Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2
Proper 15 (20) - Year C
People acted. Presumably they acted on what they understood to be true for them, their faith (since we don’t have faith in that which doesn’t ring true for us). But, bottom-line, people acted.
Given the complexity of communities, there were undoubtedly some who simply acted because others led the way. It wasn’t a faith thing at all for them, just a path of least resistance.
Yet everyone on the winning side is accorded a trophy, faith is attributed to their actions whether they knew it or not. It is this mixed bag of the designated faithful we are called to emulate. They bear witness to actions accomplished and now surround us with encouragement, regardless of faith holding, to participate in the joy and journey of life. Even if you are but a tag-along, do so with all you can muster.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/08/hebrews-1129-122.html
We are called to so live that those who have lived before us might find fulfillment. We are not living for ourselves alone. The dreams of our ancestors still burn in our decisions - they burn with embarrassment for us or with joy with us.
Likewise we are so living that those who come after us may build on what we have laid down.
These are faith statements.
Are we living more worthily than the world around us would expect? If not, might it be chalked up to having lost touch with the joy of connection and larger purposes that see us through every disappointment, even that of death?
We are breaking new ground (pioneer) for those who follow and completing the harvest (perfecter) of the seeds sown before we were here. We are in this together, Jesus and you. We are in this together, ancestral descendant. We are in this together, rich and poor, male and female, Christian and Buddhist. So it is we breathe faith for ourselves and others as we work for a resurrectional new ordering.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/august2004.html
I find it intriguing to speak about varying degrees of resurrection as though some were better than others. How does a resurrection from one stage of life to another differ from a resurrection from a stage of life known as death to a stage of life known as eternity?
There is so much press about the death to life resurrection that it is difficult for us to imagine using such language for anything other than the extreme. While extreme sports are all the rage, I'm unclear that extreme resurrection is the ultimate resurrection.
To use the list given, is not the administration of justice a resurrection? [consider the current state of justice with mandated sentences undetered by any circumstance - read again Les Miserables]
Is not the escape of fire and sword a resurrection?
My own question breaks down somewhat when conquering and war are used as examples of faith. These are much less clear resurrections. A part of the unclarity is the way in which we are able to justify doing in someone else and claiming it as our resurrection [and we certainly can't claim that their being done in is their resurrection].
Here is an exercise to try - before using the term "faith", see if you can substitute the term "resurrection" (and, of course, vice versa) and have it be as meaningful. If you can, it may be a faithful application of "faith"; if not, perhaps not.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/august2004.html
Faith does not have to do with "perfection" - finally finished. Rather, faith is always "in medias res." Whether or not we eventually find a way through, there are seas surrounding us. Our context is certainly less than perfect. The same might be said for the imperfection of some of our habits of life, whether freely chosen or forced upon us - remember Rahab who was certainly among the "disobedient" and yet still had one thing going for her.
Remembering Gideon, Samson, David, and the lot - we know the imperfections of their lives, as well as what we are now calling "faith". Temptations and failures seem to be endemic to life, and yet faith beyond a fulfillment of promise is also alive and well.
So let's not look for the absolutely perfect model before we begin to simply be. It is not that we find ways to be scourged and mocked that will indicate our faithfulness to Jesus' modeling. Note the line about, "for the sake of the joy set before him" and consider what joy is currently set before you that frees you to move where you need to move. Without that deep joy we find all manner of ways in which to be bound to the contemporary manifestations of the principalities and powers.
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happy happy joy joy
[URL MISSING]
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html
Blessed are those who are persecuted for their faith. Twice blessed are those who later have someone join them to continue faithfulness in the face of persecution.
Should you pay attention to the host of ancestral models, everywhere you look there will be a challenging forerunner in the faith. While you won't be breaking any new ground, you may be able to heal some old ground simply by continuing the ancient tradition of taking any consequence that comes along by way of holding to any of the myriad ways of justice and release from captivity (your own or someone else's). As long as there is a continued need for justice to be enacted, there is an ancestor still uneasy apart from your joining them on the journey of life.
The promise here is not that we will be the final iteration of faithful folk that will complete all those who go before, but that we are on the same journey. Should we not complete a task, we will have the privilege of joining a cloud of witnesses, encouraging those who come after us to pay attention to the justice needs of their time. This is helpful in that there is a benefit from simply running as faithfully as we can. We may find ourselves blessed with the completion of a task. We may find ourselves blessed with taking that task one step further along the way to completion. Either way, we find ourselves blessed simply to do what is ours to do - regardless of the outcome.
So, who is your avatar in the faith? Gideon, Deborah, David, prophetesses? To note this person is to discern the arena of your faithfulness. May you go pro in your field of faithful endeavor. You may still be an amateur in some other arena, but improving your ability to be just in a particular life issue is possible and desirable.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/08/hebrews-1129-122.html