Blog Archives
From Glorious Light (Epiphany) to Glorious Light (Transfiguration): More Glorious – A sermon on Hebrews 3:1-6
From Glorious Light to Glorious Light
More Glorious!
Hebrews 3:1-6
† In Jesus’ Name †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, convince you that you are home, with them!
- Who gets the glory, the attention?
We started this sermon series on Epiphany, the day we celebrate that into Jesus presence the wise men from the East came giving Him presents, acknowledging Him as King.
We complete the series today, with the account of the Transfigurations—where into the presence of the glorified Jesus come Moses and Elijah—again with the responsibility of identifying Jesus as the chosen Messiah, preparing him for the journey to the cross, the grave.
In both of these historical accounts, we see the glory of Christ, in the manger where the shepherds were in awe, or as Peter, James and John stand on the mountainside,
I have found that there is something else these two events have in common. People are as interested, if not more, in those that come into the presence of God in Jesus, than they are in Jesus.
How many wise men? What kind of Gold did they bring and how much, what is the symbolism of that, and the myrrh, and frankincense. All these questions while over in the corner lay the baby who would die to save the world! How did Peter know they were Moses and Elijah? I mean Peter didn’t offer to set up a tent for Jesus every night—but he had to offer it for the two Old Testament heroes.
And the voice of the father – interrupting their disappointment at the disappearance of the two prophets – telling them…”listen to my Son!” Or as our reading from Hebrews phrases it, “1Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…”
Consider Jesus – or as it will say in chapter 12, look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
- Our tendency to false idols
Looking to Jesus first, or to use a reformation idea that is is “Christ alone” from which comes a justice that doesn’t condemn us for our sin. But that was hard for the Jews, who despite heroes like David and Daniel, prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah and priests like Samuel still considered Moses as the ultimate servant of God.
And the Book of Hebrews applauds him for that – honoring that he was faithful in his work as a leader of the people of God.
But he was still just a servant.
Yet he was the ultimate hero – and people idolized him.
There was none greater – it is in him they found hope, and they glorified the days of his being in charge, ignoring the scripture which showed he was a sinner just like us. So adamant were they about Moses, and to a lesser extent Abraham, that the writer of Hebrews has to make it clear – as God did – that Jesus deserves more glory.
We do the same thing today—whether it is entertainment figures- actors and musicians, sports figures, political figures, how many of them do we allow to become idols, agreeing with everything they sing or say or do—even if we know its immoral and unjust. We will justify their evil actions, dismissing them “because they aren’t as bad as…
And somehow, as we are glorifying our heroes, we miss the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
And if we miss that – we neglect this great salvation He offers!
- Christs faithfulness building the house
But while we make heroes out of house servants, the book of Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, who is worthy of more glory! He is the one transfigured, He is the one whom the voice from heaven identifies as His Son, the one through whom he will save the world.
Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus isn’t just a servant in the House of God, but the one through who builds and maintains the house of God.
In doing acknowledging that Jesus is the builder, we see why Jesus is more glorious than Moses was, Here is what was said, “3For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Occasionally, I encounter people who claim the Bible does not teach that Jesus is God… this passage is one of the 40 or so I can use to counter their position. But this is why we look to Him.
He can do something to help us, for He is making us a part of the house, the home of God. And He does that faithfully making us part of His home – starting with rescuing us from the brokenness of sin. But salvation is only the beginning of the relationship, only the beginning of the home…. And that is important to realize.
That we are part of the Father’s house, His home is incredible, it is at the core of Christianity, hear the last verse again,
“And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
What confidence do we hold fast to? That Jesus leaves the mountain, heads to Jerusalem to die, to be buried, to rise again, that we are made part of the family, the house of God.
For He came and laid in the cradle, causing John to write:
14 So the Word became flesh and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:14 (NLT2)
In order that He could cause us to be born again, and made our home in His presence.
There is nothing more glorious than this…to share in His glorious love…
And for that. He receives all glory, honor, and praise. AMEN!
Faith in Action: Makes Sure! A Sermon on Hebrews 3 (with video of the service!)
Faith in Action…
Makes Sure
Hebrews 3:12-29
† I.H.S.†
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ so fill your lives, that you without thinking look and support those who are struggling with sin. And when they come to support you, that you will let them.
Be Careful
I love the old movies, where the hero has to survive a gauntlet, avoiding the traps, the deadfalls, and make the decisions that mean life or death. They avoid death, if they, in the words of one of those who guided one such hero, choose wisely. (btw – that movie was released 29 years ago – so I guess it can be classified as an “oldie”!)
The hero had to be careful, he had to take his time, evaluate his situation, realize the words that had been spoken, and choose to act wisely.
In the case of the letter to the Hebrews, the idea of being careful include a deep discerning look at our situation, at the challenge we face with that sin, and the evil and unbelief it can cause in our lives.
Yeah – this passage is a call to us, this call to take a deep, hard look into our lives, and make sure about our hearts, warning and supporting each other….
For being deceived by sin is all to easy, and happens all too often.
Who Was it?
We see how easy it was, in the example provided by the writer of Hebrews.
The people of Israel, led by Moses from Egypt, who heard God’s voice and trembled. Who saw his power, both judging the sins of the Pharaoh in Egypt and in the incredible miracles at the Red Sea, and in the provision of water, and manna and quail.
And yet, as direct as their contact was, they still fell into temptation, they still sinned, and when things got hard, they didn’t trust God.
They didn’t believe.
For that is what faith and belief in God is, the ability to trust in God despite the entire world, and even your own life telling you that He isn’t there. Despite them telling you that he doesn’t care.
They struggled, oh how they struggled! They heard the very voice of God, yet still rebelled. They saw the signs of His presence, the miracles, the cloud of smoke by day, the pillar of fire by night, and still hardened their hearts
And so they did what was evil, what was in rebellion from God.
Too often, you and I join them. You might even have already asked, like the apostles, “Is it I Lord?” when He talked of the one who would betray Him.
We’ve heard His voice calling us, we’ve seen His power at work, We know both His wrath and mercy, Yet, we struggle to trust God in situations we encounter, or we all too easily forget about Him. Especially when we are tempted by sin, even what we might call the smallest of sins, or perhaps the biggest.
For the biggest of sins, the violation of the first commandment happens to us all the time. We create our own gods, something we want to trust in, something we can find hope in. and set aside the God who has revealed Himself to us, through word and sacrament, through the people that are the church.
We aren’t any better than the people of God in the days of Moses. We have all these blessings pointing to God in our lives, and yet sometimes we still turn away, we still get deceived, we still fall to scold others, rather than warn and counsel them as scripture teaches.
And so, we need to take time, to be careful, and discern what we are doing. Looking carefully at what we do, what we think, what we say!
Make Sure your (plural) own hearts (Parakleso)
It took me a while in studying this passage, to see an incredible blessing that God has given us, His people, His church.
It’s seen in words like “your” and “each other” and “you”, and “we” in this passage.
I think we hear the words, “Be careful” and “war” and “if faithful to the end, but we miss these pronouns and fail to see the blessing God gives us, when He takes us into Himself and makes us the body of Christ.
You see, when one of us baptized, when Christ’s promises are given them, they join us in His body. And the body looks after itself, each part caring for the rest. To be careful then is not just talking about individual introspection and confession, but being careful and in love, approaching those who are struggling with faith and sin, and lifting them up, helping them see God’s love and mercy revealed to them again.
We are one people, saved in Christ together, forgiven together, sent into this world together.
So we choose wisely, and care for each other, warning each other in a way that is loving and yet firm, which calls back the sinner, and assures them of the grace of God.
You see that word for warning, it’s not the kind of warning that warns you from the shore that your drifting to toward the waterfall. It dives in with a rope, catches you and helps you get back to short…
Or in Jones case, sweeps away all the other false gods, and leaves the one Chalice, the one filled with the love and mercy of Christ Jesus, that’s what a friend, a fellow member of the body of Christ would do, bringing you back to the word and sacraments, to remember and revive the word and sacraments
We are each a blessing God gives to us, when we care more for each other than the discomfort of helping someone being deceived, moving to the point of their hearts becoming evil and not trusting in God’s presence, in His mercy and Love.
As James wrote in His epistle,
19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20 (TEV)
So choose wisely, make sure that all our hearts are not evil and unbelieving turning us away from God, and warn each other, so none are deceived by sin, and hardened against God. Serve one another, loving each other enough to share in God’s glorious grace, helping each other to dwell in the peace of God which is beyond our comprehension, yet in which we dwell together, in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
