Proper 28

Psalm 113 NIV

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.

Mark 13:1–8 NIV

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Hebrews 10:11–25 (NIV)

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

“This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”

Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

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. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Sermon . . . “So, Now What?”

As we come to the close of our series on the book of Hebrews, our text takes a turn from where we have been going. For each of the first 6 weeks of this series, we have been hearing the author tell the people what Christ had done for them. Over and over again, the author had reminded the readers that the old sacrificial system they had used had been done away with. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what He did, He paid the price for all sin for all time. No more sacrifices were necessary. Salvation came through Christ alone, not the old system of Jewish faith.

And last week we noted that this message had been told to the Jewish Christians over and over and over again. It was the message the author most wanted the reader to understand, and believe.

But how can you tell when a person has gotten to that point? How do you know that you have said something enough times that it finally sinks in? For those of you who are parents, do you remember when your kids were small and you had your bedtime routine?

You would instruct your kids to go and get ready for bed. Then they would and come tell you they were ready. And then the questions would begin. Did you go potty? Did you brush your teeth? Did you wash your hands? Did you lay out your clothes for tomorrow? Is your homework done? I mean all of the things that were important and a part of a regular routine to get ready for bed.

Every night, you’d ask the same questions. Over and over and over again. But you knew they got it when instead of saying, “no” or “I forgot” they would say, “yes” or “I already did that”. When you saw they weren’t simply listening to you as a parent any longer but were taking the initiative.

Did you go potty? Yes. Did you brush your teeth? Already did it. Did you wash your hands? Yep. It was when they knew what to do and they were doing it that you knew the message had finally sunk in.

In the same way, the writer to the Hebrews gives them a way to demonstrate their understanding of the message they have received. Over and over again, the writer has been reminding the recipients of this book what Christ had done for them. Telling them over and over, Christ died for you. Don’t go back to your old way of life. Live for Christ.

And the writer gives to the readers three statements we can use as questions, even today, to make sure we have gotten the message.

Statement #1: let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.

Do you draw near to God on a regular basis? I have been in ministry long enough to know there are some people who expect that coming to church on a regular basis is enough to draw near to God. But if you only talk to your spouse or best friend once a week, and that through someone else, how close are you going to be?

There’s a song written by Larnelle Harris called, I Miss My Time with You. Let me quote some of the lyrics.

“There He was just waiting,

In our old familiar place

An empty spot beside Him,

Where once I used to wait

To be filled with strength and wisdom

For the battles of the day

I would have passed Him by again

If I didn't hear Him say

I miss my time with you

Those moments together

I need to be with you each day

And it hurts Me when you say

You're too busy,

Busy trying to serve Me

But how can you serve Me

When your spirits empty

There's a longing in My heart

Wanting more than just a part of you

It's true, I miss My time with you

Statement #2: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Do you truly believe He can? The people to whom Hebrews is written were facing persecution. They were in danger for their lives. Today, you and I might face prejudice or discrimination for our faith, and some have been killed, even in this country for being a Christian. People who were shot simply for affirming they believed in Jesus Christ. But it is not a wide scale occurence that this country is out openly hunting Christians. In other words, they were fearful for their lives in a way we can’t and don’t understand. Yet, they were called to believe in God’s care. In God’s power. In God’s ability. And while we live in what is generally a safe world, it seems like we struggle to believe God can. Or we give it lip service. We say He can do anything. But when it really comes down to it, our faith wavers and we question if He really can.

Do you really hold unswervingly to the hope you profess?

Statement #3: let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, . . . but encouraging one another—

And finally, do you spur one another on toward love and good deeds?

I want to make a confession this morning. When I think of someone who does this, I think of someone who can look at a situation and see the positive in the midst of the negative. And I have a friend like that. One time we were talking and he recommended that I ask someone about a question I raised. Only when he mentioned this individual’s name, my response, was, “oh, I don’t care for them.” And he said, “you know, some of the most memorable lessons I’ve learned are from people I didn’t like.” He took my negative comment and turned it into a positive. In other words, even those you may not care for can teach you something. I wish I was more like that. I tend to be negative. This just means I have to work harder and be more intentional about encouraging others. But just because it may be difficult does not let us off the hook. Or just because we may not like to do it, doesn’t mean we don’t have to.

But it’s not a matter of doing it because we have to. We do it because we love our Christian brothers and sisters and we don’t want them to fail. We want them to experience the full joy of what it means to follow Christ.

You see, the real proof that we finally get the message the writer was trying to give is when we demonstrate a love for God and a love for others.