Show Notes
In this ninth week of Ordinary Time, we reflect on Hebrews 11 and the promise of the heavenly city that God has prepared for His people. What does it mean to live with eternity in mind? Join us as we explore how faith shapes our present in light of God’s eternal future.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to Formed for Faithfulness in the ninth week of Pentecost. May God open our eyes ever more widely to His love and His care, and may His Holy Spirit empower us to live in ways that reflect His goodness and grace to those around us.
A reading from Hebrews chapter 11.
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Because of disagreements about the age of the earth or what heaven is going to look like, some Christians avoid spending too much time in the books of Genesis and Revelation. But ignoring them is a bit like going into a movie theater after the film has started and leaving before the end. It may be entertaining, but it isn’t going to make a lot of sense. The book of Genesis presents timeless principles that shape our lives, while Revelation provides an eternal destination for us to aim toward. The heavenly city we read about in the last book of the Bible was the guiding light of the heroes of the faith we read about in Hebrews 11. Desiring a better country, they considered themselves strangers and foreigners here on earth. That perspective is perhaps more important than ever at a time when there is such fierce debate about open borders and national sovereignty. I’m not saying that nationhood and identity are unimportant. Galatians 3:28’s reference to there being neither Jew nor Gentile, but we are all one in Christ, doesn’t mean that there are no differences between us. After all, Revelation 7 makes it clear that our ethnic backgrounds are still distinguishable in heaven. We won’t be a homogeneous mass, thank goodness. But the places God sets us in during our time on earth are not our ultimate home. They are the pathway he has chosen for us to reach it by. Given that, how do we value, cherish, and protect the good and the lands he has set us in while recognizing that they will never fully offer what we desire? And how should we care for the earthly strangers and foreigners who come in in a way that might point them to a future homeland beyond anything they might hope to find here on earth?
A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 32 through 40.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Let us pray with Daniel Niranjan:
Gracious God, we lift up our nation before you, seeking your blessing of unity and harmony. We are diverse people with different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. Yet we are one nation under your sovereign rule. Pour out your spirit of love and understanding upon us that we may see one another, not as adversaries, but as brothers and sisters in your grand design. Break down the walls of prejudice, fear, and division that separate us. Replace hatred with compassion, intolerance with acceptance, and indifference with genuine concern for one another’s wellbeing. Teach us to celebrate our differences, recognizing the beauty and richness they bring to the tapestry of our nation. May we find strength in our diversity and work together harmoniously for the common good of all. Unite our hearts and minds around the shared values of justice, liberty, and human dignity. Help us to seek reconciliation, to forgive past wrongs, and to move forward in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. Bless our nation with lasting unity and harmony, that we may be a shining example to the world of how people of diverse backgrounds can live together in peace and prosperity. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Selections from the 50th Psalm, a Psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel:
I am God, your God.
8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”
