Hebrews 10:32-39
The author of Hebrews is writing to a group of Jewish Christians who are wavering in their faith. These men and woman have been in the middle of the persecutions visited on the new Christian sect. They had suffered much. They had stood by their fellow Christians in prison and joyfully let go of confiscated property because they had believed that their new-found faith was worth whatever it cost. But now they were growing tired and all that they could see ahead was more of the same. They began to wonder if perhaps they had been wrong. Maybe their old way of life was better after all. Their ability to persevere was being tested.
Perseverance is an old fashioned word to this generation. We don’t really expect things to last. Our products are made to wear out (built-in obsolescence) so that we can support the economy by spending more money to buy newer models. We don’t take our small appliances to a repair shop. We don’t even bother to darn our socks or get our shoes shined, we simply toss and replace. We are not much better with our relationships. The divorce rate continues to increase, and like our products, if a marriage is not working, we toss it and look for another. (The divorce rate among Christians equals that of non-Christians.) We engage in church shopping if the music or ministers don’t meet our expectations. We move from one thing to another never staying with anything long enough to master it. You get the idea. We are impatient people with little endurance for things that do not have an immediate pay off.
The Jewish Christians in the first flush of faith were prepared to take a stand and endure whatever came their way. Now they were beginning to think that faith was overrated. The author pleads with them not to give up the fight. He points out that Christianity in not a short-term faith. He encourages the believers by saying they will receive their reward if they do not give up or shrink back. He tells them to hang in there and “fight the good fight.”
The ancient monks knew of this tendency to become discouraged, to grow tired or get bored with the things of God. They referred to it as “the noonday devil.” It was an inner temptation that attacked after the morning burst of energy, when the day was at its hottest. It was the temptation to let down, seek the shade. They felt so strongly about this temptation that they named it one of the seven deadly sins called sloth or acedia.
Our author quotes Habakkuk. 2:3-4. “But he who is coming will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” He then goes on to say “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” He is coming! That is the word of Advent. You will not want to get caught napping or running in the wrong direction. Continue in diligence and passion for the things of God. Do not shrink back! Persevere!
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