Monday, September 11, 2006
By Faith... Abraham - Part II, Part 10 of 79
TEXT: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16).
IDEA: Christians have related to their society as strangers and aliens by being separate from it.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize the struggle of trying to isolate themselves from the society.
Hebrews 11:13-16 describes Abraham and Sarah as aliens and strangers. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews obviously applies that to his readers and to us.
The question is, in practical terms how do we live that way in the 21st century?
I. We can reject the culture in which we live.
Over the centuries there has been an attempt to separate from the culture.
People have lived in monasteries and in other ways have isolated themselves. They took seriously the fact that they were strangers and aliens.
In North America today we have the Amish who separate themselves physically from the culture.
For many years some churches prided themselves on being "separate" from the culture.
This usually focused on questionable amusements or other practices that "worldly" people did.
What can we commend about people who reject the culture?
II. This is a very difficult way to be a stranger and an alien.
People often came to terms with the culture in an awkward way. They were given to "legalism."
It's impossible to live apart from our culture completely.
Jesus did not tell us to do this. In John 17 he says, "They are not of the world even as I am not of the world." When Jesus was here, he was an alien and a stranger, but he was very much a part of the society in which he lived.
