Much Closer

Remembering how the Lord got us where we are helps us to stay where we need to be

If you are a beach person, you are familiar with the term “rip currents.”

Rip currents or rip tides as they are sometimes called are places on the beach where the water is going the wrong way.

Here’s what I mean by that.

When you look at the beach, you see waves, right?

And the waves are moving towards the beach.

Waves are a lot of fun.

We’d take those Styrofoam boards and wait for the perfect wave

Then we’d launch with the wave and let it carry us to the shore.

It’s a blast and involves lots of laughter and spitting out salt water when a wave gets you.

The waves are running towards the shore.

But with a rip current, instead of the water running toward the shore, it runs towards the open ocean.

Sometimes you can see the rip current, sometimes not.

But many, many times, the weather guys will forecast them.

Sometimes there will be signs posted and maybe even flags flying to warn you that there are rip currents.

Here’s the problem.

If there are rip currents around and you aren’t paying attention,

You might find yourself getting pulled away from the shore and you can’t stop it

The key for handling a rip current at the beach is simple

When you are at the beach, always pay close attention.

But when you see the warning signs, you need to pay much closer attention in order to stay safe.

Our text for today is Hebrews 2:1-4.

Hebrews is in the New Testament.

As you thumb through it, you’ll see the 5 T’s - 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus.

Start slowing down there, after Titus is Philemon and then you’ll find Hebrews - we are in chapter 2.

In our text today, the Lord tells us that we’ve been educated, and because we are, we need to pay much closer attention.

Kids, one of the things we do to help you listen is give you a worship sheet to use while I’m preaching.

Each week we give you three words to listen for - these words help you pay attention so you can hear the Lord speaking to you just like He does your parents.

The three words you are listening for today are Life, Jesus and Doubt.

Hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 2:1-4

Hebrews 2:1–4 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 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, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord,

We can only see if you allow us to see.

Open our eyes to see ourselves and to see Jesus.

Use Your Word to draw us close

Because close is where we want to be.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We’ve said that the book of Hebrews was written to a group of Christians

Probably at least a generation if not 2 or 3 removed from seeing Jesus first hand.

Life didn’t progress the way they expected and some were starting to fall away from the faith

And some were starting to doubt.

Now, let’s talk about doubt for a second.

What is doubt?

As I was noodling over what was doubt, I came up with two things.

First, doubt is simply that, doubt - I’m not sure that something is true.

I can almost guarantee, it’s not always but it’s a lot of the time - when a young person is making their break from mom and dad, doubt comes alive.

You’ve lived under your mom and dad’s authority for 18 or so years

And believing what they believed kind of works.

As a rule, you trust mom and dad, so they believed and I believed.

But then life, right?

Ya’ll do know that Gray is a very small pond, right?

28,000 people in Jones County.

If you go to the University of Georgia, they have over 30,000 students just in their undergraduate program.

UGA is bigger than your entire county.

Students come from 116 countries.

Many of them won’t look like you, talk like you, eat like you

Nor will they believe like you.

And if you are typical, you’ll ask yourself why.

You’ll wonder what makes you right and them wrong.

And, if you are typical, for a season at least, you’ll believe you are way smarter than mom and dad.

You’ll lie about it here in church, but in your heart, some of you are saying, “You better know it.”

For you older folks, doubt come for all kinds of other reasons too.

Someone dies that you can’t understand why.

Life things, divorce, bankruptcy, life just didn’t turn out like you expected

All of those things make you lean back and go - this isn’t how I was told God does things.

So you start searching.

You aren’t unusual if you do that.

That’s one type of very obvious doubt.

But there is a second kind of doubt that I don’t think we would call it doubt but it is a type of doubt.

It’s the doubt where your lips say “Yes, Yes,” but your actions say, “No, No.”

And we might not even be aware this is us.

But here is how you tell.

Take what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus

And compare it to your life.

Let me drop these questions then we’ll move on.

What are the priorities in your life when it comes to money?

What are the priorities in life when it comes to your time?

What are the priorities in life when it comes to your family?

You say that the Lord will provide your needs and guide your life

Do the decisions you make every day support what you say you believe?

Listen to the word:

Hebrews 2:1 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

The call to pay much closer attention

If you are at the beach and the evening weather warns of possible strong rip currents tomorrow, what might you do tomorrow?

You might pay MUCH CLOSER attention

Because if you don’t, there is a better than excellent chance you might end up swimming in the deep water.

We know from chapter 1 that the folks this was written to were going back to live like they had before.

This new thing didn’t appear to be working

So there was no reason - in their minds at least - to keep trying.

Jesus didn’t deliver what they expected and their old way of doing things

Well, it worked for them.

They were comfortable in whatever discomfort they were in.

They knew how to get around in life

Even if it wasn’t what they wanted, they still knew how to exist in it.

Listen, that explains a lot of people’s lives today.

They don’t want to change because at least they know how to navigate in their dysfunction.

But really, is dysfunction the ideal way to live?

And, is dysfunction God’s will for His people?

The writer’s solution is in that sentence,

“We must pay closer attention to what we have heard...”

The next three verses explain what he means.

Hebrews 2:2 ESV

For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

Your old way of life works sort of

Notice something here - the writer doesn’t start railing away that the way they had lived was wrong.

On the contrary, he says it worked.

The message declared by angels, in this case the Law and the Prophets, was reliable.

How can we say that?

Well, we’re not dumb.

It’s written in books and we can see where it happened.

In my devotion, I’ve been reading the Bible through a few chapters a day.

I’m in the minor prophets - almost finished.

As soon as I finish, I’m going to catch up with you guys and read the New Testament through in 2025.

But right now, in these prophesies I’m reading, Yahweh is pretty clear that every transgression

Every disobedience of God’s law will receive a just - a fair and impartial retribution.

The people of God aren’t following God and they will be punished.

For those using the handouts, I’ll include some scripture references you can look up that talk about some of the things God will punish.

[Numbers 15:20-31, Deuteronomy 17:2-5, Deuteronomy 17:12]

But now here’s the deal - folks, I’m not taking it on faith that what these prophets wrote in the Law and the Prophets is right.

It’s history.

It’s not a matter of blind faith, of belief.

There is reliable - that’s the word the writer uses - there is reliable, credible, historical evidence that these nations the Lord warned Israel would be the Lord’s arm of judgement

There is reliable, credible, historical evidence that these nations did indeed invade Israel

And there is reliable, credible, historical evidence that they did exactly what those prophecies said they would do.

I’m not taking that on faith.

I believe that as surely as I believe Washington crossed the Delaware river.

It’s history.

So they could go back and live their lives based on what they were comfortable believing.

It - their old way of life - worked for them.

Let’s just say this about that.

When life gets hard - when things don’t go as you expect them to

When God does things that disappoint you

He does - no need to deny that.

He has a plan and you have a plan and you are disappointed when His plan isn’t your plan,

Am I not right?

And when that happens, the easiest thing to do is to revert back to the way you were doing things to start with.

Listen, I know that fighting through depression is hard.

I know that fighting through addiction is hard.

I know that fighting through family drama is hard.

I know money problems and relationship problems and workplace problems - they are all hard.

I also know, we were living in those things and we knew how to manage - even if it was horribly dysfunctional.

But we knew how to manage.

When things get hard, the path of least resistance is to go back to doing things the way you always have.

And these folks wanted to go back to what they had always done.

In this case, the writer is not telling these folks that their former way of life was wrong, he’s telling them it was incomplete.

Hebrews 2:3 ESV

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

The danger of neglecting salvation

When we live in our former way of life, where is our focus?

It’s on the here and now, right?

The writer isn’t focused on the here and now.

“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

The word salvation could also be rendered deliverance.

“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great deliverance?”

Deliverance from what?

Divine retribution.

Divine punishment.

The wrath of God.

What does that look like?

Death and hell.

Your old way of life wasn’t going to deliver you.

There is only one deliverer and that’s Jesus.

And there is only one way to be delivered and that’s to follow Jesus

Even when it’s hard.

Especially when it’s hard.

Do you see the word “neglect?”

The word neglect simply means to not pay attention.

How do you combat doubt?

What did verse 1 say?

“Therefore, we must pay much closer attention...”

When we are doubting, either deliberately or we find ourselves drifting along

We must pay much closer attention

To what?

To what we have heard and where we heard it from.

Hebrews 2:3–4 ESV

[3b] It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

What was declared first by Jesus?

The way of deliverance.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus said it first.

Then when Jesus ascended, others told the story.

Paul said in Philippians 3:20-21

Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Then the Father bore witness - He testified - by giving signs

Water into wine

Walking on the water

Feeding five thousand

And He gave wonders

Lazarus raised from the dead

The Widow of Nain’s son raised from the dead

Jesus’ own crucifixion and resurrection.

And “by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.”

Consider this gift:

Jesus said in John 14:26

John 14:26 ESV

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

That’s a promise to us, right?

And the writer in Hebrews is telling us to pay “much closer attention” - to remember - what we have heard.

Sounds to me that we are not doing this alone?

So how did the Holy Spirit get you to where you are now?

How did you hear?

Who did you hear from?

How did the gospel get from Jesus in 30 AD to you?

Remember how the Lord brought us here

To work on our doubts, we need to pay very close attention to how we got to where we are?

I don’t know about you, I’ve made decisions that took me places I never planned to go.

Seemingly benign decisions - that ended up putting me in a place that the Lord would use.

Have you looked at your life that closely?

How did you get where you are?

What did the Lord do to draw you to Him?

I’ve done this.

I have a number of them - I call them Pivot points.

Where things happened that have no other explanation than the Holy Spirit.

That’s what the writer of the Hebrews is telling those who doubt to do.

Look back and look for your pivot points.

Listen, I’ve a friend who sat at an intersection and heard in her spirit

“Turn to the right and nothing in your life will change.”

“Turn to the left and I will change your life forever.”

Who whispered that in her spirit?

She knows and she’ll testify - it was the Holy Spirit making good on Jesus’ promise.

It was a pivot point.

It’s how He got her to where she is today.

Final questions.

Do you believe?

Is your belief real enough that you know that when you follow Jesus, you have no idea what your life is going to look like

But you know it will be blessed in ways that you don’t know how to even ask for it or even think about?

Do you know Jesus?

Do you trust Him?

If you do, think about it long enough so you will never, ever turn back.

Let us pray.

Communion

A lot of times when we do communion, you’ve probably noticed I’ll read from 1 Corinthians 11.

I really hadn’t thought about it much until today’s communion coincided with this message,

But Paul is addressing an issue when he says what he says about the Lord’s supper.

Seems the Corinthian church had been around long enough that a pecking order of sorts had started to emerge.

They didn’t do the Lord’s Supper like we do

For them, it was a part of a meal.

They’d all get together and do a pot luck, fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, you know, all the good stuff.

Some folks would get there early and pig out

So when the late folks got there, all the good stuff was gone.

And a few entitled folks hit the wine pretty hard.

In verse 21, Paul says, 1 Corinthians 11:21

1 Corinthians 11:21 ESV

For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

He blisters them a bit in verse 22 but then he immediately says this

Now think about it - some in the congregation have gotten a bit selfish

And there is division and probably fighting, anger, hurt feelings - the full deal

And here is Paul’s solution.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Now, based on the message we just heard, what is Paul’s solution to their church problems?

Remember.

Isn’t that cool?

Remembering how the Lord got us where we are helps us to stay where we need to be.

Remember how you got to a place where you could chow down in the church.

Remember how you got to a place where you could share a cup in the church.

Remember how the Lord got you here.

That’s kind of powerful.

Jesus deliberately, on purpose, with strength and determination faced an incomprehensible amount of pain

To the point of dying.

So you and I could get together as brothers and sisters.

Both equally sinful

Both equally forgiven

Both equally delivered

Because Jesus bled out for us.

I suspect there was a lot of guilt and shame when they read that

I imagine there was repentance and forgiveness and tears after they read that.

Because they remembered how the Lord got them where they are.

It reminded them of where they needed to be.

As you approach the table today, remember how the Lord got you here.

Maybe you need to repent

But most assuredly you need to rejoice.

For you serve a Lord who has a plan for your life

And as certain as you are in the room, the Lord Jesus Christ’s plan will be completed.

You serve a Lord whose Spirit is in you saying, “This is the way, walk in it” every minute of every day.

You serve a Lord who is this minute making you more like Jesus until one day He will make you new.

And you got to this place where all of that is happening for you

Because Jesus Philippians 2:7-8

Philippians 2:7–8 ESV

[Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Remember, you did not get yourself here.

Jesus rescued you.

Let my prayer be your prayer.

Dear Lord Jesus,

I look back on my life and I see the work of your hands all over it.

In my worst hours, you were protecting me

In my most arrogant hours, you were humbling me

In my darkness, you came to me and you showed me your light.

You did not leave me standing on the corner banging my head on the wall

You took me and delivered me and you made my way here.

I’ve done my best and sometimes I’m ashamed of just how weak my best is.

But you my Lord have never abandoned me as others have.

You have become my rock and on you I stand.

After you, yourself put me there.

Lord Jesus, your brothers and sisters in this room have similar stories.

We don’t have the proper words to thank you for your bravery

Your heroism, your care and compassion

Your love.

As weak as it sounds, we love you Lord.

Thank you for getting us here and for the promise that one day you’ll take us home.

In Your very Name we pray. Amen

Would the deacons and elders serving come forward.

We ask everyone to exit your pew to the left and come to the table closest to you.

When you take the wafer, you may eat it then or you may take it back to your seat if you want.

The gluten free wafers are at the middle table.

After we’ve all been served, we’ll sing a hymn and we’ll go.

Please stand and remember as you come to the Lord’s table.