Empowerer of Praise

 Hebrews 13:1-25

Today we wrap up our series in Hebrews with chapter 13. It has been quite a journey through this deeply theological but also very practical book on the greatness of Jesus and what our response should be to his claim on our lives. We have seen how Jesus is compared to the angels and to Moses and to Aaron and so on, but we have recognized how He is actually incomparable, supreme in every way. Most of the messages in our series have highlighted the unique roles that Jesus has, including the “pioneer of our salvation” in chapter 2, our “great high priest” or mediator between us and God, alluded to in nearly every chapter but a particular focus of chapters 7 and 8, and the “pioneer and perfecter of faith,” mentioned last time in chapter 12. So now in chapter 13 we recognize Jesus as the “empowerer of praise.” I’m not sure that empowerer is a real word, but it does describe so well what Jesus does in helping us fulfill our ultimate, God-designed purpose of giving Him glory. Praise should indeed be our response to all that we have seen and learned about our divine advocate and friend. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, we read in chapter 6. What hope is that? Our hope of salvation, in all its fullness – based on what Jesus has done for us.

Chapter 13 is indeed a “wrapping up” kind of chapter. The NIV entitles the first part as “Concluding Exhortations,” but the whole chapter is a real mix of various topics, almost as though the author kept thinking of “just one more thing” that he wanted to say. The challenge for us today is that each verse just about could warrant a sermon on its own – and there are 25 verses. So we will not be able to take a deep dive into each topic but may seem to be jumping around quite a bit, just as the author does. Let’s get started with verse 1.

 

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. – Hebrews 13:1

 

The author is addressing a family of believers. You may recall that the beginning of the book gives no clue as to its intended audience, unlike most of the other epistles. However, its traditional title and the way that it is written seems to indicate that it was a letter to one or more congregations of Jewish Christians, which may have included some Gentile believers too. This exhortation to “keep on loving one another” is a timeless and critical concern for Christians. Jesus said that we would be known as His disciples by our love for each other. Judging from all the divisions in His body we have not been very good at it.

 

There was a recent article in The Atlantic entitled, “How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church.” It talks about the political issues that are causing deep and acrimonious divisions among Christians who might otherwise agree on basic theological truths. Loving someone as a brother or sister means finding a way to bridge these divisions rather than building fortresses to defend ourselves from others who think differently from us. Neither Jesus nor the apostles took on the political issues of their day, but some churches now are being defined – and in many cases divided – by the political positions that they hold so passionately. Gathering around the basic truth of the gospel is actually treated with suspicion. The article quoted one pastor talking about politics as saying, “If you don’t take a side, you’re on the wrong side.” Brotherly love is replaced by scorn, derision, or even hatred. Jesus set a high standard for His disciples, echoed in this verse here. Love is our first responsibility, not being right.

 

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. – Hebrews 13:2

 

Our love in action should extend beyond other believers. We need to reach out to strangers and make them feel welcome in our homes. This has been largely lost in American culture, but I have enjoyed very generous hospitality in many other places in the world, even from people whom I had just met and was unlikely to ever see again. Abraham is a fine example of this in the Bible. Genesis 18 records how he welcomed and fed three strangers who turned out to have an important message from God for him and his wife. I’m afraid that in this day and age I tend to often view strangers in my own space with suspicion rather than considering first if they might be angels. I wonder if I am missing any messages from God as a result.

 

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. – Hebrews 13:3

 

Christians in the early church had a common expectation of being arrested and put in prison for what they believed. A later verse in this chapter references Timothy just being released from prison. This threat of imprisonment is still common in certain countries today but is outside the experience of most of us. I don’t think I have ever been mistreated solely for being a Christian. But persecution is indeed increasing in many places like India and China and Nigeria and Afghanistan, and we need to remember to pray for our brothers and sisters in those countries.

 

And in a more general sense, people are being mistreated all around us, so as followers of Jesus we need to take a stand for justice for anyone who is oppressed. He does not give us permission to stand up for our own rights but commands us to defend and care for the poor and weak, reaching out to victims of violence and discrimination as the Good Samaritan did. The parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 reminds us that when we feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, welcome strangers, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit prisoners it is as though we are doing those things for Jesus Himself.

 

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. – Hebrews 13:4

 

As another expression of love, marriage should be held in high regard. Marriage models the relationship between Christ and the church, so sex outside of marriage equates to idolatry. Unfaithfulness in marriage or any kind of sexual immorality reflects a heart that is not fully committed to God. I am reminded of the verse in 2 Chronicles 16 that appears like a jewel in the story of Asa king of Judah: “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” That’s how the NASB puts it. The Lord will strongly support those whose hearts are completely committed to Him. And He will judge those who are unfaithful, whose loyalty is divided.

 

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?” – Hebrews 13:5-6

 

Here is another form of idolatry, perhaps not as frequently condemned in the church as sexual immorality. Who doesn’t love money? In America security is often measured in dollars and cents. How many of us feel a twinge of fear when the stock market takes another plunge? But if the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. Are we trusting Him to take care of us or are we relying on our bank accounts?

 

Be content with what you have. Clearly this is not suggesting that we should be lazy or unproductive. In the parable of the talents Jesus commended the servants who doubled their investment. It’s a question of motivation and purpose. Why are we trying to get ahead? Is it just to satisfy ourselves? Or are we plowing our resources back into service to God?

 

Because we live in a consumer driven economy we are continually encouraged to buy more, to get more stuff, whether we need it or not. Discontent frequently arises when we compare ourselves to others who have more than we do. We think that gaining material things will somehow make us happy. How many times have you heard or read of someone describing their childhood saying, “I grew up poor, but I didn’t know we were poor. We were just like everyone else.” But there are so many voices telling us now that we need more: more money, more things. It can be difficult to resist. But we need to remember where our true source of security and satisfaction lies: in God alone.

 

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. – Hebrews 13:7

 

We may consider emulating people who hold leadership positions in church bodies, but we should remember others as well who may not be considered formal leaders. Any Christian can be a spiritual leader, speaking the word of God into specific situations and leading by the example of their way of life, as it says here. We tend to admire and accept people who can speak well, but the outcome of their faith – the day-to-day evidence of how they are committed to and fully trusting God – is what we should really respect and imitate.

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – Hebrews 13:8

 

Leaders who represent Jesus should aim to be as consistent as He is. We can trust Jesus because we know that He is faithful, never capricious or impulsive. In a world full of change and uncertainty we can rely on His constant presence and provision. He will never leave us nor forsake us, as it said earlier. His nature and his purposes are eternal. Our hope in Him is like that anchor for our soul that keeps us secure in all the storms of our lives.

 

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. – Hebrews 13:9-10

 

We don’t have the deep spiritual connection with food that many other cultures have, though we recognize that food has more than just a physical effect on us. There are still plenty of strange teachings related to diet that we may be tempted to put too much stock in. The question of eating food offered to idols was a concern addressed in 1 Corinthians. Paul’s principle there is to not do anything that cause a weaker brother or sister to stumble in their faith. We have a responsibility to make good choices in what we eat, taking care of the bodies that God has given us, while recognizing the greater benefit of being strengthened in every way by His grace. Our bodies will eventually weaken and wear out, but inwardly we can be renewed day after day, as it says in 2 Corinthians 4.

 

God’s grace is made available to us at the cross, the altar that those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. What does that mean? The sacrificial system of the tabernacle was based on performing certain rituals. Without faith, these would not give people access to God’s grace and forgiveness. Serving in the tabernacle should not be seen as a privileged position. Right standing before God always comes by faith in what He has done for us, not by what we have done to try to achieve His favor.

 

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood. Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. – Hebrews 13:11-14

 

The priesthood of Jesus, in the order of Melchizedek, is recognized here again, in offering His own blood for our atonement. Jesus has the unique position of being both priest and sacrifice, sanctified and shamed at the same time. What does it mean for us to go to Him outside the camp? Well, it says here that it is a place of suffering and disgrace. The wilderness, away from civilization, is a place of vulnerability and discomfort. Going outside the security of the camp means leaving certain things behind, stripping away certain things like our pride and status as we identify with Jesus in his disgrace. We can no longer hide in the crowd if we are serious about following Him. The city represents security and predictability and belonging. But here we have no enduring city. We look forward to having those things in heaven. In the meantime, on the positive side, we are not tied down, trapped by human expectations. We have the flexibility to move onward into whatever God would call us to.

 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. – Hebrews 13:15-16

 

Offering a sacrifice implies that we are giving something up. A sacrifice costs us something. We give something up to gain something else. Praise to God can indeed be a sacrifice, especially when we do it when we don’t feel like it. We praise in submission to Him, as we give up our need to make sense of our circumstances or to satisfy our own desires. We give up ourselves to receive fulfillment in Him. The continuity of praise described here is related to Paul’s exhortation to “give thanks in all circumstances,” mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5. We can only do this “through Jesus,” not in our own strength. And openly professing His name, verbally giving God credit for the ways He is blessing us, may involve a cost. Giving God glory may not cost us anything in church, but if we do it publicly we may incur ridicule and opposition. But let us press on to acknowledge the Lord, as it says in Hosea.

 

Our life of worship should involve a second type of sacrifice mentioned here, in keeping with Jesus’ admonition to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to do good and to share with others. This involves sacrifice as well, as we give up our own desires to meet the needs of others. Service is a crucial component of worship, intensely practical, since actions always speak louder than words. The Message puts verse 16 this way: “Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.” That’s where the rubber hits the road, so to speak.

 

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. – Hebrews 13:17

 

Submission is another topic worthy of a separate sermon. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,” it says in Ephesians 5:21. That is the overall principle. We submit to leaders not because they are necessarily right but because their authority has been given to them by God. That is why we have to submit to civil authorities who may not even acknowledge God. However, submission does not mean blind obedience. We are still individually accountable to God. Submission means that when there is disagreement and someone needs to make a decision, that the leader is allowed to decide and everyone else quits arguing. And the leader then needs to take responsibility for the decision, too. Leaders must give account to God, as it says here. This type of submission actually makes life easier for everyone. Again from the Message, “Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?”

 

Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. – Hebrews 13:18-19

 

This is an expression of sincerity. The author acknowledges a need for prayer and a desire to again be with the believers that he is writing to. His desire to live honorably in every way ought to be universal. There should be nothing deceptive or manipulative or insincere in the way we relate to others.

 

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. – Hebrews 13:20-21

 

This then is the closing benediction, similar to the ones Paul wrote in his epistles, including its appeal to “the God of peace” honoring His eternal covenant. Jesus is referred to as the great Shepherd, echoing Jesus’ identifying of Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. Part of God’s care for us through Jesus is to equip us with everything we need to do His will as well as to transform us into what He desires. This inner transformation and outward change in behavior go together, as God’s work of grace in our lives. In the words of 2 Corinthians 9:8 that we frequently sing, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose, as it says in Philippians 2. So we can see that this is all of God’s grace, as we depend on Him.

 

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

Grace be with you all. – Hebrews 13:22-25

 

The author recognizes that there is so much more that could be said about all the topics in this letter. He reiterates his desire to see them and sends greetings, including from believers from Italy. Some commentators take this to mean that the letter was written to congregations in Italy. Others interpret it as being written from Italy. Many facts about this letter, including its authorship, will remain unknown to us.

 

The message of Hebrews however is clear. Jesus is Someone special, supreme over everything and at the very center of God’s redemptive plan. He is the one who gives us access to God. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Is Jesus worthy of our commitment and adoration? Hebrews gives a resounding yes.

 

In closing, I would like to return to where we started today: “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.” Siblings may not always get along, but family is what binds us together, within this body and with believers all around the world. The gospel is very simple. Romans 10 sums it up like this:

 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. – Romans 10:9-13

 

Therefore, anyone who declares that Jesus is Lord on the basis of their faith in His completed work on their behalf is my brother or sister in Christ. Salvation is so simple: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Some people may be like the criminal on the cross next to Jesus. All he said was, “Jesus remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus recognized his remarkable faith that looked beyond that awful death to the glorious kingdom to come and responded, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” We need to be careful not to add too many qualifications to the gospel of salvation, too many other things to believe or positions to take. The basic truths that should unite us as the body of Christ are much more important than the many smaller issues that we may disagree on.

 

Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ may differ in almost every way, but it is my responsibility to love each of them as my neighbor, namely to love them as I love myself. One of the unique things about the body of Christ is its amazing diversity. And 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that every part is important. We need everyone’s perspective, everyone’s insight, everyone’s participation.

Denominations and individual churches so easily become echo chambers where everyone says pretty much the same thing and feels obligated to agree with everyone else. We need to be challenged by people who think differently than we do. And we need to feel free to challenge them with our understanding of Scripture and how we live it out in the grace of God. Together we will be able to reach a slightly fuller understanding of our infinite God that none of us will ever completely comprehend. When we gather around His throne in heaven, there will be many different voices joining in perfect harmony, giving glory to the worthy empowerer of our praise.

Perfector

Hebrews 12:1-29

Welcome! Today we come to Chapter 12 in our series on Hebrews. Now if you are like me, it is impossible to read these verses without a certain Scripture song coming to mind. Don’t worry – we will sing this song at the end of today’s service. But I think that I, more than most people, have a portion of my mind that is constantly offering me a background music track to my life, perhaps because so much of my life has been involved with music. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out why my always-trying-to-be-helpful brain picks the songs that it picks. On Wednesday, I gave an exam to my online class, and immediately after that, I went to Clemson’s Greenville campus for a meeting. On the way, I found myself wondering how my students did, and I was a little worried, based on what I was seeing on homework and quizzes. Most worrisome was the fact the students didn’t seem concerned, as they weren’t coming to office hours. As I was thinking about these things, an old Disney musical song was going through my mind, but I couldn’t figure out the connection. The song was Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid. Finally I figured it out – instead of s-e-a, my always helpful brain was thinking about the letter grade C. “Under the C, under the C, yeah, we in luck here, down in the muck here, under the C.” Welcome to my brain.

 

Before we get into our passage for today, let us pray – in part that our brains do not distract us, but instead help us to pay attention and see how to apply what we hear to our hearts and lives. [Pray]

 

Now for the last two weeks, we have gone through Hebrews 11, the chapter well known for its long list of Old Testament people who were commended for their faith. Chapter 12 brings us, among many other wonderful truths, the point or purpose of Chapter 11. To get more of the context that Hebrews 12 is built upon, Let us revisit Chapter 10, verse 19: 

 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. – Hebr. 10:19-23

 

Because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we are called upon to draw near to God, being confident that we can do so because of our faith in Him. When we think about God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, and we think about ourselves, an infinitesimally small part of His creation, people who have sinned and repeatedly fallen far short of what God wanted us to be, a natural response is to say, “Who am I that I should come into His presence at all?” This is not an unreasonable question, and it would be entirely appropriate, if it were not for Jesus.

 

Repeatedly we see in Scripture the response of people when they come into God’s physical presence – they say, “Woe am I”, they fall facedown, and they expect to die, for “no one can see God and live.” God is indeed perfectly holy and infinitely powerful and awesome, and this truth makes it even more amazing what Jesus has done for us, as because of Him, we can choose to draw near to God. How do we do this? By faith. The difference between wanting to stay away from Him, even hide from Him, in fear, and wanting to draw near to Him, be with Him, experience Him, is faith. And so a good question to ask is “What is this faith?”

 

Hebrews 11 answers this question with a definition and with many examples from the Old Testament. Here is the definition, from verse 1:

 

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. – Hebr. 11:1

 

I call this a “working” definition, because it describes faith in terms of what it causes. I want to point out that there is always something behind faith. The Old Testament persons in Hebrews 11 were commended for their faith, because with little to go on, far less than we have, they nevertheless made life-altering decisions based on the little they did know about God or had experienced with Him. Think of Noah making the multi-year decision to build the ark – what did he have to go on? A short experience with God giving him directions. But was it really God? Maybe it was his imagination, or a weird dream due to the pickles he ate at dinnertime. Abraham had a great life in a great city – a short contact with God, and he packed up, leaving his family, without even a destination – God only told him He would show him where to go. These are only two of the many examples in Hebrews 11. For each, I have found it instructive to imagine myself in their places, with as little to go on as they were given. Would I have enough faith in God to upend my life as they did? Would you? 

 

And yet, Hebrews 12 calls us to do exactly this. Starting with verse 1:

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. – Heb. 12:1-2a 

 

The author of Hebrews is getting his listeners to imagine a great race. This is a long race, like a marathon, not a sprint. And in the stands are all these witnesses from the Old Testament, there to cheer us on, even if we cannot audibly hear them. When I watch the Star Wars movies and see the ghosts of Obi Wan and others encouraging Luke, I am reminded of these verses. What is this race a symbol of? Life, our daily life, day after day. And this passage tells us there are three things we must do.

 

First, we must throw off everything that hinders. If you have watched a marathon, or indeed, any running race, you know that the athletes travel light. They don’t run with backpacks on, or while pushing a shopping cart. And so we are told that we too must travel as light as possible. What might hinder us? Choosing priorities in life other than God. Yes we are to work, providing for ourselves and our families, but we are not to become slaves to our work, or prioritize work over spending time with God, with our families, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. What else might hinder us? Worries. Instead of worrying, we can be praying. Or at least pray while you are worried. The pleasures of life can also hinder us. Does this mean we cannot enjoy life? Not at all. But any pleasures in this life should only make us long even more for the life that is to come, whose pleasures will be infinitely greater than anything we can experience now. Another thing that can hinder us are unhealthy thoughts and ideas we cling to from our past. We even call these things “baggage”. Remember that Jesus says, “come to Me all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” Depending on the nature of this “baggage”, there are different ways to leave it behind. If it is feelings of guilt or regret, if we have confessed our sins to God we need to leave these things behind because God forgives us. Why would we not forgive in ourselves something that God has already forgiven? If we are somehow “wounded” from the past, we need to open ourselves up to the healing and healthy thinking patterns that are available through Christ. This may be easier with the help of a good friend, a pastor, or a counselor. Note that we are to cast off everything that hinders, not just a few things. 

 

Second, we are told to throw off the sin that so easily entangles. I take nearly daily walks/runs for exercise, and sometimes I go at sunrise. If it has rained the night before, all the spiders (and there must be an awful lot of them) seem to build new webs or strands going across my path, right before I go. Because I go so early, I am probably the first person to walk across these webs. It is a very unpleasant feeling to walk through web after web after web. I sometimes feel like Frodo going into the den of Shelob. Sin is like this. It entangles us. It pulls upon us, preventing us from moving forward with the ease that should be available to us. How do we cast off the entangling webs of sin? First by confessing our sin and then by no longer continuing in it, asking God to give us His strength to choose Him over our temptations. With regards to my walks, I have learned in certain places to walk on the right side of the path and on others the left so as to avoid many of the strands. Note that Hebrews presents an even better situation for us – we don’t have to figure out the best path on our own; instead, we need to simply follow the path “marked out for us”. The webs of sin are the results of straying from that path. And how is the path marked out for us? Through Jesus. If we continue to seek Him each day, spending time with Him in the Word and through prayer, our path will be much easier. 

 

And third, we are to run. Run! I think of the scene in the Incredibles when the boy is told by his dad that, at last, he can run. Run! There is something I have only experienced a little, but I have experienced it, called the runners’ high. It is a sense of euphoria when your body is working as it was made to work, an incredible running machine. Your body produces endorphins (which are like natural opiates) and you feel no pain. You have to run some distance before you feel this. God calls us to run with perseverance – so this is a long run, not a sprint. We are to run! The path is clear, set out before us. We need to only run after Jesus – setting our sights continually on Him, and we too will feel joy as we do what we were made to do.

 

For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. – Heb. 12:2b-4

 

I would say that, spiritually speaking, Jesus lights our path. Jesus feeds us on our journey. Jesus encourages us to go on. And Jesus even carries us when we feel that we cannot. How does He do this? Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, which helps us in our weakness. It is the Holy Spirit that opens up passages like this, enabling them to reach deep into our hearts. 

 

For the joy set before Him He endured the cross. Years ago, Fred gave a powerful message on this single thought. Does Jesus really love you? Yes! There was nothing remotely joyful about the agony Jesus went through for us. But yet, knowing how it would redeem His beloved (that’s us), it gave Him joy to think of what that agony would accomplish. That is how much He loves you! 

 

Reflecting on His love for us demonstrated by what He did for us on the cross can feed you, revive you, sustain you. It’s not so much that Jesus is an example to follow – the whole, “If He could do it, then so can I” kind of thing. Instead, I believe it is more about realizing that if He loves us this much, then as a result of our deep love for Him, we find ourselves able to do far more than we would have ever guessed. We find that out of the joy set before us, we can endure, we can not grow weary, we can not lose heart. 

 

Let’s talk about that last verse. At some point in the past, I thought maybe that it meant that we were somehow supposed to resist to the point of shedding our blood. But I don’t think that is what this means. I believe the point is simply that Jesus has gone through infinitely more than we will ever have to. Knowing this should make us love Jesus more, and again, this love will empower us to reject the temptation to sin and instead to follow after Him.

 

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” – Heb. 12:5-6

 

This passage quotes from Proverbs 3. It points out two errors when experiencing God’s discipline over sin. The first is to make light of it, that is, to ignore it, to not take it seriously. The second is to lose heart, which is the opposite error, to treat it as if it were some kind of permanent, eternal rejection. As a parent, we would not our children to make either error when we punish them, and God is no different. Discipline should not be ignored – it should lead to a change in behavior. In fact, chastening, a word that is rarely used today, means exactly that, to discipline with the specific purpose of seeing a resulting change in behavior. God chastens everyone He accepts as His son. And so what is the appropriate response? Repentance, in prayer, and then in resulting action. We are to take His discipline seriously – which we most often feel as a pain of conscience in our hearts – and then we go forward in the forgiveness and love that He offers us. 

 

Now I think it is important to point out that God doesn’t always cause a particular discipline to happen as a result of a particular sin; that is, He doesn’t tell us that a particular negative circumstance is a consequence of our sin. Often, hard things simply happen in this life. The early believers dealt with terrible persecution, as do many believers today in particular countries around the world. Does the fact that we don’t experience that kind of persecution in America mean that we are less sinful? Absolutely not! More likely, the opposite is true. So why do some people experience terrible hardship in their lives as Christians?

 

God allows this hardship to happen because He wants to use it to help us grow to maturity in Him. There are many passages that talk about this explicitly, but we don’t have time to go into them today. My point is simply that, in this passage, as well as in what follows, I believe God is talking about these general kinds of hardships as well as specific disciplines for specific sins. 

 

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. – Heb. 12:7-13

 

The word translated as discipline over and over here is paideia which is a rather specific word that, appropriately, refers to training up children. It’s not so much about punishment, like a prison sentence, but about regular frequent correction that leads to better behavior, like a parent would do with their young child. It includes, but is not limited to, protecting a child from doing something dangerous. More than that, it is teaching a child to be sensitive to the needs of others, behaving and responding appropriately to others, doing what has been tasked to them, and so on. 

 

For discipline of this kind to be effective, it is important that the child know that the parent loves them and does this for their good; that is, the child needs to trust the parent, even if he or she doesn’t like the current discipline. In the same way, we need to trust that God knows what He is doing, and that He is doing it for our good, as it says in the passage. We will reap a harvest of righteousness and peace! 

 

The last few verses here bring us back to the picture of running the race. I’m certainly no expert at running, especially over long distances, but even I have noticed that my ability to run depends to a surprising extent on how I position my arms. Conversely, when I am exhausted, my arms drop and indeed feel feeble. As for weak knees, at the last Faithwalkers some of us took a pretty huge hike, with significant change in altitude. The hike was made much harder by the presence of a huge amount of wet, slippery leaves, which made us have to lift our legs high and constantly be prepared to slip. The risk of slipping was especially bad on the way down, and I noticed that my legs were so worn out that my knees would actually shake. Once you are in a race, it is really too late to fix problems due to your not being in adequate shape. There was really nothing I could do about my knees. You need to train before the race. And that is the idea of this passage – God trains us through various hardships and trails so that we can then be strong enough to run His race. 

 

Now, I believe there is one slight weakness to this translation of verse 13. The “your” is not there in the Greek. More literally, it says to strengthen feeble arms and weak knees. In conjunction with the next sentence which says to “make level paths” so that the lame are healed rather than disabled, the point here is that the author is not addressing individuals, but the church, that is, the local body of believers. So not only are we to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees, but we are to do the same for others who similarly struggle. This goes back to things mentioned in chapter 10: We are not to forsake assembling together, and we are to spur one another on to doing good deeds. So yes, God is training us, but we need to embrace the training, and encourage others likewise to embrace it.

 

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. – Heb. 12:14-17

 

The phrase “make every effort” in Greek continues the running analogy – it literally means to pursue, to run after. We are to pursue living in peace with everyone – that is, loving people – and holiness – that is, loving God. We are to take this seriously, like if we were running a long race. Now, a good parallel verse to this is Romans 12:18, in which we are told to live in peace with all men as much as possible – that is, as much as it is up to you. And although that idea is not specifically mentioned here, it is certainly implied. It takes two to have peace. The idea here is that we do all we can from our side of things. 

 

Falling short of the grace of God – what does this mean? I think it means that someone participates in a local body of believers but never actually personally gives their life to God; that is, they still mistakenly rely on works for their position with God rather than on the grace that comes to those who believe that Christ died for them.  

 

As for the bitter root, I think there is an interesting parallel passage in Deuteronomy chapter 29.

 

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. – Deuteronomy 29:18 

 

Both passages again speak of the idea of addressing people as a local body of believers together. We are to lovingly watch one another, see how we are doing, and so on, to make sure that all who join a local body of believers are in fact living by grace, through faith. People who reject the gospel and yet rise to a position of prominence in a church can cause incredible damage. We will talk more about this in an upcoming series. 

 

Esau is a powerful illustration of someone who had something of incredible value available to them but who threw the opportunity away because it meant nothing to them. In Esau’s case, the item was his inheritance, which he traded for a bowl of lentil soup. Once the trade was done, it was done, too late to undo it. In a similar way, people have something of incredible value available to them: they have an inheritance available only through faith in Christ. But they too do something as foolish as Esau – rather than appropriating their inheritance through salvation, they choose the temporary pleasures of this world, and they do so until they die, at which time it is, like it was for Esau, too late. And as for the tears, Jesus repeatedly describes those who reject salvation as those who are outside, weeping and gnashing their teeth. Let us all heed the lesson of Esau.  

 

Now we come to what is our fifth warning passage in Hebrews. These have been warnings primarily to nonbelievers who were attending a local gathering of believers. For one reason or another, they were holding back from taking steps of faith. Each warning deals with a particular reason. The first reason, in chapter 2, is neglect. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The second reason, in chapter 3, is unbelief. They are described as having an evil heart of unbelief – unbelief is not an unbiased position, especially for someone who has heard of the Lord, seen the fruit of believers, witnessed the wonders of God’s creation, and so on. The third reason was tradition; for the Jews this meant holding on to various practices like ritual washings, described in chapters 5 and 6. Today I think it would also apply to those who use their age as an excuse for not giving their hearts to Christ. The fourth reason I might call fair-weatherism. This is found in chapter 10, among those who see the persecution of believers, have experienced a little of it because of their association with them, but then refuse Christ because they don’t want to endure that. And there is a fifth reason in the following verses: 

 

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” – Heb. 12:18-21

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Heb. 12:22-24

 

What a contrast! Two mountains, very different. One under the Old Covenant, the other under the New. The first was only a shadow of the second. The first only provided a temporary solution to the sin problem; the second is eternal. The first does not change the hearts of those who sin; the second does, because the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. The first communicates fear; the second, joy. At Sinai, the mountain has burning fire, darkness, gloom, and storm. It sounds like hell! But at Zion, you come to heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem! At Sinai, the angels kept you out. But at Zion, you join them in their celebration party. At Sinai, you were separated from God. But at Zion, you come to Him. As I said, what a contrast!

What about the blood of Abel? What is this about? If you recall from Genesis, Abel made a sacrifice to the Lord from the best portions of the firstborn of his flocks. Cain also made a sacrifice, but it is simply described as “some of” the fruits of the soil. I believe God was not impressed with Cain’s sacrifice, because it was more a sacrifice of leftovers, rather than of the best that he had to offer. In any case, God was impressed with Abel’s sacrifice but not with Cain’s. This made Cain angry, so angry that he killed Abel. 

 

Abel is a picture of Christ. He was killed even though he did not do anything wrong. I’m not saying he was without sin, as only Jesus owns that description. But with regards to the sacrifice, Abel did it right. This made Cain jealous, similar to how the Jews in Jesus’ day became jealous of Jesus because of the good things He did – the healings, the teachings, and the miracles. Both were killed. Abel died, and he stayed dead. Jesus also died, but He did not remain dead; He rose from the grave. Even death could not hold Him. And so the blood of Jesus indeed speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  And now we come to the warning:

 

See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”- Heb. 12:25-29

 

And so what is the fifth reason people were rejecting Christ as Savior, rejecting faith in Him? In essence, they chose Sinai over Zion. Not for reason of tradition, here, but more one of identity. You can almost hear them say, “We are Jews. Our identity is tied to the Torah, to Exodus, to Sinai.” The problem is that that identity means that you are still under the law. You will still be judged for your own sins. You have no savior, no Lamb of God who takes away all your sins, once for all. 

 

Identity has become a big deal in our modern culture. I do not want to disparage the concept of identity. But if identity becomes so important that it impedes your coming to Christ, then your identity, whatever it is, is an idol. At the end, as the passage says, there will be a great shaking, or sifting, or separating, as Jesus described it in the gospels. Identity is one of those things that will be shaken, and I do not believe it will remain, at least not as something that divides. In heaven we will all be brothers and sisters in Christ, equals before God. Some, we are told, will be shown greater honor, but this will be because of how they served Christ while on this world, storing up “treasure in heaven” as it says in Matthew. Martyrs will receive special honor. But identity, what group you were born into, your physical characteristics, and so forth, will not matter. Indeed, the last will be first and the first will be last. Let us not abandon identity but keep it in perspective. And let us embrace our new identity, the one that truly matters – by grace, through faith, we are children of the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are the redeemed ones, the forgiven ones, lowly servants and yet honored sons and daughters of the living God.