Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast: Our Venerable Father John Climacus, Author of “The Ladder of Divine Ascent.”
Day 28 of the Great Fast.
Hebrews 6:13-20; Ephesians 5:9-19; Mark 9:17-31; Matthew 4:25-5:12.
Read Hebrews 6:13-20
Encouragement makes a big difference in our lives. Nothing takes the wind out of our sails like feeling that our efforts are in vain; hope that our efforts will be successful renews our will to keep going. The strength of hope comes down to how reliable it is.
God wants us to be encouraged. He “interposed” (mediated) in our mortal lives in such a way that “we might have encouragement”. He did two things. One, he made a covenant with our father in faith, Abraham, that “by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves” (Genesis 22:18). A covenant is a relationship established by an oath. “You shall fear the Lord your God…and swear by his name” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Unlike us, “since he had no one greater by whom to swear,” Two, “he swore by himself.” Our eternal hope comes down to the reliability of the one guaranteeing it and that one is God.
It is the promise that is ironclad. Our participation in the promise, though, is not automatic: “Abraham obtained the promise, having patiently endured.” As must we. That is why our encouragement is so important to God. He wants us to know that our endurance is worth every effort. It will pay off in the end, guaranteed by him. With such assurance, we can confidently continue, anchored, connecting and reconnecting with Jesus who has gone ahead where we are going. All this is given as the reason for the verses preceding this reading:
“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”