Alive and Active!

  Read Hebrews 4

Rest.

Sabbath Rest.

Entering into God’s rest.

Entering into God’s Sabbath rest.

I’m going to go Paul Harvey on you: And now, for the rest of the story.

What do you get when you profess Jesus is Lord and combine that belief with faith? Rest, among other things, but rest is a big one. It is rest accompanied by peace and assurance.

It’s walking away from rebellion. It’s knowing there is God’s way and there is everything else and not wanting any part of the everything else.

The ultimate rest for God’s people was not entering the Promised Land, though at some point the people did get to rest from their travels and war. It is not scoring 100% (10 for 10) on the 10 Commandments scale.

It is receiving the gift of salvation that we know in Christ Jesus, taking his yoke, learning from him, and putting his words into practice. It sounds like we are doing too much to get any rest.

Welcome to the paradox of God’s ways. The more that we serve others, the more we feel served by God.

The more that we love God and our neighbor, the more we feel loved.

The more we work for him, the closer we draw to the source of our rest.

Yes, there is some basic evangelism here. Believe and receive the rest of the Lord or miss out altogether. There is counsel for our discipleship as well. There is rest in our discipleship when we take his yoke and learn from him.

While the author’s antecedents are of the Old Testament, let’s revisit the words of our Master.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So, there is another rest—rest for our souls. But how do we get others to know this rest that is offered to us? Paul, with an enclosed message from Isaiah, complements the message to the Hebrews with these words of evangelism.

But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Once again, it is important that we speak the good news today and that others hear, receive, and believe today. It’s the most important day on your calendars.

If you did a quick survey of the world’s religions, you might find a common thread. Some seek relief from suffering. Others seek nonexistence. You all have heard of nirvana. Here it is short and sweet.

Buddhism would classify nirvana as a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.

What?  OK, here it is in Tomspeak. The purpose of life is no life. The purpose is to transcend life.

I can sort of wrap my mind around that thinking. It’s leaning towards the rest that we desire but it comes without purpose and sacrifices eternity altogether.

 Here it is in Marinespeak. That’s a deuce too high to mark.

Or in the common vernacular, close but no cigar.

The full biblical witness says that you should live your life as fully as possible doing the things that God planned for you to do long ago. Run your race, but know how to rest.

You need to know how to rest now and live in the blessed and restful assurance that your eternal rest is promised.

Here is another Tomism. You were designed with rest in mind. Some of you have heard that one before.

Just as Jesus found sustenance in doing the will of his Father, so too do we find rest and assurance in taking the yoke of Jesus, learning from him, and putting his words into practice.

But what about those who remain lost?

·       Share the good news with them.

·       Make a defense for why you believe what you believe. Always be ready to explain the powerful faith that you enjoy.

·       Encourage.

·       Invite.

·       Give them a gospel or a Bible if they need one.

·       Pray for them.

We try to connect with what I call the disconnected. They may have heard of God and Jesus but probably never understood how much God loves us. We give out food all the time but long to deliver the bread of life.

We have events, programs,  and individual encounters with people who do not know Jesus as Lord, but our hearts desire connection. We try to get the conversation started with something tangible, less ethereal. Sometimes that’s just a blue wristband.

But what if they don’t hear me?

What if they won’t listen to me?  What if my words are not enough? I am just not equipped to do this!

·       Nowhere in any of the directives that come from God is there a charge to convince another person. We do have counsel from Paul—speaking on a different topic—that says be fully convinced in your own mind but nothing that would cause us to coopt the mind of another. Be on the lookout though, the world is trying to coopt your thinking and your mind.

·       Nowhere is there a requirement that we be qualified as orators so that our words compel others to action.

·       Nowhere does God place the burden of the belief of others on our shoulders.

So, what do we do?

·       We deliver God’s word.

·       We are messengers of his love.

·       We speak the truth in a spirit of love.

·       We are letters from Christ.

·       We are Christ’s ambassadors.

·       We are salt and light in this world so people will wonder what we’ve got going on whenever they see us in action or cross our paths.

·       We are commissioned to share the good news.

But how can that work? Don’t we need something else? Shouldn’t our evangelism come with a PowerPoint presentation? What do we have that we can use that will convince others?

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

So where are we?

·       Salvation is in Christ alone.

·       We don’t want to miss the boat of salvation that comes through Christ. It’s not like you can just catch the next ship.

·       We need to share the good news today. We don’t want others to miss movement.

·       The lost need to receive the good news today.

·       Their belief is not on our shoulders.

·       The word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

That word can lead someone to salvation and it needs to be central to our discipleship The Spirit that lives within you is always in concert with God’s word.  There is always harmony between them and among Father, Son, and Spirit.

Understand the perichoresis that we discussed before. God and his word are at work and always in harmony with each other.

We don’t have to be biblical scholars but we are called to be workers who understand what God’s word tells us to do and who put that word into practice.

Never underestimate the enduring nature of God’s word.

Never underestimate the relevance of God’s word in today’s world.

Never underestimate the power of God’s word, especially its power to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Deliver it. Live it. Make a defense for your faith in God and his word.

Let’s close for now with Hebrews 4:12.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Amen.

Missing out on Rest

 Read Hebrews 4

We talked before about Jesus being greater than Moses. That wasn’t much of a challenge for those of us living in this modern century. Most of us started with Jesus and then had to look back at the full biblical witness to know about Moses and others.

Jesus is greater than Moses is not a stretch for us. It was surely not the challenge it might have been for the Hebrew people two millennia ago.

Now the author references Joshua and the rest of entering the Promised Land in juxtaposition to the rest of entering into the grace of God that we know in Christ Jesus.

The Promised Land offered a sort of rest for God’s Chosen People. They had been slaves for all of their lives as were their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents before them.

The trek through the wilderness took a bit longer than the couple of weeks it should have taken because the people just wouldn’t get with God’s program. Yes, this is the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt.

Yes, this is the same God who parted the Red Sea so the people could cross on dry land.

Yes, this is the same God who stopped holding back the water when Pharaoh's army tried to cross as well.

Too many liked being slaves to disobedience and rebellion. They were complainers. They found comfort in complaining against Moses and God.  They were not ready to enter into the Promised Land or enter into God’s rest.

And they didn’t.

You might be thinking, are we in the same boat? Is it really once saved, always saved? The Bible doesn’t use those words, but we believe that we cannot undo what God did for us. It makes sense, but there has been some stern language thus far and more to come.

We talked about rest before when we wrapped up our series on the words of Jesus.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Let me tie this chapter to the full biblical witness. We can rest from the fear of separation from God and eternal destruction and the flames of hell in our genuine profession of faith.  What do I mean by genuine?

We professed what we truly believed: JESUS IS LORD! We believe that God raised him from the dead.

We have what we might call or sing, blessed assurance.  We can rest in our salvation.

But do we have rest in our discipleship? Are we confident that we are doing what God made us to do? Can we experience the rest for our souls that Jesus promises?

There is rest as in a nap or a good night’s sleep.

There is Sabbath rest as in a day set aside for us to rest from our labors and commune with God. The dishes and weed eating can be done in advance or they will wait.

There is rest for our souls that we can only enter into by taking on the yoke of Jesus, learning his way, and then living his way. That comes with peace and hope, and yes, rest—really, really good rest.

This is the blessed assurance sort of rest that we all need in the here and now.

And there is eternal rest. Once this life is done and we are in the hereafter, rest will be so much easier as we will not contend with sin or a sin-filled world.

You will get the same meat in the next service. It will just be sliced a little differently.

The more that you work for the Lord, the more you will rest in him.

The more that you seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness, the more you will rest in this world.

The more that you sacrifice now, the greater your rest later.

The more you help others with their burdens, the more God lifts your burdens from you.

The more we take on his yoke and learn from him, the closer we draw to rest for our souls.

Of course, you have to get Tom’s mantra.

You were designed with rest in mind.

In the context of Hebrews, realize that some died in the wilderness and never knew the rest of the Promised Land. Those who entered rested from their sojourn and from war.

Those who entered the Promised Land had not yet realized the ultimate rest that God has in store for us. That rest comes only in Christ.

In this world, we need to rest from our labors.

When we enter into and live in the Kingdom of God, we rest from temptation, lust, coveting, and the things that desire to pull us away from God.

You know about inertia. A body at rest tends to remain at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.

That law governs bodies in this world but in the Kingdom of God, a body in motion that is putting the words of Jesus into practice will stay in motion but enjoy rest at the same time.

The more we draw near to God, the more that he draws near to us and he brings his perfect rest with him.

So, what do I give you to think about for the rest of the week?

Take his yoke.

Learn from him.

Put his words into practice.

Receive rest for your souls.

Rest in the fulness of your salvation that we know as discipleship.

The more you follow Christ and put his words into practice, the better your rest.

Amen.

 

Should we have the discussion or just reinforce the ramparts of our battle line?

 In the course of various discussions concerning mainly the ordination of homosexuals, I have repeatedly stated that we have not had the full discussion on this topic. I have proffered my local practices for consideration. I have likewise spoken about this issue on the denomination level.

I am not sure that I have the best answers, but I will have the discussion. I will listen to my fellow believers. I will try to understand the crux of every issue. I’m not going to retreat to my battle lines without seeking a true discussion.

I know how I see this issue. It’s clear-cut but complicated. The more clear-cut it becomes the more complicated it gets.

Some say that we have discussed this.  Committees at various levels of our judicatory system have had some discussions, but the denomination as a whole has not. We have done an injustice to many by avoiding it.

The more that I know I am right and in agreement with God, the more I see my hypocrisy.

The discussions that we have entertained have mostly been the dialogue of the deaf. We draw battle lines and set up philosophical camps without talking much about the subject.

Some talk of leaving the denomination. Some talk of taking some folks with them. For a connectional church, we seem to be as divisive as our nation. Should we not have more accord among us?

Are we seeking God’s will or just seeking to have our own way? Is anyone other than me sick of this age when civil discourse seems to be dead, buried, and without hope of resurrection?

We launch amendments and memorials that address a slice of this issue while leaving the rest unaddressed. We have done an excellent job of putting this off for longer than most denominations. We as Cumberland Presbyterians have become Practiced Procrastinators.

Let’s just see where we stand and what we need to discuss.

Homosexual Questions

 

Basic Questions

May they attend services?

May they sing a special?

May they join and become members?

May they serve on teams and committees?

May they serve as ushers and greeters?

May they serve as acolytes?

May they sing in the leading choir?

May they lead a team?

May they chair a committee?

May they serve as missionaries?

May they serve as Sunday School or VBS teachers?

May they hold denominational offices?

May they be ordained as deacons?

May they be ordained as elders?

May they be ordained as ministers of word and sacrament?

 

Groupings

If your answers were not all yes or all no, where is the dividing line and what are the criteria?

 

Repentance and Continuation of the sin. I think most will find that God’s word declares homosexual practices to be a sin. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so why is this sin disqualifying some from certain positions or roles in the church body?  Most would say because there is no repentance and the continuation of the sin following ordination (or other position of trust and service).

This begs the question, how is this different than other sins that continue in the life of the believer?

Divorce?

Divorce and Remarriage?

Gluttony?

Drunkenness?

Laziness?

No repentance

How do we test or measure repentance?

How is the believer’s struggle with the old self different here than in other areas?

Relapse

Perhaps the church term is backsliding.  How do we deal with someone who said that they had left sin behind them but has relapsed?

Counseling?

Disciplinary action?

Suspension?

Some theology queries

Does God’s grace reach beyond the sins of homosexual conduct?

Can I truly believe and take the yoke of my Master and learn from him if I am homosexual?

Does the repentant homosexual have a new identity in Christ even if he/she relapses?

 

Following repentance, is it one and done for the homosexual, three strikes you’re out, or some other formula not applied to other believers who give in to the old self?

We understand that the only way we can be perfect (complete) is through and with Christ. We all continue to have some sin in our lives but have the assurance of pardon when we confess. Must the homosexual correct his behavior completely before receiving the grace of God that we know in Christ Jesus?

 

To Wrap Up, Not Really

 

I am sure these questions will lead to others. That is the nature of discussion.  Are our hearts so hard that we can’t even discuss this topic? 

 

 

Discussion does not mean we abandon what we believe. It means that we are confident enough in our belief in God and trust him enough to listen to others, present what we believe, and do our best to be faithful to God and his directives which are all rooted in love as we go forward.

 

Comfort lies in insisting on our own way. Do we have the courage to have a discussion?

 

.

 

Today

 Read Hebrews 3

This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

OBTW—today is the only day that you can do something about your salvation. Today is the only day that you can grow in your discipleship.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not promised. Today is your day for action or inaction.

You might think that I’m saved. Life is good. Whatever. I’ll just wait it out on the back pew until Jesus comes for me. What the heck, I’ll be waiting for Jesus on my fishing boat.

You might think that I’m saved, eternity has been given to me. OK, that part is cool beans. Why do I need to do anything? I’ll just wait for Jesus to come get me in my recliner.

Why must I do anything at all today?

Why should I do anything when Jesus has done everything for my salvation?

Love.

It’s really that simple. Jesus humbled himself and stepped out of heaven to live and die as a human and as a servant. This all came out of God’s love for us.

Why do I need to do anything when Jesus has done everything? We are to be known as disciples of our Master by our love.

The author is not just talking to the unbelieving world. He speaks to us.

Don’t let your hearts be hardened. You have received this gift of grace. Live accordingly. That means that you never get discouraged or disheartened. You will have trouble in the world but we are charged to take courage. Jesus has overcome the world.

You just don’t harden your hearts anymore. That must not even be an option for us.

Remember God’s Chosen People being delivered from captivity in Egypt. For the years and years of complaining about God not hearing them or delivering them, when they were delivered, they didn’t take long to start complaining.

We could have stayed as slaves but at least we had food.

The people had food in the wilderness. They couldn’t see crops in the field, but God put manna on the ground and threw in some quail to boot.

The people just didn’t trust God enough. Yes, this was the same God that sent plagues upon Egypt, made a way to cross the Red Sea on dry land, and engulfed the Pharoah’s army when they tried to pursue.

It wasn’t enough. Some hardened their hearts. Some even rebelled.

Here’s the thing. Many who rebelled were swallowed up by the ground. Others never made it to the Promised Land. They never entered into true rest.

We will talk more about rest next week, but for now, realize that putting the words of our Master into practice requires us to give up our rebellious nature. We must surrender our heart of stone for one of love and compassion.

When? Today.

Don’t put this on your to-do list. Just do it. Do it today.

Today, if you have not done these things, do them now.

Repent and believe.

Profess Jesus is Lord.

Be baptized. Kids, talk to your parents about this. You might have some friends and family that want to be here for that.

Take his Yoke and learn from him.

Put his words into practice.

Mark Twain said that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you found out why.

The believer might say the two most important days were the day he or she was born and the day each was born again.

But for the rest of your life in these bodies, the most important day is today. Do the important things in your life while it is still called today.

Repent.

Believe.

Profess.

Take on the yoke of your Master.

Put his words into practice.

Today.

How can I do that?  My days are so full already. Really, how can I fit everything that I need to do today?

Scratch these off your schedule and don’t let them sneak back onto it.

Worry.

Doubt.

Anxiousness.

Fear.

Guilt.

Hate.

Ugliness.

Contempt.

Coveting.

Despair.

Discouragement.

Selfishness.

Arrogance.

I’m sure you could add to the list. Even if you can’t find something to scratch from your day, find time to do the things important to your relationship with God and that causes you to be known as a follower of Jesus by your love.

Today!

Amen.

Jesus is Greater than Moses

 Read Hebrews 3

Some of you probably won’t agree, but that’s fine. You can just be wrong.

There has never been a team like the New York Yankees.  Think about it.

Babe Ruth

Lou Gehrig

Joe DiMaggio

Mickey Mantle

Reggie Jackson

Thurman Munson

And that doesn’t even take us into the current era. Some of you kids might know Derrick Jeter. I have omitted some, many.

And you can’t leave off the center of universal wisdom, Yogi Berra.

There was no one quite like the Yankees.

You don’t have to like the Yankees. You can love Boston, Chicago, or even the Rangers, but no team past or present compares to the Yankees.

Why is this important?

If I were to say to you that now the Rangers have superseded the Yankees as the greatest team ever, you might be a little skeptical. That would be natural.

What now? Are we going to compare Michael Jordan and Lebron James?  No. There is no comparison. MJ is the GOAT. That’s too easy.

What’s the point?

The point is that we cannot understand Chapter 3 in its original context. We can try—and we do.  There is a lot that falls under the category of biblical criticism to help us have some empathy and understanding, but we can’t put ourselves in the shoes of the original audience. It’s a bridge too far, but we try; hence the New York Yankees.

Why can’t we truly empathize? They, like their fathers and their fathers before them, grew up with Moses. Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses parted the Red Sea. We know that God did it but Moses had the backbone to park those who were with him in a place where there was no escape from Pharaoh's army and the only route open was through the Red Sea.

The law came through Moses.

Moses persuaded God not to wipe out his chosen people and start over.

Moses. Moses. Moses. People knew of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and those who followed, but the story of God’s Chosen People began in Exodus when a Pharaoh did not remember what Joseph—a Hebrew—had done to save Egypt’s bacon. The Hebrew people became a threat to Egypt’s national security, so they were enslaved.

God sent Moses to deliver them.

Out of all of this Moses stuff that pervaded the Hebrew life and culture and way of life, the Law given through Moses surely was the pinnacle of all of them.

The law governed life among God’s Chosen People.

And now, there is this person that we know by the name of Jesus, and suddenly everything is about him.  What happened to Moses?

He is still important. The law is still important. They have simply been surpassed by Jesus. Jesus takes us so much farther than Moses or the Law ever could.

We accept this much more easily than the Hebrew people did 2000 years ago. Why? Most of us grew up with Jesus is Lord! We didn’t go through a season of Moses and the Law. We started with Jesus and had to look back to get the fullness of the story of God, his creation, and his love.

We knew the 10 Commandments. We thought there were a lot of death penalty offenses in the Law and probably wrestled with God being love in his very essence. We know about parting the Red Sea, water from a rock, and manna from heaven.

But for most of us, these things were not part of our formative years. Most of us started with Jesus. Last week when I said PAY ATTENTION, I knew that most of you had already paid attention and received the salvation of the Lord and were responding to that salvation in your discipleship.

The second half of that message was mostly for you, but both the second and third chapters of Hebrews lay a foundation. Pay attention. Salvation is through Christ alone and Jesus is greater than Moses. I can say that here and nobody will get their feathers ruffled.

But as we come to chapter 3, the author wrestles with the predisposition of his original target audience. That condition is one governed by Moses and the Law.

What do we need to know?

Jesus came and said he did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. He did just what he said he would do. He fulfilled the law. He confirmed this from the cross.

Some twist this verse to mean that Jesus came to enforce the law. He came to and did fulfill the law. Why is this important? Why is it important to us?

We get to move forward into living the abundant life that God intended. We get to finally do the good works that God intended. We don’t do them for our salvation, but because we have been saved.

We have passed from death to life!

The cycle of sin and sacrifice repeated again and again has given way to the one and only sacrifice required to make us right with God forever.

Nobody other than Jesus ever fulfilled the law. Through him, we live in right standing with God. The righteousness of the law was imputed to us in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

It’s just not as big of a challenge to us to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and more important than the law or Moses.

Do you think Moses had an issue with this? Consider that Moses was with the Lord at this transfiguration. Moses was all in. Moses knew his part.

Do you remember the Corrie Ten Boom quote that I gave you a few weeks ago and told you that you would get it again?  Don’t try to tell God what to do. Just report for Duty.

I don’t think Moses filed a complaint with the HR department because Jesus got the better position. Moses knew his part and that his part would be surpassed by what Jesus came to do.

That was the plan. That was God’s plan.

Just as John the Baptist knew that he and his ministry would lessen as the work of the Lord kicked into high gear; I’m certain from the full biblical witness that Moses was and is good with Jesus surpassing him and the law. There was not competition between Jesus and Moses, except those concocted by humankind.

Just as Jesus told the Pharisees that tried so hard to trap him with Sabbath offenses, I am Lord of the Sabbath; we must acknowledge that he is Lord of and over all, and that includes Moses.

Here’s the cool beans part. God has made us brothers and sisters with Christ. That means we are brothers and sisters with Moses too.

For the next part, and we are getting into law and grace as well as old and new covenants, I will use my old faithful analogy of headlights.

Over the past 16 years, I have used this a dozen times. That’s ok, sometimes it takes 20 times to catch the idiom here.

Imagine driving late at night on State Highway 152 west of Cordell and the vehicle coming at you has those bright, halogen or some space-aged headlights.  They are blinding.  You can barely see as the two vehicles pass.

You might even say a mean word or two as the two vehicles pass in the night.

Imagine driving exactly the same road at exactly the same spot and meeting the same vehicle 12 hours later.  He still has his headlights set on obliterate. You hardly notice.  Their intensity is the same as the night before, but they don’t affect you at all.

Why?

Because the light from the sun is so much brighter.

Now consider Moses and the law that came through him.  It was engraved in stone, written in ink, and it had and still has its glory.  The law came from God and by definition that makes it good, and as it turns out, for our own good.

But that law was like the headlights.  They shone brightly at midnight but at noon they paled in significance when the sun shone so brightly. Their intensity had not been diminished. It was surpassed.

The sun is the Son and the New Covenant.

Some of the Jews have veiled faces.  They cannot see what we see.  They were anchored in the law and this chapter is aimed mostly at them.  Don’t give up on them, read the rest of the book.

Of course, Jesus is greater than Moses. The New Covenant is the follow-on to the Old. The law is still good and continues to benefit us. Moses is still Moses but we should realize that he is onboard with Jesus surpassing him. He gets it.

C’mon, this is the guy that had to pass the mantel of leadership to Joshua before the people entered the land promised to them. Moses got it that his part did not include a river crossing at the Jordan.

Jesus takes us where we could never take ourselves—right standing with God. That’s some good geography right there.

Jesus did not do away with the law. The law was not nailed to the cross. The invoice for our sins was nailed to the cross.

Don’t go down the rabbit trail of multiple fallacies based upon the bogey of the law was nailed to the cross. Just know without having to play this game that the law was not done away with, it was surpassed.

Jesus is the way to the Father.

Is Jesus greater than Moses? Are you ready for a highly theological term? Duh.

Yes. He is greater than us all. Remember, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus who is above all things is the ultimate manifestation of God’s love for us.

We get this but it was a hard sell to many Jews in the mid-first century.

We talked about the remainder of this chapter in the first service.  It reiterates much of what you got last week.

Today is the only day in which you can act upon anything. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised.

So, this message wasn’t written just for me? I could have slept in or had an extra breakfast burrito.

Or you can add another arrow to your quiver as you stand ready to defend your faith. For many will come at you in this modern age and present the law and Moses and everything that according to modern Judaizers was greater than or equal to Jesus in opposition to the surpassing glory of God that we know in Christ Jesus.

Stand ready against all Jesus Plus anything else gospels.

Yes, this book was mostly for the Hebrew people two millennia ago, but your charge to make a defense for your faith is in effect every day.

You need to be ready to answer all questions as to why you believe that salvation comes in Christ alone.

Amen.