Sermon
Hebrews:
We’re still just beginning to scratch the surface as we get into this series on the New Testament
book of Hebrews. This is the third sermon out of our planned 21 Sundays. With
breaks for Christmas and Easter, this will take us all the way through the
month of April.
It is a
great privilege to be partnering with Dr. Blaine Charette on this series. If
you missed either of his first two sermons on the series that he brought over
the last two weeks, I commend them to you online or on our podcast.
Just
this last week I saw that some students noticed that
which then prompted students to make some posters with
The comparison
allows students to then import this strange phenomenon in youth culture that
has made Chuck Norris into a mythical hero figure. Hence, with only slight
modification, posters read…
·
When
Blaine Charette does one armed push ups… he’s actually pushing the Earth away.
·
Blaine
Charette can divide by zero, and he has counted to infinity…
twice.
·
There is
no theory of evolution... only a list of animals Blaine Charette allows to
live.
·
Most
people have 23 pairs of chromosomes; Blaine Charette has 72... and they each
have terminal degrees.
So… just
know that we’re blessed to have
This is
a pretty tense time at our house.
Laurie summed it up a couple of days ago when she turned to me and simply
stated, “I hate politics.”
It is not that we have tense political debates at our
house; we are in general agreement on most issues. It is that I love to watch the 24/7 political debate
available on TV, listen to it on the radio and podcasts, and the surf through
it on the Internet… but the constant
bickering in the media exhausts Laurie’s patience. (And if you think it will all
be over after Tuesday night… you’re probably mistaken. There will likely be all
sorts of fights, some even in the courts for months, until all this is finally
decided.)
Our
governments are wrestling with huge questions and Tuesday’s election will be vitally
important in setting our course for the future. There are some dramatic
differences of opinion regarding how we should move forward… so that makes for
some fascinating watching and reading.
This
gives me an opportunity to follow-up on what I printed in the bulletin. We
really must vote. In these non-presidential-election years, voter
turnout is typically lower. In this election, some talking heads are speculating that people will sit out because some
groups are ticked-off, tired, or just unmotivated. Several experts suspect that
Evangelical Christians, like us, will stay home this year because we’re not
thrilled with any of our choices. I know that we’re smarter than that… and more
responsible than that. We know that Christians are called to be responsible
citizens… and responsible citizens vote. I know that we’re not always thrilled
with our choices, and sometimes it seems that our vote really doesn’t matter…
but that doesn’t excuse us from our responsibility. I already voted; in some
important cases I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my choices… so I figuratively held my nose, and made my best choice.
That was the responsible thing to do. This morning I’m encouraging you to be
responsible too… vote.
In the
fray of all the political coverage, I’m not impressed by the personal attacks;
the mud slinging turns even me off.
What interests me is when the coverage focuses on substantive debates, on
differing ideas and plans. The pundits and advertisers often times treat us
like we’re dumb when they focus on personalities and mud slinging; I appreciate
it when they realize that we the people
understand the issues and are willing to think through complex situations.
Our
highest hope for all this politics is that the best ideas, the superior plans,
and the most capable leaders, will prevail. We want the best for our
governments and we hope that our political processes, and the thorough
involvement our people, will deliver the best
in the end.
So what does all that have to do with Hebrews?
A lot, I think. As Dr. Charette pointed out in his introductory sermons, the
Book of Hebrews focuses on distinguishing the best. The overwhelming
theme of Hebrews, under which we our operating for this series, is Christ
So you
see it in the titles of the sermons in the outline we’ve planned for the coming
weeks. We’ll walk through Hebrews methodically, sometimes digging pretty deep,
finding rich meaning together.
Our passage today hinges around what is set right in
the middle of the text. Great salvation, or superior
salvation.
Within
the context of this book of Hebrews, what we could see as the book of better things, we see this claim, early on, that Christ
offers great salvation, better salvation, superior salvation.
We can look at this short passage in two chunks, split in the middle by this
claim of great salvation. That which
leads up to this claim of great salvation focuses on the consequences of this great
salvation. That which follows this claim focuses on the validation, or proof, of
this great salvation.
We can
walk through the text to see this for ourselves.
Paying
careful attention to what we have heard refers right back to the beginning of Hebrews. We’re
drawn back to “he has spoken to us by his Son“ from verse 1. God has spoken to us by his Son, the
Word of God in the person of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus. The message here
is plain and simple, “pay attention to Jesus.”
One of
the commentators that I read pointed out the rich meaning of these words that
were originally penned in Greek. William Barclay positioned the translation in
vivid, nautically-themed words that help us grasp the meaning:
“Therefore,
we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things that we have been
taught lest the ship of life drift past the harbor and be wrecked.”
Jesus
cannot be merely noticed and then passed
by. God’s Word here is calling us to anchor ourselves to Jesus.
We have to ask ourselves, what binding message spoken by angels?
The reference here is specifically to Deuteronomy 32:2 where Moses speaks of
the delivery of the 10 Commandments accompanied by a “myriad of holy ones.”
The
claim here is that the salvation God accomplished through Christ is superior…
which should drive us to asking superior to what? Here the distinction is
plainly being made between the salvation provided by Jesus and the salvation
provided by the 10 Commandments (the foundation of the Law). Christ
is superior to the Law.
Now the Law specifies punishment for each violation.
Disregard for the Law brings peril. The argument here then is that if disregard
for the Law is perilous, disregard for Christ (being infinitely superior to the
Law) is infinitely perilous.
Note the
progression specified here:
·
Violation
– Blatantly crossing the line. Flat out law breaking.
·
Disobedience
– Disregard for authority. No consideration. No urge to please our heavenly
father… childish behavior.
·
Ignorance
– Simply going about life without paying attention.
This
great salvation deserves attention, obedience, and adherence. Without such
brings consequences.
Then the passage turns to validating the
superiority of the salvation brought by Christ.
First of
all, it was delivered first by the Lord. This again harkens back to those first
words in Hebrews.
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. [1]
Not a
salvation that was announced by mere prophets or angels… but brought first hand
by God himself in the person of His Son, Jesus.
Jesus, being 100% God, walked among us as 100% man.
Just as if the author of Hebrews was an attorney in a current-day court, he
ushers in the eye witnesses, those who saw and worked alongside Jesus. The
testimony of those who know Jesus has always been a powerful force of making
this great salvation real in the lives of others.
This
specific line of Scripture, by the way, is a significant clue regarding the
authorship of Hebrews. Dr. Charette already indicated that we really don’t know
who wrote Hebrews. In most other cases, we have a pretty clear idea whom God
used, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to write most of the other Biblical books…
but for Hebrews, we just don’t know. This line gives us a clue that it wasn’t
written by anyone who had a first hand experience with Jesus, and most agree
that it even rules out Paul, since Paul had dramatic encounters with the
resurrected Jesus.
So there were the claims of Jesus himself, the
testimony of those with personal experience, now we add the witness of God and
His power displayed in association with this Gospel, this great salvation. The
Gospels record the miracles of Jesus… and his disciples. The miracles continue
through the book of Acts. And the miracles continue today. God intervenes,
heals, and touches. Jesus changes lives.
A couple
of weeks ago I turned 21. Yep… I’m finally legal. I’ve walked in this life of
faith now for 21 years. I understand volumes more about this faith than I did
21 years ago, but as far as I’m concerned… that which convinces me more than
anything else that God is real is that He changed my life and continues to
change the lives of those around me all the time.
Finally, the Holy Spirit, the very power and presence
of God working in and through our lives, validates the superiority and
greatness of our salvation. We’re pushed to 1 Corinthians 12 where specific
gifts of the Spirit are listed
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,a and to still another the interpretation of tongues.b 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.[2]
The Spirit
of God dwells in the People of God doing the Work
of God validating and spreading this great salvation.
What a spectacular passage of Scripture… and now we
cause ourselves to ask the all important question: So What?
As we
apply this passage to our regular, everyday lives today, let’s go ahead and
consider the issues, even the news, of the day.
As Christian people, God’s children, and specifically
Evangelical people, we must define ourselves first and foremost by this great
salvation. With all that is going on, we Evangelicals find ourselves in
the news. We’re a part of the election coverage and I would imagine that at
least in some ways the reporting on Tuesday night will attribute some of
whatever happens to Evangelicals.
Like I
said before, voting is important, and I guess in some ways I’m really glad that
the pundits take us Evangelicals seriously… but let’s be sure to remember that
the Gospel is not, by any means, primarily a political force. Evangelicals
aren’t primarily a political movement, or a social activism movement… we’re a
spiritual movement, God’s people led and empowered by God’s Spirit with God’s
word as our foundation.
This
great salvation, this Gospel, is way bigger than politics.
It is
also way bigger than any one person, more than any one leader. The news about
Ted Haggard is very sad. It is a personal tragedy that must feel devastating
for those closest to him, his family, and that great church in
But in
spite of what some of the talking heads might like to make of it, this is
primarily a personal tragedy. Ted Haggard’s failures by no means mark the
beginning of the end for the Evangelicals. His failures do bruise us all… but
it certainly isn’t cause to question the power of the Gospel. And although he
may have drawn some ridicule for the Gospel by a few, the Gospel stands strong.
Times like us remind us that we are all frail. That this great salvation of ours
is not based on our personal, super-piety. It is Christ who gives us strength,
Jesus who paid the price.
Ted
Haggard has disqualified himself from the key leadership positions he enjoyed.
But there is grace and forgiveness for Ted; just like there is great and
forgiveness for each of us. This is our great salvation.
So this morning, let us be reminded again, and drawn
to the power of this superior salvation. This great Gospel message that makes
us who we are.
Let’s
pray together this morning.
·
Giving
thanks for this great salvation
·
Asking
for strength to live up to all that Christ gives us
·
Seeking
grace and forgiveness for failures
·
Praying
for New
·
Committing
our country into God’s hands for His direction