A Sacrifice of Praise

Hebrews 13:15-16

We’ve come to the great conclusion of this book. After this the writer will call us to listen to our leaders, and pray for us that God would apply these great truths to our lives. But these two verses here in 13:15-16 serve to conclude the force and direction of this book.

Now I don’t know what you might think the author would conclude with after this whole discussion about the person and work of Christ, so perhaps this conclusion will be a little shocking. After spending so much time discussing how sacrifices have gone away and how Christ is the final sacrifice, why is he talking about sacrifices again?

Some people like to cut this bible in half and act like the first half isn’t connected, but rather than that, your bible that you hold in your hands begins and concludes with one purpose. God will be glorified. God will be glorified in his people.

It is the aspiration of believers to praise this God who is glorified. Christian isn’t this what you desire? I want my life to be a life of praise. That’s where this book concludes.

Now maybe this comes as strange to you. Why would we be talking about sacrifice again when we’ve already read in this book that sacrifices have been done away with and found its conclusion in Christ? Why are we talking about it again?

Well notice here what the author says, we are to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through Jesus. This is a special type of sacrifice. This isn’t an atoning sacrifice. This is not a sacrifice that covers sin or pays a price.

This is what he means by “through Him.” Jesus has offered the atoning sacrifice, the sacrifice we offer is through him. So this is what we have to understand about what we’re being exhorted to do here. Offer up a sacrifice of praise in Christ.

Listen, believer, you do lots of things that aren’t perfect, don’t you? Have you ever tried to make something to match a picture that you see online? One of my worse cooking disasters, I tried to make bread about 10 years ago. Somehow I made soup. I messed up bread so bad that I made soup. That’s not easy.

Every now and then our cat likes to leave a half eaten field mouse by the back door. These things are just about the level of our ability to offer up pleasing things to God. So find your comfort in these words “through him.” You’re imperfect offer of praise is perfect to the Father because they are given in Christ.

Well now we need to answer this question: What is a sacrifice of praise? Well he answers this for us. “That is,” he says, “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”

This comes from Hosea 14:2. We’re going to see this type of language soon as we get into Isaiah. Hosea is dealing with a wayward people, a people who are constantly trusting in foreign gods and powers. And if and when they think about it, they sacrifice an animal to God.

He tells the people, I don’t want the animals. You are missing the point.

You can illustrate it this way. Valentine’s Day is this week. A husband comes home, forget’s flowers and chocolate. The wife is disappointed, the husband runs to the store and gets some flowers. The wife says to the husband, “you don’t get it, its not about the flowers.”

This was the people before God. “I don’t want the animals, I want your heart.”

Now Hosea at the end of his book writes about this time at the end where God’s people will turn back to him [read Hosea 14]

The Hebrew is fascinating the way Hosea writes it, he says “we will give sacrifice, the bulls of our lips.” Our lips will be the sacrifice. The word bull and the word fruit are nearly identical spelling in Hebrew. And the Greek translators decided the word fruit explained what was meant by bulls.

See this is what Jesus said, “out of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Your heart produces fruit and that fruit comes out in your speech and actions. Hosea writes of a time when the sacrifice of God’s people will be hearts that love him and express themselves in praise.

See what Hebrews is saying? Jesus has accomplished this. We’re here in these days of fulfillment. These promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ and applied to the church. Believer your life is to be a continual offering up of praise through Christ.

He’s not saying that going to church once a week is your sacrifice of praise, or that listening to KLove is your sacrifice of praise. Thanksgiving to God is the tone of a believer’s heart.

We acknowledge or confess the name of Christ. We recognize that Christ has inherited the name that is above every name. That he has accomplished our salvation fully. We wake up in the morning and thank him for new mercies, we lay our head on the pillow at night and praise him for another day.

Now that’s the first part, Jesus says this is the greatest commandment, Love the Lord your God with all your heart. The second he says is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.

So the author continues, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Is your life full of grumbling and complaining? Do you find yourself critical of God’s people?

The Spirit of God would have us be a people who are satisfied in Christ. Now you may say “I have no problem loving God and being satisfied in him, But I do have a problem being satisfied with God’s people.” There’s quite a disconnect there, isn’t there? These two things are inseparable.

Christ desires that this is what we would look like. Continually offering up a sacrifice of praise, and being a loving generous people with one another. The Father is pleased in this behavior.

Do you know what I see characterized here at GBF? People who love God and love neighbor. People give, people care, people are invested in each other. God is pleased in these things.

Now I know that Satan heaps a whole bunch of things on your shoulders. He says “Actually you are not pleasing to God, because your love for him isn’t perfect. Your love for your fellow believer isn’t perfect.” He reminds us of times when we fell short. If we are honest, all we do is fall short.

This is why these first two words in 15 are so important. Believer your don’t offer up these sacrifices as atoning sacrifices. You don’t offer these up as a means of remaining in God’s good graces. There isn’t a threshold of things you must do each week to make sure that you’ve accomplished the requirements for the week.

Believer, the Father is pleased in you, because of his Son. God’s people living thankful lives in Christ is the fulfillment of the direction of the Old Testament. You have not undone the bible, because your work wasn’t perfect this week. Christ is king. He sits on the throne. The Father is pleased in you through his Son.

So be thankful, worship God, love your neighbor, and sleep well, knowing that Christ is king.