Faith that Longs for a Better Country

Delivered 11/29/2009 on Hebrews 11:8-16 by Carter Sanger

When the day to depart on vacation arrived I was bursting with excitement. But that always seemed to cool several hours into the trip after hearing the answer to my question, “how much longer?” was not in hours but days. It took nearly two full days to get from our house to the lake – two full days in a crowded station wagon before the days of video games and car televisions. The afternoon of the first day was always the most difficult as the weariness of the journey overshadowed the prospects of arrival. It was in these weary moments when we all questioned the sanity of such a far away vacation spot, “was it really worth all of this?”

The Christian journey is much like that. When we first hear about the great promises of the gospel – a better life, no more struggle and anxiety, peace – we can’t help but be excited about it. But then the journey begins and we find it filled with suffering along the way. We get to points in life when we wonder if we’ve done something wrong. We ask, “why, God, why?” Is the Christian life really worth it? The struggles and pain in life don’t seem to line up with the promise of peace and a prosperous life that comes with believing in God. The problem isn’t that the Christian life doesn’t deliver on its promises, it’s that we’re confused about the timing of these promises – and the value of the reality to come. But God is faithful to his promises so that we persevere in our faith.

This exercise of faith is shown in the person of Abraham. It is a persevering faith that involves leaving without knowing where, living as a foreigner in the Promised Land, laughing at the faithfulness of God, and longing for a better country.