“By Faith Enoch . . .” Heb. 11.5–6, Pent 7C, July ‘25

 

1.                Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.  The message from God’s Word, as we continue our sermon series on Hebrews 11: "What Can Faith Do?" is focusing specifically on Heb. 11:5–6. It’s entitled, “By Faith Enoch.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Have you ever heard of this guy Enoch? There’s not a lot about him. What we hear in Hebrews 11 & Genesis 5, that’s it. So why is this guy, this brief mention in the genealogy from Adam to Noah, given this attention in the Hebrews “Hall of Faith”? “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:5–6a). That’s it.

3.                But with only these few details, the story of Enoch is pretty fascinating. If you were to look at the genealogy from the perspective of the life of Adam in Genesis 5, you’d see that Adam lived 930 years. He was 130 when Seth was born. Adam was 235 when Seth fathered Enosh and Adam was 325 when Enosh had Kenan. And Adam was 622 when his great-great-great-great-grandson Jared fathered Enoch. Do you see that? According to Moses, Adam was still alive when Enoch was born! And for 308 of Enoch’s 365 years, Adam was alive. We can be sure that he was telling the story of creation, the Garden of Eden, the fall into sin, Cain and Abel—passing down his firsthand accounts to every generation for the eight generations that he saw. The story of Enoch falls between Abel and Noah in the Hall of Faith to show us that, Handed Down from Father to Son from the Beginning, Is Faith That Pleases God.

4.                Hebrews 11 is describing Enoch when it says, “He was com­mended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impos­sible to please him.” What does it mean that without faith it is impossible to please God? Hebrews isn’t the only place we find it. The apostle Paul said in Romans 14, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23). And Jesus says in John 6, “This is the work of God, that you believe [that is, that you have faith] in him whom he has sent” (Jn 6:29). That, of course, is Jesus. The good work that pleases God is faith in Christ. All other good works are simply by-products of having faith. And, inversely, all works that aren’t by-products of faith are not pleasing to God.

5.                Sounds simple enough. But I want to share a story with you. While on his vicarage, a young Lutheran seminarian had a conversation with a local Methodist pastor who challenged Lutheran teaching. The pastor disagreed with Martin Luther’s belief that only those with faith in Christ would be saved. To illustrate his point, the pastor shared the story of a kind and loving little girl who had died of cancer. Though she believed in God, she did not believe in Jesus as her Savior. Nevertheless, the pastor insisted that God would surely accept her into eternal life—not because of her faith in Christ, but because of her goodness and loving nature, even in the face of suffering.

6.                Do you see the difference between that pastor’s beliefs and what Hebrews 11, Romans 14, and John 6 have to say on the matter? He was insistent that God would set aside his standard of faith and accept a standard of works. He was certain that God would judge based on outward appearances rather than judging the lack of faith in her heart. He maintained that his own personal standard of what seemed good and loving was God’s standard of acceptable. He’d set aside God’s clear words and replaced them with his own feelings and desires, his wish of what would become of this little girl.

7.                Aren’t we guilty of doing the same thing all too often? It’s so easy for us to forget that even amid works of ours that seem good and loving, there are always selfish thoughts—slips of the tongue that hurt the ones we love, subtle actions that slant toward our benefit rather than toward doing the best for someone else. That’s true of all of us, even the sweetest little girl. We all have plenty that’s displeasing to God. Do you see, then, why it’s so important to know about Enoch and the only way to please God? “Without faith,” no matter how great a person you are, no matter how liked you are, no matter how pious or sweet or outwardly religious you are, no matter what, “Without faith it is impossible to please [God].”

8.                There was once a teacher who once gave to her students a unique test. Before handing it out, the teacher clearly instructed the students to read all the questions before answering any of them and to follow the directions exactly. At the end of the test, the final instruction stated that students should not answer any questions at all—only write their name at the top and turn it in blank. Any answers or erasures would result in failure. Despite the warning, most students ignored the directions and completed the test anyway, resulting in failure.

9.                The story raised an important question: Was the teacher unjust in failing them, even if they got the answers right? The answer, of course, is no—it was his class, his lesson, and he had made the instructions clear from the beginning. “Without faith it is impossible to please [God].” Let’s remember Hebrews 11:1, “Faith [that pleases God] is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Jesus alone is, “the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12).” “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (Jn 6:29). “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God has told us how to pass his test. He’s told us what standard he’ll use to judge the world. When he judges according to his plainly revealed standard, can we really say that he’s unloving, cruel, or unjust? Of course not. In his mercy, God has made it crystal clear that he will judge the world by the standard of faith in Jesus. So, to use the classroom analogy, he’s already given us the answer to the test. We just have to trust that it’s the right answer. He’s already told us how he’ll judge. We now have to believe that he’s told the truth.

10.             Is it random on God’s part to say, “You please me, you have eternal life, by faith not by works”? As if there are two perfectly good ways to heaven—faith and works—and God simply chooses one and not the other and requires us to conform to his choice? Certainly not, because if the way to heaven were by works, none of us would make it! Remember, we all have sin. We don’t do enough good works to merit heaven. Unlike the teacher’s test where some of the students might have known the other answers and simply failed to follow the one big instruction. If the way to please God were a test, we wouldn’t have the answers. We’d all flunk.

11.             Instead, in mercy and love, God offers the only way that can work for anyone. He says, “Just believe and you’ll live forever in the eternal life of Jesus.” In other words, know and trust that Jesus has answered every question, done every work, already for you! His perfect life and the forgiveness of his death on the cross become yours as you believe it. That’s the way of faith. Or, as Jesus continues after John 3:16, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe [in Jesus] is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn 3:17–18). Faith is the standard, not works. And faith will then always produce works that please God.

12.             Enoch pleased God and walked with God by faith. He believed that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. And Enoch sought to draw near to God because he was assured, convinced, that God would receive him for the sake of Christ’s future death and resurrection. That’s faith. And God did reward him. In the case of Enoch, God took him so that he was no longer found on the earth, so that he wouldn’t have to endure the coming flood in the days of his great-grandson Noah—in fact, that he would never die at all. And as one who had faith, an even greater reward awaits Enoch on the day when Christ comes once and for all to judge the living and the dead—by faith—and to welcome the faithful into the new heavens and the new earth, the golden Jerusalem, the eternal city of God.

13.             All who still today believe that Jesus is God, the founder and perfecter of faith, and who believe that his rewards are for you, will be rewarded. All who believe Jesus died for you, that he’s claimed you as his own through Holy Baptism and the faith-sustaining feast of his body and blood, all who look to Jesus, will be rewarded. You will be blessed. In this life, too, but far more abundantly than you can imagine in the life of the world to come—where you’ll gather with Adam and Eve, Abel, Enoch, and all the faithful at the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom that has no end. Believe in Jesus, and God will be pleased with you. Pass on this faith to your kids, like Adam did to his kids and grandkids, and they’ll know the reward of God too. And so will all the faithful be welcomed into heaven with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master” (Mt 25:21). Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

 

 

“By Faith Cain and Abel . . .” Hebrews 11.4 Pent. 6C, July ’25

 

1.                Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we continue our sermon series on Hebrews 11: "What Can Faith Do?" is focusing specifically on Hebrews 11:1 & 4: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. . . . By [such] faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” It’s entitled, “By Faith Cain & Abel.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Ever wonder: Why wasn’t Cain’s offering as good as Abel’s? Genesis chapter 4 tells us that Cain was a farmer, and Abel raised sheep, and in time, each brought a sacrifice to the Lord from what he produced. Of course, for a farmer, some of Cain’s crops were a meaningful offering. So also a lamb from a shepherd’s flock. So why wasn’t Cain’s offering as good as Abel’s?

3.                Hebrews helps us see that Cain’s offering wasn’t accepted because it was made without assured and convinced faith. That means that Cain wasn’t convinced that God would accept him because of Christ’s mercy. Instead, he thought he had to merit God’s favor himself. Cain had the first Messiah complex. And, his parents gave it to him.

4.                When Eve discovered the full meaning of God’s curse of pain in childbearing after Cain’s birth, she was sure that he was the promised seed God said would crush the head of the serpent and so bring justice and reconciliation back to sinful man. So she named her newborn bundle of joy Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man: the Lord” (cf Gen 4:1). That is, “I now hold in my arms the Lord, the Savior, the Messiah.”

5.                Can you imagine growing up in the first generation after expulsion from Eden with all the hopes of your mother and father, your whole family, being put on your shoulders? The hope that God would use you to restore all things! Wouldn’t it be hard for you to have faith in God’s mercy in Christ when you knew you weren’t good enough, not strong enough, not God enough to live up to those expectations? I mean, Cain couldn’t even offer up a sacrifice for himself—much less the whole world—until he repented of his own sin and sought God’s mercy for the sake of the real, promised Savior. So his parents’ hopes for this “man, the Lord,” Cain, would shortly lie dead as Adam and Eve learned the hard way that God had other plans—much, much more patient plans.

6.                Let’s not pass over what God does to Cain in all this. Cain, murdered Abel. He thinks the other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve will hunt him down for revenge, for justice, as Abel’s blood cries out. But in mercy, God shows Cain God’s true nature; he marks Cain to save him. He gives Cain a reason to have faith, showing him how much God loves and seeks the good of even murderers like him. The mark protects him. Even though Cain must face the consequences of his actions, God assures Cain with a promise and convinces Cain with a sign. So that Cain’s story, which began with false hope, might end with real and saving faith. That’s Cain.

7.                Now let’s look at Abel. Abel’s sacrifice was more acceptable than Cain’s because it was offered with assured and convicted faith. Abel must have trusted the promises of God to save him rather than relying on his own works. The sacrifices that he made of his flocks must have been offered in humility and thanksgiving rather than in an effort to earn God’s favor by his works. Because his sacrifices came from a heart of sure and convinced faith, his offerings were accepted, so that even now Abel gives us an example of the kind of sacrifices the Lord accepts.

8.                So, you have a farmer and a shepherd. Every single day, both of them rise early and tend his field or flock. Remember, before the flood, man didn’t eat animals but only fruits and vegetables—the way God made them in the Garden (Gen 1:29–30). But even if they didn’t butcher the sheep, there’s still a lot of work for the shepherd to do. So both the farmer and the shepherd are raising precious possessions. Both put in the same amount of work. One yields food to eat, the other wool, milk, offspring, equally of value. Both even come with their families to call on the name of the Lord in worship for at least an hour every week. Let me ask you, which one has faith? Which one was a Christian? Which one will be saved? They’re exactly the same, outwardly. We, you and I, can’t judge that—when the outward appearance is the same. God does see a difference, because he doesn’t judge on outward appearances. God judges the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). And inwardly, one of these two has faith and one is only going through the motions. God knows.

9.                Cain and Abel both made sacrifices. They did the same thing. And it’s not that God prefers lambs to plants. What they sacrificed wasn’t the issue. The issue was the heart. Cain let sin have a place of ambush in his heart. He offered his sacrifices without faith, just going through the motions. Abel did the same thing in offering his sacrifice, but he was assured and convinced of the mercy of God in Christ.

10.             Which sacrifice are you bringing to God? The sacrifice of Cain—repetitive, dull, born of the impossible desire to win God over? Or the sacrifice of Abel—freely given, joyful, born of a faith? The sacrifice of Cain—daily attempts to “do good” so that God and the world see you as someone special? Or the sacrifice of Abel—a life lived knowing that God has already commended you as righteous, not by anything you’ve done, but entirely because of his mercy and grace in Jesus? Truly, Gifts Acceptable to God Are Those That Flow from Assured and Convinced Faith in His Offering to Us in Jesus.

11.             If today you’re worn out and tired from trying to be a Christian, it’s probably from your attempts to earn God’s favor rather than rejoicing in faith that his favor is already freely given you in Jesus. If you’re looking at your fellow Christians in resentment because of the blessings they have, sin is crouching at your door waiting to strike. If you’re just going through the motions, today’s the day to hear the word of the faith of Abel that God has already made the perfect and only Sacrifice that can save you. God made it once and for all at the cross of Jesus, so that all who will believe, who will be assured and convicted by Jesus’ death and resurrection as being God’s promise to you, will be saved from just going through the motions. Saved from striving to please God and everyone else. Saved from the bondage of works. Saved from the guilt of blood. Your Savior, Jesus, put his Spirit in you to give you joy, faith, and purpose so that your sacrifices can now be offerings of thanksgiving rather than burdens of work. Hebrews says that “through his faith, though he died, [Abel] still speaks” to us today, as one among that great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us as part of the church.

12.             Remember from Hebrews 12 that great cloud of witnesses is encouragement to us as we “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Track events don’t always get much attention outside of Olympic years, but you probably watched some of the running competitions in the past. Have you noticed, especially in the long distance events, that the runners bunch up, run in a pack up front until the end? That cloud of runners sets the tempo. It encourages the group to push themselves—especially if the one leading the pack pushes a little harder. So runs the bunch. Together.

13.             We are running a race—the endurance race of faith. And when we’re tempted to fall behind, to give up, to just go through the motions, the cloud of witnesses is there. The pack of the saints past and present running the race with us is to give us the encouragement and the example to keep following the leader and to keep running the race. That together we may all reach the finish line and so receive the crown of life that waits for all who complete the race in faith. As Hebrews puts it, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1–2).

14.             That’s what it’s all about. And Abel’s acceptable sacrifice and commended righteousness, his faith, helps point us to Jesus so that we, too, one day join Abel and all those who’ve gone before in the life of the world to come. For which we wait and pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

 

 

“By Faith Creation . . .” Hebrews 11.1–3 Pentecost 3C, June ‘25

1.                Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we continue our sermon series on Hebrews 11: "What Can Faith Do?" is focusing specifically on Hebrews 11:3, which says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

2.                The ancient world had a saying in Latin that says, ex nihilo nihil fit translates to: “Nothing comes from nothing.” This ancient saying expresses the idea that something cannot arise out of absolute nothingness. It has its roots in Greek philosophy, particularly in the teachings of Parmenides and later Lucretius, and was later used in theological and philosophical discussions. From a Christian perspective, this phrase beautifully highlights the miracle of creation—because only God has the power to create something out of nothing (Latin: creatio ex nihilo). Where man sees impossibility, God brings forth life, light, and order by the power of His Word.

3.                Here’s where the Hebrews 11 story of faith begins—in the beginning. And from the very beginning, there is faith. So today we ask, “What Does Faith Have to Do with Creation? Let’s remember the definition of faith. “Faith is . . . [the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen]” (Hebrews 11:1). We looked last week at how this isn’t a wishy-washy or blind faith but a faith that is assured by God’s faithfulness and is convicted by the evidence that we’ve seen. When Hebrews says that we understand creation by faith, we believe that “what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” because the one who tells us about what happened is reliable and the evidence we still see today is convincing.

4.                Now, there are many studies that say all there is came about by chance and random evolution rather than divine creation. There are critics who say that anyone who believes in creation is a nut who hates children and society. Have you been confronted with these kinds of attacks? Our kids, grandkids, and our friends are being bombarded by this idea that the only convincing reality is random chance and not the creation of God. It’s come so far that people are personally attacked and ridiculed just for questioning evolution, much less for presenting the evidence that’s out there for creation. Have you seen the attacks that come against scholars and teachers who simply want to include the scientific evidence for intelligent design alongside evolution in the classrooms? Which is why we need to be prepared in our own hearts with certainty in the creation testimony of the Bible, and why we also need to be proactive in teaching all of our kids the reasons for our certainty and convictions. For your faith will be attacked. Are you prepared to give a defense?

5.                So, let’s work with this simple reason for our assurance: we have the assurance that the One who promised is faithful and is able to fulfill his promises. The book of Genesis with its account of creation was written by Moses. Of course, Moses wasn’t there when creation happened. How did Moses know what to write? God told Moses that he was there. Do you have more reason to believe this God or doubt him? He says that when there was nothing—in emptiness and chaos—he spoke order and light and being, time and space. No one else was there to know how it happened. Only God. And the Lord told Moses to write that down, so that every generation to come would know. That’s how we got Genesis in the Bible.

6.                But the critic will say Moses made it all up. Why should we put our assurance in someone’s fiction? There’s a simple answer: Because everyone who was there when Moses wrote agreed that when Moses talked to God something supernatural happened. God made Moses’ face radiate the reflection of the glory of God himself. (Exodus 34.) When Moses told the people, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” with face glowing brilliantly as God’s proof, they believed. They were convicted, because the testimony was validated by the glory of God—the God who struck down the Egyptians, who thundered from Sinai in lightning and smoke, and whose voice once spoke directly to them from the mountain before they requested not to hear God’s voice but to have Moses be the mouth of the Lord. The divine sign was God’s confirmation of Moses’ words. And let’s be honest—wouldn’t you believe him based on that evidence? So why would you doubt him now?

7.                Of course, we’re tempted to doubt the convincing voice of God because a scientist says something different. Is the scientist, his textbook, or his latest find more reliable and certain than God? Can textbooks be wrong? Can diagrams and displays in museums be false? Consider: God’s Word has proven faithful over thousands of years, bringing prophecies to fulfillment and doing wonders and working miracles for his people. Compare that to modern science. In the last two hundred years, so many scientific theories have changed, so many time­lines or diagrams have had to be revised. The modern way of doing science is less than 500 years old. Even if everything were brilliant, according to such scientists’ own numbers, that’s only 500 years compared to the beginning of God’s creation. That’s like a two-year-old saying he knows everything compared to what God knows and all the world should listen to him and do what he says. So, really, whose testimony is more reliable?

8.                Even the champion of the scientists, Darwin, said that if you could prove just one object in the world was so complex that it couldn’t be reduced to any evolvable parts, it would topple his entire theory. It’s called irreducible complexity. And thanks to more powerful microscopes—invented after Darwin’s time—we’ve found numerous irreducibly complex structures in life. Random chance didn’t do that. A Creator, an intelligent designer, God the Lord did that.

9.                There are reasons not only to doubt the attacks of an unbelieving world but also to cling all the tighter in faith to the sure and convincing Word of God in the Bible. Which makes you wonder: Why are Christians mocked for believing the evidence? It’s because the truth and evidence, the real substance of the Christian faith, isn’t what our world wants to hear. Even the so-called scientists, the naturalistic and atheistic scientists, don’t want to hear the evidence. They just want to proselytize their religion of godless evolution—a religion that atheist Richard Dawkins says “Christians don’t have enough imagination to believe.”

10.             So, I ask you, what would you rather have: a religion of imagination and speculation, or a religion of fact and evidence? “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. . . . By [this kind of] faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God [from nothing]” (Hebrews 11:1, 3). Now, look anew at the world around you. See how remarkable and astounding the universe is, how complex and carefully crafted and designed for life. The creation reveals the handiwork of God for all who will look with a truly open mind. Take the time this week really to look at God’s created world. Ask yourself and your kids and grandkids, “What does that tell you about God?” Look up from your computer screens, get out of your car, walk around outside, look up at the stars at night, and see the evidence all around you of the fingerprints of God. See, be assured and convinced, and so believe.

11.             Then realize that God made all this for you, for us human beings as the crown of his creation—because he loved us and wanted us to have this beautiful, amazingly complex universe as our very own place in which to enjoy a relationship with him. And then you’ll be staggered that the God who made all of that loved you so much more that when we sinned against him and destroyed our relationship with him, he gave his only Son Jesus to come down from the heights of the universe to this place, earth, in order to die for you, that all who would have faith in him would have eternal life. That the God who made everything, who could do anything, chose to become flesh and blood to die for you, because he who created you loves you.

12.             Remember St. Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This verse reminds us that through faith in Jesus, and by the power of Baptism and the Holy Spirit, we are no longer defined by our past sins or failures. In Christ, we are reborn, forgiven, and made spiritually new—just as clean and fresh as a newly blossomed flower. It’s the Gospel at work: Jesus doesn’t just improve us—He recreates us. “Christ takes you as you are, but never leaves you that way.”  A good reminder for our daily walk with Him! He who made everything died to save you from your sins and make you his new creation. Believe it, because it is true. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.