"Is He—Quite Safe?"
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“Is He—Quite safe?”
“Is He—Quite safe?”
In my office, I have a poster of a painting that hangs in the Wade Center at Wheaton College. The painting is named Aslan, and it was painted by Sally Brestin. It’s very large, and it hangs on a wall all by itself. It feels imposing to stand in its presence. When I stood there and saw it, I knew I had to bring this home with me, and since stealing it wasn’t a good option, I bought the poster. Here’s part of the painting, but it’s cropped to fit our monitors better. You can see my
The artist, who studied psychology, was trying to capture the feeling of a particular moment in the Chronicles of Narnia.
Let me read that section of the book:
“Is--is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
I want you to hold that moment in your mind as we look at our reading from Hebrews chapter 12. The author of Hebrews doesn’t say the word “Sinai” in our reading this morning, but Sinai is clearly at the forefront of his mind. After departing Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites arrived at Mount Zion. This moment is recorded in Exodus 19, which the author of Hebrews alludes to consistently in our reading. Let me give you a taste of this moment:
On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
The church, as we’ve noted, is on it’s own exodus journey, the New Exodus, and we have come not to Mount Sinai, but to another mountain, Mount Zion.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Every phrase here could be unpacked, but I want us to focus on a few things. First, it’s fascinating that the author refers to the city to which we come as “Zion.” He’s referred to this heavenly city several times, but not he names it: Mount Zion.
Mount Zion is a physical place like Mount Sinai. Zion is the central part of Jerusalem, the part captured by David and turned into the site of the Jerusalem Temple. Of course, the author isn’t referring to this physical locations. He refers to what the temple mount always represented. The Temple is the place where heaven and earth connect. The imagery is essentially the same as we hear about in Revelation, where the holy city, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven to the new creation.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Heaven and earth are no longer distinct, but united and overlapping. That is what the author of Hebrews refers to when he says that we have come...
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
But second, what’s also notable about this is the fact that he says, we have come. Past tense. The Exodus journey started in Egypt and ended in the Promised Land, which is where Mount Zion is. So, the author implies, the journey began when Israel left Egypt has now come to its conclusion. The people of God have come to Mount Zion, not merely a temple, but a temple-city, where heaven and earth connect and overlap.
But the author of Hebrews is worried. He’s worried that, because we’ve arrived, at least in some sense, although certainly not in every since, we will get complacent. He’s worried that we will start to refuse to hear what it is God is commanding us from this new city, and that we will fail to be obedient.
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.
The author’s point, as it has been from the beginning of this sermon, which is what I think Hebrews is, has been that the new covenant is greater than the old in every way, and that includes the fact that to disobey the living God is to be in danger of his wrath. Because God is not safe, but he’s good. He’s good to those who fear him. He’s good to those who love him. He’s good to those who obey him. He’s good to those who persevere to the end and run the race with endurance. Our God is not safe. He is
for our God is a consuming fire.
Fire can destroy, and fire can purify. That’s what the quote in verse 27 is about. The author is quoting Haggai 2 where the author speaks of the restoration of the Temple, the time when God will shake the heaven and the earth and the nations. Not to destroy them, but to refine them. To burn away the dross from them and make them pure.
For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.
And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ”
The things that can be shaken are transient, they are not permanent. These are the things offered to us by the world: power, profit, prestige, and privilege. Do not spend your life in pursuit of things that are transient, of things that will not survive the great shaking of heaven and earth, of things that will not make it from this world into the next.
Instead, be grateful that we have received from God a kingdom …
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
So often this verse is interpreted in terms of our Sunday worship, but that’s shortsighted. The author of Hebrew is reaching his climax here. He has described the new covenant as a better covenant with a better High Priest and a better sacrifice made in a better temple-city, and we, everyone of us, are priests of that new covenant in that new temple-city, and so it is our job to offer back to God acceptable worship, not just on Sundays, but with our whole lives.
Because the God who offers us this great salvation and has brought us to Mount Zion, the heavenly city, he isn’t safe. He won’t be trifled with. He won’t be treated like his word is just a mere suggestion. He is a consuming fire. He will purify and he will burn away. He will shake apart all that does not belong to his kingdom. So he is safe? Not a chance. But is he good? Absolutely. He’s the king, and he has made us priests in his unshakeable kingdom. So go out from those doors and serve him, offer him acceptable worship with your whole life, and do so with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.