The caterpillar and the butterfly Hebrews 11

 Hebrews 11:32-12:2

" Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over she began to fly"  I saw this on Friday morning from 'Mindful Christianity' This describes our human experience and our Divine journey to a better place.  Now, we weep, we crawl, and sometimes we just mess it all up.  Sound familiar?   Our lives are short, marred by sin and end in death, but that is not the end, is it?  A glorious future awaits us with Jesus in heaven and all those who gone before us.  But we have to do the trip here in faith.

What is faith?  The original word is pistis. " pistis is a persuasion from God that we receive as He grants impulse ("divine spark"; cf. the Heb hiphil form of believe, ---- Faith is always the work of God and involves hearing His voice – whereby the believer lays hold of His will (cf. J. Calvin). It really means---(be persuaded, come to trust); faith." Biblehub.com

Now as we heard read in the Letter to the Hebrews 11 we have a "Cloud of witnesses" that surround us .  They were not perfect in their walk with God even though they had faith.  We learned this so ably in Sunday School, as we have been treading thru Judges.  Jephthah was one of them.  So was Gideon.  What hit me like a ton of bricks was that even after all that they did they continued to go after false gods.  Yes!  There is hope for us.  We continue just as Israel to falter, fail and fall!  But we are going to fly one day and sometimes there is glimmer of light on the path.  We do the godly thing, we repent.  There is a light of revival and renewal.  There is forgiveness and reconciliation.

  Who are our role models today?  We all have them or are looking for them.  We all need friends, mentors and wise people to help us in our journey through life that we may live lives that are full with correct choices and paths of righteousness and humility.  What happened I have thought to the young ( 15 years old) High School student who was a prom king one week , and the next week texted his friends and some family members in school to be at a certain place where he would take a gun out and shoot them?  Two  died along with the shooter up to this point ,and others  in serious condition.  Young lives , 14 years, ended for no apparent reason that we know of at this point.  That young man needed someone he could go to for help and listening.  He needed to share what was bothering him with a person he respected and could trust.  They are called mentors in one tradition.  They are people of faith and hope who call out the best in us.

    Who are those people of reknown and love in your life that care about you?  In Hebrews we read of names that may be unfamiliar but their stories are stories of faith and standing up for what was right at that time in the eyes of God.  Gideon, Jephthah, David , Samuel who through faith subdued kingdoms.  As we approach an election this week as well as Veterans' Day, are we not looking for people of character that are unafraid to lead with true wisdom and vision?

      Gideon is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 by the writer to the Hebrews  who acted by faith. Things were not going well in Israel.  The Midianites were oppressing them.  They cried out to God and an angel of the LORD Judges 6:11 appeared unto Gideon telling him that the " Lord is with thee." Gideon has a very human reaction. " Oh my Lord if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles ..?"Judges 6:12 He tears down the false idols of Baal and the people come after him. Gideon leads the people to reject the false teachings and gods of Baal and he fights with Midian defeating them by 300 men Judges 7:7 .  He follows God's plan and puts a trumpet in every man's hand and a pitcher which they would break,  and they defeat the Midianites.

     Gideon was a person who listened to God despite the odds and he lead others by following the guidance of God. We all need people like this as well in our families, places of work and church. 

     We know of David and Samuel, but who was Jephthah?  He was raised to deliver Israel from the Ammonites in Judges 11.  All of these listed in Hebrews 11 "through faith subdued kingdoms." 

      We have the better thing 11:40 , an inheritance received through the promise of faith in Christ. " God having provided some better thing for us.."  We are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses . Jesus is the " author and finisher " of our faith as we run with " patience the race that is set before us."

       Those who follow Christ in our relationships are true mentors to us.  They befriend us and listen to us. They are what the Irish called true " soul friends."  To be such a person we must listen to God first in our lives and follow His directions for the future.

        The young man who turned from prom king to murderer was responsible for his actions as we all are, but there could have been signs along the way that others could have seen to assist him, to listen, and to come alongside with true godly wisdom to share with him what was more important than the things and the situations we may feel defeat in .

         We desire to be people of God who " run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus" , but a light to others as well so that they may have the light of Christ.  As the hymn writer said in talking about the saints of God -living and gone before us to God, "

              "They lived not only in ages past, There are hundreds of thousands still, The world is bright with the joyous saints Who love to do Jesus' will. You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, In church , or in trains, or in shops, or at tea, For the saints of God are just folk like me-"

" Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over she began to fly" said the creature that became a butterfly. 

 "Saints of God , folk just like me---and I mean to be one too."

Perhaps the answer is Hebrews 12:1-2 " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..."