragement and healing.
One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
There was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
“Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You,
You would walk and talk with me all the way.
But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I just don’t understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.”
― Margaret Fishback Powers