FRESH VIEW - Verses can become so familiar to us that the wonder of their truth escapes us. Listen again to Hebrews 11:1-

What is FAITH? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. (New Living Translation)

. . . FAITH is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. (The Message)

pistis = faith / trust or belief / the quality of loyalty or faithfulness (sometimes); in this chapter and the next, p?st?? is related or connected to "assurance," "endurance," "firm hope;" Faith strongly involves the quality of human embrace and trust and tenacity . .[1] .

Verses 11-16: This becomes the second section of Abraham’s faith story. We’ve covered the land that Abraham was promised. Now we come to the faith that looks toward posterity, the "very great nation," that God will birth through Sarah and Abraham.

Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God -- St. Francis de Sales.

The kind of faith God values seems to develop best when everything fuzzes over, when God stays silent, when the fog rolls in -- Philip Yancy.

Faith in scripture is a gift (1 Corinthians 12) and its cousin, faithfulness, is a fruit of the Spirit-controlled life Galatians 5). Which of the two have you seen more evidence of in your life?

Useful metaphors abound in this passage-advanced age, barrenness of womb and hope, though the writer undoubtedly continues Abraham’s, not Sarah’s story as the difficulty in translation suggests. Again, this might be useful in connecting with the life of the congregation, e.g. recalling a barren situation that required some amount of faith and trust to realize success.

The context about looking for a homeland and "seeing it from a distance," and "foreigners," and "nomads" (LNT), may be designed to trigger the readers’ collective memory to Moses’ life-his wistful view from Mt. Nebo of the promised land.

The homeland in Moses’ case, in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s case, and in a myriad of modern pilgrim’s cases, must be seen from a great distance through the eyes of faith. This "by faith" vision enables us to live life quite differently from others. The homeland toward which they/we move makes relative all the goals, values, and relationships pertaining to the society in which they were/are resident aliens.

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible XII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 131.