Hebrews: 10:39: We will not shrink back!

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 15 November 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

I am hoping to see some of the football games today those should be interesting but last weekend was pretty exciting. I watched the game where our Saskatchewan Roughriders secured first place in the west for the first time since 1976. Now this game was interesting. At one point it was 18-1 for Saskatchewan. It was all Saskatchewan…but then the third quarter happened and Saskatchewan had lost big leads before by choking in the third quarter. The very next day too, Michael Bishop and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would do just that: throw the game away in the third quarter against Hamilton. And it was in the third quarter that Saskatchewan then saw their opponents come to life. We saw Calgary dominate the play. We saw Calgary score and score again until they got up to 14 points … but it was not enough. The Saskatchewan Roughriders did not shrink back and lose (unlike Bishop and the Blue Bombers the next day) but rather they persevered and were awarded the victory. I tell this story as an opening because, well, like any good Saskatchewan resident, I’m a Roughrider fan but also because this passage of scripture that we are looking at today in the original language actually has some very real similarities to this. The author (preacher) of the book (sermon) of Hebrews picking up on a 1st Century sports metaphor (10:32ff), and here is encouraging the Hebrews, like athletes, to not give up even if it appears that things are slipping away in the third quarter.[1]

Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

However, some people do shrink back…(Like the Blue Bombers did)

It has been a while since we looked at Hebrews together here. Reviewing a little bit: We remember that the book of Hebrews was NOT originally a book and (unlike many of the books we have in the New Testament today) it probably was not even a letter. It was most likely a sermon[2] that was preached to a congregation no larger than our own here today.[3] In this small group of believers, they had a number of problems that they were facing that should be very familiar to Canadian Christians of the 21st Century:[4]

* They had some people leaving their group and even turning their backs on their faith (Hebrews 10:25);
* They had other people who were still coming out regularly to their meetings but who had grown apathetic about their faith. They didn’t act as if they even cared about their salvation (Hebrews 2:1-14);[5]
* And worse than not getting together regularly like this and worse than stopping to come out altogether to meetings and worse than growing apathetic about their whole faith, some of them had stopped listening to God (Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27);[6]
* Some who used to come out regularly and meet as part of this congregation, some of this small group have even slid into apostasy (Hebrews 3:12; see Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27).

These were some of the problems that faced the congregation but the preacher of this first century sermon to the Hebrews, who counts himself as one of their number, encourages them that indeed, Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

There are however those that are not among the saved. There are those that do shrink back (see Matthew 24:9-12; Luke 8:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:15, 4:10; Hebrews 2:1-14, 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27, 31-39; 1 John 2:18-19; 2 Peter 2:17, 3:17). The early church had problems with people who stayed away from church gatherings which was a dangerous practice, then like now because, as James Moffatt says, “Any early Christian who attempted to live like a pious particle without the support of the community ran serious risks in an age when there was no public opinion to support him.”[7] This may mean that those that didn’t regularly, as we would say today, ‘go to church’ saw Christianity as just another religion to be either practiced or to be left alone. They may have seen it as just another way to live one’s life. They may have seen it as just another religion no better or no worse than any other. They may have seen Christ, Christianity, meeting together as the Church, as something that they could take or leave depending on their schedule: not meeting together if they had guests coming from out of town or wanted to head out to the lake. They may have seen the Christian Church as no different from any other religion, belief system or club membership. Those that did shrink back may have seen meeting together (coming to church in today’s vernacular) as not as important as other things in their lives, instead of what it really is: something that changes our whole lives. Some people did stop meeting together regularly; some people stopped praying and reading; some people started following this whole downward slide right to its conclusion: apostasy, turning one’s back on the Lord.

“But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).

In Canada the percentage of the Canadians attending religious services on a regular basis has declined significantly over the past 20 years alone. According to StatsCan only 21% of Canadians older than 15 regularly attended any religious services in 2005. At the same time, the number of Canadians that never attend religious services of any religion (not just Christianity!) has increased in the past couple of decades to around 33% of the population. About 1/5 of Canadians attend church less than regularly (on special occasions) and 1/3 of Canadians have never gone to church at all.[8]

Prior to the 1970s, our nation still went to church and at that time less than 1% of the Canadian population reported having no religion or atheism (a popular religion/worldview for the contemporary apostate in Canada). In 2001, now that a generation or more have stopped bringing their children and grandchildren to church regularly, that number has increased to almost 5 million people and that number is growing everyday (and that is not the only expression of apostasy in our culture). Where our country did used to be Christian, it is quickly slipping into apostasy, turning its back on God and each other. About 37% of people in the Yukon by 2001 reported they had no religion at all, more than a third of British Columbians and almost a quarter of all Albertans reported having faith in nothing beyond themselves.[9] Even in Saskatchewan, where we Protestants have traditionally made up the largest part of the population, we are now a minority.[10]

Many people used to go to church until very recently across this country but now many are shrinking back and becoming lost. We Canadians aren’t all part of the Church anymore and that is starting to be reflected in our society. It is no coincidence that pornography use, violence and crime are more prevalent in this country than ever before.[11] Many today are stopping to meet together regularly (there are many half-empty churches across this country this very morning.) Many are growing apathetic about their faith, and Canadians are already ceasing from listen to God; shrinking back and people in Canada are quickly becoming lost. Many are becoming apostate.

Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

Now when some do stop coming to church (even if we still believe) then, of course, our children and grandchildren can’t come with us if we coming. Then they will not be exposed to the gospel and how can they respond to that which they have not heard and how can we understand if indeed we were not here to hear either (Romans 10:14).

Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

This is a key point for the hearers of the sermon to the Hebrews. They did not shrink back (see Hebrews 6:9-12). They withstood a lot and still they stood strong. They were insulted for their faith. By people in their community, they were publicly humiliated for their faith (Hebrews 10:33; see also Jeremiah 20:8, 24:9; 1 Corinthians 4:9). Humiliated and insulted: they were mocked, belittled, made fun of, because they followed Christ and were a part of the Church. But they still kept meeting together. They kept coming out. They kept meeting together. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but were among those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10:39). And it says that even when they weren’t specifically targeted - but others were - they stood up for those who were attacked for their faith.

In Canada today, it seems that people are less and less likely to even intervene when someone is being attacked physically – so how do we do when someone mocks us for being a part of the Church. I remember -decades ago- when I was in High School and even Victoria where I lived was primarily Christian back then. Notwithstanding, I recall an acquaintance one day when I was standing outside the school on a break with our friends. I had mentioned church or the Bible or something and, even then, he laughed and mocked and said: “you go to church. Hey get a load of this guys, Mike goes to church” – Now mind you, it was his embarrassment rather than mine that day because as I pointed out to him that almost everyone with us - Bill, Becca, Tony, Trevor, Alex, whom I listed by name - almost everyone else with us in the breezeway that day also went to church. But the insults had begun by then in BC and I imagine that they have only grown with the increased apostasy in that province.

The Hebrews here (they were probably in first century Rome)[12] not only withstood insult and stood up for others who were being insulted but they openly did things that would draw the attention and the ire (anger/rage) of their foes. It says that they sympathized with those in prison (Hebrews 10:34; see Matthew 25:36; Acts 23:16, 24:23, 27:3; 2 Timothy 4:13; Philippians 2:25), which was not so good in some people’s eyes.[13] In that day and age the Superpower was cracking down. There was a law and order Conservative-style government in power. Leon Morris reminds us that:

Prisoners were to be punished, not pampered. Little provision was made for them, and they were dependent on friends for their supplies. For Christians visiting prisoners was a meritorious act (Matt 25:36). But there was some risk, for the visitors became identified with the visited. The readers of the epistle had not shrunk from this. It is not pleasant to endure ignominy, and it is not pleasant to be lumped with the ignominious. They had endured both.[14]

Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

There was even more. Their property was confiscated (Hebrews 10:34). [15] If someone came to take your neighbour’s property because they broke the law by being a Christian, would you tell them you went to church? If, say, the parking inspector came around, pad in hand (where is Larry?), and was going to give you a ticket demanding you surrender your car to the city – if you say you’re a Christian. What would you do? What would you say? Would you admit that you are a Christian?

This kind of confiscation the Christians were facing then and there may or may not have even been official. The word rendered ‘confiscation’ (harpage) here in the text could have also been a mob mentality thing.[16] An angry mob of people could have shown up at your door and physically thrown you out of your house if you continued to come to weekly church meetings (See also Mark 13:19; Acts 20:23; Romans 5:3). What would you do if a mob showed up at your house demanding that you never come here again or else you will be physically thrown out of your own home and it would be confiscated forever? What would you do?

Well, these Hebrews in Rome in the first century did stand strong. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39). They withstood all of this and they even, Hebrews 10:34, “…joyfully accepted the confiscation of [their] property, because [they] knew that [they themselves] had better and lasting possessions” (see also Matthew 6:19-20).

Now apparently these Hebrew Christians in Rome are entering into a time of ambivalence.[17] They are entering a period where there is less persecution than this. They are entering a time where they are tolerated as one religion no different from the others and some Christians here are starting to treat their faith this same way and some are starting to slip away but the preacher and those who would have heard this sermon, are among those who still meet together regularly. They are among those who still pray and read and encourage each other. Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”

Our world in 21st Century Canada seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Hebrew Christians in Rome started out facing persecution and stood the test. They held up. They proved themselves faithful and then it was when the heat was turned off that some of them actually started to melt away. Canada on the other hand began as a Christian nation founded upon the word of God, recognizing His sovereignty. Our country’s very motto, ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ comes from the Holy Scriptures. ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ (‘From Sea to Sea’) comes from Psalm 72:8, which is in Latin “Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae,” and in the AV, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” This was written by or for King Solomon’s probably shortly after he ascended the throne.[18] If he proved to be a faithful servant, than the Lord would give his descendants the job of managing the Lord’s kingdom. If we are faithful, the Lord will be faithful in letting us maintain our management position for Him of His land, this land, which we call Canada. If.

“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).

Canadian Supreme Court Justice Charles Gonthier remarked not too long ago that: “…nothing in the Charter, political or democratic theory, or a proper understanding of pluralism demands that atheistically based moral positions trump religiously based moral positions on matters of public policy. I note that the preamble to the Charter itself establishes that ‘… Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.’”[19]

The Hebrews who were listening to this passage of scripture for the first time were probably in Rome or some centre that was certainly not founded in deference to Christ so at first they persecuted the Christians and that didn’t work and so then they ignored them and then some of the Christians melted away.

In Canada, we were founded on Christ, then we were ignored it and now some of us are melting away but our historical paths I imagine will meet in the middle. The persecution will accelerate. Recently we saw the Canadian courts strip some of the more conservative Hutterites of their religious freedom. When I taught in the public schools (a long time ago now) and when I ran The Salvation Army’s tutoring programme in the schools for at risk kids in BC, I was told in no uncertain terms not to mention Christ in the classroom.[20] Secularists and Atheists have been tracking down civic politicians in Ontario and charging them with a crime if they dare to pray in their town hall meetings. This is not entirely different from the persecution which the Hebrews in Rome faced and the one’s who are listening to this sermon to the Hebrews anyway, they were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39).

So then what about us? What do we do on the day that the ticket man shows up to take our car because we are Christian? What do we do on the day in this city when the mob won’t tolerate the mayor mentioning Christ in counsel here in Swift Current? What do we do when someone walks into our work or our school (like Columbine in the U.S. not too many years ago) asking us if we are Christians and then killing us if we say ‘yes’?

What do we do if we see someone being mocked for going to church? Also, what do we do when we have friends and family visiting us? Do we still say grace when we are entertaining non-believers or are we too embarrassed? Do we publicly ask the blessing when we are at a restaurant? Are we embarrassed to listen to Christian music when someone is in our car? When an acquaintance tells us their problems do we tell them that we will pray for them and then actually pray for them – or not? What do we do? I know more and more people in our country are shrinking back and even politicians (and our even PM, I believe) that claim to be Christians openly say that they don’t let that affect their work though. (As if that were possible. Your beliefs always determine your actions. If Christian belief isn’t determining our actions, then I would guess that we are not Christian.) I know that when I am at the restaurant I don’t see a lot of people bowing their heads in prayer. I know that there are many friends of mine who – if they ever even go to church – they don’t if they have company or have something else to do on Sunday.

But none of that, of course, applies to us. Right? We are here. Some people will shrink back and fall away like this, “ but we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).

“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
This is our pep talk from Hebrews as we head into the fourth quarter in this country and this is our pep talk as we head into everyday of our lives and let us pray that is true that “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” and let us pray that it remains true throughout the rest of our lives.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), pp. 111-112, develops this idea quite nicely.
[2] William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (WBC 47A: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. liii. Cf. Thomas G. Long, p. 3 and Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998),p. 5.
[3] William L. Lane, p. liii.
[4] William L. Lane, p. lxi.
[5] Cf. Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Everyman’s Bible Commentary: Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1962), p. 9.
[6] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 9.
[7] James Moffat, cited in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/I. The Sequel-The Right Way (10:19-25), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Colin Lindsay, “Canadians attend weekly religious services less than 20 years ago,” Prepared for Statistics Canada: June 2008. Cited 13 08 2009. Online: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-630-x/2008001/article/10650-eng.pdf pages 1,2.
[9] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada”: May 2003. p. 9. Cited 13 08 2009 Online: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/pdf/96F0030XIE2001015.pdf
[10] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada,” p. 14-12.
[11] Cf. Lance W. Roberts, Rodney A. Clifton, Barry Ferguson, Karen Kampen, Simon Langlois, Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000, (Toronto: McGill’s University Press, 2005), p. 513.
[12] William L. Lane, lviii.
[13] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125.
[14] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2
[15] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125. Cf. William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-12 (WBC 47B: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. 300: “Their enemies overran the houses now left vacant and began to loot them, dividing up spoils like spoils of war” (Philo, Against Flaccus, 56).
[16] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2: “A third possibility is the readers' voluntary surrender of their goods to some Christian community when they joined it (as Buchanan holds possible). But the word harpage makes this unlikely. It is also an unlikely term for the action of officials (unless they were acting in a very "unofficial" manner; the scope for petty officialdom to tyrannize over Christians was immense). On the whole, it looks like mob violence or the like.”
[17] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 127.
[18] Michael Ramsay, ‘Psalm 72: the Credit Card of Justice and Righteousness’, Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 01 July 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
[19] Don Hutchinson, ‘Seven Days of Significant Change on the Landscape of Religious Freedom in Canada’. CanadianChristianity.ca. (accessed 11/08/09) on-line: http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=6885
[20] Cf.http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95/?hub=TopStories cf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in the classroom.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html Cf. also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads' - You can read the Supreme Court Decision re. Questionable books: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html - The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must our be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology. There were other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums. The board also criticized the book's depiction of men.(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html).It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than they are about providing a quality education for our children. The federal government has the jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory. Cf. The National Post: ‘Gay couple gets input into school curriculum’, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1. Cf. also ‘Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.’ Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.html cf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren. Cf. http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html , CanadianChristianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer