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.

 

Confident in Mercy

Read Hebrew 4:14-16

This following Jesus stuff is pretty simple, even a child can do it.  God loves you. Love one another.  How much more can there be?

Love is a big-ticket item for sure.  Loving God and each other is the command that Jesus said all law and prophecy was anchored upon.  He went on to raise the bar for his disciples saying that we are to love each other as much as he loved us.  The old standard was to love your neighbor as much as you loved yourself, but now we are to love each other as much as Christ loves us.  Christ loved us unto death, even death on a cross.

We know love to be extremely important for through it we fulfill the law. How much more can there be?

There is, of course, living by faith not by sight.  You know, trusting in the Lord with all your heart and leaning not on your own understanding.  We should live by faith.  We know faith to be the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

And certainly, we should live in obedience to God.  We know what God says by his word and by the Spirit that lives within us.  Obedience is a tough word for Americans.  We were born in rebellion and even included provisions in our Constitution to discard our own government if it no longer represented us.  But come Sunday, we sing Trust and Obey for there’s no other way.

Okay, so we love and trust and obey and have faith.  I guess that’s not too much.

Then there’s living in the truth, walking in the truth if we use John’s words.  The truth will set you free if we just stick to what Jesus had to say.

Let’s not forget hope.  Where would we be without hope. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  Besides, we have already talked about faith and love and we need hope to fill our Paul’s thirteenth verse of his thirteenth chapter in his first letter to Corinth.  Faith, hope, love, abide these three but the greatest of these is love.

That about covers it, except for rest.  We all need rest.  We all need Sabbath rest.  Jesus beckons all who are weary and heavy laden to come to him and he will give us rest.  Our rest lies in Jesus himself.

We get more on resting in the Lord in the part of this morning’s chapter that precedes what I read.

And if we continue what Jesus had to say, we all need a teachable spirit.  Take my yoke and learn from me.  My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

And since we are talking about burdens, every person is to carry his own load, unless he needs help then we should help him.  I thought about doing a solo special and sing He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, then I remembered that our insurance is void if I come within 5 feet of the choir microphone for fear that people will be injured rushing the exits. 

Usually when I use this little bit of levity, I get a few laughs but I also get a few nods of affirmation. 

That about wraps it up except for peace.  Where would we be without peace in this troubled world.  The world tells us that we can only have peace after we finish the two-thousand-piece puzzle of the snow-covered landscape.  We can’t have peace until we solve all of our problems, pay all of our bills, and finish the puzzle.

God grants us a peace that goes beyond our understanding.  For those who know this peace , it is something that you never want to be without again.

Oh, and there is thanksgiving and gratefulness.  These lead to our giving and generosity and are tied to our peace, and that surely wraps up the list of what it takes to follow Jesus.

Unless we go back to love and remember that we are people of love in action. Love is not some amorphous concept, love compels us to action.  Of course, faith compels us to action.  Faith without works is dead.  Faith and works work together.

We haven’t even touched on redemption and salvation and renewal.  And I will not cover everything we should be doing in what seems like a gallimaufry—now there’s a word for you that means hodgepodge, jumble or confused medley—of things we need to do to follow Jesus.

But we know that God is a God of order and not disorder so there must be order in what appears to be a compendium of related directions and guidelines.

Maybe I should stop there and let you take a week to try to put a taxonomy or hierarchy to all of these directions.  Love, action, trust, obedience, faith, hope, peace, rest, compassion, forgiveness, to get you started.  More will come to mind once you begin.

We should need psychiatric help trying to keep up with all of those, but instead of going bonkers, we have confidence.  Our minds should be spinning out of control but we have confidence.

Confidence in what?

In God’s mercy and his grace.  When we are running our race of faith and we make a wrong turn, we are told to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. 

When we miss the mark, we are told to confess.  We don’t do this wondering if this time I went too far.  We approach his throne of grace with confidence—with confidence.

God does not want to kick us to the curb, send us to hell, or give us a life in which he is not part of anymore.  God loves us.  He has forgiven us.  We are his and he wants us to come home when we stray.

If you read Luke 15, you find three stories about lost and found and the joy of being found after being once lost.  Heaven rejoices when the lost come home.  Heaven rejoices when we who know God through Jesus but somehow wandered off, come home.

This coming home stuff is a big deal even if he has to go looking for us first.  It’s a big deal!

You are sons and daughters of the King.  You are brothers and sisters of Christ.  You are called friend.  You were fearfully and wonderfully made.  You are called to be a Royal Priesthood.  You are chosen.  This is a big deal.

We may and will do things that we know do not please God but God is always pleased when we come home.  Unlike the Prodigal Son, we must come home with confidence.  We come with confidence from wherever it is that we regain our senses.

We can be penitent and confident at the same time.  We long to leave our sinful ways behind us and know that we have a Father in heaven who rejoices when we come back to him and seek his will above all else.

We should never come before God’s throne of grace doubting that he will be faithful and just to forgive.

Our caution is that we must not make God out to be a liar.  This is where we run astray.  This is where we don’t have peace.  Sin is sin and the world doesn’t get to vote on that.

Most of us understand this.  Most of us have not succumbed to the thinking of the world but the world wants the final say on what is sin and what isn’t and if the truth be known, there is not much that the world wants to call sin anymore. 

We serve a way, the truth, and the life Jesus in an anything goes world.

I like to put it this way.  We are people of whosoever will not whatsoever goes.

So how do we help people with the whosoever will part in this whatsoever goes world?  I should just leave that as a take home essay assignment.  Ten pages, double-spaced, twelve font with bibliography should do the trick.

How do we help people move from whatsoever goes to whosoever will?  We must introduce them to the God of mercy and grace that we know.

We don’t condemn people.  The Law will do that.  The law will show the futility of their thinking and their living.  So let the law condemn and the Spirit convict so we are free to fulfill our commission.

Our part is to convey that once you repent of your worldly lifestyle and receive Jesus, you will not only come to know this God of love but will approach his throne of grace with confidence.

The world has mantras for the way it lives.  Heaven won’t take me and hell is afraid I’ll take over.  It sounds cool but it’s not true.  It is sometimes just enough to keep some people from seeking the truth and living in rebellion against God who is full of mercy.  So many people who have rejected God are afraid that they are too far gone.

It’s sort of like Star Wars and embracing the dark side.

Fight or flight is what the world tells them.  Stand and fight for what you believe even if you know in your heart that it’s wrong.  Once you have made a stand for what you believe, then not only do you have an intellectual investment in your position, now you are emotionally tied to it.  You are anchored to it.

If you don’t fight, then run away and crawl in a hole.   Usually this is not a physical hole. Depression works well and sometimes leads to suicide but always reduces the quality of life—life that God gave us to live to the full.

Retreating from life itself is flight.  We are made to fully live and anything sort of thing that involves running the other way is flight.  And of course, there is the passive-aggressive combination of the two.  Retreat in public and fight in private.  This is what I should have said.  Today those comments can be posted on Facebook from the perceived safety of your home.

Fight or flight sounds official.  According to the world, it is.

But there is a third option.  It is forgiveness.  God is full of forgiveness.  He is a God of mercy and grace and he longs for all of his children to come home.

Seeking his forgiveness should be preceded by repentance.

Once someone comes home, he can come to that throne of grace again and again and do it with confidence, without doubt that the One who sits on it is faithful and just to forgive.

So, for those of us who know God through his Son, let’s not comfort people who live in sin by saying, that’s okay.  It’s not okay but trying to comfort them with those words might be worse than doing nothing or offending them with the truth for we become a stumbling block for them to receive the grace of God.

We do not need to be—in fact we must not be condemning—but we must speak the truth in a spirit of love with the heart of the message being we serve a God of love who is full of mercy and grace.  Did you know that this is a sign of our Christian maturity?

Our focus is not the sin of others.  Our focus is calling all to come before God and receive his mercy and his grace, and to know once you have done this, we can come before him with confidence.

It’s hard to come before him with confidence until we come in repentance seeking his promise of life.  Once we have done that, we know he is a loving Father who delights in mercy and wants us to know his grace.

Why would we want to deny anyone grace by telling them that sin is not sin?

We come before God confidently to receive his mercy and grace.

So here is the dichotomy: Denial or confidence.

We can deny our sin is sin or we can be confident that God will be merciful.  Let’s not comfort people in their sin by saying, it’s not sin anymore.

Let’s comfort people that we serve a God of love who is full of mercy and grace and he is waiting on them to come home to him. 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Let us lead people who do not know God’s rest and peace to this same throne of grace so they too may come with confidence all the days of their lives.

This following Jesus stuff is pretty easy, even a child can do it.  We must come as a child, trusting fully in our heavenly Father that he will always love us and always forgive us.

Don’t we want everyone to know this special relationship that we have.

God loves us.  We are to love one another.  At the top of that love one another list needs to be calling people to come home to their heavenly Father through Christ Jesus—calling them to receive his mercy and grace.

Come home. 

Amen.