We enter into a covenantal relationship with God when we fully embraced our identity as God’s Beloved. We mark the covenant with rites and rituals…baptism, communion, worship. And then, we are called to live out this covenantal relationship in all we do and say. This is our relationship with God.
June 28, 2026
Hope in Bloom: Practicing Spiritual Gardening
Part 7: “Faithfulness as Covenant”
Hebrews 11:1, 3-39
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Hebrews 11:1, 3-39
Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. By faith we understand that the universe has been created by a word from God so that the visible came into existence from the invisible. By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain, which showed that he was righteous, since God gave approval to him for his gift. Though he died, he’s still speaking through faith.By faith Enoch was taken up so that he didn’t see death, and he wasn’t found because God took him up. He was given approval for having pleased God before he was taken up. It’s impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that God exists and that God embraces people who try to find God. By faith Noah responded with godly fear when he was warned about events he hadn’t seen yet. He built an ark to deliver his household. With his faith, he criticized the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going. By faith he lived in the land he had been promised as a stranger. He lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. He was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child, though she herself was barren and past the age for having children, because she believed that the one who promised was faithful. So descendants were born from one man (and he was as good as dead). They were as many as the number of the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore. All these people died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them. They confessed that they were strangers and immigrants on earth. People who say this kind of thing make it clear that they are looking for a homeland. If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return to it. But at this point in time, they are longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God isn’t ashamed to be called their God—he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was tested. The one who received the promises was offering his only son. He had been told concerning him, Your legitimate descendants will come from Isaac. He figured that God could even raise him from the dead. So in a way he did receive him back from the dead. By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau concerning their future. By faith Jacob blessed each of Joseph’s sons as he was dying and bowed in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph recalled the exodus of the Israelites at the end of his life, and gave instructions about burying his bones. By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months when he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they weren’t afraid of the king’s orders. By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he was grown up. He chose to be mistreated with God’s people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin. He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward. By faith he left Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. He kept on going as if he could see what is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the destroyer could not touch their firstborn children. By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned. By faith Jericho’s walls fell after the people marched around them for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn’t killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace. What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured and refused to be released so they could gain a better resurrection. But others experienced public shame by being taunted and whipped; they were even put in chains and in prison. They were stoned to death, they were cut in two, and they died by being murdered with swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats, needy, oppressed, and mistreated. The world didn’t deserve them. They wandered around in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith.
Faithfulness as Covenant Hebrews 11:1, 3-39
We are continuing our conversation with the Fruit of the Spirit, this week, exploring what it means to practice faithfulness as covenant. For me, that is what makes the difference for us as people of faith. Anyone can have faith in an idea, in a hope, in a dream, in a goal, in a vision which is yes, part of what we are talking about today. We know as people of God we are called to have faith in God. We are called to have faith in God’s Beloved Community coming to fruition for all of God’s people. We are called to have faith which can move mountains. AND we know that faith cannot and does not exist in a vacuum. It is connected to and practiced through relationships with one another, by being in community with one another. Yet we also know that faith is more complicated than this quick and easy answer. What I mean by this is that faithfulness is often mistaken for certainty. But as people of faith, we know and what we have experienced is that faithfulness is about trust rather than certainty. It is about choosing hope when the outcome remains uncertain. It is about remaining in community, being in relationship when it would be easier to walk away. It means acting, living as though God’s promises are Truth even before they are fulfilled. All things which are difficult to practice when it all gets too overwhelming.
Which is why the author of Hebrews wrote this letter to his community. He could see that everyone’s faith was waning. The author penned these powerful words…words which reminded his community, which remind us still some two thousand years later, that our faith is not strong because we believe. No, our faith is strong because it is rooted in the character of God. Our faith is secure, not because of who we are but because of who God is. Let me say that again for the people in the back…Our faith is strong because it is rooted in the character of God.
Our God brought this world into being by speaking words of new life. Our God has moved in and among the people of faith since the beginning of time, our God continues to move in among the people of faith, bringing about healing and wholeness. Our God is here, reminding this world, reminding us that no matter what, death and destruction will not have the last word. Our faith is strong because our God has shown us over and over again who our God is…our God is loving, our God is faithful from generation to generation. Our God is steadfast. Our God holds us secure. Our God is present. Our God is active. Our God made the mountains, formed the seas with God’s hands and still crafted us in God’s own image, naming us and claiming us as God’s own.
The author of Hebrews reminds his community, and reminds us still some two thousand years later that the power of faith is rooted in the promises of our God, promises which God has kept, promises which God has fulfilled, promises which connect us to the larger reality of God’s Beloved Community coming to fruition here and now for all of God’s people, promises which reminds us time and time and time again that no matter what, love and light will always overcome…and if they haven’t, then we ain’t at the end yet.
The author of Hebrews emphasizes this point by saying…All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith. Now at first glance, this could easily be one of the most depressing verses in our Bible. Our first instinctive reaction is to say “What you mean, we kept the faith and we will not get to see the results.” But the author of Hebrews points out that faithfulness invites us to step back and see a larger picture, to share a broader narrative which is not about me or mine, which is not about success or rewards.
With this one line, the author of Hebrews reminds us that God’s promises are larger than any single lifetime. The covenant is still unfolding. God’s Beloved Community is still coming to fruition. The Spirit of God is still moving in and among us, bringing forth healing and wholeness. As people of faith, we are not called to simply preserve tradition, to remember the story of how our ancestors were faithful all those years ago. With this one line, the author changes the narrative. With this one line, the author reminds us that as people of faith, we are called, we are invited to participate in the unfolding of the covenant, in the building of God’s Beloved Community, in the work of healing and wholeness. Every act of kindness… Every table made more welcoming… Every barrier removed… Every voice lifted… Every child nurtured… Every hungry neighbor fed… These become chapters in God’s ongoing covenant story
Because faithfulness is not about having all the answers. It is about trusting enough to keep walking, to keep hoping, to keep working, to keep becoming the people of love and grace our God created and calls us to be. You see, our ancestors in faith are not remembered because they were perfect. They are remembered because they kept saying “yes” to God’s invitation.
And today that same invitation comes to us. To trust. To hope. To love. To build communities of welcome. To seek justice. To remain faithful even when the promise is still unfolding. For we are people of covenant. God has been faithful to us. May we be faithful to God, to one another, and to the world God so deeply loves. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Faithfulness as Covenant Hebrews 11:1, 3-39.
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