Hebrews Gives Us Something Better: "A Better Glory" based on Hebrews 1:3a

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Lutheran pastor recalls, [“I was a first-year student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. One Friday night several of us were walking in downtown St. Louis when we came across a barroom fight that had spilled out onto the sidewalk. It was like a scene from an old western movie!

“We had to do something to break it up—fast! Unfortunately, we had all missed the class at the seminary where they taught us how to break up barroom fights! And we had all spent way too much time in church to have the language of fight intervention. ‘All right you guys. Cut it out! Right now!’ This works well with 3-year-olds in Sunday School—but not so much with seasoned gladiators who are running on sizable amounts of whisky. We had to do something—but what?

“Then, suddenly, the fighting stopped. Maybe three future Lutheran pastors were more imposing than we thought! We looked behind us and there was a man who stood way over six feet tall! He must have weighed close to 300 pounds—with bulging biceps to boot! He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to say a word. He was the bouncer!

“Within seconds we had new-found courage! ‘Alright, that’s enough,’ we said to the barroom fighters. ‘Break it up!’ As we continued walking, feeling much more confident, we reasoned that if this bouncer would stay with us we’d get straight A’s in Greek and in Hebrew! We’d get free box seat tickets to watch the St. Louis Cardinals! In fact, we reasoned, if this bouncer would stay with us all the time we would have a completely different approach to all of our problems!

“Wouldn’t it be great if we had someone with us to fight our battles? Well, guess what? We do! We have someone who is always with us to fight all our battles!”]

We are in a series based on the New Testament book of Hebrews called Something Better. Today’s theme is A Better Glory. This theme is based on these words in Hebrews 1:3, “(The Son) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his being.” God’s glory is his presence with us. Meaning what? Meaning we have someone who is always with us to fight all our battles! Just ask Moses!

When Israel was hungry, God’s glory supplied. Supplied what? God’s glory supplied manna—a miracle food that sustained the Israelites for 40 years! “The whole Israelite community looked toward the desert and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.”

On the one hand, God’s glory reveals God’s presence. On the other hand, God’s glory conceals God’s presence. So which is right? Reveal or conceal? The answer is both! Why? Because we can’t see God’s full presence. He told Moses, “No one can see me and live.” (Ex 33:20). So God veiled his presence. God covered his presence. And in the Old Testament he frequently did this through a cloud.

When Israel was lost, God’s glory guided them. Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. They leave but quickly get lost. Lost = Looking Over Strange Terrain. “The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way.”

When Israel was trapped, God’s glory provided. Israelites left Egypt, but then got trapped by the Egyptian army—with no way out! “During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.” God’s glory provided a way out! Pharaoh’s horses and chariots were drowned in the Red Sea!

When Israel was alone, God’s glory abided. After leaving Egypt Moses and the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai was in the middle of nowhere! But Israel was not alone! The glory of God abided on Mt. Sinai. “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain.” What does this all mean? Israel had someone who was always with them to fight all their battles! That was God’s glory in a cloud!

Did you know that trapeze artists become good friends? This should not surprise us. If I were a flyer I wouldn’t want the catcher to have any anger and resentment against me!

As the flyer swings the moment comes when he lets go of the trapeze. For that moment—which must feel like an eternity—the flyer is suspended in midair. It’s too late to reach back for the trapeze. But it’s too soon to be caught. The flyer’s job is to be as still as possible and wait for the catcher to catch him. The flyer must what? Be still!

Be still! That was what Moses said. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14) And why was that? Israel had someone who was always with them to fight all their battles! That was God’s glory—in a cloud that supplied, guided, provided and abided!

But hold on to your hat, because Hebrews 1:3 says that you and I have a better glory! “(The Son) is the radiance of glory of God and the exact imprint of his being.” We don’t have a cloud. We have God’s Son—Jesus. The cloud was great but the cloud was nowhere close to being “the exact imprint of God’s being.” Question. If the cloud covered God’s full presence, what covers Jesus—the Second Person of the Trinity—so his presence does not destroy us? Flesh and blood. A human body covers Jesus.

But don’t let that fool you. The Greek word translated “exact imprint” is character. Character in first century Greek meant the perfect image produced by stamp. The Father’s perfect image is imprinted or stamped on Jesus. In John 14:9 Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” That is what makes our New Testament glory better than Old Testament glory! We don’t have a cloud. We have Jesus!

As a little boy I enjoyed watching Roadrunner cartoons. Wile E. Coyote furiously chased the Roadrunner. The bird suddenly stopped. Wile E. tried to, but he can’t, so he went over the cliff.

Then we saw his saucer-sized eyes. Wile E. went down. Straight down! Like Wile E., we have gone over the cliff. Like Wile E., we have found ourselves in thin air. Like Wile E., we have had that “oh-boy-this-is-gonna hurt” look on our face.

Why do we end up in such a mess? The Bible calls our problem sin. Sin? Sin is the attitude that says, “I don’t really, desperately, seriously need Jesus. Life is just fine with an occasional worship service; an occasional prayer; an occasional spiritual thought.” With this kind of attitude it’s just a matter of time before we go down. Straight down. And then it hurts. It hurts so bad!

But the falls don’t faze Wile E.—at least not fatally! In the next scene Wile E. is using Acme dynamite chasing the Roadrunner—again! We do not recover like that! We get stuck on the canyon floor, wondering if we will ever get up and get out. We try our old bag of tricks, but our old bag of tricks no longer works. Now what? Remember! Remember what? We have someone who is always with us to fight all our battles!

When we are hungry, God’s glory supplies. “We have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age.” That is not manna. We taste Christ’s real body and real blood—veiled in bread and wine—and we receive the powers of the coming age!

When we are lost, God’s glory guides. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Lost = Looking Over Strange Terrain. New church? New chapter? New challenge? Hope is our anchor in the storm. We won’t sink!

When we are trapped, God’s glory provides. “We have a new and living way.” We’re not trapped by Pharaoh’s army and chariots, but some of us feel trapped financially—after all, this is December. Others feel trapped emotionally—we’re anxious, nervous, depressed. Still others feel trapped physically—there’s surgery, cancer or a deadly disease.

When we are alone, God’s glory abides. “God has said, ‘Never, never, never, never, never will I leave you or forsake you.’” Lonely? Yes. Alone! Never!

“The Son is the radiance of glory of God and the exact imprint of his being.” We have a better glory. Now what? Remember the infant Jesus in the manger and how this world has been changed for the better. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

(This sermon is adapted from a sermon by Dr. Reed Lessing.)