Fuzzy Memories

There is nothing we can remember that will fill our souls like Jesus

I don’t know what the magic age is when you start thinking about the good ole’ days.

Bruce Springsteen wrote his hit song “Glory Days” in 1984 when he was just 34 years old

So I guess you don’t have to be that old to look back and miss those days.

The funny thing is though is we generally remember those days as “good ole’ days.”

Simpler times.

Less worry and hassle, at least that’s what we remember.

More of - pick it -

Whatever we are missing at the moment is what we cherish about the good ole’ days.

I had a motorcycle helmet in my glory days when I was a teenager.

It had a sparkled American Flag theme - if you’ve ever seen one, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

They were everywhere.

After I got splatted on the face by a bug, that really hurts by the way.

I decided to get me a face shield and it came in a three pack.

One was clear.

One was blue so you wouldn’t need sunglasses.

And the other one was yellow.

Yellow was my favorite.

On a dreary day, you can put on a yellow face shield - or some of those so called “high definition” glasses today

And the world is suddenly bright.

The dreariness is gone - poof - just like that.

And everywhere you look is a bright sunshiny day.

That’s how we see the past.

I remember standing in line - I think it was at the Mableton Roller Rink - to get my polio vaccine sugar cube.

That’s through the yellow lens - all sunshiny and fun.

Reality though was my friend up the street named Bob that had polio and ended up with a paralyzed right leg.

He learned to walk with a brace and he kind of slung his bad leg forward to walk.

That was in the good ole’ days.

Sometimes it’s nice to get a reminder that the past isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Which is precisely what the Pastor that wrote Hebrews is doing for us today.

Turn with me if you will to the book of Hebrews, chapter 9, we’ll be focused on the first 10 verses today.

While you are looking, children, let me be your granddad today and give you some advice.

Don’t be in too big of a hurry to grow up.

Each day of your life is a gift from God given to you to enjoy to it’s fullest.

Some days are hard and some aren’t but every day is a gift.

Enjoy your days.

Work hard, study, do the things that are your jobs to do and do them the best you can

But remember that God gave you the world to enjoy so enjoy it.

There was a singer back in my day that sang “These are the good ole’ days” and she wasn’t wrong.

Love your mom and dad real big because one day what you do today is going to be a great memory for you.

I hope you have your Worship Worksheet.

It has three words you will be listening for, they are Jesus, Church and Remember.

And adults, we have worksheets for you as well that are sitting in the middle of the vestibule.

You might want to check them out - they’ll help you listen as well.

If you have Hebrews open, Hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 9:1-10

Hebrews 9:1–10 ESV

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

Let’s pray:

Father, the evil one and his minions use so many things to tempt us away from you.

Through Your Word today, help us to recognize those things so we will abandon them and hold fast to you.

Your Word is truth - help us to see and hear the truth.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I think many of us, myself included, have some very fond memories of being raised in the church.

One of the best times in our church was when it burned down when I was in Junior High.

We had to meet in an old building and the youth met all in one room in the original, tiny little Davis Chapel building.

Those were good times.

Vacation Bible School met in the old building and it had those little wooden chairs for kids

And big peg board tables.

You would take different colored pegs and make designs out of them.

I found that fascinating.

I remember Beth and Bob Neal and the Brisendines.

Ricky and Phillip and Eddie and Jeff and Jeff and Cindy and Vicki and Delisa and the list could go on for a while.

Those memories fill my heart with joy - as your memories do you.

But most of those memories are seen through the yellow motorcycle helmet lenses

The Pastor who wrote Hebrews understands the draw the past has on us

And he understands how we tend to see the past through filtered lens.

He doesn’t disrespect the past - he simply works to bring it into focus so we can see it realistically.

As you know, the Hebrews were a persecuted and unhappy group of people.

Life was disappointing them and they were yearning for relief.

This new Jesus stuff didn’t seem to be delivering as advertised and they just weren’t sure it was better than what they had.

So the Pastor goes down memory lane with them.

Hebrews 9:1 “Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.”

He might as well have said, “Do ya’ll remember the stories about how our church got started?”

They would have remembered those stories just I remember Davis Chapel and Renee’ remember Bellevue

And you remember where ever you grew up.

If you went to church when you were little like I did, you knew the church as “The House of God.”

That’s how the Pastor is connecting to those folks.

He’s going to make a lot of allusions to things they had been taught and that they held very dear.

“The house of God” is a dear thing to us.

And when he says, “an earthly place of holiness” he’s thinking of God’s command to Moses.

Exodus 25:9 ESV

Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

The Jewish church truly was the House of God because God designed it Himself.

Exact measurements, all the way down to the decor.

Look at verse 2 Hebrews 9:2 “For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.”

The temple in Jerusalem was built according to this same pattern.

It was an awe inspiring building that, once you saw it, you’d not forget it.

Outside the original tent and outside the Temple, there was a courtyard where they would have stood to worship.

They would see the priests going in and out of the first section and they’d catch a glimpse of the lampstand.

We know it as the Jewish Menorah but in the temple it was more than just a lampstand.

Listen to Exodus 25:31

Exodus 25:31 ESV

“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.

It was pure gold and it was as big as a man.

The craftsmanship would have been amazing because it was made from one solid piece of gold.

And the room it was in had windows, but they weren’t designed to let light in.

They were designed to let the light of the lampstand out.

This church, this temple was the light of the world.

You’ve heard that phrase, right?

And they believed that about their church.

When I was at Mercer I was in their choir one year.

It was not their invitational choir, I was in the one they let anybody into.

Our big year end performance was at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church.

It was the first church I had ever been in that was that ornate.

The wood work inside that church was intricate and exquisite.

I can still see that place in my mind’s eye.

They could still see the lampstand in their mind’s eye.

He mentions the table that held the bread of the Presence.

The table is described in Exodus 25:23–24

Exodus 25:23–24 ESV

“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it.

A pure gold table sitting in front of a pure gold, giant lampstand.

Can you imagine?

And every week on the Sabbath, a priest would put 12 loaves of bread made with the recipe that the Lord had given them

And He would place those 12 loaves on the gold covered table.

He’d take the 12 loaves from the week before and those became food for the priests and you’d say - “Yuck, stale bread”

But the bread didn’t get stale.

They looked back on that just like I look back to singing Gaither tunes and listening to Southern Gospel and the newly emerging CCM.

God’s music that would lift your soul to heaven.

Good days - glory days.

Familiar - happy day.

Behind the table and bread and menorah was another veil

If they ever got to catch a glimpse of it, it was magnificent.

Exodus 26:31–32 ESV

“And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver.

The high priest only got to go behind that curtain 1 time a year and when he went, the entire church would hold it’s breath.

Inside that room was where the Ark of the Covenant was.

Solid gold with cherubim on top with their backs facing outward and their wings folded inward.

Between and below the wings was the mercy seat.

This is where God would speak out of small cloud.

Inside the ark was a golden urn full of Manna.

You remember manna and you remember that left over manna would stink and have worms.

But not this manna - God left it as a reminder of how he took care of them when they couldn’t take care of themselves.

With the manna was Aaron’s staff that budded.

Don’t have time to talk about the whole story - you can read it in Numbers 16 and 17.

But basically that staff was there to remind them that God was totally in charge - not only will he provide, he will also discipline and destroy if need be.

And of course, the ten commandments were there too.

All of this detail - and I’m sure you might be saying right now - why? What does all of this mean?

To me and you, he’s saying, I want you to remember everything you hold holy from your past.

Every yellow tinted memory that means so much to you and you hold so very dear

That - given a few minutes to ponder them, your heart is full of nostalgia and love for people and times past

And feel it - he wants us to feel that passion we have.

That’s the purpose of all of this.

In verses 6 and 7 he talks about the worship service itself.

And what the priests did - in the first section - every stinking day that comes.

365 days a year, every day - regularly is the word used in the ESV, repeatedly - again and again

Over and over

And here is where he starts peeling the yellow tint off.

Over and over - because as much as we love looking back and remembering

Those things we did never made our sin go away.

Sin had to be dealt with everyday.

Verse 7 has a phrase that just reached out and slapped me in the face.

“and for the unintentional sins of the people.”

Unintentional.

We did something sinful because we didn’t know better.

Ever been there?

You got in trouble and your defense was, genuinely cried, “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to!”

All of those things they held so dear - all of those memories of things that seemed so good to us

Not a single one of them could make all of our sins go away

Because we could sin and not even know it.

Look at verses 9 & 10 - here’s the punchline, Hebrews 9:9–10 “…According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.”

Here’s what he’s saying.

Being a Christ follower is hard.

You live by faith, not by sight.

Some of the things Jesus simply expects from us are counter cultural and make us different.

There will come persecutions.

Some just name calling but if you are in Nigeria, it could cost you your head.

And for the Hebrews, it could have cost them their lives as well.

That makes looking back on the glory days a thing.

This is hard and I remember that as being easier.

Some of you know my current fight with sugar.

I don’t have an A1C problem, other than for the last five years it’s trended up every year by 0.1 %.

My doctor told me it’s time to pay attention, so I’ve cut out most deserts and sweets - not all - but most.

I’ve been doing this for over a month now and it’s mostly ok except every now and again

I start wanting something sweet - just out of the blue , this craving jumps all over you - and the struggle is real.

I can’t imagine what you who have quit smoking or are fighting alcohol or drugs or any of the myriad number of things that addict us

I can’t imagine the battle you are fighting.

The desire to give in to the past is real.

We look back through a yellow lens and it looks all rosey and sunshiny and all we remember is rainbows and unicorns.

And if it was only so.

There’s one little clause in verse 9 that rips the visor off - Hebrews 9:9 “…According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,”

Nothing that we can ever turn back to will “perfect our conscience”

Perfect mean make it complete

It means make us have a clear and unblemished conscience.

Nothing we can remember that we did

Nothing we can do

Can do to our conscience what Jesus has done.

I want us to remember a word from last week’s scripture.

Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.””

That word merciful has blown me away.

Remember, this is only one of two places it is used in the New Testament and the second place it is used in the negative - unmerciful.

But this is merciful - and the word means happy.

And this is what we have to hear to be free from living in our past.

Jesus is merciful

Jesus is happy to forgive our sins.

He’s not waiting on us to repent so he can begrudgingly accept our apology so we can have an awkward conversation.

He’s joyfully waiting for us to turn to Him and say “help me.”

It’s what He’s been waiting for.

Jesus can do something in your conscience that no amount of church work, of rule following, of rule breaking

Of anything - Jesus can do something in our consciences that no amount of anything anywhere anytime can do.

Jesus will make our consciences perfectly clean and clear.

Make us free - to follow - without fear or reservation.

Completely - forever.

With a simple word - “Lord, save me.”

Jesus did everything He did - birth, death, resurrection, ascension

He endured everything for a single purpose

So He could happily wait for you - Just as you are - to turn to Him and say, “I hate how I feel. I’ve been wrong. Please, save me.”

Is that you?

Have you worked so hard to be the good church person and still your conscience eats at you?

Have you worked so hard to drown your sorrows or fill the emptiness in your soul with anything you could grab?

Have you been anesthetizing yourself - self medicating - so you don’t feel the pain anymore?

There is only one way to fix that.

Pray a prayer like this sincerely, “Jesus, I hate how I feel. I’ve been wrong. Please save me.”

Jesus said in John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

We’re going to pray and sing.

If you want prayer or you want to talk about Jesus, I’ll be down here waiting on you.

Let us pray.