Proper 22

Hebrews 1:1–4 (NIV84)

1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

The book of Hebrews is, I think, one of the most brilliant books in the Bible

It is absolutely rich with imagery as the author connects a bunch of dots from the Hebrew faith to explain who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.

What we have here is like a dense introduction that gets expanded upon and it almost reads like a creed.

There’s a lot here. Jesus is:

Heir of all things.

Maker of all things.

Sustainer of all things.

Full representation of God’s being.

Suffered the violence of a fallen world.

Conquered death and is now alive.

But what I want us to focus on is that FIRST statement, which is easy to gloss over: “In the past God spoke through the prophets and in various ways ... but now he has spoken through Jesus.

It is an amazing thing that the divine being who created existence would SPEAK to humankind at all.

But that is one of the key, important aspects of our faith.

We belong to a God who has chosen to REVEAL himself to us.

Yes, he has only revealed himself in part. He hasn’t sat down to write out a compendium on all the details of the universe but we trust there’s a reason for that.

But he has revealed himself truthfully. He’s not deceptive and doesn’t play games like Greek gods.

Yahweh is a God who opens himself to being known.

And in fact that’s really the point.

He wants us to know him and be reconciled to him and enter into trusting, harmonious, reciprocal relationship with him.

So in the past, the people of God were invited to KNOW God based on what was relayed through the prophets and based on what God did, which was partly FRAMED by the prophets.

So instead of it seeming like random occurrences happening they were able to understand, “Oh, God is present and at work and this is evidence of that work.”

God revealed himself and his purposes.

Well, as amazing as that is, you can imagine people still wishing for a closer interaction with God to be able to really understand him even more.

You might hear someone say, “I wish God would just show up here and I could talk to him. Like sit at a table and see who he really is.”

Enter Jesus. God with us.

Do a thought exercise with me and close your eyes and imagine that in the room you’re sitting in, there’s another person who is God.

It’s a bit overwhelming right.

Maybe your freeze.

But he gives you a smile and says, “hello”.

And he makes the first move and invites conversation and he is warm and wants to hear your thoughts.

And maybe you’re hesitant to give your thoughts but he says, “I’m not grading you, I just genuinely want to know you and what you’re thinking and feeling.”

And maybe you get to that place of being disarmed and can really just converse and ask your questions and you ultimately feel so safe you even pour out your frustrations and anger.

Such a conversation would be prayer.

But I imagine there would be this overwhelming curiosity of wanting to study his every move, his every response, because his actions and his words reveal who he is, who God is.

So when you’re talking and your kids run into the room and he greats them warmly and encourages them and makes them feel safe you would be astonished to learn that THAT is what God is like

And when you see his face turn to some combination of sadness and anger when you talk about the injustices happening in the world you would see in a tangible way THAT is what God is like

Well, this isn’t a purely hypothetical thought exercise of course.

God has most fully and honestly revealed himself in the person of Jesus.

And in revealing himself in Jesus he has once again affirmed his presence with us and invited relationship.

He has opened himself to be known by all those who would look to Jesus and follow him to hear his voice and see him work.

God is like Jesus.

And that’s true because Jesus IS God, with us, as one of us.

When we say God is like Jesus, we’re saying that if you want to get a sense of who God is and what he’s like, simply look to Jesus.

He’s the best, most complete, most accessible picture we’ve been given.

And that’s a BIG deal theologically because it means that if we have some picture of God that doesn’t align with what’s revealed to us in Jesus then it’s our picture that’s wrong.

If we see God as a stern taskmaster with little grace for people caught in the darker realities of this world … that’s not what we see in Jesus.

If we see God as one who favors the strong, the fighters, who will conquer others and make them submit … that’s not what we see in Jesus.

Our understanding of who God is must be rooted in the person of Jesus.

And what we see in Jesus is representative of each member of the Trinity.

Theologically speaking, the father, son and spirit, are distinct, but unified.

They do not have separate wills and agendas.

We don’t have a stern angry father, a cool son, and a flighty spirit … all kind of doing their own thing.

They have a unified will and character.

Which is why Jesus can see, if you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.

Tim Keller has a great saying that he uses when talking faith with non believers.

When talking to people who say “I just can’t believe in God.”

He says, “Describe the God you don’t believe in. Maybe I don’t believe in him either.”

The conversation always has to come back to, what do we see in Jesus.

What do we see in his teaching?

And what do we see in his actions?

I’ll tell you one thing we see that gets reinforced by the book of Hebrews: solidarity.

It’s not just that God is “with us” as in being physically present in the same space.

God is “with us” in an existential, moral sense.

He is FOR US

And this intro to Hebrews is a beautiful reminder that all the deep theological things we talk about, the Hebrews talks about, the nature of sacrifices and so on, all serve this main point:

God wants us to know him.