Dearest family,
On Sunday we “finished” the “Finding Father” series only because time ran out on us, but I ended by trying to stress the crucial importance of fatherly encouragement. One of the passages we looked at was Hebrews 12, a passage that has been one of the main texts for the men’s ministry this year and your theme of “perseverance.” We noted that what is presented is a realistic picture of what most Christian communities, just like ours, face in the course of daily living in a culture that is utterly antagonistic to faith. This is not a stroll in the park, but a race, and the word used here implies conflict and potential pain. It is translated as “sufferings” in Phils. 1:30; as “strivings” in Cols. 2:1; as “opposition” in 2 Thess. 2:2; as “fight” in 1 Tim. 6:12. We looked at the number of descriptions of what are very debilitating circumstances and pressures:
ο Hindered (v1): bogged down, cluttered, no freedom of movement, feeling confined, carrying baggage and weights that interfere with forward progress;
ο Entangled (v1): tripped up, even little disorders that cause stumbling;
ο Unfocused (v2): unsynchronized eyes, a wandering eye, not fixed on what it should be;
ο Shamed (v2): maybe by the present situation, by present struggles, by present evaluation of life and prospects, by past decisions and mistakes;
ο Dejected (v3): losing heart, beaten down, disappointment like a dripping tap;
ο Fatigued (v3-4): the struggle against temptation and sin, continual resistance takes its toll and is wearying – it is part of the cost of obedience;
ο Troubled (v7): hardships keep pressing in and it seems that there are more opposing circumstances than enabling ones;
ο Indisciplined (v7): always intending to but never intentional, spiritually slovenly;
ο Weak (v12): exaggerated sense of worthlessness, and inability, loss of self-value;
ο Stumbling (v13): difficulty in standing firm in one’s commitments and convictions, not walking in the right paths;
ο Bitter (v15): undealt with roots of bitterness and offence that feed ingrained responses of anger toward God and others that corrupts the soul and defiles others close to you;
ο Impure (v16): polluting the streams of personhood with unholy sexuality.
How depressing is all this? How discouraging? Are you kidding me! The last chapter ended: “God had planned something better for us!” (11:40) So what hope is there? Right in the middle of all this we read: ”You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons…God is treating you as sons… For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined then you are illegitimate children and not true sons…” (vs.5-8) What this situation of challenge and pressure and despondency most needs is the encouragement of the father. And that is exactly what is given. The encouragement is actually the perspective about what is really going on, that is not in fact going to bring them down but build them up. This truth crucially qualifies our understanding of “perseverance”. It is so easy to see perseverance as something that is going to be mainly determined by the right decisions we make, and the way we choose to hang in there, stay obedient, not let go, push through, resolve not to give up. Now it is not that there is truth in that. It’s not just the whole picture. The text says that it is not our “grit and grind” that makes for the perseverance, but the fact that we understand the following:
i. That the circumstances that seem unco-operative with my well-being are the very context in which Father God is training us to be like Him. Even Jesus was not exempt from this. Earlier in Hebrews (5:8) we read “Although he was a son he learned obedience from what he suffered.” In other words, endurance and perseverance is in fact a sign of true sonship. That’s what sons do. They persevere. Why?
ii. Because they understand that as sons they choose to “submit to the Father of our spirits.” (v9) The last words before those I just read to you from 5:8 described Jesus the son’s “reverent submission.” This is basically talking about God as our spiritual father. And what good fathers do best is train their sons and daughters in character and in wisdom. And what good sons do is submit to their love and nurture. Perseverance is only possible and understandable when we understand that the motivation behind it is all about relating to the love and will of the father. There will be no joy or comprehension in perseverance that does not get this. It cannot be sustained by an orphan, a slave or an illegitimate. If there is no assurance of God’s fathering of us, then we have no security about the outcomes.
iii. Talking of outcomes. We need to understand and accept the father’s intent in the circumstances he chooses, or allows to train us. The text is clear: “…for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” In other words, be just like dad. The text says he is treating us as his sons and daughters. The text states the reality: the training does not seem pleasant at the time, and it is really painful. There’s no point in saying it doesn’t hurt. It really does. It’s not about putting a brave face on it, but about bringing the reality of our feeble arms and weak knees, and all the other disabilities to the healing encouragement of the father.
We need to admit that the nature of difficulties in our lives and circumstances, the things that require perseverance of us, can have an adverse effect. , in making They can precipitate two things:
1. faithlessness: making us want to throw in the towel or wave the white flag.
2. hardness of heart: in the process of having to tough-it-out we actually become tough, we become hard which maybe expressed or manifested in many different ways like numbness, disengagement, unresponsiveness, cynicism.
It’s therefore interesting that a few chapters earlier, in 3:13, we are told to “encourage one another daily”. Why? So that we will be like jesus the son who was “faithful to the one who appointed him… faithful as a son over God’s house…” then later “so that none of you will be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” In other words, encouragement is the powerful spiritual antidote to both faithlessness and hardness. Encouragement is the infuser of courage when faithfulness is challenged. The text says that like Jesus the son, we are part of the Father’s house, “if we hold on to our courage” or in other words, stay encouraged by the father, as Jesus was. Encouragement is the powerful softening agent if you like, of the hardness that is the natural by-product of all those things we listed at the beginning. Isn’t it amazing! Encouragement, to be encouraged, is literally to be filled with courage. So it is encouragement that is the gift that keeps us faithful as sons, even as Jesus was, as a son, and the gift of the father that keeps us soft-hearted amidst hard circumstances.
Have you known the encouragement of the Father recently? Have you asked for it? Have you received it?
Encouragingly yours,
Stuart
http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)