“And what more should I say?” (Heb. 11:32).
What more, indeed, should the author of Hebrews say? As I understand it, this phrase, married to the following one about there not being enough time to tell the whole story, is a rhetorical flourish, not a serious question. The writer is not really telling us that he’s run out of time, or asking folks whether they think he ought to go on. This is an old preacher’s trick, where you tell people you’re not going to talk about something, but then you turn around and do it. You know the sort of thing: the preacher says, “I’m not gonna tell you that you’re sinners!” Well, I guess he already has. So, here we have “And what more should I say? For time would fail me…” (Heb. 11:32). Trust me: the author of Hebrews is going to tell us exactly what he wants, whether we think he’s got time or not.
Earlier in the chapter, he’s been telling us about what faith is: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). It’s by faith that “our ancestors received approval” (Heb. 11:2). He’s given us some examples of what faith looks like, by reminding us of our spiritual forbears. Abel, Adam and Eve’s son; Enoch and Noah; Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the patriarchs; and Moses, who led the People of God out of slavery in Egypt. Each, in different ways, was faithful to God: obedient in responding to God’s call.
That’s where our reading picks up today, with “what more should I say?” (Heb. 11:32). What indeed! Our writer now tells us about a host of other examples of faith, “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1): some people that are named, like Rahab the prostitute, from the siege of Jericho, and others who are not named, like those who “conquered kingdoms” or “shut the mouth of lions” (Heb. 11:33) or “were sawn in two” (Heb. 11:37).
This part of Hebrews, coming close to the end of the New Testament, reminds me of when the credits role at the end of a movie. At the very end of the film you’re reminded of the names of the characters and the actors who played them. In a similar way, as the biblical credits role, we might ask: who was Barak anyway, or Jephthah, and what did they do?
[By the way, this is the only mention of Samson in our Sunday lectionary: a colorful figure who judged Israel in the time before there were kings, and who figured in my childhood bible. Samson will preach, but even the obscure judge Barak gets more mention than Samson in our Sunday readings, with a whole reading devoted to his story.]
Like the credits at the end of the film, some of those appearing don’t even warrant a name. You know the sort of thing: “Hoodlum #1”; “Crooked Politician”; “Friend of the Bride”: bit characters who had their moment of fame, their walk-on role. Their identity isn’t important to the plot. So the author of Hebrews gives us a quick rundown. Just in case you are wondering, it’s the prophet Isaiah who is supposed to have been sawn in half, though I don’t think this appears in Scripture. The one who shut the mouth of lions was the prophet Daniel, who was thrown into the lions’ den, but identifying him by name isn’t crucial to the credits.
What we’re being reminded of at the end is the story of faith, which comes to a climax with Jesus Christ, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), as it says in our reading. This is where the story of faith is headed: to Jesus. Our forbearers in the faith looker forward in hope, to what they could not yet see; to the One they could not yet see. You might say that Jesus himself is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). That’s what Hebrews does at the very beginning of the book, when it uses the same word translated here as “assurance” to describe Jesus Christ, “the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Heb. 1:3). He too looked forward to “the joy that was set before him” and has now “taken his seat at the right hand of God” (Heb. 12:2).
Faith is responding to God’s call, in many and varied ways. Did you notice in our reading the role we are called to play? We too are called to join the cast, to take a starring role. “Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). The writer is speaking to us, just as the credits are rolling, so that we can join the story. Without us, Hebrews tells us, the story can’t be concluded or the plot perfected. Our ancestors “did not receive what was promised… they would not, apart from us, be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40).
We are part of the story, followers of Jesus Christ, runners in the race. For all of us, there is still the joy that lies ahead. Our call to faith will be as varied as the call of our spiritual forbears; but like their call, it will be a call to active obedience. They looked forward in hope for what they could not see; we look forward to what has already come, Jesus Christ, risen and glorified. And what more could I say?
