Transitions can be tricky. Are we under the old or new rules? Do we honor the past or announce the future? For the writer of the book of Hebrews the question was: Is religion about the outer practices or about the inner life?

To answer, the writer took a step-by-step comparative path through the practices of the older and newer covenants. One step represents Moses, the sacrificial rituals, and the priestly class. The other step represents Christ, the maker of a new covenant. The point of the first half of Hebrews is to contrast a religion of externalities with a religion of the inner spirit. And chapter 11 represents a climax in that contrast.

The point we find in today’s reading, however, is that religion of the inner spirit is not new or confined to one Testament. Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, and many others are from the old system. Yet they possessed the essential core: faith. In some cases, their faith led them to take great risks for the sake of a cause; in others, their faith moved them forward in liberation. Faith led them to acts of justice and sustained them in profound suffering. Faith was what God was after all along.

Yet, Hebrews shows that for every person who wrestles with the mysteries of God, many more lean on the rituals that can be contained, measured, and checked off a list.

The New Covenant brought a renewed emphasis on matters of the heart. Chief among them is the capacity to face the future without all the answers in front of us. This pleases God. This faith leads us to take risks for the causes of God. This faith draws out acts of justice and liberation. This faith sustains us through affliction and suffering. Believing in the present what God has made clear in the past guides us through difficult transitions.