We’ve Been Warned
Notes
Transcript
Warnings, we heed them or not at our own peril, right?
I remember in the 70’s when you got one of those McDonald’s Apple Pies, and you’d take a bit after your meal and still think you’d just bit off part of a volcano’s hot molten lava! By the time I got to college my friends and I were wondering if we could sue McDonald’s for “false advertising” because the box read, “Caution: The filling is hot.” I haven’t had one for years, but I know that for a while they said, “Caution: Filling may be hot.” A far different claim.
I saw this one on the internet. For those of you not close enough to read it, it says, “Open Box Before Eating Pizza”. Yes, its’ true they live among us.
There is one warning I’ve observed in my lifetime that people every one heeds. Think about it, you know the one. Every child knows you had better heed the warnings that come from the one who gave you birth. Especially if it is preceded by the running of your full name. Not just first name, not your nick name, not first and last name - that middle name gets thrown in, and in my case a suffix and you know it’s going down. You heed that warning now, do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not finish whatever it was you were doing, NOW.
It’s like there are different levels of authority. You know:
Warning: Wet Paint - don’t believe them, check it out for yourself.
Caution: Floor is Wet - no worries until about mid 40’s
Caution: Filling is hot - yeah right.
The trump card though was Mom using your first, middle, and last name and whatever she was asking you to do in that moment.
You know, she brought you into this world, she can take you out! And I’ve known a few moms to share that fact with their sons who were friends of mine.
Our Scripture today gets precisely to that point.
In the ESV we start with “Therefore…”
Hebrews 2:1 (ESV)
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Whenever we come across a Therefore in the Scriptures we must find out what it is “there for?” It’s drawing a conclusion from what has come before it. So what has happened in Chapter 1?
We were reminded God has spoken to their fathers referring to the fathers of their faith: Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, of Moses, and David. You can think of the great patriarchs. But now the way that God has spoken is different.
From Dt 33:2 we read:
He said, “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.
This was interpreted as God speaking through and giving his message through the angels. Now he is pointing to the Christ, to Jesus. 9iokjm
There is a higher authority that has spoken now. The Hebrew tradition said that the Law and the messages from the prophets had been handed down by angels. Now, it is handed to us from
the heir of all things - 1:2
the one who created the world - 1:2
the radiance of God’s glory - 1:3
the exact imprint of God’s nature - 1:3
the one who upholds the universe - 1:3
The writer of Hebrews wants us to understand this is not some distant God who has spoken. This isn’t some unseen God this is, in the words of the Apostle John
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
This is the one who came into the world and paid for our sins.
The message declared by the angels proved to be reliable in guiding them in the past, how much more shall this message?
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
Are you seeing the hierarchy?
When I was a child my mom worked as a nursing supervisor at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. I don’t know what her work schedule was, but I do know that sometimes she worked very late and would get home well after we’d gone to bed. And so we would play the hierarchy. I’d ask dad, “Can I got to Alan’s house?” He’d often respond, “you need to ask your mother.” I’m sure he assumed I’d wait until she got up.
FYI, kids don’t care if their parent is sleeping when they have a question. I’d sneak into her room and ask her, “Mom?”
huh?
“Can I go to Alan’s house?”
huh
“Is that a yes or a no?
huh
“Okay, thank you! Bye!” and I’d go tell dad I’d asked her and she didn’t said I could go!
Ah yes, the hierarchy at work. LOL
Okay, I’m kidding - but the point is in that moment my dad pointed me to the one he deemed to have the authority over whether I went to Alan’s or not. My deception on the other hand would eventually get me in trouble.
In our passage we come to this warning, and it is one we must heed.
Since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation. It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to by those who heard…”
Here we are learning of the writers first hand knowledge of the Apostles, those who knew Jesus personally. He clearly knew of Jesus message, and we are discovering now that he knows some if not all of those who followed Jesus for the three years of His ministry.
And He gives us this very powerful warning. If we were intentional about following the Words that had been handed down from our fathers, how much more should be intentional about following the words of Jesus!
IF you remember the overview we had of Hebrews, this is the first of a pattern of 4 statements elevating Jesus and then giving us a warning not to abandon our faith in Jesus.
In these opening chapters the author is elevating Jesus above the angels and the written Law handed down to the fathers long ago, now the Creator himself has spoken to us directly and it’s more than that right?
Jesus is the founder of our salvation.
Jesus Himself said,
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
And Jesus did not relax the Law as some might think of it, in fact he raised the bar.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
He then went through a list of
“You have heard that it was said…but I say to you…”
The Law was against murder, Jesus pointed to our anger.
The Law was against adultery, Jesus pointed to lust.
The Law spoke to oaths, Jesus pointed to our “yes” and “no”.
The Law spoke to retaliation, Jesus spoke to forgiveness.
The Law spoke to hating our enemy, Jesus spoke to loving our enemy and praying for the very ones who persecuted us.
The author of Hebrews reminds us again and again that Jesus raises the bar, not lowers it. And the writer tells us that Jesus has helped us, and that Jesus is there to help those who are being tempted, because he was tempted Himself.
Let’s read the closing verses of our passage this morning:
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
We read words like merciful and faithful and which one of us does not consider these words that describe motherly ideals?
Yet we also recognize the authority that is speaking.
On this day when we honor mothers and the ideals of motherhood we recognize some of the best attributes of our humanity: love, compassion, mercy, and help.
Perhaps one of the most profound messages to us in these opening chapters of book of Hebrews is that God came near. Eugene Peterson translation of the Gospel of John put Jesus entry into the world this way:
John 1:14 (MSG)
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
God’s love - like a hen gathering her brood - like a shield and defender - like a mother’s protector, nurturer, and defender of her children - like a rule maker - has come to earth.
This is not the one who knows of us, this is the one who knows us: First, Middle, and Last name! And the warning of the author of Hebrews is if we would obey the one who might know of us how much more should we obey the one who knows us fully.
In this world, we as Christians long to know God more - to know Him in all of His glory. This has been a longing of humankind since leaving the garden of Eden. Moses asked that he might be able to see God.
We must also remember we are fully known by God - all of our thoughts, our motives, and our intents. I love the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote to the Corinthian Church: 1 Cor 13:12
1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
And so as we continue in our journey through the Epistle to the Hebrews we ask the question:
So What?
So What?
So far we’ve learned of Jesus supremacy above the angels. That he is creator and sustainer of the universe. He is the one who paid the penalty - demonstrating God’s pursuit of us.
If God’s law remains, if Jesus has raised the bar, and through his death and suffering has opened the door again for us to know God how much more ought we be compelled to turn our lives away from all the things God has warned us against and to seek after Him.
This is uncomfortable because it forces us to recognize the multiplicity of ways that we have turned from God’s law and justified ourselves and our actions in our own mind turning away from God’s Law. We may want to say God’s Law is unfair, the bar has been set to hight, that it’s impossible to overcome and God says, “Here I am, I’ve taken care of that. If you truly desire to be in my presence to follow my ways you no longer have any excuse.” And in so saying, “If you reject me now you are making your own decision.”
My hope for each of you would be in this moment, much like when our mothers would call us by our first, middle, and last name, knowing the rule has been set would make the decision to choose to follow God in the fullness of all that it means.
The invitation is there. The offer is there. The gift is there, and it’s all to His Glory.
To God be the glory. Amen.