Sunday, October 29, 2006

Hebrews 7:23-28 "The Great High Priest"

One of the requirements of the first year of Seminary was that we had to take an on-line test to see what our biblical literacy was. The test was multiple choice. I didn’t worry too much about it because I’m good with Bible stories and the test was mainly about who was in what Bible story and about when did certain things happen. But there was one part of the test that I dreaded: the where is it written” part. We were allowed three or four mistakes throughout the test if we were to pass it. This section gave a scripture verse and you had to type in the book and chapter and verse where it was found. I must be brutally honest, I’m never good at this. My dad taught me when I was young that the next best thing to knowing the answer to something is knowing where to find the answer. And that’s what I figure the Bible’s for. If someone asks me where a verse is, I can find it. I can usually narrow it down to the book its in and then I can skim through the book and find the chapter and verse. But this test expected me to have the book, chapter and verse down to a random group of well-known scriptures. I knew that taking the test was going to be luck of the draw for me. There were five of these verses on the test. This meant that I needed to get at least two of them right and get nothing else wrong on the rest of the test.

Well, I got lucky and ended up getting a few easy scriptures in the mix that I knew and I passed the test on my first try. Part of me sighed with relief. Another part of me thought that the test was too easy. After all, don’t you think that pastors should know the Bible inside out if they are going to be teaching from it? Well, like most people in the academic world, I found myself wanting them to make the requirement harder… after I had fulfilled the requirement.

In today’s scripture we see Jesus referred to as the great high priest. And yet he did not have any sort of seminary education. He did not have any sort of specialized learning that allowed him to take that role. Oh, we know that Jesus knew his Old Testament well, after all, he taught it to his followers in a powerful way. But this isn’t what made him a great high priest. And it wasn’t an online test he took either. No, it was Jesus’ humility and sacrifice that allowed him to be the great high priest that pleads our case before the judgment seat. And it was this same humility and sacrifice that allowed Jesus to invite us into that same relationship with his Father.

I. Pastor / Prophet / Priest

There are often two different roles or descriptions for those who lead worship. Often they are separated by denomination, but really, when you look at them they are actually different descriptions that define different roles that are played by the leadership of the church.

These two words to describe the one in leadership in the church are pastor and priest. Sometimes, in talking about the role of a pastor, we will add the role of prophet into the mix as well. Often, in protestant churches, we refer to the pastor as a pastor. In the Catholic or Orthodox Church or even in high Episcopal churches, the term priest is used. If you don’t mind, I’d like to explain the difference between these.

A pastor is a shepherd; a pastor is someone who cares for the flock that God has given them. A prophet is someone who brings God’s message to the people. And a priest is someone who comes to God on behalf of the people.

Now, when we look at Jesus we see that he has filled all of these roles to a certain extent.

Jesus is the ultimate pastor. A pastor is a shepherd. Jesus is the great shepherd. He cares for his flock. He chases after the lost sheep and brings it home safely. The question that I have for you today is how has Jesus been a pastor in your life? How has he cared for you? What has he done to show you that you’re special and unique and one of his children? You see, sometimes we don’t pay attention to Jesus, we don’t stop and rest and have that Sabbath that gives us the opportunity to see Jesus working in our lives in those places where we need him most. But he is there, being our shepherd, being our pastor.

Jesus is our prophet. I don’t know if you remember, but Hebrews 1 started off by saying this, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Jesus has spoken God’s word to us. We already spent a couple weeks looking at what it means to have the word of God spoken to you. It is a powerful thing. It is a life-changing thing. When God’s word comes forth, things happen. In Genesis 1 we see God saying something… and then we are told that it happens. God speaks the world is created. God’s word is powerful and mighty. And it comes to us through Jesus. My question to you is whether you allow Jesus’ words to have this much power in your life? Do you listen to what Jesus has to say and accept that there is power in them?

To be perfectly honest, Jesus has some very crazy things that he says throughout his ministry. We spent last Sunday in Confirmation looking at one of these areas. We looked at Luke 6:20-34. We sometimes take for granted what Jesus says and don’t realize how crazy he really is. He says that it is good to be poor and sad and hungry and hated. Say what? It gets worse, Jesus goes on to say that trouble’s going to come if you’re rich, well fed, laughing, praised by those around you. Jesus doesn’t stop the crazy talk there, though. He says that you are supposed to love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Huh!?!

Do we treat Jesus’ words as powerful? Do we let Jesus be God’s prophet to us? God used to speak to his people through prophets in many times and various ways but in these last days he speaks to us through his Son. And he says absolutely crazy things.

So, if Jesus is our pastor and Jesus is our prophet… perhaps one of those crazy prophets who sat up in the hills in uncomfortable clothing and seemed to make no sense at all, then Jesus also must be our priest.

The role of priest is very different than the other roles we were talking about. Those other roles were all about Jesus coming to us with God’s Truth and God’s love. But the role of priest is to come before God on our behalf and speak for us. And when we look at the story of Jesus’ life, we discover that he did much more than just speak on our behalf. Last week, I talked about the fact that Jesus does come before God on our behalf. He prayed for us even while he was on this earth. He asked God to be with us and to make us his children. I described this in a fairly casual way. I pictured Jesus heading up to his Father and saying, “Hey Dad, these folks, they’re with me.” Now, I think this is a fairly accurate way to describe Jesus’ going before God on our behalf. I think it helps us to see what Jesus did for us in a new light and that can be helpful. But I don’t want you to think that it is that simple for Jesus. Jesus didn’t just need to speak to his Father for us… he needed to do something a whole lot more powerful than speaking to God.

Last week I talked about our salvation through Jesus relationally. This week I want to talk about it theologically.

II. Jesus’ Sacrifice

Let’s face it, we all believe that Jesus died for us, but we aren’t all sure exactly what this means. I mean, we know that he died on a cross and somehow took our sins upon himself, we think that perhaps he might have gone down to hell for a couple days and then he rose from the dead on Sunday morning and somehow, this process means that we can have eternal life. It’s all a bit mysterious and, lets be honest with ourselves, quite strange.

We believe that Jesus’ death on the cross somehow saves us, and we should, for that’s what the Bible tells us, but we don’t exactly know how. There are a number of ways that this is discussed in different circles. Some hold to a substitutionary atonement. This says that what Jesus experienced on the cross was really what you and I deserve to experience for our own sins. And Jesus suffered in our place, he substituted himself for us, so that God’s righteous anger could be satisfied. Substitutionary atonement makes a lot of sense to me. We see glimpses of it throughout scripture, but I don’t believe that it’s the whole story.

So, substitutionary atonement makes sense to a certain degree, but it doesn’t completely work, thankfully there are a few other theories that help us along as we try to figure out exactly what it is that Jesus did for us on the cross.

There is the idea of looking at what Jesus did on the cross as paying a ransom. This idea has merit also. First of all, it doesn’t paint the God the Father out as the bad guy. It says that sin needs its suffering. Evil, sin, Satan has control in this world and is holding each of us as ransom against God. But God sends his Son to be ransomed for each of us. This theory actually fits what we’ve been reading in Hebrews quite closely. You see, it is made clear in Hebrews that a blood sacrifice is needed to bring forgiveness for our sins. And Jesus comes and offers his own blood on our behalf. But this concept doesn’t make perfect sense to me either. The most common understanding of what Jesus did on the cross is the idea that Jesus conquered death. If substitutionary atonement has us standing with God’s wrath as the enemy and the ransom atonement has evil or the devil as the enemy, this view places death itself as the enemy. Jesus conquered death with his own death by being resurrected and therefore offers that same resurrection to each of us. It’s powerful stuff, but not even close to what we find in Hebrews.

There are other theories as to how it is that Jesus saved us on the cross: some of them good, some of them bad. I personally like what Brian McLaren does in his book, The Story We Find Ourselves In. He introduces six different theories of atonement and he describes them as windows that you are looking out of as you attempt to see the sky. The sky is out there and it is complex and beautiful, but the windows that we look out of only give us a glimpse of what it is that Jesus really did for us. These theories of atonement are glimpses of what it is that Jesus did for us on the cross. The theories emphasize different aspects of God’s love and justice and power and they are worth wrapping your head around, but, in the end we are attempting to explain something that is truly beyond us.

In the end what we see is that Jesus lived a perfect life while he was on this earth. God became man and dwelt among us. Jesus experienced the things we experience and lived the lives we live. And then, on the cross, he made the ultimate sacrifice for us; bringing salvation to anyone who has faith in him. And then, through the miraculous power of heaven, he was raised from the dead, conquering death itself. Jesus sacrificed for us as our great high priest and it is truly an amazing thing. But it’s not the end of the story, either.

For Jesus has more planned for us as well. We find salvation through Jesus. We find peace and hope because Jesus is willing to be there on our behalf. But Jesus calls us to an exciting life as his followers. He promises great things to us, “I go to prepare a place for you, so that where I am you may also be!” And he exhorts us to have faith and be faithful in our own lives. We are called to share Jesus with those around us who need him.

You see, going back to those three roles that Jesus filled, the roles of pastor, prophet and priest; he calls for all of us to be those things for each other. Let me explain. Jesus wants us to be priests for each other. God wants us to stand up for each other before God. We don’t need to be the high priest like Jesus was, but we are called to intercede with God on each other’s behalf. How do we do this? By praying for each other. Remember James 5? We are called to share our needs and requests with each other so that we can pray for each other, so that we can lift each other up before God. We are all priests to this world. And the way to be the priests that we are called to be is to pray for the world around you.

We are all prophets to the world. Jesus wants us to share his word with those who need to hear it. Some of us are better than others at this, but we each are called to share the Truth of God with those around us.

And we are all pastors to the world. We are all called to share God’s love with those around us. This is about caring for those who are in need: the weak, the hungry, those in prison. This is about being sure that the lost are found.

So, Jesus does so much for us. On the cross he sacrificed everything for his people. And we realize that he was setting an example that his followers, we, are called to live up to. Jesus is pastor, prophet and priest. And he asks the same of each of us. But I have good news for you… there is joy in the service of God. Amen.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Hebrews 5:7-10 "Jesus Prayed for You"

In high school, my senior year, my sister was playing a wild joke on a group of her friends. She had them convinced that a friend of hers, a guy named Kenny, was living with us because something had happened to his parents. She wove this wild story about how he lived with us and shared a room with me and all sorts of things. The way I found out about this was that at the end of the year a couple of her friends came up to me to ask me a question. I didn’t exactly walk in the same circles as my sister and her friends so we didn’t really talk all that much at school. Her friends asked me if Kenny lived with us. I realized that my sister must be playing a joke on her friends, and I thought it’d be fun to play along, so I responded by saying “yes!” at which point they ran over to her and said, “See, Gavin says it’s true, you’re not making it up!”

You see, Kenny and Nichol had been leading her friends on about this for a while and she was trying to tell them all that it had been a joke. They didn’t believe her and figured they’d get the truth from her older brother. I corroborated her story even though she didn’t want me to and it took forever for them to be convinced of the truth.

Now, I’ve got to admit, it’s nice to be known as so honest that my sister’s friends are going to take my word for something over hers. But I have to admit that that’s probably just because she was trying to convince them that she’d been lying to them for months. But this story actually tells us something else as well. It’s good to have someone to vouch for you. When someone who is accepted as honest speaks on your behalf, they can influence how people see you. What does this have to do with today’s scripture? Well, we have someone who vouches for us before God. We have someone who is totally and completely honest and obedient and who comes before God and tells him that we are okay, that we are loved, that we are desired. And, of course, this person who stands up for us and speaks on our behalf before God, is Jesus.

1. A humbling thought

Jesus prayed for you! While he was on this earth, while he was living out his life, while he was ministering to the people of Israel, Jesus prayed for you. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that today’s scripture only hints at this. It talks of Jesus praying hard: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Now, it seems at first glance that this passage is about Jesus in Gethsemane. We know the story. On the night before Jesus died, he went to Gethsemane to pray and he prayed so hard that he was crying tears of blood and he asked God to take the cup of his own death from him. But at the same time he told God, “not my will but yours be done.” This seems to be what Hebrews is talking about. After all we have Jesus praying with loud cries and tears and we have him praying to the one who can save him from death. But there are two things that don’t quite fit with this understanding. First it begins by saying that these prayers of Jesus were during the days of his life on earth. We aren’t just talking about a prayer the night before he died. We are talking about prayers he offered up throughout his life. And second, the sentence ends by saying that Jesus’ prayer was heard, and by implication, answered.

So, what is scripture talking about here, then? Perhaps it is talking about all the other times that Jesus went away to pray during his time of ministry. You see, Jesus was regularly running away from his disciples and those who were looking for him so that he could find a quiet place to pray. And here we see that his prayers were answered. The question I then wonder is what did Jesus spend all this time praying about? Prayer was such an important part of his life, what did he pray for? The truth is that we don’t see much of what Jesus prayed for in the gospels. We see him teaching the disciples how to pray and we see him in Gethsemane, but that is about it. But the thing is that when we think of Gethsemane we are usually thinking of the version that we get in Matthew, Mark & Luke. The gospel of John gives us a longer, more complete version of Jesus praying at Gethsemane, and we see in this that Jesus didn’t just pray for himself. He also prayed for his disciples; he also prayed for us.

II. Jesus’ prayers

In John 17 we first see Jesus pray for himself. But instead of praying that the cup might be taken from him, he prays that God will glorify him. But then he goes on and begins to pray for his disciples. In his prayer he tells his Father that he knows that he is going to be leaving the disciples and he knows that it is going to be difficult for them. He prays that God will be with them once he is God. He prays that God will protect them from evil. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of this world even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

Jesus, in his selflessness, prayed for those around him, he prayed for his loved ones, as he knew that what was ahead of him was going to be difficult for him, he also knew it would be difficult for them. And he wanted them to continue on.

But Jesus’ prayer doesn’t end there, either. He next prayed for us. He next prayed for you and me. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,” (that’s you and me) “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me… Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” Jesus prayed for us, that God would save us. Jesus truly acted as a great high priest for us, coming before God on our behalf and vouching for each and every one of us.

You see, that’s what Hebrews is saying when it talks of Jesus as the great high priest. Old Testament theology stated that the high priest needed to come before God on behalf of the people and offer up a sacrifice for those people. The high priest came before God representing the people and sacrificed on behalf of the people so that God would forgive them. Jesus fills this role in the New Testament. But instead of sacrificing an animal like the Old Testament high priest, Jesus sacrifices himself. Now there’s the theology behind this that is pretty deep and pretty powerful, but there’s the relational thing also. The relational component is that Jesus comes to God the Father and says, “Hey, dad, they’re okay, they’re with me!” This is what Jesus does for us in heaven because of what he did for us on the cross. And in John 17 this is what Jesus is praying for us while he is still on earth.

And so we come back to the words I began this message with. Jesus prayed for you. I don’t know why this hits me so very powerfully, but it does. It’s amazing enough to think that Jesus died for you. It’s amazing enough to think that Jesus sacrificed his life so that you can be saved. But this is something that most of us have been taught since earliest childhood and therefore, I think, we take it for granted. But here we see the depth and breadth of Jesus’ love for us, that even while he was on this earth, he took time to pray for us. John 17 is only one example of Jesus’ prayer. Though we don’t have many of Jesus’ prayers recorded in the Bible, it is important to realize that he was regularly praying to his Father. Now, we need to realize that all Jesus’ prayers weren’t requests from his Father. But it is clear that Jesus spent a good part of his earthly life communing with God in prayer, and he must have spent some of that time praying for those he cared about. And the fact is that Jesus cares about you and me. And so Jesus prayed for you and me. And God heard his prayers. God is with us because Jesus prayed for us.

III. What God says about you

This is just another reminder that God loves us, that Jesus loves us. One of many that we find throughout the Bible. One of many that we often choose to ignore or forget because we are so caught up in our own brokenness. This last Wednesday night, in Bible study, I listed a list that comes from Ephesians of things that God says about us, his followers. It’s a hard list to hear. Not because it says we’re bad or evil, but because it says we’re loved. Ephesians 1:3 says that I am blessed. 1:4 says that I am chosen and holy. 1:5 says that I am adopted by God. 1:7 says that I am forgiven. Verses 7 & 8 say that I am favored. 2:13 says that I am close to God 3:17-19 says that I am loved. 3:6 says that God promises me great things. And 5:29 says that I am cherished.

This is truly a powerful list. It is a list of things that God says about each of us. It is a list of things that we are called to believe about ourselves. It is a list of things that it is sometimes hard to believe about ourselves.

But God doesn’t only make claims like this. He backs it up with his actions. He tells us he loves us and then he acts on this love by sending his Son for us. He tells us that we’re adopted into his family and then he actually treats us as his children. He tells us that he will listen to us and then he answers our prayers. He tells us that he cherishes us and then Jesus actually prays for us.

So today’s message is one of good news. It is one that is worth hearing and believing. God cares for you. He loves you. When Jesus was praying for his people he prayed for you. And you are a special creation gifted by God. Why can’t we believe these truths about ourselves and each other? Why can’t we accept the wondrous love of Jesus? We want to wallow in our own sinfulness and pain. We want to think that nobody loves us. We want to focus on our brokenness. But God has a different story for you. He wants to tell you that you are blessed, you are chosen and holy, you are adopted, you are favored you are close to him, you are loved, he has great things planned for you and you are cherished. God loves you so much that he sent his Son so that if you believe in him you will not perish, you will have eternal life. And God’s Son, while he was on this earth, prayed for you. Amen.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Hebrews 4:9-16 "The Word is Alive"

In college we were given an assignment by one of our teachers that had to do with today’s passage. He wanted us to look throughout Hebrews and see what the difference between “approaching rest” and “entering rest” was. He told us as he gave us this assignment that he didn’t expect any of us to get it right. Isn’t that a great way to go into an assignment; with the expectation that you are going to fail. Well, I studied throughout the book of Hebrews as it talked about God’s rest and I looked up the passages from the Old Testament that the book of Hebrews quotes and I decided that I thought there was a minute difference: people who approach God’s rest can leave it. People who enter God’s rest stay in it forever. So I wrote up my thoughts and handed them in. When I got my paper back he told me that I had written a good paper that actually made some very good points, but I missed the true difference. He pointed out as he handed back the papers that all of us had missed it. I should point out that this was the same professor that gave us an assignment at the end of our senior year, which he claimed was actually impossible to do.

He then went on to tell us what the difference really was. We approach God’s rest here on earth when we follow him and he gives us the peace and rest that we need. Only after this life is over, when we have entered God’s presence, are we truly able to enter into God’s rest. My professor, with his impossible assignment helped me to look at one of God’s great promises in new light. I was able to see God’s promise of rest in a new way, but unfortunately, a great promise of God was turned into an academic exercise. You see, God does promise us, his children, rest. We who toil at our labors have the Sabbath rest to look forward to. And so let us approach God’s rest in our lives today and let us look forward to the Sabbath rest that we will enter at the end of our days.

1. Sabbath Rest

So, today’s scripture talks about a couple different topics, all of them, I think, important to our Christian walk. First, it urges us on toward God’s promised rest. Second, it talks about the path that will get us to that rest, through the word of God. Third it talks about Jesus and refers to him as a great high priest who has sacrificed for us so that we may approach the throne of grace with confidence.

So again we see that Hebrews is a book full of deep theology but also a book that has much to teach us. Mark Bucanon, in a book about God’s rest, talks about the importance of Sabbath rest, not only when we enter heaven but throughout our lives today. I hate to say it, but we have decided as a culture to truly ignore the commandment in the Bible that tells us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. We say that we are too busy to make time for Sabbath rest. Or, perhaps our Sabbath is the hour we are here at church on Sunday. But the Bible commands us to take a full day of rest every week. It wants us to lay down our burdens and rest in God’s presence. So, what is Sabbath? It is hard to define. Jesus himself showed that the people in his day got it wrong. But Mark Bucanon says that what Sabbath really is is a day to pay attention. It is a day to stop your busyness and pay attention to what’s going on around you. When you’re busy doing you don’t get to see what’s happening around you, and you don’t get to experience God, either.

At the retreat that Lisa and I went to the beginning of the week, Larry Magnusen, the speaker at our retreat, commented on the fact that we all like to see God in the rainbows. We like big, dramatic things that will show us that God is present. And sometimes those big dramatic things happen and we see God clearly. But most of the time God doesn’t work that way. Instead, God is more like “Where’s Waldo”. “Where’s Waldo” was a series of books where you had to study the pages closely to find a character, Waldo, hidden among the art on the page. You had to pay attention. You had to study closely. I like this analogy. It tells us that God is there, in our world, but sometimes we need to look closely if we want to see him. Sometimes we need to study the world around us if we want to know where he is. Sometimes we need to pay attention. And that is what Sabbath rest is all about. It is our chance to stop what we are doing and pay attention to God.

The speaker at our retreat went on to tell us that rest isn’t getting all of your work done so that you can then relax and have a time of leisure. No, rest means that we are to take a break from our work, from our activities, even when we don’t have the time to.

We don’t know how to rest anymore. We aren’t taking that time to pay attention. And we are teaching our children that rest is wrong. This is a sin. Being too busy in our lives is a sin. It goes against one of the Ten Commandments. It goes against the teachings of Jesus.

2. The Word Alive

I want to go back to that “Where’s Waldo” illustration again. If God isn’t always visible at first glance, if we need to pay attention if we expect to see where he is working, then study is of utmost importance. And what do we study? We study the word of God. So it makes sense that the book of Hebrews moves from Sabbath rest to talking about the word of God. For our Sabbath rest should include time with this word.

Hebrews says some powerful things about the word of God. And this is one of the few places in the Bible where it is talking about the word of God and it is talking about scripture. You see, most places, when the Bible talks about the word of God, it is talking about Jesus. This is mostly because the Bible wasn’t written yet and because the gospel of John loves to refer to Jesus as logos, or God’s Word. The Bible does talk about scriptures and tell us what we should do with them, but it usually doesn’t use the phrase “Word of God” to do so. But here it does: “For the word of God is living 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.”

Wow, that’s not the most affirming description of the word of God. It sounds almost painful. It kind of makes sense, with that description, why it is that we all tend to do what we can to avoid spending time in God’s word. It’s going to penetrate us like a sword. It’s going to divide or souls from our spirits, our joints from our marrow. Wait a minute, isn’t the soul and the spirit the same thing? Well, here we discover that they are separated by the word of God. Maybe I don’t want to take that time of rest after all. Maybe I don’t want to be spending time with such a dangerous weapon as this whole word of God thing.

But, truly, do you want to spend any time with the word of God if it doesn’t have any power? I mean, if these are just words written by people thousands of years ago, then, really, what’s the point? But if this is the word of God; if there is power here; if there is even danger that these words will change you and pierce you and make you new; then reading the word isn’t scary it’s amazing.

As I went through the ordination process a couple years ago, one of the questions I was asked was how the Bible had changed my mind and changed my actions recently. You see, many of us come to scripture with our pre-formed beliefs and our pre-formed ideas about the way the world is and the way it should be. We remember what we have been taught and hold dearly to that and then go to scripture to prove ourselves right. We skip over verses and passages that don’t conform to our point and rely heavily on verses that we agree with. Basically, we are taking the strong, double-edged sword and blunting it so that we won’t cut ourselves. But scripture is truly doing its job when you are looking at it and discovering something new about God, something new about yourself, and something new about the world you are living in.

Give God power over your life. Allow him to encourage, challenge, strengthen and even break you with his holy word. It can be a scary process, but it can be a wonderful one.

3. A Great High Priest

And we have hope as we enter this process. The hope is that God isn’t going to take us too far. The hope is that scripture will tear us apart and then put us together in a better place than we have been. You see, we have a great high priest in Jesus who has been through the things we go through and who has given us access to our God. A few weeks ago we talked about this in confirmation, it’s a powerful concept. In Jesus, God was able to experience the life we live. Jesus faced pain. He faced temptation. He dealt with loss. He also enjoyed the company of his friends. He celebrated with those around him. He felt joy.

Jesus brings us eternal life because of his suffering on the cross and because in his death he conquered death and in his resurrection he brings new life. But Jesus did more than this. He experienced humanity. He knows our weaknesses. He understands us. And so he offers us rest from our toils. He commands that we spend time in our lives in rest. He gives us his word to change and transform us. And he goes before his father on our behalf so that we can come before God in peace and receive God’s mercy in our lives.

This is the true gift that Jesus offers us: God’s mercy and grace. But this grace and mercy isn’t just about when we appear before God’s throne at the end of days. It is also a grace and mercy that we experience today in our times of need. I love verse 16 of Hebrews chapter 4 because it talks about that future in front of the throne and then it comes back to our present needs: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

What hope Jesus offers us. What a promise God has given us. Jesus really meant it when he said, “come to me all you who are weary and heavy-burdened and I will give you rest.” I encourage you to do that very thing. Come to Jesus with your burdens and enter God’s rest. This is an awesome promise of God but it is also work for us, for we need to learn to let go of the things that we keep doing to keep busy and we need to trust that God will take care of us and this world as we rest. Amen.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Hebrews 1:1-4 "God Speaks"

I may have shared this story before with some of you, but it is an important one to share. I grew up in a Lutheran church in Washington State. One fall our youth group went to a weekend camp up in Bellingham. It was an awesome experience. The gospel was shared like it only can be at camp and a number of people in my youth group who had never been at all interested in their spiritual lives let them shine forth in a new way. The camp was only three days long, a Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning. At the Saturday evening service an altar call was given. It was a powerful one. About three fourths of my youth group went forward. I was rejoicing as I watched so many from my youth group get up and go to the front of the room to pray with someone and ask Jesus into their lives. Those of us who did not go forward went back to our cabins. Our cabin, which normally had eight people in it, only had three of us because the rest were praying for God to enter their hearts. One of my friends, Mike, asked me why I didn’t go forward with everybody else. I responded by telling him that I had already asked Jesus into my heart and did not need to do so again. I then asked him why he didn’t go forward. His response was to say that he wanted to get to heaven the normal way: going to church, being good, he didn’t want to do anything weird.

And for the first time I found myself in the position of trying to explain what Jesus was really about to someone who was already religious, who was going through the motions of faith without really understanding what they were really about. More about that night later.

1. God: So Much Greater

The book of Hebrews is one of the least read books in the New Testament. It isn’t written by Paul, the author of it isn’t even named, and it talks about weird things like a priest that lived during the time of Abraham named Melchizedek who seemed to live forever. But when you get past the odd things you find in the book of Hebrews you discover that it is mostly about faith… faith in Jesus. Hebrews tells us what it is that Jesus did for us and why we should follow Jesus today. Hebrews talks to a group of religious people and tries to explain to them why they need Jesus. It tells them that the rituals, the sacrifices, the worship that they do is not enough. Instead, the true center of what they are called to is faith in Jesus.

The book of Hebrews goes on to tell us that we have direct access to God, not through rituals we do, not through saints we pray to, not through congregations we belong to, but through Jesus. Hebrews tells us that because of Jesus, who he was and what he did, we can enter God’s presence; we can come before the Lord and Creator of the universe and he will hear us. This is truly an awesome concept, but one that we take for granted, I think. We take it for granted that when we lift up a prayer God actually stops and listens to us. But when you think about it, this is an amazing reality. God, who is responsible for this whole world around us; he gave us this world, he set the sun, moon and stars in the sky, he sends rain to nourish the world, you’d think he might be a bit too busy to spend time focusing on us.

You know, I always wonder why certain heresies and misunderstandings of our faith come about. One strange one that entered the Catholic Church pretty early was the idea that people couldn’t go directly to God. Instead, if they wanted something, they would pray to a dead saint who would then get God’s attention for them. In many ways this seems kind of silly, but in other ways it sort of makes sense. Why would God spend time listening to us. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to get the attention of someone else up there who might hold some sway over God and have them speak to God on our behalf. In my earthly logic, in my human reasoning, this actually makes some sense. But the book of Hebrews tells us that we don’t need anybody to come between us and God. Jesus has done this for us so that now we can enter God’s presence, now we can experience God’s rest. Like I said, this is a truth of our faith that I don’t think we really take as seriously as we should.

2. Jesus’ Credentials

And so Hebrews begins in chapter 1 by giving us Jesus’ credentials. It is all about telling us why it is that we should listen to what Jesus had to say and why it is that what Jesus did on the cross has power in our lives, even today. Now the letter of Hebrews spent time telling people of the day why Jesus was important by tying him to the things they already believed in. The people of the day, particularly the Hebrews or Jews of the day, believed in Old Testament prophecy. They believed that God had spoken through the prophets throughout time. And so Hebrews begins by acknowledging that very thing. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” This is really, truly a powerful statement. God used to speak to us through prophets and preacher, but now has sent his very Son to speak to us. I guess this is why we take the words of Jesus so seriously. I guess this is why we have red-letter editions of the Bible where Jesus’ own words are highlighted for us in a different color than the rest of the Bible. This is important here, pay attention; God is speaking to you through his Son. But this Son who God speaks through was also involved in the creation of the universe, and he is also the heir of all things. Fancy words and concepts to say something pretty simple. Before anything on this earth was created, Jesus was there, with God, creating. And after this world ends, Jesus will be there, with God, in control of all that God has given him. The first chapter of Hebrews continues to give us Jesus’ resume. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Not only was Jesus there at the beginning, and not only will he be there at the end, he is here right now, sustaining this world, holding it together. Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is now sitting at God’s right hand in heaven. Oh, and by the way, think of the greatest created thing in the universe. Out of all the things that God has created, what is the most spectacular? Some of you might say dinosaurs. Others might describe whales. Hebrews goes one better: angels. Here are these amazing creatures that we only catch a glimpse of in scripture but who are truly fantastic and don’t seem to need to play by the rules of nature. Well, Jesus is even greater than them.

Now this might all seem natural to us. Of course Jesus is greater than the angels. Of course Jesus was with God at creation and will be with him at the end of time. But you see, for us, Jesus lived 2000 years ago. He lived in a different time and a different culture and we don’t really see him as human. But the people sitting and hearing Hebrews when it first came out probably thought of Jesus as a man. He had walked the earth with them. They had had conversations with him. Sure he did some pretty impressive things during his life, but God’s prophets often did do impressive things. It is easy for me to say that someone who lived 2000 years ago was God. It would be much less believable for me to say that someone who lived 20 years ago was God incarnate. But this is what the letter of Hebrews was proclaiming. Jesus was more than just a great man. He was something special. The people who walked with him and talked with him didn’t truly know what it was that they had. Here they were, walking and talking with the creator of the universe, and they were busy worrying about who got to sit at his right hand. And so, Hebrews is about introducing Jesus, God incarnate, the Savior, to people who need to know him.

3. Introducing Jesus

We are called to do the same thing that Hebrews is doing. But I’m not sure that quoting from Hebrews is necessarily the way to go about doing this. You see, we live in a different world today than existed back then. We don’t have people who necessarily follow the Old Testament rituals and activities but not the New. Well, I guess we do, they’re the Jews, but here in Albert City we don’t run into many of them. But what we do have here is people who go to church, who participate in church activities, who try their best to be good people; people like my friend from youth group, Mike. These people believe that we are called to earn our way into heaven and that we don’t have that direct access with God that we could truly use. The rituals of our faith are not bad, but they aren’t what brings salvation. Salvation comes from knowing Jesus. Salvation comes from believing in Jesus. Salvation comes from following Jesus. In the coming weeks we’re going to be looking closely at sections of Hebrews. We are going to watch as the book tells us a bit about what Jesus did for us, why it is important, and what faith really looks like. I’ll give you a hint: faith looks a lot like faithfulness. We are also going to see throughout the book that God promises us rest if we follow him. Hebrews is pretty eloquent. It is also pretty detailed and even at times confusing, especially when it begins to talk about Old Testament priests and the aforementioned Melchizedek. But its message is an important one that can change your life. Don’t just go through the motions of faith. Instead truly follow Jesus. A great future awaits you if you do.

I’m not nearly as eloquent as the writer of Hebrews was. But on that night in high school, I tried to tell my friend that going to church and trying to be good was not the “normal” way to get to heaven. Instead, what God was looking for was a commitment as we turn our lives, our whole lives, over to him. I believe that Mike went to bed thinking on this very thought.

The next day there was a morning service and the speaker spoke again. He didn’t build up to an altar call as he had the night before, but after he spoke he asked whether anybody did want to speak to him after worship who might not have come forward the night before. Mike went forward. Again I found myself praising God for being so great. Here is the creator of everything and he wants a relationship with you. Wow. Maybe you can relate to Mike. Maybe you feel like you are going through rituals and motions but there is nothing behind them. Maybe you have believed that all you needed to get to heaven was an attendance sheet from church. I’m telling you now what I told Mike. God wants relationship with you. God sent his Son for you. God asks you to follow him, to accept him as your Lord and Savior. If this is the case, if you have been going through the motions and want something more, I would like to talk with you after church. So when the service ends I’m not going to go to the back and start shaking hands. Instead I’m going to stay up here and if you’d like to ask Jesus to become the center of your life, I invite you to come forward and talk with me.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

James 5:13-20 "Praying Earnestly"

1: Our Need for Prayer

We have spent the last number of weeks looking at the book of James and what it has to say about living the Christian life. The book of James doesn’t make it easy to be a Christian. It actually makes it sound pretty hard. We’re continually told that we need to work at our faith and not just take the easy answer. Last week, the last part of what we read in James 4:3 even made prayer sound hard, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James wants us to live right, he wants us to act out our love for God by loving those around us, and he wants us to pray right as well.

But then, when we get to the end of James, in chapter 5, I believe that we finally get to some good news in James. You see, at the end of the book of James, we are told that prayer works and prayer is powerful. And we are told to take full use of the power that God gives us in prayer.

Prayer is communication with God. It is the people of God, us, communicating with the God that we believe in. Let me say that again, it seems so simple yet means so much… Prayer is us communicating with the God that we believe in. It’s not enough to believe in God. Yes, we are saved by faith and faith alone… but that faith involves obedience and that faith involves relationship. Relationship is something that we all know. We have people we are related to. We have people who we love. We have people who we don’t love. But relationship without communication is not relationship, it is something else. It’s pseudo relationship. It’s broken relationship. It’s unhealthy relationship. No, for relationship to happen, we need communication… we need two-way communication. You need to communicate with the person you have the relationship with and that person needs to communicate with you.

That’s what we are doing in church. We are allowing God to communicate with us. We read his word. We listen to the sermon. But we also communicate with him. We sing songs to him, we praise him, we lift up our needs and prayers to him. We come together as a group before our God to communicate with him. This way our relationship with God can grow.

Prayer is important, it is a need that we all have. Growth cannot happen without prayer. We cannot grow closer to God unless we pray to him, and unless we listen to what it is that he wants us to know.

2. Different forms this takes

Today’s scripture tells us that prayer can take different forms and can be done in different ways: If someone is in trouble they should pray. If they are happy they should praise God in song. If they are sick, they should call leaders in the church to come and pray for them. If they have sinned, they should ask someone in the church to pray for forgiveness for them (that’s an interesting one). If they need rain, they should pray as Elijah did, earnestly, and the rain shall come.

There are two things to notice here. First of all, prayer isn’t just asking for things. It is communicating with God no matter what position you are in. Prayer is about sharing yourself with God. It is about sharing the joys and sorrows of your life, the pains and the pleasures, with God. I’m not sure this is how we normally view prayer. Tony Campolo talks about when his son was younger and they were getting ready for bed. His son came in and announced that he was ready to go to bed. “I’m going to my room now, I’m going to go to bed, I’m going to pray, anybody need anything?” This isn’t what prayer is about. No, prayer is about opening your world to God. It is about making him a part of it. If you’re excited about something, share that excitement with God. If you’re anxious, share that anxiety with God.

Prayer is that communication that strengthens our relationship with God. But we notice something else in this scripture. You see, James still seems to think that it isn’t just me and God. He still seems to think that my relationship with God is related to my relationships with those around me. And so, even though we are definitely told in other scripture the importance of going to our rooms and locking ourselves in our closets to pray, here we are told that it is important to share our life of prayer with those around us.

3. Praying as a Church

Jesus tells his followers that when two or more are gathered together in his name he is present with them. He is in their midst. Jesus doesn’t explain why there is more power in prayer when people come together in agreement, but there are some reasons that are self evident… and they aren’t that a group of people praying for something is more loud and pesters God more than an individual praying for something.

No, I think there are three important reasons that God has made it clear that we are to pray in groups, that we are to come together and pray.

First, I believe that we have a harder time seeing God when we are by ourselves. This is counter-intuitive for me, for I feel like I do much better at seeing God when I am alone. My personal devotion time is very important to me for this reason. But God is other than me. When I need to communicate with God, I need to do more than talk to myself. If all we know is God while we are by ourselves, we will find the danger of thinking of God being like me, and this will lead to the possibility that I will pray to myself instead of praying to God. When you are in a group lifting prayers before God, you are in the presence of other. I believe that this is important. By praying in a group I understand that God is more than me, and I understand that God is the Lord of more than me as well.

Another reason to pray in a group is that there is a power in agreement. When a group of people agree about something, it breaks down sin, it breaks down hurt. Agreement is the thing that can bring healing to our lives. I am not talking about agreement such that we all go along with everything someone wants. I am not talking about a lack of discussion. This isn’t true agreement. I’m talking about being about the same purpose. I’m talking about living our lives directed in the same direction… towards God. And when we pray together we find ourselves at points where we are brought into agreement. When I prayed today for Richard to get better after his surgery, you agreed with me, you asked God to do the same thing. We are all pointed in the same direction and asking the same thing from God because of this. There is power here because of this. Agreement before God brings a mighty power to our lives. It brings us together as a body much more able to do God’s will. If you have two legs that are part of the same body and they are working against each other, going different directions, the body will never move. But if they are in agreement, if they are working together then you discover not only the ability to walk, but the ability to run.

The third reason that it is good to pray together is that it helps us to think about what it is we are going to ask God. It causes us to put thought into our conversation with God. This gets back to what we read in 4:3. James tells us that we often pray with the wrong motives. But there is wisdom in coming together. Coming together as a church, we inspire each other and we encourage each other and our prayers can be so much more because of this. When we come together our motives for prayer hold each other up.

When we pray in a group we are able to see God in each other, and know God better than when we are by ourselves. When we pray in a group we find ourselves in agreement with each other and this brings power to our lives. When we pray in a group we bring out the best in each other so that we are able to offer our best to God.

What about all of us, though, who don’t like to speak in public? What about those of us who are not comfortable standing up in front of a group and mentioning a prayer request, let alone praying for something. I have to tell you that I empathize with you, for I used to be that way myself. I hated prayer circles where everyone was expected to pray aloud because I wasn’t comfortable praying aloud. I felt that when I prayed aloud I spent too much time trying to sound good with my prayer, trying to rehearse what it was that I was going to say. And I feared that what I was saying was more for those around me than for God. But I went anyways and sat there and brought agreement to what was prayed aloud. If you aren’t comfortable praying aloud, don’t feel that you need to… but still be present. Still use the opportunity to be there in prayer with the group, with the church. If you aren’t comfortable standing and telling me about a prayer request or praise during church, catch me before church. Tell me about what you’d like me to pray for. Slip me a note about something. However you want to do it.

The prayer time at church has changed. We are meeting together every other week on Thursdays at 2pm. If you haven’t been a part of this and are interested in joining, know that you are welcome. And then the prayer group is going to meet the other weeks at 8pm on Wednesdays, after our Wednesday night Bible study. Again, this is an opportunity to be a part of the prayer life of this church in a new way. And you are welcome if you have prayer requests or if you don’t, if you are comfortable praying in a group or if you aren’t. Let us find these prayer times to an opportunity for us to live out James 5:13-20 in our lives as a church, praying with each other and for each other, praying in all our circumstances.

Powerful things happen when we come together in prayer. God promised to be with his people, to dwell among them, if they simply prayed. The same is true of us today. Let our lives, let our church be a house of prayer.