I.

Introduction
"People get ready, There's a train a comin'. You don't need no baggage, you just get
on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'. Don't need no ticket, you
just thank the Lord."

These words open a song written by Curtis Mayfield and recorded by The Impressions
in the midst of the social turmoil of the 1960s. For a nation facing the modern civil
rights movement and the burgeoning anti war and women's movement, The song
assures us that, "All you need is faith," but "How does one have faith in these sobering
times?

The Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater area had over 35,000 foreclosures during the first six
months of the year--that's a six percent increase over last year.

expectations for the recovery diminish daily and joblessness shows no sign of easing
— as the jobs report on Friday showed The prospects for unemployed Americans are
going from bad to worse.

United States military forces are embroiled in two armed conflicts on foreign soil.
Reputable studies estimate Iraq’s death toll at hundreds of thousands to one million,
not counting claims by UN observers that 500,000 Iraqi children died from disease as a
result of the U.S.-led embargo before 2003. Afghanistan became the longest shooting
war in American history, Portrait of Pain Ignites Debate Over Afghan War. A
photograph of an 18-year-old Afghan woman, mutilated by her husband on the orders
of a Taliban commander, has shocked America and sparked fierce debate over the
conflict

1
It is an image of savage brutality; of marred beauty and of courage. Aisha, an 18-year-
old Afghan woman, stared from the cover of Time magazine last week and jolted
America.

More than 1,300 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, mostly by
Taliban insurgents, a leading Afghan rights group said Sunday.

current flood in Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's civilian government has been
overwhelmed by the disaster which has killed over 1,600 people, disrupted 12 million
lives and ruined many crops vital for the agriculture-based economy.

oil spill An estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil has made way into the sea since the
Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20. After over 3 months of intense struggle trying
to stem the spewing oil in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has finally succeeded.

The enormous steel cap placed on the head of the ruptured well has borne good
results. The substantial slick that spread for miles in the Gulf has, more or less,
dissolved or dispersed.
The effects of the spill will continue to cause devastation for years to come, warn
experts.

Indeed, we are living in difficult times. Just as Mayfield's song assured the nation in the
60s, the preacher of this first-century sermon we call Hebrews says it too: "All you
need is faith."

According to Dr. Gene Donaldson, pastor of Capitol Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church
in Washington, DC, "Hebrews was written to a group of first century believers who
2
were in danger of giving up their recent allegiance to Christ during hard times. The
author argues that returning back to their former religion is a mistake of epic
proportions, because Jesus Christ is superior to the angels (Hebrews 1:5–2:18), Moses
the great prophet (Hebrews 3:1-6), and Aaron the greatest earthly high priest (Hebrews
4:14-6:20). Jesus offers a better rest than the Canaan rest of Joshua (Hebrews 4:1-
11); a better priesthood than the Levitical system (Hebrews 7:1-28). He conducts
ministry in a better sanctuary (Hebrews 8:1-5); and offers a better covenant promise
based on a more effective sacrifice (Hebrews 8:1-10:18).

On the basis of who Jesus is and what he accomplished, the author concludes that
faith in him provided a much better alternative than the one his listeners were
considering (Hebrews 10:19-12:29). Hebrews 11 is pivotal in advancing the argument
that Christians must “re-see” through the lens of faith which views circumstances from
an eternal perspective. Hebrews 11 is critical, because it links the bold statement that
the “Righteous ones shall live by faith” and not shrink back (10:38) with the answers to
the two obvious questions undoubtedly on his hearers minds. The first question, “What
is the nature of this faith?” he or she answers in Hebrews 11:1.

Footnote - Although traditionally Paul was credited with writing Hebrews, today
scholars agree that it was not Paul and that the author was possibly Priscilla, Apollos,
or Silas among others.

While the first question is “What is the nature of this faith?” The second question asks,
"If faith is required of the righteous, are there credible demonstrations of such a faith?
The author answers with a resounding yes! For there is a “great cloud” of Old
Testament witnesses (Hebrews 11:4-40), all with one testimony, they did it by faith!

Get on board with me as we take a true faith journey.

II. What is the nature of faith?

3
 People get ready
There's a train a commin'
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All You need is faith
To hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket
You just thank the lord

Our first stop is "What is the nature of faith?" The opening verse of this chapter
sketches two dimensions of faith or faithfulness that the writer will then develop in
detail: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen" (Hebrews 11:1). First, faith provides a guarantee, the peg on which we hang our
hopes. Because of faith, our hope is no flimsy dreaming; it has substance and reality.
Faith provides a ground to which we may hold fast. But that grounding also orients us
toward the future and gives us courage to move forward, launching out into the
unknown. The second dimension of faith is that it moves us forward.

"Perhaps faith is so hard to define that it is easier or better to use examples than to
write a lot of theoretical things about it. It's the experience of real people in a real
relationship with God that can help us to grasp the meaning of faith, not a precise or
scholarly theological definition."1

"The author of Hebrews does give something of a definition, though, an eloquent,

often-quoted one: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen." But right away, there is one example after another of people of faith

1
Kate Huey, http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-8-2010.html
4
who have trusted in God's goodness and the unfolding of God's plan, including Abel,
Enoch, Noah and Abraham. In fact, the very first example is "we" – the community of
faith – who understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what
is seen was made from things that are not visible." Faith, then, is the ability – or the
openness – to see the invisible in the visible, the eternal in the earthly."2

"Most commentators agree that v.1 is not a formal definition of faith, but rather a
description of what faith actually does. Faith has the capacity to make the things we
hope for as real as if we already possessed them. Faith introduces a new way of
visualizing – not where actual seeing prompts believing (I must see it to believe it), but
where believing is actually seeing. Faith traffics in the realm where the promises of
God are revered as “self-evident,” even though there exists contradictory or no
concrete evidence of support.

There are several key words and phrases used in verse 1 that help to cement the
author’s description of faith:

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The Greek word hupostasis is translated as
“assurance” in the text. It carries the meaning of something that is put underneath as a
support like a foundation for a building. It can also be used to convey the idea of the
legal document a person would possess to prove ownership of a piece of property. In
this sense, hupostasis, or assurance, would be equated to a deed of title. Faith,
therefore, operates as an undergirding on which our aspirations and hopes are built.
Since faith trusts the Word of God implicitly, it acts as the guarantor that God’s
promises will come to pass. As a co-signer to the veracity of God’s character (God
cannot lie), faith provides a cogent environment for hope to have the audacity to
believe that what is not evident today will be tomorrow. By faith, we can be sure that
what God has promised exists and, by hope, we can be confident that we shall have
everything God’s Word has promised.

2
Kate Huey, http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-8-2010.html
5
Faith is the conviction of things not seen. The Greek word elegchos is translated as
“conviction” in the text. It denotes a proposition or belief that after close scrutiny and
painstaking examination proves to be valid. The author declares that the way of faith
has been tried and tested. Its track record is irrefutable and impressive as evidenced
by the long list of Bible personalities who previously walked in the way of faith (11:4-ff).
God does keep his Word emphatically even though we cannot always discern the how
or the when of his working. We don’t see the reservoir that contains water, or the
underground pipes that allow water to flow to a house, but we know they must exist
every time we turn on the faucet and water comes out. I have no personal empirical
evidence that Jesus died on Calvary’s cross – I was not physically there. Nevertheless,
by faith, I know unequivocally that he died for my sins and now lives evermore to
intercede on my behalf. The author suggests, for the Christian, that which is not seen is
no longer problematic, because the mettle of faith, grounded by the Word of God, is
trustworthy having proven its validity over and over again."3

"The statement of faith represents our effort to give expression in words to our beliefs
about God, but it's the experience of faith that keeps us going in the difficult times, isn't
it?
For faith is the willingness and the resolve to trust God – to trust in the goodness of
God's purposes for us and for all of creation."4

III. Credible Demonstrations/ Examples of faith

People get ready
There's a train a comin'
3
Gene Donaldson, http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=122
4
Kate Huey, http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-8-2010.html

6
 You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All You need is faith
To hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket
You just thank the lord

Woo Woo. Let's move onto our second stop. On our second stop of this text, we learn
about our spiritual ancestors who have been exemplars of faith.

Sermon earlier this year, Pastor Beth talked about the youth on the mission trip to
Hawaii. ... you shall make this response before the Lord your God: A wandering
Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few
in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
-Deuteronomy 26:5

We are in a long line that stretches back to Abraham and our other ancestors in faith,
the "saints" that went before us. But there are more who will follow us, and we have our
own place in this story. Gary E. Peluso-Verdend writes: "To live with the assurance of
things hoped for is to continue to steward the promise entrusted to the people of God
over many generations, passed off like a baton in a race, from one generation to the
next, and now nestled in the hands of the exhorter's community."

This preacher does more than provide a definition, however. He skillfully calls to mind
stories that clothe these two dimensions of faithfulness with flesh and bones and sinew
and breath. To know fully what faithfulness is, we must remember the stories. In a
quick review, the preacher first tells us about Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
7
the preacher lingers over the story of Abraham and Sarah. In the lives of this couple,
both dimensions of faith shine forth. They show us that faithfulness requires both
holding fast and moving forward.

First, faithfulness is holding fast to the promises of God. God had promised Sarah and
Abraham countless descendants and a land that God would reveal to them. But both
promises were "things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

Some of us find it easy to "hold fast." We know the stories—stories of the Bible, stories
of our congregations, stories of faithfulness and sacrifice. These stories matter
because the stories we tell and make our own give us our bearings. They help us work
out where we stand, who we are, and what we ought to do, but we find it harder to
"move forward" into the future. We are not that fond of tents, and we travel with lots of
baggage.

Others of us have little trouble moving forward. We like to camp. We travel light. We
ask, "Where can we join what God is doing now?" We are a people on the way, on the
move, knowing that the future belongs to God, but we need help "holding fast," learning
the story of God's faithfulness to promise. We need to know of loyalty and endurance
that persevere even when the path is rough and long.

So we need both dimensions of faithfulness. We need to hold fast to the promises of

God and to move forward into the future which is God's. The power of the example of
Sarah and Abraham is that their lives joined these two dimensions. In the midst of
change and uncertainty, they found God constant and faithful. Therefore, they too
could be full of faith, holding fast to God's promises and moving forward into that future
with God. May their faithfulness shine forth as an example for us that we too may prove
faithful.
8
IV. Tell our faith story
People get ready
There's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All You need is faith
To hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket
You just thank the lord

Woo Woo. Our final stop on this faith train.

Crazy Faith. Ordinary people. extraordinary lives

. "To each of us in this room, life at one time or another, and for many of us, perhaps at
most times, has brought pain or illness, loss or loneliness, fear, defeat, worry, doubt,
anxiety, hardship of one kind or another. And yet, for people of faith, there is a
knowledge, a feeling, an assurance that even in the midst of that pain or doubt or
suffering, God is good."5 This is a

What are your faith stories? Here is one of mine..Two years ago I was suffering from
chronic pain. During my family reunion in Petersburg, Virginia, I shared with my
relatives that I planned to move to Virginia to attend seminary and I asked them to pray
for my healing. What I did not share is how much pain I was experiencing and that
while I did want to pursue theological education, my fear was that I was dying and I did
not want to die in Iowa hundreds of miles from my family. (Describe the pain--18
5
Kate Huey http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/august-8-2010.html
9
months, pain in joints got progressively worse. No plausible explanation. difficult time
with simplest tasks--brushing my teeth, opening the door, putting on clothes, getting up
from the toilet, turning the pages of a book, writing, etc... Physical and occupational
therapy. frequent visits to doctor, urgent care and emergency room. women 40 years
my senior were getting around better than me. Needed to use motorized cart or a
walker, had to take a taxi two blocks to office, prednisone had helped a little, but
caused weight gain. I was not sure how I was going to make it through teaching for
another year so Before the reunion, I was at my wit's end when I found out about a
chronic pain clinic at Mayo that had been successful for many patients. I heard about
the clinic on June 30th and on July 2nd, I accompanied a friend to the clinic so that I
could learn more about it. Once I inquired about my admission to the program, it was
obvious that God was in the mix. Because my Iowa doctor was on Mayo's staff, I was
able to get a referral to the program and an initial interview the same day. By the end of
the next week, I was able to schedule an evaluation and I was deemed eligible for the
program on July 11th. The bad news was that no spots were available until October
and as a part time instructor, I could not afford 3 weeks off from teaching, but I
proceeded with the insurance authorization process. The program cost was over
$20,000 so paitents were not scheduled until Mayo had assurance that you had the
funds or that insurance would pay. The person in charge of pre-authorization was on
vacation and her replacement was hard to reach and quite unpleasant when we did
talk. After a week of phone tag and brief chats, she informed me that insurance would
not pay and that I needed to put down a $9000 deposit before they would schedule
me. Meanwhile, I had heard from the scheduling department that a slot in August had
become available. It was not as early as I had wanted it, but I could complete the
program and be finished in time for fall semester orientation. Even though I did not
have a commitment from Mayo, I went ahead and looked for lodging in Rochester. My
part time salary would not support a 3 week hotel stay, so I looked for alternatives.
Again it was obvious that God was at work because I was able to secure lodging at the
Baptist Hospitality House for a donation.
10
Litany of faith
wandering Aramean Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Samson, Ruth, Esther,
Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Isaiah preannouncement of Jesus, Mary, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, Jesus, Calvary, resurrection, pentecost, Peter, Stephen, Priscilla to
write Hebrews, Paul, churches in Africa and Asia, Athanasius, St. Augustine, St.
Thomas Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, Calvin, Reformation, Protestant
Movement, Protestant Movement in England, Plymouth Colony, 1931 Congregational
christian, 1934 Evangelical Reformed, 1957 United Church of Christ, UCCNB, Beth
Donaldson, sabbatical, I would not be here to

Come on the train strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14for people who speak in this
way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

People get ready

There's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All You need is faith
To hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket
You just thank the lord

11
12