August 21, 2022: Faith Story: He Walked with God
He Walked With God
Hebrews 11:1-2, 5-6; Genesis 5:18-24
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
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When Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, and he died. When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.
My first cousin, Stan, published a book a few months ago entitled Our Little Secret. It’s fiction, but it’s inspired by real events and real people, namely, family lore and family members. I’m proud to say I make an appearance in the book; he calls the character based on me “Stephanie.” I complained to him that Stephanie didn’t have a bigger part in the book and joked that I was going to write a spin-off entitled Stephanie’s Revenge.
As far as family lore, we have the grave of a Black man on our family land in the mountains of East Tennessee; the man, Albert Peoples, was supposedly murdered (probably lynched), and my great-great grandfather allowed Mr. Peoples’ body to be buried on a craggy mountain ridge on the property. An actual picture of Mr. Peoples’ gravesite serves as the book cover for Our Little Secret. The grave continues to be the source of family lore.
The book itself is an engaging read; my cousin is a good writer. But for me, it was a difficult read at times. I know the real people behind most of the characters in the book, so I would find myself at odds with something he wrote about a character, then I would have to remind myself, “It’s fiction, stupid.”
For example, he calls the character based on my grandmother “Laurel Mountain.” While my grandmother is a hero in her grandkids’ stories, she wasn’t perfect. She’s nearly perfect in my cousin’s book. Another character in the book is based on my uncle, my cousin’s father. And while my uncle was far from perfect in real life, he is portrayed as the perfect villain in my cousin’s story. As Stan reminds those who take issue with his treatment of his father, “We knew him differently.”
Reading his novel, a couple of times now, it prompts me to wonder, “If one of my kids writes about me at some point in the future, what will they say? Will I be hero or villain? What will future generations say about me? What will be my legacy?”
Legacy.
Sometimes a life is larger than a legacy—today we study a character from scripture whose legacy was larger than his life.
His name was Enoch. Unless you’re a Bible geek like me, you might not know about Enoch with only nine verses total about him in scripture: six in the Old Testament and three in the New Testament. But Enoch left such a profound legacy that he is included as the second individual in Hebrews’ “Roll Call of Faith” from chapter 11. Here’s a brief review: first “we” are included for belief in a Creator, then last week we studied Abel’s inclusion for offering an acceptable sacrifice before God.
In that story, we were reminded of the first murder recorded in the Bible: Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel. Cain was banished to the “Land of Nod” for this crime. Cain found a wife (we won’t get into the fascinating question of where he found her), and they had a son who had a son who had a son (you get the idea).
In the meantime, Adam (at age 130) and Eve had another son named “Seth”—listen to the language in the Bible about Seth (Genesis 4:25): “she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.’” In the next verse we find Seth having a son. Listen to something very important here—something that happens when Seth comes of age (Genesis 4:26): “To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.”
You may remember from last week we discovered the possible interpretation that Cain represents the flesh or ego while Abel represents the breath or God-nature. Last week we left the story with Abel gone, murdered by Cain. But this week, the godly line resumes through the person of Seth, the younger brother to Cain and Abel.
What does all of this have to do with Enoch, our main character today, you may ask? Thanks for asking! In Genesis 4-5, we are given the lineage from Adam, first generation, down through the seventh generation through both Cain’s line and Seth’s line. Now, you remember that whenever you see the number “7” in scripture, it almost always connotes the idea of “completion.” What’s “complete” here? The first family tree of human history.
Enoch is 7th generation human, from the godly line of Seth. What about Cain’s line, the flesh/ego line? The 7th generation from Cain’s line repeats Cain’s mistake. His name is Lamech. Lamech is a murderer, just like his great-great-great- grandfather, Cain. Not only that, but Lamech is the first bigamist according to scripture—he had two wives. A murderer and a bigamist—that’s one heck of a legacy! Lamech doesn’t end up in the Hebrews 11 “Roll Call of Faith” for some reason. Go figure.
But the 7th gen human from Seth’s lineage we find Enoch. Listen to what Enoch did to earn his place in the Hebrews 11 “Roll Call of Faith” in these four verses from Genesis 5:21-24:
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.
What did Enoch do to earn his spot in the “Roll Call of Faith?” Enoch walked with God. We’re told this twice just in case once wasn’t enough. That’s it. That’s all Enoch did. He didn’t lead a mighty army. He didn’t build a city. He didn’t paint a masterpiece or run a successful business or serve as mayor of the land east of Eden but west of Nod. Enoch did nothing, by our human standards, to earn greatness.
Here’s my ego responding to this: “That’s it?!? Are you kidding me?!? Surely there’s more to the story. Surely he was the best at something! Maybe he could run a 4-minute-mile or maybe he scaled the greatest mountain or maybe he volunteered at Peace Café every single month. Surely there’s more to the story!”
OK, Rhonda’s ego. There may be more. But if so, we’ll never know. Regardless, whatever Enoch did, if anything, it wasn’t important enough to include in Holy Writ. So there, Rhonda’s ego. Enoch. Walked. With. God. That’s it. Then God took him.
“God took him?” Everyone else died, but with Enoch, “God took him?” What does that even mean?
And that one line—God took him—became the source of Hebrew family lore for generations, much like Mr. Peoples’ grave became the source of family lore in my family.
Because of the mystery surrounding Enoch’s apparent going to heaven without dying, the Hebrew people started all kinds of spin off tales about our friend Enoch. In fact, in the Hebrew apocrypha, we find not one, not two, but three books attributed to Enoch: 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, and 3 Enoch. These books were so popular by the First Century AD that the New Testament book of Jude (v. 14) quotes 1 Enoch.
Did you ever love a television show, but hate the spinoff? I loved “Cheers,” but I didn’t like “Frazier.” I loved “Friends,” but “Joey” was terrible. “Breaking Bad” was fantastic, but “Better Call Saul” didn’t do much for me.
The Enoch “spinoffs” 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, and 3 Enoch took the mysterious Enoch and gave him a legacy larger than his life. Much in the same way my grandmother, Blanche Johnson, became “Laurel Mountain” in my cousin’s book based on family lore. A legacy larger than life.
Here’s the thing about Enoch—he was just an ordinary guy. He did nothing extraordinary. On Cain’s side of the family, we find Cain’s descendants accomplishing extraordinary things and having exemplary careers: one built a city, one had livestock, one was a musician, one was a blacksmith. What did Enoch do for a living? We have no idea. It didn’t matter. What mattered when it came to Enoch? Enoch. Walked. With. God.
What does that mean?
Because that’s such an ethereal question, let’s think about what it means when we walk with someone. I’ve had several walking partners throughout my life, and invariably, the people I walk with become my closest friends.
· The individual I walked with regularly when I lived in Athens, Georgia became the matron of honor in my wedding.
· The gals I walked with in Loudon, Tennessee are those I make a point to see at least once a year even now.
· The person I walk with here is the person who showed up to help me unpack boxes during my mom’s recent move here.
When we walk with someone regularly, when we’re deliberate, when we make effort to show up time after time, we get to know them. We share our stories, our joys, our successes, our worries and our celebrations.
I think it’s called . . . friendship. Walking with God looks like . . . friendship with God. Here’s what Oswald Chambers writes about friendship with God in his famous devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest:
Real friendship with God [stands in contrast to] occasional feelings of His presence in prayer. To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you are rightly related to God, it is a life of freedom and liberty and delight, you are God’s will, and all your common-sense decisions are His will for you unless He checks. You decide things in perfect delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will always check; when he checks, stop at once.[1]
That’s friendship with God. That’s walking with God. That’s what Enoch did earn his spot in the “Roll Call of Faith.”
Here’s a question for you and your ego: what if all you’re known for at the end of your life is “walking with God.” Will that be enough?
I guarantee that if your answer is “no” to that question, your ego/flesh/Cain nature is alive and well. And I guarantee there’s no shortage of ego in this room. I confess there’s no shortage of ego in this pastor.
How do we get to a place where “walking with God” is enough for us?
Maybe we can find a hint in the name of Enoch. Enoch means “dedicated.” What does it mean to be dedicated to God?
Again, because that question is quite ethereal, maybe it will help us to consider what it means to be dedicated in our everyday lives:
· Some are “dedicated” to a hobby: some of you are dedicated golfers, some are dedicated gardeners, some are dedicated readers. You spend time with your hobby because you enjoy it.
· Some of you are dedicated volunteers: Peace Café, Meals on Wheels, I see you at the hospital and working the polls during election season, and SO MANY volunteers here at the church. You’re dedicated. Committed.
· To be “dedicated” to your family means you show up for them, often putting your needs or wants aside to tend to their needs or wants. I see this kind of dedication in you—men and women who put their lives on hold to care for an ailing spouse or parent, parents who sacrifice day in and day out for their children. You know what it means to be dedicated to your family.
Here’s the thing about most things we’re dedicated to: the reward is in doing the thing itself. If there’s such a thing as “spouse of the year” or “friend of the year” or “parent of the year” award, I’m not aware of it. Usually when I call myself “mother of the year” it’s because of some ridiculous mistake I’ve made (and believe me, there are plenty).
So let’s put all this together and consider, “What does it mean to walk with God” like Enoch did?
I offer three characteristics of a walk with God that will please the Lord:
1. Deliberate. The kind of walk with God that will please God must be a conscious choice. I don’t think we can just “fall in” to a walk with God. We must decide to do so. I’ve never walked with a friend without first deciding to do so. The same is true for a walk with God. It must be deliberate.
2. Dedicated. Not only is it a choice, it’s a commitment. It’s doing the walk even when we don’t “feel” like it. Even when it’s too hot or too cold or too windy or too early or too late. If we’re flaky, we’re not faithful. We must be dedicated.
3. Daily. Not only is it a choice, not only is it a commitment, it must be consistent. When I became a wife, I didn’t get to be a wife just on the weekdays, but weekdays and weekends. I can’t be a mother on Monday through Thursday and take three-day weekends. And I can’t walk with God by thinking about God on Sunday mornings at 10 am and forgetting God the rest of the week. A walk with God must be daily.
· Deliberate. It’s a choice.
· Dedicated. It’s a commitment.
· Daily. It’s a consistency.
Does that sound extraordinary? Will someone create a Netflix limited series based on your life for walking with God in this way? Doubtful.
But here’s my promise, if you live this way, you will please God.
Here’s my hope and my prayer for you: at the end of your days, may your legacy be simply: “He Walked With God.” “She Walked With God.”
I close with a poem entitled “Walking with God” by John Newton,
the same John Newton who penned “Amazing Grace”:
By faith in Christ I walk with God,
With heav’n, my journeys’-end, in view;
Supported by his staff and rod,
My road is safe and pleasant too,
I travel through a desert wide
Where many round me blindly stray;
But He vouchsafes to be my guide,
And will not let me miss my way.
Though snares and dangers throng my path,
And earth and hell my course withstand;
I triumph over all by faith,
Guarded by his Almighty hand.
The wilderness affords no food,
But God for my support prepares;
Provides me every needful good,
And frees my soul from wants and cares.
With him sweet converse I maintain,
Great as he is I dare be free;
I tell him all my grief and pain,
And he reveals his love to me.
Some cordial from his word he brings,
Whene'er my feeble spirit faints;
At once my soul revives and sings,
And yields no more to sad complaints.
I pity all that worldlings talk
Of pleasures that will quickly end;
Be this my choice, O Lord, to walk
With thee, my Guide, my Guard, my Friend.
[1] Oswald Chambers, “Friendship With God—March 20” in My Utmost for His Highest.