Correction & Encouragement

Correction and Encouragement - Final draft 8-9-20 Opening Scripture: Psalm 40:6-8 NIV "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire-but my ears you have opened - burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come- it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart." Most people do not like to be corrected. You might have seen the videos of how violent some people get when someone corrects them about not wearing their COVID masks. It has been a long and difficult saga, but I have learned to take correction aa bit more gracefully in my later years. I can't say I enjoy it - at least at the moment of correction, but If I take the time to think about the value of the correction I usually come around and see the good in it. But my immediate knee-jerk reaction to correction tends to be defensive. Correction and Encouragement Chapter 10 of Hebrews continues to explain to the Jewish Christians that they should not give into the temptation to return to their former Jewish practices of animal sacrifices, and so forth. They had been under persecution for being Christians, so naturally they were tempted to abandon their Christianity. Remember last week I talked about Salvation History and the important connections and continuity between the Old and New Testaments. Well, my beginning Scripture, Psalm 40: 6-8 is yet another example of this. No more sin offerings (correction) but simply the desire to submit to God's will (encouragement). So they needed correction, but they also needed encouragement. These verses from the Psalms are also quoted in Hebrews 10, the subject of today's Sunday School lesson. The writer of this letter again reminds his readers that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies of a new covenant. Again, moving from the Old Testament to the new teaching, the new covenant. Some experts think that Paul was the author of Hebrews. I think the way its author combines correction and encouragement, the continuity between the Old and New Testaments is just what Paul often did in his letters. Use of Free Will to Abandon Christ Another important correction for the Jewish Christians comes in Hebrews 10:26 "If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by Christ's death; there is no way to get rid of it." By the way, this verse seems to be a basis for one of the things that makes Free Will Baptists different from other Baptists: namely, willfully turning against Christ after they had been converted and had accepted Jesus was a grievous betrayal and would result in even more severe consequences that an ordinary sin. So, yes, because of the persecution of the Hebrews they needed to be warned or corrected not to return to their old Jewish ways but they needed encouragement that Christ would eventually triumph. Christ's Triumph What better encouragement for the Hebrews AND for us today! Do not let your attention to all the things you are NOT supposed to do take away your positive focus on Christ's triumph. For the Hebrew Christians he is saying don't let your focus on things like the Jewish rules and practices around sacrifice and sin offerings that have to repeated over and over and over divert your attention. Let your focus be on Jesus Christ. Here again we see correction and encouragement. The New Creation, Paradise, Kingdom of God To us now, I wonder if the author of Hebrews' would tell us don't let your focus on COVID and all the things we are supposed to avoid that might kill us divert our attention from the triumph of Christ in the New Creation, from God's messianic promise of a paradise of restoration, freshness, and a renewal of heaven and earth. I wonder if the author of Hebrews would tell us: do what we can to renew our planet and our lives, to join God in his work of creation, to be a positive, pro-active part of Salvation History and redemption. I wonder if he would tell us to join Jesus Christ in his Resurrection and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit by doing all we can to create the Kingdom of God on Earth. Listen to this at the end of Hebrews 10 where the author says as a correction and encouragement: 35"Do not let this happy trust in the Lord die away, no matter what happens. Remember your reward. ... 38 And those whose faith has made them good in God's sight must live by faith, trusting him in everything. ... 39 No, our faith in him assures our souls' salvation." I hear lots and lots of encouragement here: Trust God, live in faith. And if we do that, if we look to God in times of trouble and sorrow and even in persecution, we will see the way. Doors will be opened for and he will see us through. Our joy and salvation will be complete in the end. Questions and Challenges * Do you get discouraged with all the bad news? How do you feel when you hear that we are in the Post Christian era? * How can we encourage each other? * How can we, each in our own way, be part of God's creative and redemptive work on Earth? * What rewards do you already experience from your faithfulness and confidence? What rewards to you look forward to? Prayer Dear Father, help us to avoid the temptation of discouragement. Make us shining lights upon the hill. We trust you to renew us and to renew the earth, please lead us to do our part in this work. Father, help me turn away from Satan and the doubts and fear he wishes to sow in me. Help me to keep my head up and focus my sights on creation and guide me to be part of your work for whatever time I have left here. We pray these things in the name of our precious savior, Jesus Christ.