Of Whom The Word Was Not Worthy
Heb 11:35-38
Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
NIV
The Word Is Not Worthy
(Heb. 11:32-40)
Intro:
A. My grandfather was a part of the soldiers who fought in WWII. He was a paratrooper and was a part of the Battle of the Bulge. For six terrible weeks the battle raged on. There were over 100,000 American casualties in that assault. My grandfather rarely ever spoke about the war to anyone in the family. As grandchildren we would ask question many years later only to be met be silence and grandpa looking off into the distance as some memory must have come to his mind. The few stories he told were how he survived when some of his friends did not.
B. My grandfather was a strong and proud man, but that battle and his time in the war cost him more than most people would ever know. He lost friends and saw death like few people have. Grandma told me last year that Grandpa suffered from “War Fatigue” after that battle. Today we call it PTSD. He was proud to serve and honored those who had fallen. He didn’t make much of a fuss about parades, but he never forgot those who gave their lives on the battlefield.
C. In the Christian Chronicle the headline read, “Boko Harm kills Christian Teens in norther Nigeria bus Attack.” In a terrorist attack Christians were killed including four young men who were studying at Truegate Bible College. Those Christians were killed simply because they called themselves Christians while those who did not were spared. In a post about what happened, a former teacher wrote, “At the point of death you did not deny Christ.”
D. The Bible is filled with men and women who were heroes of faith. The Hebrew writer shared a few stories of the more well-known but he closes that section with these words (READ Heb. 11:35b-40).
E. I want to reflect upon the phrase “of whom the world was not worthy” this morning.
I. Dying For Jesus
A. When I think about the early church, I see how so many people seemed to be willing to share their faith and be a part of the family of Jesus. They gave up land and money so that other Christians could have food to eat. But it wouldn’t be long before Jewish leaders became the main source of persecution. It was first the apostles that they would scold, then beat, but soon they took it farther.
B. Stephen, one of the 12 who helped with the widows of the church, was speaking with great wisdom concerning Jesus. Some men couldn’t stand what he said and took him before the council. There Stephen would give a history of how the Jews persecuted their own when righteous people spoke God’s word challenging the lives of the nation.
C. He used the words of Moses to help the see that Jesus was the great prophet who was to come, but just as they did not listen to Moses, now they wouldn’t listen to Jesus. Instead, Stephen challenges them to a point they cannot tolerate (READ Acts 7:51-53). They became so angry that they took him outside of Jerusalem and stoned him. A man who would die telling people who should know truth that they stopped listening to truth. But his final words were for God to not hold this sin against them.
D. What does it take to have a faith like Stephen? Jesus said, that faith as small as mustard seed could uproot a tree or move a mountain. Lord give us “mustard seeds.” The faith that allows me to face death and not walk away from Jesus is one that rooted and grounded in Jesus. It is a faith that sees heaven as my home and this life as the vessel. But most of us will not have to die for our faith.
II. Living For Jesus
A. When Jesus was talking to his disciple the night before the crucifixion, he told them that he must die. Listen to what follows (READ Matt. 26:33-35). I believe Peter. I believe he, at the moment in time would have been willing to die for Jesus.
B. Why do I say that? Because when Judas came that night with guards, it was Peter who took a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest.
C. Dying for Jesus is a decision some people had to make in the moment, but for most of us, the question is will we live for Jesus? When Jesus was taken away, Peter went from being the man with a sword to denying Jesus three times. How could he be willing to die in one moment and unwilling to live for Jesus the next?
D. Fear is the answer. Peter had to make a decision if he would still be willing to die, this time, along with Jesus. The answer for Peter was, “I don’t know the man.”
E. Dying for Jesus is a sacrifice I probably won’t have to make, but living for Jesus is a sacrifice I must choose to make every day. When people died for our country, it wasn’t so I could eat hot dogs and watch a parade. It was so I could live with the freedom that comes from being an American.
F. Jesus went the cross because of me. His blood was shed for my sin, not his. He cried out for my forgiveness on the cross. Jesus paid it all because I couldn’t pay any. Then he defeated death; coming back to life, never to die again, and tells me I can do the same thing. Let me tell you, that’s something to live for.
Conclusion:
A. The writer of Hebrews gives us a list of heroes of faith. He writes that there are other that he doesn’t take time to mention, but all these people are people whom the world was not worthy of.
B. What does my life speak to the world around me? When people hear my name, reflect upon their interaction with me, do they see me or see Jesus? How sad it would be for people come to worship God in this church and only see us. The world doesn’t understand a life devoted to Jesus, but when they do, I want them to see us. Live your life in such a way causes the world to see Jesus.