Rev. David Holwick ZK
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 30, 1994
Hebrews 11:13-16
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I. Wandering forever as strangers. 11:13
A. Being a stranger in Europe.
1) Few of them speak the right language.
2) They don't recognize the USA as all-important.
3) We felt different, like we didn't belong. (Japanese are key tourists)
4) It's an important image of what it is like to be a Christian.
B. Greek terms used.
1) "Xenoi," a stranger and a foreigner.
a) Hard life. Regarded with suspicion and hatred.
b) Considered better to be poor at home than a stranger
abroad.
c) Could mean refugee.
2) "Paroikein," to sojourn or wander.
a) We wandered - a lot.
1> Sometimes one country a day.
2> We wandered in Paris for 8 hours, at night.
3> Tough to live out of suitcases.
b) Resident alien.
1> Used of Jews when captives in Egypt and Babylon.
2> Not much above a slave in the social order.
3) "Parepidemos," a temporary visitor.
a) No settled place to call home.
b) Considered humiliating, because locals suspected them of
some evil that had exiled them.
c) We felt this when we lost our passports.
1> Toured Europe on a lousy xerox of our front page.
2> In Switzerland, image of Celeste lead off in chains.
C. Sojourner became a symbol of Christians.
1) There is a sense in which we don't belong on this earth.
a) We should be different.
b) Not weird, but somewhat out of place.
2) The need for moral distinction.
a) Paris guide - brought up one way, society has gone
another way. "We must adapt or die."
More realistic - "Society must adapt or it will die."
b) Amsterdamm - standard visit to "Red Light" district.
1> Many are attracted to Holland's lax morality.
2> Woman doctor in town square - helped homeless, but
saw laxness as bringing social rot.
Disgusted with lack of personal responsibility.
3) If you are not distinctive, you are not a real Christian.
a) Drugs and alcohol.
b) Sex, honesty.
II. They never lost their vision nor their hope. 11:13
A. What it means to live by faith.
1) Faith not "religious" only, but indicates putting confidence
in something we don't yet see or have.
It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman
named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina
Island.
She intended to swim the channel from the island to the California
coast.
Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the
first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.
The water was numbing cold that day.
The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party.
Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire.
She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of
the water.
Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so
close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog.
So she quit... only one-half mile from her goal.
Later she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have
seen the land I might have made it."
It wasn't the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence
Chadwick to fail.
It was the fog.
Many times we too fail, not because we're afraid or because of
the peer pressure or because of anything other than the fact
that we lose sight of the goal.
Maybe that's why Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:14
Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the
same beach into the same channel and swam the distance,
setting a new speed record, because she could see the land.
#1877
2) By faith, Christians can see our goal.
a) Christians live as if God is in control, even when all
the evidence seems to go the other way.
b) Hope in death.
1> If told you had incurable cancer, would you go
off deep end or have confidence in God?
c) We believe our lives have purpose and meaning.
1> Everything we do makes an eternal impact.
B. "From a distance." 11:13
1) Song by Bette Midler illustrates this point.
2) Many of God's promises are still in the future:
a) World peace.
b) End of suffering, pain, disease.
c) Mutual love.
3) We can see them, and work for them, even if we cannot yet
have them.
C. A sense of hope can help us hang on.
Robert Louis Stevenson: "It is better to travel hopefully
than to arrive."
1) Many see a high level of PESSIMISM in our society.
2) Patriarches never gave up out of weariness.
3) Christians need to have a hopeful attitude.
4) The present may not be too hot, but we have a glorious future.
D. They never wished to go back. 13:14-15
1) Many turn back just a little too soon.
2) A little more effort, waiting, hoping can make the dream
come true.
3) All Christians should feel there is no turning back.
III. They were haunted by the things beyond.
A. We should be motivated by what we have not yet experienced.
1) Person with wanderlust is lured on by the thought of the
countries he has not yet seen.
2) Artists are driven by the thought of the work they have not
yet produced.
3) We have not yet arrived as Christians.
a) What spiritual growth do you want to see?
b) Does love of God motivate you?
B. We also have something beyond.
1) Heaven - (God's kingdom) - will be a wonderful place.
2) Not boring or bland, but exciting - life at its fullest.
3) Heaven is not automatic, but only for believers in Jesus.
IV. God was not ashamed to be called their God.
A. Immigrants generally excel, because they know they can only gain.
1) They have no fall-back position.
Wayne Elpus and immigrant grandfather.
They were dirt-poor and coming from Poland.
Grandpa knew only one English phrase - "Help us."
When the government official on Ellis Island asked for his
name, grandpa responded, "Help us."
He wrote down Elpus, and that's what it's been ever since.
Grandpa never even told the family what their real name
was.
He never looked back.
#2835
2) Clarity of vision is a good thing for Christians.
a) Don't look back on problems or unfulfilled dreams.
b) Look ahead.
B. Knowing God makes all the difference.
1) Without God, we have no permanent home.
2) Home and security are inward more than outward.
In an essay for TIME magazine, Lance Morrow reflected on the mystery
of "home."
He told about a man named Ernest who lived in a park outside of
Phoenix.
Ernest showed Lance Morrow how he had made his home out of cardboard
boxes.
He interlocked the boxes in an ingenious manner so that they kept
out the cold Arizona nights.
Although the boxes were not a dream house, they had many of the
attributes of home.
The boxes were safe and warm, even cozy.
(We saw some of these during our night in Paris.
We almost crawled in one...)
Like homes everywhere, they allowed Ernest private space to keep
some things secret.
Lance Morrow underscored the tragedy of Ernest's story by saying
that he had once been a trusted engineer for Boeing, Inc.
Ernest showed that there was another side to homelessness beyond
physical hardships.
Homelessness also embraces issues of emotions, hurts and brokenness
at their deepest and most basic levels.
As those who have worked with the homeless have discovered,
homelessness is not just "houselessness."
Ernest demonstrated this fact.
Something had broken deep inside Ernest.
Lance Morrow claimed that one of the things that had become dislodged
in Ernest were those necessary to find his way home.
It would be difficult for Ernest to find his way home, because he
was not even "at home in his own skin."
That is where he was the most lost.
When we long for home, we call the feeling "nostalgia."
The word "nostalgia" is made up of two root words meaning literally
"the agony of going home."
Without Christ we can never find a home in our own skins.
Perhaps you feel you are wandering, but with no goal.
God made you to want Him, and to seek Him.
Reach out to him and he will accept you.
#2232
Celeste and I are glad to be home.
We must all come home to God.
===================================================================
Barclay
=
I. The OT saints lived forever as strangers.
A. "Xenoi," a stranger and a foreigner.
1) Hard life. Regarded with suspicion and hatred.
2) Considered better to be poor at home than a stranger abroad.
3) Could mean refuge.
B. "Paroikein," to sojourn.
1) Resident alien.
a) Used of Jews when captives in Egypt and Babylon.
2) Not much above a slave in the social order.
3) Had to pay an alien tax to be a member of the community.
C. "Parepidemos," a temporary visitor.
1) No settled place to call home.
2) Considered humiliating, because locals suspected them of
some evil that had exiled them.
D. Sojourner became a symbol of Christians.
1) Tertullian and Clement.
II. In spite of everything they never lost their vision nor their hope.
A. Robert Louis Stevenson: "It is better to travel hopefully than
to arrive."
B. They never gave up out of weariness.
III. They never wished to go back.
A. Other craved the "fleshpots of Egypt."
B. The point of no return.
1) Many turn back just a little too soon.
2) A little more effort, waiting, hoping can make the dream
come true.
C. All Christians should feel there is no turning back.
IV. They were haunted by the things beyond.
A. Person with wanderlust is lured on by the thought of the
countries he has not yet seen.
B. Artists are driven by the thought of the work they have not yet
produced.
C. We also have something beyond.
V. Because they were what they were, God was not ashamed to be called
their God.
A. He is the God of the gallant adventurer.
B. The comfort-loving person is the very opposite of God.
C. The person who goes out into the unknown and keeps going on
will in the end arrive at God.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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