"The Inward Journey...ENDURE"
("The Things That ENDURE")
- Rev. Ken Streitenberger
Assistant Pastor
the Scripture Lessons:
Hebrews 12: 18-29
I Corinthians 13:13
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It has nothing whatsoever to do with the sermon of the day, but I have a riddle for you. The riddle asks the question, “Who lives the more satisfied life: a man with 6 children or a man with a million dollars?” The answer, of course, is the man with six children. The man with the million dollars still wants more.
While I’m at it, I suppose you heard about the family that had twelve children? The mother of those twelve children was confronted one day by a friend. Said the friend, “After twelve children, I would imagine you’ve run out of names.” To which the mother replied, “Oh, no, I’ve got plenty of names for my children, but I have run out of names to call my husband!”
At Annual Conference many years ago, I remember a man coming up to me. This was a good twenty-five or thirty years ago that it happened. The man appeared to be between the ages of 65-75. He was serving as one of the ushers for the conference. This man had walked by me 20 or 30 times in the course of his week of ushering. (I usually sat in about the same spot for each session of the conference.) One day, toward the end of the week, this man stopped and asked me if my name was by any chance “Samuel.” I said “no” it wasn’t. Then this older gentleman said, “That’s funny. You look just like somebody I went to school with. I thought maybe your name was Samuel.” And then he went on about his duties.
With chagrin on my face, I turned to a friend who was seated beside me and who had overheard the conversation. I asked my friend, “Do I look like I went to school with that man?” Remember, I would have been in my early thirties at that point. Evidently that usher had not allowed for the changes of time and age.
In the scripture reading for the day from Hebrews, the author had some words regarding change. Now, the author of Hebrews wasn’t saying whether change was good or bad, stressful or calming, dramatic or subtle. He was only say to expect change. He was saying only that change is inevitable, so be ready for it and change with it.
That in itself would be enough of a message for us this morning if we heard it, but the letter to the Hebrews goes on to talk about change in the context of God’s plan for the world and her people. The letter talks about change in the context of God being the refining fire and the trembling earthquake shaking the foundations of the earth until only the unshakable remains. The letter says that ours is a world of transition and change, but the letter also says that there are some things that do not change. The letter suggests that there are some things that endure.
The sermon this morning is about “The Things That Endure;” That “Inward Journey…” where we discover the things that endure. What are the things that endure? How are they? What effect do they have on us and on our world?
At different ages in our lives we probably would draw up a variety of lists of what the things are that endure. For instance, at age six, we might well have thought that an automobile trip would last forever. At age seventeen, we might have been convinced that complexion problems were around for eternity. In our twenties, we probably would have felt that waiting for our turn, our chance to make a mark in the world was taking forever to come. And by the time we hit forty, we were sure that it was our responsibilities –be they at home or the office— that last forever. By sixty, it is retirement age that seems an eternity away. And for the elderly, well sometimes just the loneliness of the day itself seems to last forever.
But all of these things, we find as we pass from one stage, from one age to another, are only temporal. They, too, change and disappear as their time is up. So the question remains, “What are the things that endure?” Is it money that endures? Is it power? It is prestige, the pride of a good name? Is it a building made of masonry and steel? Do any of these things last unchanged forever? --We know the answer to be “no.” They are all subject to change, erosion, rust, decay.
Well, then what are the things that endure? What lasts forever? --I would propose to you the answer which we find in a different letter of the New Testament. I would suggest we look to the first letter the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth. In that part of his letter known as “the love chapter,” down just before the end, he writes, “There are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love…” (I Corinthians 13:13)
I would submit to you that those are the things the author of Hebrews is talking about when he writes about the things that endure. Those are the three things I would like us to spend a few minutes looking at seeing how their endurance affects our inward journey.
I.
The author of Hebrews defines faith as
“The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
He says faith is that which gives substance and meat to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we cannot see. He says that faith is confident trust, and in the Christian sense, it is based on evidence –but often it goes beyond reason. Faith is believing not only in the character and integrity of God but in God’s power as well. Faith involves a commitment of the individual to that power and to a working out of God’s will.
The story in Hebrews goes on to show how in the long drama of history, humanity’s faith in God has enabled people to survive, to grow, to conquer kingdoms, to enforce justice, to receive the promise of the better life. The author recounts the faith of Abraham when he was called to go to a new land and become a new people. The author talks of the faith of Moses in taking leadership of his people. He recalls the faith of the Israelites as they crossed the Red Sea and journeyed to a strange and foreign land.
But the author also implies that all was not easy and sweet with these people. He relates that in the process of achieving these triumphs, people were broken and oppressed, beaten down and destroyed. But still their faith endured, he said. Be they carted off to exile in Babylon; be they ravaged by a foreign power; be they forced to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land –their faith in God endured. Their faith in the unseen but proven power and love of God brought them through. Scarred? Maybe. Tired? Of course. Longing for peace? Often. Yet filled with faith. Convinced that God would be with them wherever they went, their faith endured and because of it, they survived.
It is that kind of enduring faith that we need in our lives. When people have a faith that makes them certain of even the things they cannot see or control, then they can face both change and decay. They can survive the whiplash of defeat. They can overcome the powers and the kingdoms. People who have faith in God are sustained by something that lasts. They feel upheld by the spirit of God and they are conscious that “underneath are the everlasting arms.” Faith in God is one of the things that endures.
II.
The second thing that Paul says lasts forever is hope.
Did you ever stand out on a clear, dark night –one of those nights when there is no moon, when there are no clouds— and look at the stars? Or maybe just lie on the ground and let your imagination go? Take in all the sparkles? Travel to all the planets? Try to fathom the distance and vast expanses involved? And then recall what the Psalmist wrote?
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4)
That is quite a humbling experience, for the stars are magnificent in their patterns and in their luminescence. When we remember the figures regarding the speed at which those stars and their light rays are traveling through space and the facts about why they shine and the size of the raging infernos of atomic explosions that make them alive, we are impressed, we are awestruck! --And then we remember that only when it grows dark, only in the blackness of night can we see that great spectacle.
One of God’s natural creations assures us that even in the midst of great darkness, life is not altogether desolate. The stars that are visible only at night remind us that God, who is Light, is roundabout us at all times. The stars remind us of our hope.
Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German philosopher, said it this way:
“Two things fill my soul with always new and increasing wonder and awe…: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”
The one reminds us that God still reigns in the universe and that God’s light still shines. The other confirms in us the hope that right is right, because God is God.
Hope is not an easy attitude to maintain –especially in a world of change and despair. But just as the stars can be seen only in the dark of night, so does hope shine its brightest when the storm clouds gather. Only where there is despair is there hope. Only after the night is there the dawn.
As one sensitive soul has written:
“Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness. Hoping is knowing that there is love, it is trust in tomorrow, it is falling asleep and waking again when the sun rises. In the midst of a gale at sea, it is to discover land. In the eyes of another it is to see that he understands you… As long as there is still hope, there will also be prayer… And God will be holding you in his hand.” (“With Open Hands,” Nouwen, p. 85)
--Hope endures forever.
III.
The third and final of the things Paul says endures forever is love. Now at first you might say “how can that be?” We know from experience that love doesn’t always last. Love doesn’t always endure.
Yes, romantic love, for one reason or another, doesn’t always endure. But the love of which Paul speaks is different from and surpasses romantic love. Romantic love emanates from this greater love but it is an imperfect copy of it. The love which Paul says “will never come to an end” finds its source in the love of God. It is an all-giving, self-giving, all–encompassing love. It is a love that holds the key to all the processes of the universe.
There is a story told by one person who witnessed a very small example of this love at work. Said the person,
“I was walking along an avenue of the garden one day, my dog running in front of me. Suddenly, the dog took shorter steps and began to steal along as though tracking game.
“I saw a young sparrow. It had fallen out of the nest and sat unable to move, helplessly flapping its half-grown wings.
“My dog was approaching it slowly when, suddenly darting down from a tree close by, an old sparrow fell like a stone right before the dog’s nose –all ruffled up, terrified, with despairing and pitiful cheeps, the old sparrow flung itself twice toward the open jaws of shining teeth. In order to protect its young, the bird offered up itself.
“I hastened to call off the disconcerted dog,” continued the teller of the story, “and went away, full of reverence for that tiny, heroic bird, for its impulse of love. Love,” concludes the story, “is stronger than death or even the fear of death. Only by love is life held together and advanced.” (Ivan Turgenev, Manual, p. 151)
Now that is the love that goes unchanged forever. That is the love that prompted God to offer a Son that we might have peace with God. That is the love that in some strange way ministers to life, binds up its wounds, heals its hurts, removes its stings, defeats evil, and brings into play the sweet balm of peace. It is love like that that proves stronger than hate, more precious than riches, and absolutely defiant of death. It is that kind of love around which God has organized this universe and established as the motivating power behind all good courses of action. It is that kind of love we refer to when we say that God is love. –And that love endures –outlasts everything— forever.
* * * * *
“There are three things,” says Paul, “that last forever: faith, hope and love.” These are the unshakable things that will remain when all else is shaken. These are the things that can endure in our lives. –A faith in the goodness and power of God that enables us to survive even when we are whipped by defeat. –A hope in the brightness of God that shines through even the darkest of clouds and the heaviest of storms and reminds us that God is with us come what may. –A love, grounded in gratitude for the love of God for us, that is the foundation on which all relationships are built, a love that triumphs even over hurt, even over death.
What are the things in our lives that endure –outlast everything—forever? In this season of Lent as we have journeyed together, as we have looked within, as we have stirred for growth, if we are blessed, if we are fortunate, then we have found at least the seeds of these three things
–faith, hope, and love. May the journey find them growing within us.
Amen.
