Be Normal in an Abnormal World

Live Jesus’ Normal

Well, here we are in the final chapter of the Book of Hebrews.

We know so little about the book historically.

We can make an educated guess that it was written in the early 60’s ad.

We know that it was written to an audience that had been Jewish but converted to be Christ followers.

We know they were being persecuted and life was getting real hard and painful.

And they wanted the pain to stop.

They did what we do and they started reminiscing about the good ole’ days.

And that wasn’t that hard, because the good ole’ days weren’t that long ago.

Jesus was resurrected in, probably 30 - 33 ad

Just a scant 27 years before Hebrews was written.

The world just seemed to get crazy all at once.

Things were rolling along normally - until some things happened that made it abnormal.

You couldn’t have a straighter line from their situation to ours.

Do you realize that a scant 27 years ago, if you were taking someone to the airport, you could sit with them at the gate until they got on board the plane.

You could stand at the gate and watch their plane get pushed back and started on its way.

If you wanted to call someone to tell them your person was on their plane

Well, you could use a pay phone.

Or, if you were one of the 40% of American’s with a cell phone, you could use that.

But you couldn’t text - it wasn’t a thing until the early 2000’s.

You watched movies at home on a VHS you got from Blockbuster.

You listened to your music on a Compact Disc.

43% of Americans went to church every Sunday.

No dudes wore dresses in public unless they were doing a womanless wedding fundraiser - yeah, that was a thing.

Just 27 years ago, that was normal life.

And now - where do we even start?

Do you know, for the first time in my life I’m convinced that Jesus could return at any time?

I know people have been saying that forever.

But we are the first generation with a resurrected Israel that more and more nations

Including our own, are turning against.

Things are happening in the spiritual world that we can see.

Hang in there with me for a few minutes, ok?

When Hamas invaded Israel in October of 2023, there was a music festival that was going on 3 miles from Gaza.

It was not Hamas’ intended target - in fact, the festival wasn’t supposed to be there but had to move when their other venue fell through.

Talk about bad fortune.

Do you remember the name of the music festival?

If you say the Supernova Music festival, you would be partly correct.

That’s the name that was reported in the news.

However, the actual name was the Supernova Sukkot Gathering.

There is a very holy time in Israel that you’ve read about in the Old Testament called the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths.

That’s Sukkoth.

It happens every fall on a specific date.

And it celebrates the Exodus of Israel from Egypt so it could fulfill prophecy and become a nation.

October 6, 2023 was the last day of Sukkot.

October 7 was the Jewish holy day called Simchat Torah.

This is the day when all Israel celebrates completing the reading of the Torah through for the year and starts all over again for the new year.

October 7 was also the Sabbath.

Two days celebrating the God of Israel and the nation He created and the Law God gave us.

Now, I can almost guarantee that the majority of the attendees at the music festival weren’t there to celebrate Sukkoth as much as they were there to party.

But that doesn’t change what happened.

On these high holy days in Israel, the Philistines - now call Palestinians and Hamas invaded Israel killing literally every thing that had breath.

It was a physical war for sure.

But it was evidence of a deeper, more powerful spiritual war that is becoming very evident in the physical realm.

The evil one took very holy days and poured out unholiness on God’s people.

In the United Kingdom, speaking Christian truth in public or on social media gets you arrested.

In Dearborn, Michigan, the Muslim call to prayer is played instead of church bells 5 times a day

With the first call sounding just before sunrise.

The man who looks to be the mayor of New York is a Muslim

Born in Uganda but to Indian parents.

His mother is Hindu, his dad a Muslim.

His is not the religion of peace.

Why am I saying all of this?

27 short years ago, all of this wasn’t even a bad dream for most Americans.

We had no clue and yet, here we are, in very, very Abnormal times.

Times where some professing Christians are ‘de-constructing’ their faith.

They have fallen away never to return.

And those shake the faith of those who remain.

Welcome to the book of Hebrews, 2025.

Turn with me to Hebrews 13 verses 1 - 6.

While you are looking, quickly kids, let me tell you

I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago and I got so excited.

I could see young adults on fire for Jesus and making plans to make Jesus known

And it made me hopeful for you.

Young people today are hungry to know the truth

And we so want you to learn the truth about Jesus.

So please listen as carefully as you can.

Listen to the number of times we mention Jesus’ name and try to remember what we say Jesus does.

Because whatever Jesus does for your mom and dad, He’ll do for you.

Jesus is your future.

If you have your Bibles open to Hebrews 13 please hear now the Word of the Lord from Hebrews 13:1-6

Hebrews 13:1–6 ESV

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Let us ask for the Lord’s help to hear His Word.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help us to hear how Jesus makes it possible for us to live in these hard times.

Help us to hear how you expect us to act

And help us to hear how you will help us to act that way.

Give us ears to hear and eyes to see, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

We live in abnormal times.

We know from the first 12 chapters, that the only way to live life period, is to follow Jesus

Regardless if it is normal times or not.

Jesus is the better way - that’s the entire message.

So here’s the question the Pastor starts answered in chapter 13 - what does it look like to live Jesus’ normal in an abnormal world?

Number 1

Be the church

Hebrews 13:1 “Let brotherly love continue.”

Come to church ready to acknowledge that your granddaddy and your daddy weren’t raised in times like these.

It took no courage to profess Jesus then

It takes courage now.

The church has to be a place where have we have a single focus.

We’ve got to be a place where our vision statement defines what we do.

“We want to be a church that makes unbelievers believers, makes believers disciples and makes disciples that grow and go.”

The heart of 1 John 3:16–18 has to be our guide - “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

The church is no longer the place to come every week to be fed and go home.

The church is rapidly becoming the hospital where every member comes each week to give aid and comfort to our brothers and sisters.

Number 2

Don’t let fear stop us from caring.

Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

The word hospitality is a compound word that translates literally to ‘friend to strangers.’

Now, if you cruise X like I do or you watch the news, there are some crazy, crazy folks out there that do some scary, scary things.

The Pastor isn’t admonishing us to walk blindly into dangerous situations.

But he is telling us to not let our fear that someone will record us, or take our words out of context, or will narc us out to some authority somewhere

Don’t let our fear stop us from showing the fruits of the spirit to those the Lord brings in our path.

Everyone needs to experience some love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

Especially those who haven’t had anyone treat them well.

People have insane things happen to them.

We are the people who know how to help if it is nothing more than simply showing kindness.

Oh, and don’t scoff at the “entertained angels unawares.”

The Bible has several instances of people talking with angels and not knowing it.

And I promise I believe someone in my own family had an experience with an angel.

Ask me about it sometime.

Number 3

Don’t let ‘out of sight, out of mind’ cause us to forget those who are suffering

Hebrews 13:3 “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

When something tragic or hard happens, we are all over it.

But six to eight weeks laters, life has happened and we’ve moved on to other things.

For us - but not for the one that it has happened to.

They are out of sight and they tend to fall out of mind.

But there is another dimension to this out of sight - out of mind

In their case, it could be dangerous to remember them and help.

They were thrown in prison for their faith.

They were mistreated for their faith.

And the Lord is telling us here, when that happens, stand strong with them.

Saints, there are things going on around us that will require someone to stand up and be counted.

Let’s not let our brothers and sisters stand up alone.

Even if your knees shake and your voice trembles, don’t let a brother or sister hang out to dry.

Number 4

Resist being captivated by pleasure

Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

I heard a poll the other day - I wish I could remember the exact numbers.

But the poll was with young people and it was about marriage.

The vast majority of young men said marriage was very important to them.

The vast majority of young women said marriage was very unimportant to them.

I would like to congratulate the evil one for his work in the women’s liberation movement.

Instead of the church raising up young men to be chaste and godly,

The world has lowered women down to be an ungodly as men have been.

In fact, the evil one has convinced many people that women can be replaced by men.

That’s absurd and it’s immoral.

Marriage is God’s design.

It’s a picture of the intimate relationship in the Godhead.

It’s a picture of the intimate relationship with Jesus and His church.

No intimate relationship of any kind with any one outside of a real man and a real woman in a committed marriage is legitimate in God’s eyes.

And it will be judged.

It’s not hate speech - it’s truth.

Humanity’s two most vulnerable areas of weakness are our craving for physical pleasure and money.

Don’t be captivated by pleasure and number 5

Resist being captivated by money

Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Remember their language is more picture oriented than ours.

When he says life, the Pastor is really saying, “how you handle yourself”

What it looks like for you to go about your day every day and how you handle yourself in that.

The phrase love of money is compound word that literally says, “not a friend of silver.”

People have sold their country out for money.

People have sold their families out for money.

I think the idea here is something that many of us have had happen in the corporate world.

Don’t let money shut your mouth when you need to speak the truth.

One person standing alone might not make much of a difference

But multiple people can.

Don’t be afraid to speak

Don’t be afraid to stand together.

Of all of the times in my life, this time seems to be the most ripe for God’s people to stand up for Jesus together.

Let us stop being timid because we worry about the potential financial fallout, because

Number 6

Contentment and courage comes when our hearts are devoted to Jesus

Look at the end of verse 5 and verse 6 Hebrews 13:5–6 “…be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

Something I said from this pulpit has stuck with me as a wise saying: “Comparison is the enemy of contentment.”

In order to not be content with what you have, you’ve got to be comparing yourself against somebody.

When I was growing up, I thought a dinner of pinto beans, corn bread and a hunk of onion was a fantastic supper.

I had no clue that’s what poor people ate.

I thought having holes in the knees of your jeans was something that boys just had.

I thought every mom on the face of the planet canned green beans and put food from the garden in the freezer.

It wasn’t until moving from the local elementary school to the county high school that I started to notice that everyone didn’t live like we did.

That changed the way I handled myself.

Because I found something to compare myself to - and I wasn’t content anymore.

And another thing…

Let’s remember the context of this: there is every possibility we will be called on to suffer for our faith.

There is a better than excellent chance that we won’t be among the wealthiest or the most powerful

Our faith will get in their way.

Many in our government are corrupt - from the bottom to the top.

If we call them out, that could affect our financial situation.

Jesus wants us to know something.

He says, “I will never leave you - let’s make that sound fresh - I will never abandon you nor

Will I ever forsake you - let’s freshen that up a bit as well - I will never leave you behind.

“I will never abandon you nor will I ever leave you behind.”

So we can confidently - and that word has more meaning than just confidence - it means courageously

We can courageously say, “I will not fear; for what can man do to me?”

Psalm 118:6 ESV

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Brothers and sisters, we need to meditate on that.

And act accordingly.

Let us pray

Communion

There are two words in verse 6 that I think will help us see that Jesus will be our strength that will allow us to stand during hard times.

The first word is fear - Hebrews 13:6 “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

I will not fear.

That word fear comes from a group of words that mean to run away in fright or panic.

Now think about that for a second.

I will not fear - I will not run away in fright or panic.

Please, hold this thought, it’s critical.

Your knees might shake, your voice might crack

Your mouth may go dry and your heart might be beating 150 times a minute.

But you didn’t run away in fright or panic.

You are feeling fear - but you conducting yourself with courage.

Now how can I have that courage - it’s because of something I know about Jesus.

“The Lord is my helper…”

Helper is the other word - it’s basic meaning is to “run to help.”

So see the picture - you aren’t running away in fright or panic

Instead, you are running to help.

And who is our help?

The Lord Jesus.

King Jesus.

The Sovereign Lord.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

When the fear rises our our throats, we run to the One Whose enemies will become His footstool.

The Lord’s table is prepared before us.

Today I want us to read a different passage than we normally do.

These aren’t normal times - we need a reminder.

Revelation 19:11–16 ESV

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is the man we are to run to for help.

Sounds like whatever we are up against, He’ll be able to handle it.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Jesus is coming - so much sooner than yesterday.

Be ready brothers and sisters, normal is gone.

But we called to Be Normal in an Abnormal World.

As you come to the Lord’s table today, reflect on these words:

Psalm 121:1–2 ESV

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Let us pray:

Would the brothers who are serving come forward?

If you are a born again believer, baptized after your salvation, we invited you to join us at the Lord’s table.

As a statement of our faith in Jesus, we come forward to receive the bread and the juice.

You’ll exit your pew to the left and proceed to the station directly in front of you.

If you need gluten free, it’s at _________________ table.

For those of you who aren’t Christ followers and will not be partaking

Please take this time to think about your life

And to think about Jesus - and see if there isn’t something you need to do.

Please come forward at this time.