[13] These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. [14] For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. [15] If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. | Hebrews 11:13–16
Last Saturday, I spoke at the memorial service for my mother-in-law. Over the last few weeks since she passed, while others processed their grief, I had to think about: what do I say about it? How do I speak to a room full of grieving people, many of whom are family and friends?
As I was working through this, I was also preparing a sermon for Easter Sunday, and last week’s sermon on the fruit of faithfulness. I am not saying this to impress you with my workload, but to say: sitting in these together helped me to see more than ever the power of faith in the life of the believer. As I thought about what I could say that might bring comfort, I saw that I needed to say very little to those who have faith – nothing that I said would be enough for those who don’t have it. Faith gives believers a living hope that does not need additional information and isn’t overcome by new challenges.
On Easter, we celebrated the fact that Jesus not only rose from the grave, but showed Himself to be more powerful than death. His resurrection is why His people have assurance that they will also be resurrected to eternal life. Of course, the proof that Christians hold is not the empirically-driven evidence that most people demand. We trust the story of the gospel, as revealed in God’s Word. We do not believe this because we witnessed it or have the scientific data for our own personal study. We believe this in faith. We trust God, and that trust is applied to all that He says.
This faith is not based on nothing. We do have a lot of proof in our lives that form the basis for our trust. Each and every day we are presented with God’s grace and beauty. We have experienced the miracle of rebirth and the process of sanctification. Our faith comes from God, but it is strengthened by what we see once our eyes have been opened. Proof has always been around us, but only by faith, can we see it.
Once we learn to see with these new eyes, everything is God’s redemptive plan in process. Some of what we see is sin’s terrible consequences causing destruction; we can act to bring God’s peace to bear. Some of what we see is God working His good through people who don’t acknowledge Him; we can partner with them to bring God glory. Some of what we see is the temporary pain of death; we can be patient while we await the final resurrection. In all of this, what seems temporary and human is actually eternal and divine. Faith places our everyday lives into the dramatic story of God reconciling the world to Himself.
Once you get this beatific vision, this picture of heaven, there is not turning back. We all want to feel comfortable in this world, but God promises us we never will be. The good news is, our suffering is temporary. Faith allows us to accept that we are strangers and aliens in this broken world, because we belong to something greater and more complete. Our lives are about living in faith as we await this coming perfection.
Faith provides us with purpose, with comfort, and with a hope outside of ourselves. Without this, life becomes only about what is right in front of us; our vision of the world becomes limited to what we can understand. Living a life based on proof alone is very small. It has no ability to carry us through true difficulty. At a memorial service, proof provides nothing to say but: we have suffered loss. Faith allows us to look at that loss and respond: God has a greater plan!