Today, we are going to finish up our
sojourn through the book of Hebrews with a bit of Sacramental theology. I see your faces. Yes, you heard me right. The sermon today will be more sacramental
theology in nature than, perhaps, regular attenders are accustomed when it
comes to my preaching. What can I
say? I have a new assistant I have to
impress.
Now, before you decide this is a great
time to catch a wink, let me use this bit as a commercial. I will barely touch on some ideas that Tom
and Larry will no doubt explore in much greater detail in the weeks to come in
the Sunday morning Bible Study class on Hebrews. If you are intrigued by anything that comes
out of my mouth this morning, join us as we delve much deeper into the
Scriptures. For that matter, consider
joining us for Genesis on Tuesday evenings, where we are looking at the Holy
Family – the family that put the fun in dysfunction! Or join us on Monday mornings as we explore
the psalms. Or join us on the Thursday
evenings as we wrestle with our faith claims and the testimony of the world
around us. There is more information
available on all that over in the Parish Hall after the service. Back to the sermon . . .
Regular attenders know I have a critical
eye and mouth for our Lectionary editors.
They break up stories and periscopes for reasons known only to
themselves. They avoid “tough” readings
because, we I guess because they do not realize that life is sometimes
tough. I suppose, to be generous, the
new lectionary committee tried to make things easier on preachers. On many weeks, there is a theme that is meant
to unite the readings and allow the preacher to cover and of the readings but
for you, the congregation, to hear the same general message as all other congregations. I don’t know that it works well, but that
seems to have been one of their intents.
Those looking closely at today’s reading
from the Letter to the Hebrews will notice that six verses are skipped in
today’s reading. I must confess I cannot
fathom a reason to skip the verses in question.
They provide the reason, the theological justification for why we
practice mutual love, why we gather in worship together, and why we serve
others in God’s Name.
To take us back a few weeks, though, the
author has been building to this for a couple chapters now. Last month the author reminded us that faith
is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet
seen. He or she then went on to remind
us that our faith is not dissimilar to the faith of Abraham and Sarah, of the
faith demonstrated by the couple that sojourned through the Land, never
receiving the promise in full, yet trusting that God would keep His promise to
them. The next week, Holly’s first, we
chatted about all those names. I
offended Austin and Vaugh by reminding us that Samson was the right tackle of
faith. Not really. They laughed, too. But I reminded us that, although each of
those names mentioned accomplish great things in God’s Name, they were normal,
everyday people. They had doubts. Sometimes they obeyed. Often they sinned. Sometimes they argued with God. But in those moments of obedient trust, God
accomplished great things through them and reminded each one of us that He can
accomplish great things through us! He
can feed the hungry. He can free the
slaves! He can care for the sick and
wounded. He can even defeat armies. But He accomplishes that work through men and
women like you and me living out our lives faithfully.
Last week, Holly preached on Luke and the
healing on the Sabbath. While she was
preaching on that, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews was reminding us
that we will one day stand before our Lord as He completes re-creation. Once more He will shake the earth, and He
will shake heaven. Those of us who claim
Him as Lord will find ourselves standing in full view of our inheritance. And make no mistake, as good as life seems to
be for many of us in the Nashville/Brentwood area, these good things pale when
compared to what the Lord has planned for us.
Think of that for a second. It
seems outrageous. But we are Music
City. Does anyone here doubt that the
angelic choir will be better by orders of magnitude than any music artists in
our city can produce? And that is just
the music. If His attention to detail is
that good, imagine the food, the architecture, the light, and anything else you
esteem . . .
This week, the author wraps up his or her
encouragement to this group that is disappointed that they are suffering, that
the Lord seems delayed in His return. We
might be sharing in the doubts of the Letter’s initial audience. For those entering high school now, 9-11 is a
historical event, just like peace. For
the entirety of their lives, we as a nation have been at war. What are the consequences of that? I know we like to pretend that the great
economic turmoil caused by the housing bubble has passed, but it has passed
Nashville because we are growing so quickly.
Even some of us, though, as fortunate as many Adventers are, still are
not back to where we were in 2006-7, economically speaking. And many of our fellow Americans are worse
off. I know politicians like to tout how
unemployment is down, but how many people have given up finding a job
equivalent to their job from before the meltdown? How many are working two or three part-time
jobs because full-time employment is simply not available? How many find themselves pressured by bosses
or owners to give more time for less money, or even to give money, for the
privilege of “having a job?”
Speaking of politicians. One major party candidate has an unfavorable
rating of about 2/3; the other major party candidate has an unfavorable rating
of ¾. Should we really be wondering why this
is a weird election? Can we understand
why so many people have lost hope in the American dream? Can you imagine John Hancock and George
Washing and whatever hero of our country ever thinking the future campaign slogan
would be “Our candidate is not as bad as the other”?
On the world front, China is building
islands out into a sea and threatening its neighbors, most of whom are our
committed allies. Putin seems intent
upon taking us back to the Cold War. And
does anybody understand the leader of North Korea? Toss in a persistent terrorist threat, some
foreign and some domestic, and do we really think our lives are that much
better than the intended congregation of the Letter to the Hebrews?
In spite of all that is happening around
them, the author of the letter encourages the congregation to continue to show
love to one another, to show hospitality to strangers, to help and pray for
those in prison, to support those being tortured, to hold marriage in honor and
keep the marriage bed undefiled, to love God rather than money, to be content
with what they have, and to stay confident in God’s love for them and promises
to them. You can probably imagine me
exhorting you in the same way. Heck,
some of you have probably heard similar advice in our pastoral conversations.
On the one hand, such exhortations make
sense. Some of those imprisoned were
their brothers and sisters, whose only crime was being discovered to be
Christian. It would make sense that the
author would want them visiting with one another. The extolling of marriage also makes sense,
right? God has compared His relationship
with Israel to be like a marriage, with Israel being the adulterer who chases
after every false god. Now the Church
has become the new Israel. It makes
sense that the author would remind us, married Christians, that we need to live
a married life reflective of the Covenant to which we have all been
called. But our lectionary editors
excised the why. Why do we do these
things? Why are they important to
God? What purpose do they really
serve? And, I would argue for a while,
the skipped passage speaks to our identity as Christians of an
Anglican/Episcopalian flavor. Hence our
stroll down sacramental theology this morning . . .
Listen to the verses skipped. You can go and read them later and drop by
during the week to talk more. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of
strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to
be strengthened by grace, not by eating
ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who
minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 The high priest carries the blood of
animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned
outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the
city gate to make the people holy through
his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing
the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring
city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Those in Bible studies
around here, and those in other conversations, have heard me speaking of the
Temple and Tabernacle pointing to the heavenly reality. In fact, in our Hebrews class we have spent
some significant time looking at the imagery and meaning. It makes sense in that class, right? The author is clearly concerned with worship
as a type and shadow of the life that is to come. After the exhortations to do the good things,
the author pauses and reminds us not to be carried away by strange
teachings. In fact, in a verse that no
doubt warmed the heart of Martin Luther, the author reminds us it is good for
our hearts to be strengthened by grace rather than ceremonial foods.
What is being described
is the way you and I believe we are supposed to worship. I say you and I believe because you and I
have chosen to worship God in this particular denomination. Our worship is divided into two major parts,
and not by accident. Some churches do a
wonderful job of preaching. Other churches
focus on the Eucharist. Many churches
are legalistic, in the sense that they forget our hearts are to be strengthened
by grace and not by the doing of good things and avoidance of bad things. Our forebears focused on the liturgy of the
Word and the liturgy of the Sacrament because they thought it captured the
intent of God.
Why do we gather to
worship? First and foremost, it should
be because we are joyfully thankful for the saving work He has accomplished on
our behalf in Christ Jesus. Every time
we Anglicans/Episcopalians gather for the Eucharist, we remind ourselves of His
death, His Resurrection, and His promise that He will return. Right?
I see the nods. Yes, you say a
variant of those words during the service.
We gather her to remind ourselves of what God has done. In the liturgy of the Word, we go deeper,
right? We read about the matriarchs and
patriarchs of our faith. We read about
and consider stories of those who have come before. Some are meant to encourage us. Some are meant to remind us that we can mourn
or lament that things are not as they were supposed to be. Some are read to warn us. All are meant, though, to point us to Christ. If everything in the Old Testament, the
psalms, the torah, and the prophets spoke about or to His coming, as He
asserted that they did, all those readings, and all our preaching, ought to be
pointing us to Christ. In some cases, we
might be reminded that we have access to incredible power by virtue of our
inheritance. We can lay hands, we can
pray, and we can expect God to act in accordance with His revealed nature. He may not act the way we want, but we know
He will act. In other cases, we may be
reminded that we have an incarnational share in Christ’s ministry. Sometimes, God redeems our suffering for the
benefit of others. And so we gather to
remind ourselves that, no matter our condition, no matter the evil arrayed
against us, no matter the seeming insignificance of our labors, our Lord will
be victorious and we will share in His eternal kingdom for ever! Sacramentally speaking, the new temple is our
hearts, right? Where is Christ’s blood
carried as a sin offering? What place is
purged of sin by His atoning work? Our
hearts.
But we are not done
with worship! No matter how encouraged
we are, no matter how warmed our heart is, we are still not done! Proper worship involves more than just
sitting here in the sanctuary listening to a preacher drone on, praying on
behalf of ourselves and others, asking for forgiveness for our most recent
sins, and snacking on some wafers and wine!
The author of the letter to the Hebrews is speaking to the Day of
Atonement in the life of Israel. One day
a year, the High Priest carried the blood of the sin sacrifice for the people
into the Holy of Holies to whip the blood at the sacred container of the Ark
and at the mercy seat. It was the only
day of the year that they were allowed to glance into the Holy of Holies. When finished, the High Priest would open the
curtain and the doors so that everyone could peer in and know that their sins
had been atoned for by the blood of the sin offering. What happened to the flesh of the sin
offering?
In verse 11, the author
reminds us. The bodies were taken
outside the camp in the days of the Tabernacle and taken outside the Temple in
the days of the Temple and burned. The
author then ties that action to the death of Christ. If you and I were planning to kill a Messiah
to save us, where would we likely have that execution occur? In the Temple? Among us?
Jesus, though, suffered and died outside the camp, outside the Temple,
out among the Roman camp, out in the wilderness. Hmm.
He died on a cross, reminding us that he was accursed by God, and He
died apart from God’s people. And you
and I are told by Him to, what is it again, oh, yeah, pick up our cross and
follow Him. What do you suppose He meant
by that? We cannot die for others to
atone for their sins because we are sinners, too. We can, however, die to selves and serve
them, as Christ first serve us.
I wish I had my phone
out for some of your faces. That’s
right. We do not serve others because we
get brownie points or earn salvation—the latter is accomplished only through
God’s grace and Christ’s work on our behalf.
We do not serve others because it makes us feel good about ourselves,
though some experience that as a side benefit.
We serve others because it is part of our worship! We serve others out of thanksgiving and joy
for what God has done for us in Christ!
Where do we serve Him? Here,
navel gazing and praising in this sanctuary?
No, we serve Him outside the camp, outside these walls. We go out from the sacred space, dying to
self, trusting that He will use our faithful obedience, as He has countless
saints who have gone before us, for His redemptive purposes. Why do you think we end our services here
with the prayer “Send us out into the world to do the work You have given us to
do”? Our ministries are every bit as
much our worship as our songs of praise, as our wonderful liturgy, as our
prayers of intercession, as our laments, and as our joyful thanksgiving. If we stay here within these walls, if we
refuse to work outside the camp, our worship is not Christ-like. We are not bearing our crosses; we are not
following Him.
In a few minutes, we
are going to gather in the Parish Hall to celebrate what we call the ministry
fair at Church of the Advent. There you
will hear of opportunities to serve those outside this camp in the name of
Christ. You will hear of amazing
opportunities and oppressive evil. As
those who share their ministries with you speak, you may begin to wonder why
they even bother. There are so many homeless
in the midst of Nashville, how can we expect to make a dent? There is so much hunger here in Nashville, of
what value is the food you are willing to offer? There is so much medical need, so much
poverty, so much anguish, what can we ever accomplish through our meager
assistance to places like Siloam, our prayers, or our thankful giving? That voice, of course, is the voice of God’s
Enemy. It is the voice that tries to
seduce us into believing we have no role to play, that we are unloved, that our
labors are in vain. Command that voice
to get behind you in His name and prayerfully consider how God might be asking
you to serve in His name. Is He asking
you to get involved in one of those ministries?
Are you at a point in life where all you really have is financial
support of those ministries on your heart?
All you can do is pray for protection or provision or discernment? Is there a ministry to which He is calling
you that does not yet exist at Church of the Advent? The possibilities, my brothers and sisters,
are endless, as endless as the grace and power and love which He has shown each
one of us both outside the camp, and within the sanctuaries we have fashioned,
and those Temples He has cleansed in our own hearts! It is that cleansed and redeemed Temple that
He asks us to share with others in His name, bearing fruit of lips that confess
His name and of hearts that are confident in those promises not yet seen, even
as were our ancestors before us!
Peace,
Brian†
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