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04.10.2009_Hebrews 1:1–2:4
| 04.10.2009, 23:47 | |
Rev. Tatiana Cantarella Hebrews 1:1–2:4 “The Ultimate Gift or playing with the wrapping” Today we begin our new journey through the Word of God, journey through Hebrews. Those of you who ever tried to read this letter will understand why one of modern Bible commentators (Lane) referred to Hebrews as “a delight for a person who loves puzzles”. Not many master this letter full of complicated thoughts and ideas and at the same time packed with citations from the Old Testament. But having started up in this journey together I trust that we will find before us a strong testimony of a person (whose name we do not know) who discovered Christ to be the fulfillment of all hopes, and a call to follow him on the way of faithfulness with firm trust in Christ. The author does not waste time on small talk, and starts straight away: “In many ways and by many means God spoke in ancient times to our ancestors through the prophets, but at the end of these days he spoke to us in a son”(1:1) reminding us that biblical faith is not a religion. Religion is understood as human ideas about God; biblical faith, on the contrary, is based on the fact that God was revealing Himself through the prophets and the law and ultimately revealed Himself through Jesus Christ in whom He shows us Himself and His will for us. And if in the past God, at various times and in the different ways revealed Himself to our fathers through prophets and the Law, now through His Son has revealed Himself to US in all completeness and definitiveness, so there is no need in any other revelation. Paul says that we come to know God “in the face of Jesus Christ”(2 Cor. 4:6). All of us seek what’s eternal, ultimately valuable and Scriptures reminds us today that we find that eternal and valuable that we seek in Jesus Christ – God Himself. The author without the any prefaces, right away directs our attention to Christ, stressing His unsurpassing role. God’s son is the “radiant reflection of God’s glory”. The radiating light proceeds from the source of light. This radiating light illuminates and allows to see the object. Jesus radiates God’s glory that allows us to see God for Who He is. But moreover, He is the “precise expression of God’s own very being”. The image used here is an image of a stamp made of hard metal that leaves an imprint on the soft metal creating the exact representation of the original image. Coins of the emperor were done in such a way, when a stamp with the image and the initials was pressed on the soft metal creating an exact representation. So the exact imprint of nature of the heavenly Father, His glory, according to the Hebrews, was imprinted on the soft metal of the Son’s human nature. And now it is visible to everyone. As if the author says: for the longest time God gave to the people through prophets only the sketches, the drawings of Himself, but now the exact imprint of God’s Son is given to us. And in order to show, that all revelation from the very beginning was intending for this to happen, the author quotes one after another Old testament passages; he shows – all of it (OT) points to Jesus, “the Son of God”. From the very beginning of his letter and all the way to the end, the author (whoever he was) fixes his eyes on Jesus and calls us to do the same (12:2). Why is he so pressing on this? It seems that this letter (or sermon) was intended for Jewish Christians living in Rome in times under Nero’s persecutions. Under Nero Judaism was an officially recognized religion and the Jews could practice their religion freely. But Christianity was persecuted Jews who believed in Christ were as well. It is no wonder that some Jewish Christians have started to downplay their belief in Christ to avoid trouble; they tried to appear only Jewish and not Christian. They thought that later, when it is safer, they would renew their loyalty to Christ. And the letter to the Hebrews was aimed at guarding its readers from just such a temptation of returning from ultimate trust and worship of Christ to following the Law, which was more acceptable, by their surrounding society. Modern readers (including us) rarely face similar persecutions. Only in some countries believers are threatened with death for their faith in Christ and deviations from traditions of the fathers – as, for example, in Muslim countries. Most of us are tempted to return to a worldly lifestyle and belief; or tempted to return to more recognized orthodox and even gentile traditions to avoid friction with your neighbors. And so Hebrews is a sermon intended for us as well, calling us to fix our eyes on Christ and to see that only in Him we can know God fully, appealing to us to remain true to Christ and not to go back to the worldly or conventional religious past, whatever the pressure may be. In order to understand, why the author is so concerned by such attention of Christians to old religious traditions, past beliefs and lack of attention to Christ we’ll hear a story. In couple of months as Christmas draws near, there will come a time to buy gifts. But buying is just half the problem, then half a day will be spent on wrapping them in beautiful paper – that is an important part too. For many people half of enjoyment from receiving a gift, perhaps, is in the process of undoing beautiful paper, bows and ribbons, which bring anticipation of the wonderful gift inside. One father told of his daughter one Christmas: she was so excited by the wrapping and inside the wrapping the beautiful box that she almost ignored the present itself. And though she seemed pleased with the present, later that day the parents found her behind an armchair playing with … the box. She has made it into a small house for her doll, and used the paper as a background for her game stage. The fact that the father admitted that very soon he could not even recollect what was in the box itself – makes the point. The author of the letter is concerned that readers shouldn’t make that same mistake. The wrapping was removed from the gift, and that gift is Jesus, God’s only Son sent to reveal to all what was only sketched out to Jewish people in the law and prophets. Now they can leave the past behind and enjoy the new life that has come. But it wasn’t simple for Jewish Christians, for not all their relatives, neighbors and friends believed in Jesus the Messiah. And so they viewed them as mislead and disloyal to all what God had said earlier to their fathers. They were indignant: the law given through Moses was such a magnificent thing; why would you want anything else? After all, according to the Jewish tradition, the law was not just given through Moses, but came in splendid wrapping: it was given to Moses by angels… That is why the letter appeals: do not confuse a wrapping with a gift, sketches of God’s will with the perfect imprint. Jesus is more and better than any angels. They are only like winds and flames of fire in the service of God, but He is the King ruling with justice. He is the one who together with the Father created the earth and the heavens by His Word. He is the one who by His Word sustains creation even to this day. By His Word the world was created and by His Word it continues to go around. Only God can speak and the world comes to being, only God in Christ can speak the Word, keeping the world in its place, and working according to the divine plan. And that is not only true of creation, but of our lives as well. Christ is the one who has accomplished cleansing for our sins, saving us from falling apart. Christ, the heir of all things, the Kind, the Creator and mover of Universe, saving us, died on the cross, plummets from heaven to the lowest role that can be imagined on earth, the sacrificial lamb. The creator is executed by His creation so that He could save it. Christ, and only Christ is the true gift, superior and better than all … angels, prophets of the past, religious traditions and ceremonies. And though few of us are tempted today to leave our Christian belief for the sake of Judaism, many of us and our churches seem to be dissatisfied by what they have, and seeking (as they think) to expand their spiritual horizons, to include angels, saints and other interesting distractions (frequently in a form of superstitions). But Hebrews reminds us: Do not be so preoccupied with the wrapping, so that you ignore the Gift – Jesus. Pay closer attention to what Jesus is; to the role He played and still plays, in God’s plan; and to the life of worship and service to which he, and he alone, calls each one of us. Christ is the ultimate source of life and salvation, which has certain practical consequences. If Christ is better, superior to everything that was, if He is the fulfillment of all hopes of the Scriptures then the readers should respond to Christ’s message with increased seriousness. Many know a silly story about a person, who was stuck on a ledge half way down a cliff. Unable to rescue himself he prayed, “My God, help me, rescue me”. An instant later a huge eagle has flown by and has offered his back to take the man from there, but the man refused. Then a helicopter has flown by and offered to throw down a rope ladder, but the man refused. He continues to pray, “My God why do you not rescue me?” And God has answered, “I have sent you an eagle and a helicopter; why you have not taken advantage of them?” This naive story teaches us a very important truth: God often operates by means of that seems "natural" or even accidental. If we wait for a bolt from the blue to direct us, to cure us or to rescue us, we may miss the apparently “ordinary" means that God uses – a map for direction, a doctor for healing and a helicopter for rescue. We often look rather stupid when we ignore what God does for us because on the grounds that it isn’t what we had expected or perhaps wanted. We say that we desire salvation but when He tells us what it means to be saved- transformation of our life, refusing to retaliate, hold a grudge, learning to forgive others in response to His forgiveness, we brush it all aside and continue to pray: “Lord, why don’t you help me?” It is of that the author of the letter warns us today: God has already sent the law though prophets and angels; look what happens if people ignore that. Now: what will happen if they refuse to listen to something even more important and powerful? God may have to conclude that they really aren’t interested in being rescued, in being saved from the sin and injustice storming everywhere around us like a roaring sea, not only threatening us from the outside, but to our horror, inside us as well. Therefore the author appeals: “So, then, we must pay all the closer attention to what we heard, in case we drift away from it”. The ship if needs to stay in place should have an anchor or it will be drafted by a current; or, if we try to reach a destination, our engines should be running, and our hand placed firmly on the tiller. If we don’t, there is no guarantee that the current will bring us in the right direction, and it is more likely that it will throw us either against the rocks which will break us or so far into the ocean where you can’t see land any more. The author urges us to hold onto that we have heard: onto the Good News of Christ, Messiah, God’s Son – hold onto Him as a perfect anchor of salvation. We are to hold onto God’s will for us that we heard of though Christ, responding with obedience to His precious sacrifice and salvation that He accomplished for us. There is a clear warning before us: indifference to what God demands from us, apathy, and lack of commitment are the plague of our churches and our lives. All of us need to hear this warning, especially those who have grown up in Christian family or have been in the church for a while. We assume too easily that we can relax, allow others to pray, think, do the serious business; and we will go for the ride, we’ll stop putting so much effort into it, and just go with the flow. But a problem is that if our spiritual engine is not running and our hands are not firmly in the tiller of our faith in Christ, we will be carried further and further away in the sea, and won’t even notice. And if nothing changes, there will come a moment when the current will carry us past the point of no return, not because God cannot rescue us anymore but because we’ll be in such separation from Christ and unable to stop the inevitable consequences. Paul says that God at some point lets people go with the current in which they choose to float and drift. The results are much worse than being struck with lightening bolts or damned to hell. The results are a life without God, without redemption, without hope; a life lived with only human carnality and degradation as its resources. And in order to avoid that we need to hold fast onto what we heard from Christ, author of our salvation“. If the president, the king or the prime minister has written you a letter and gave it to you through a messenger, you would be attentive to it, wouldn’t you? And if he has personally shown up, you would, probably, not only listen, but also feel that your whole world was turning upside down? The law has been given the Jewish people, as the message from God through prophets. But in the Good News, the King has come to speak with us in person. What happens if we answer: I am too busy, we can’t be bothered to come and speak to him, I am read an interesting book and cannot tear myself away just now, He can say all He wants but I am not doing it? Jesus’ coming and His Word to us is just such a Royal visit, says Hebrews. And God has testified to the validity of His words with signs and miracles that Jesus performed. And those who believed in His Word have found within themselves a surprising force – a warm, disturbing, personal presence which enabled them to do new things, which put new ideas into their heads, which motivated and energized them to become different people from inside out. It is God’s Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s presence, not only in Jesus, but living within them as well. But what of our lives? Are your eyes fixed on the Gift of God, on Jesus Christ? Is all our hope and attention in Him or are we tempted to mask our allegiance to Him today to avoid opposition from others? Perhaps, under the pressure of relatives we proclaim our belief in Christ only within the walls of the church, but as we step outside we go back to worldly traditions, beliefs and practices in order not to suffer persecution from others. Perhaps, someone is looking for something more than the message of our Savior Christ: the miracles and other “spiritual thrills” or is interested only by the colorful religious wrapping: regular church going, good fellowship, doing what you like in the church, but the Gift of Christ and what He desires to do in You is thrown aside. And it seems to me, these days many of us are in danger of being carried away by “currents”. How strongly are we holding on to the Word of Christ we have heard and are we making an effort at directing the ship of our church to what He wills for us in His Word? Or do we accept His Word selectively, only that which is pleasant to hear, while rejecting what we don’t like? Or do we think: let others strain, and we will sit down on a deck and relax, we will go with a current, toying with things that please us, but leaving serious spiritual affairs to others to take care of? But how can we avoid condemnation if we ignore our salvation as great as Christ has accomplished for us? Let's pray … | |
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