Pleasing to God

Hebrews 13.1-8, 15-16

“Let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

Dr. Fred Craddock, of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, says that the words “sacrifice of praise” and “fruit of lips” are expressions used by early Christians to characterize genuine worship of God.

We in the church often find ourselves caught up in debates over how we should worship. What is the proper way to worship God? Is there only one right way to worship?

The Roman Catholics worship with a lot of ritual and ceremony; the Baptists use practically none. The Pentecostals shout; the Episcopalians pray. The Church of Christ says that they’re the only ones who do it right; the Universalists say that as long as you feel it in your heart, you can’t do it wrong.

Even within The United Methodist Church we find ourselves wondering just how we should conduct our worship services. Some people want to go back to using the old “church language” that they heard when they were younger – language that touched their hearts.

These people want to do things the way we did them in “the good old days.” They want to sing only hymns that they already know, because those hymns have meant so much to them over the years. For the same reason, they prefer the bible readings to be in the King James Version, or at least in the old Revised Standard Version.

Other people say that we’ve got to reach out to the young people. We’ve got to have guitars and drums, we’ve got to be entertaining, in order to compete with all the other options that people have on Sunday mornings.

These folks want to sing hymns – or, rather, praise choruses – with a modern beat. I had an instructor at SMU who called praise choruses “7-11 songs;” they only have 7 words, but you repeat them 11 times! I liked that. Anyway, a lot of people think praise choruses are the way to go.

These people also want to do away with language that sounds too “preachy.” They say that the Bible should be read like a storybook, so that people who don’t understand what the Bible is all about won’t be confused. These folks argue that modernizing our worship is the only way to get young people through our doors.

In between these two extremes, I believe, are the vast majority of United Methodists. Kind of like that new TV show from last season, we like things in “The Middle.” That’s pretty much what we do, here.

We use the liturgical style of worship, but the language is updated to better fit our modern form of speech. We follow a pattern of worship that includes quite a bit of ritual and ceremony, but we’re not so rigid that we won’t change things up from time to time. We mix in hymns that are old standbys with some fairly modern music. Today we’re singing hymns with words written in 1782 and 1968 – and with tunes written in 1845 and 1835, respectively.

And yet even here, in our own congregation, we have disagreements about how we should worship. Even before I moved in, there was a group of people tugging on my left sleeve, telling me that we really don’t need to be celebrating Communion every Sunday. Meanwhile, tugging on my right sleeve were folks saying that they absolutely love celebrating Communion every Sunday!

Today we’re celebrating Communion, but we’re doing it a little differently than we normally do. The Communion service we will use this morning is different from the one I remember from my childhood. The style is different, and the language is more modern.

But, truth be told, the form and pattern of the Communion service we will use today is closer to the type of Communion service John Wesley celebrated in the Church of England way back in the 1700s than what you and I would call the “old” Communion service. In that respect, what does it mean to say we want to do things the “old” way?

Worship. How do we worship God? How do we “continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God?” The writer of Hebrews says that in order to truly and genuinely worship God, in order to offer up to God a worship that is pleasing to God, we should “do good and … share what [we] have.”

Do good and share. That sounds like one of those lessons we learn in kindergarten. Do good and share. But how do we “do good?” What do we share?

In reading the scripture lesson this morning, we skipped from verse 8 to verse 15. The reason we did that is because verses 15 & 16 offer a summary of verses 1-8. Verses 9-14 give us a little more detail on sacrifices, particularly the sacrifice of Jesus, but verse 15 actually picks up where verse 8 left off. In fact, you can see that verses 8 and 15 fit together quite nicely: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever … Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God.”

Basically, the writer of Hebrews is saying that in order to genuinely worship God, in order to “continually offer a sacrifice of praise,” we need to follow the teachings found in verses 1-8. And although we read them here in the book of Hebrews, these teachings come directly from Jesus, particularly from the last half of the 25th chapter of Matthew. We find these teachings repeated over and over in the Bible because these teachings are so vitally important.

“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

First and foremost, we are called to love one another. “Let mutual love continue.” We are called to love each other here in the church, to love the other members of this community of believers. We are called to nurture and care for one another. When a member of this community hurts, we all hurt. When a member of this community rejoices, we all rejoice. We are called to continue our mutual love for one another.

At the same time we are called to love strangers. That’s what the biblical ideal of hospitality means: love of strangers. Since the time of Moses the people of God have been told to love strangers. Leviticus 19.34 says, “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

We are called to love strangers just as we love each other. We’re not supposed to just be nice to strangers, to just be gracious hosts to strangers; we’re called to love strangers. We’re called to welcome strangers into our midst. We’re called, in fact, not just to welcome strangers, but to actively invite strangers into our community of faith. It is vital that we do so.

It has been said that the church is the only institution in the world that does not exist for the benefit of its members. The reason the church exists – the reason this church exists, hopefully – is for the benefit of all those strangers out there who do not yet have the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

We might think of the church as a warm fire on a cold, cold night. We – you and I, all of us, together – are gathered around the fire, staying warm. Sooner or later, however, the fire is going to consume all its fuel, and go out. The only way we can keep the fire burning – the only way we can keep this church alive – is to go out there, beyond the reach of the firelight, and bring in new fuel for the fire.

The problem is, there are strangers out there. Those strangers don’t have the fire, they don’t have the warmth that we have. We have the fire. But, those strangers have all the sticks and logs. They have the fuel that we need to keep our fire going. And the only way those strangers will share what they have is if we share what we have – if we invite them to come and sit alongside the fire with us.

We have the flame, but if we don’t bring in more fuel, that flame will die. In order to keep our church alive, and on fire, we have to reach out, beyond the walls of this building. We have to bring in those strangers out there. We have to make them a part of our community.

When we do that, when we bring them in to sit by the fire, then they will bring with them gifts and talents that will make our church stronger and better than before. When we show our love for strangers, this church will burn brightly for years to come.

What else are we called to do? “Remember those who are in prison … Let marriage be held in honor … Keep your lives free from the love of money … Remember your leaders … and imitate their faith.” These are pretty self-explanatory.

Remember that we are all sinners, and that everyone, even those in prison, deserves a second chance. If you’re married, mean it. If there are problems in your marriage, work to fix them. If you can’t fix them, then get out. But as long as you’re married, honor that commitment.

Don’t love money more than you love God or your neighbors. Let’s face it, money is an essential fact of life. Everybody needs money: you need money; I need money – boy, do I need money! The church needs money – in fact, the church needs more of your money, but that’s another sermon. There’s nothing wrong with making money; just be sure you don’t worship your money. Put your trust in God, not in your bank account.

“Remember your leaders … and imitate their faith.” Remember the great leaders of our faith: Peter, Paul, Timothy(!), John & Charles Wesley, Francis Asbury; theologians like Karl Barth and Paul Tillich; preachers like Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham. And the not-so-famous leaders of our faith: our parents, our grandparents, a favorite pastor or Sunday School teacher.

We are called to “imitate their faith.” Not imitate their lives, because no one’s life can be duplicated, but imitate their faith.

Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron always had a hitch in his swing. “I would never teach someone to hit the way I did,” Aaron has said, “But it worked for me.” We cannot imitate others exactly; if we try, what worked for them may not work for us. We can, however, try to imitate “the outcome of their way of life.” We can work toward the same goal, in our lives, as those faithful leaders did.

We can work toward the same goal because we have the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our sins are washed away, we are reconciled, revived, and redeemed by Christ, just as the very first Christians were, some 2,000 years ago, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Now, the question in your minds might be: “This is all well and good, Preacher, but what does all this have to do with how we conduct our worship service at 11 o’clock on Sunday mornings?” And my answer is: Who said worship is confined to one hour on Sunday mornings?

This is our weekly worship service. This is the time when we gather in Jesus’ name, as the community of faith, in order to worship together. And this worship service is important. This is the time when we offer our mutual love and support to one another. This is the time when we are uplifted and inspired by the hymns, by the prayers, by hearing the word of God read and interpreted, by offering ourselves to God.

This one hour every Sunday morning is vitally important to us, as individuals, and to the life of this church. Without this time together, we wouldn’t be a community, we wouldn’t be a body, we wouldn’t be a church. But true and genuine worship doesn’t end when we sing the last hymn and have the benediction and walk out those doors. True and genuine worship of God is a 24 hour, 7 day a week calling.

“Let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Continually.

We truly and genuinely worship God by the way we live our lives each and every day. The fruit of our lips: putting the words we say on Sunday mornings into action the rest of the week. Loving strangers. Avoiding the love of money. Remembering those in prison, and the leaders who have gone before us. And so many other things; the writer of Hebrews obviously didn’t list them all.

What it comes down to is that we worship God by living worshipful lives. How we worship God isn’t really all that important. What’s important is that we worship God in a way that is meaningful to us, and that we carry that worship into the days of our lives.

We worship God by doing good, and by sharing what we have – by sharing Jesus with others. When we do good and share, then our worship is “pleasing to God.”

The People v. The Sabbath

Luke 13.10-17

“But the leader of the synagogue … kept saying to the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.’”

You know what? I think the leader of the synagogue was right! You think so too, don’t you? Admit it! You’re sitting there thinking to yourselves: Jesus, Lord, I love you with all my heart, but for goodness’ sake don’t you know that we’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath?

I know we’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath, because the Bible tells me so. Genesis 2.2-3: “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.”

Exodus 20.8-10 – this is one of the 10 Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.”

You see, I’m right! The synagogue leader was right! We’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath. And I know that a lot of people agree with me. Just a week ago today, last Sunday afternoon, I was in Wal-Mart shopping for a new DVD that I just had to have that day, and I fell into conversation with another shopper, who was looking for a new TV – not that there was anything wrong with his old TV, he just wanted a newer one.

Anyway, this other shopper also happened to be a good Christian, and we both agreed, standing there in Wal-Mart last Sunday, shopping for things that we just had to have that day, we agreed that is was truly sad that so many people work on the Sabbath.

After all, the Bible tells us we shouldn’t work on Sundays. Then again, the Bible tells us lots of things. How about this, just one chapter after the Ten Commandments, Exodus 21.7: “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.”

Or this, skipping along a few verses, Exodus 21.20-21: “When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property.”

Or this one, getting back to the main point, Leviticus 16.29-31: “This shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves and do no work … it is a Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall deny yourselves; it is a statute forever.”

A statute forever! Tenth day of the seventh month, a Sabbath of complete rest – forever! How many of you observe July 10 as a Sabbath day each year? If you don’t, you’re not following the commandments of the Holy Bible!

How many of you have sold your daughters into slavery? Okay, how many of you have wanted to? I thought so. The Bible says it’s okay to do so, as long as she doesn’t leave the house the way the male slaves do.

How would you feel about someone who owned slaves? And especially, how would you feel if a slaveowner struck one of his slaves with a rod, but because the slave suffered in agony for two or 3 days before dying, the slaveowner says he shouldn’t be punished? According to the Bible, the slaveowner would be correct!

My point is that we don’t always follow the laws of the Bible, or at least the laws of the Old Testament. The reason we don’t follow them is very simple: the laws of the Old Testament were written for a specific group of people who lived in a specific place at a specific time in history. It’s quite obvious, when you really take the time to read them, that most of the Old Testament laws couldn’t possibly apply to us today.

And if some of them don’t apply to us today, why should any of them apply to us? Whoa, now we’re getting into some dangerous territory. Does this mean that none of the Old Testament laws are valid, today? What about the Ten Commandments? They’re laws of the Old Testament; are we supposed to disregard them?

Well, as Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ, we know that we’re supposed to follow Jesus’ commandments, right? So what does Jesus have to say about all of this?

When the man often identified as the rich, young ruler asked Jesus how to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus told him to keep the commandments – specifically mentioning murder, adultery, theft, lying, and honoring your parents, all part of the Ten Commandments.

When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus didn’t hesitate. Jesus chose Deuteronomy 6.5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Jesus then went on to say that another commandment was just as important – Leviticus 19.18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus quotes from the law. Jesus teaches the law. And yet, at times, Jesus blatantly disregards the law. What’s up with that?

We have to look at the parts of the law that Jesus taught. Love God. Love your neighbor. In the episode with the rich, young ruler, the young man informed Jesus that he had, in fact, always followed all the commandments. So Jesus said, “One thing more you need to do: sell all you have and give it to the poor.”

The commandments that Jesus taught all had to do with love and compassion. They all had to do with caring for others. That’s what Jesus had to say about all this. Oh, and Jesus had one other thing to say. In Mark 2.27, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for the people, not people for the Sabbath.”

So, where does this get us, in the argument between Jesus and the leader of the synagogue? I think it tells us that they’re both right. Technically, the leader of the synagogue is right: the law does in fact say that we’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath. But Jesus is right, too, because Jesus says that people are more important than the Sabbath. People are more important than the law. And that is the lesson we need to remember.

Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. Interestingly enough, this is the last time, in Luke’s gospel, that Jesus enters a synagogue. Maybe the word got around: Don’t let this guy teach in your synagogue! Anyway, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, and in walks this woman who has been crippled for 18 years. When Jesus saw her, he called her over.

Now, you see, here I am identifying with the synagogue leader, again. I mean, come on, we’re in the middle of a worship service. Being a good Methodist, I know that you don’t just stop in the middle of worship and call someone up to the front.

If it was me, I’d check my bulletin. Nope, no mention of a healing service, today. “Sorry, lady, the healing services are on Thursdays; ‘Come on those days, and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.’ Now let’s stand and sing our hymn of invitation.” That’s what I would do.

But that’s not what Jesus did. Jesus called this woman up to the front. Jesus laid his hands on her. Jesus healed her. Jesus didn’t stop to check the bulletin. Jesus just did what needed to be done, because people are more important than the Sabbath – people are even more important than the order of worship in our bulletins.

Jesus says, “You hypocrites” – and, dear Lord, I’m afraid Jesus is talking to me! – “You hypocrites! You go out to eat on Sunday afternoon. You go to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, things that you don’t really need all that badly, things you could do without until Monday. Then you stop and buy gas, and maybe an RC Cola. You come home and discover a leaky faucet and complain that you can’t get a plumber on Sunday.

“You hypocrites! You do all these things, and then you complain because the healing of this poor woman wasn’t in the bulletin, it disrupted our order of worship, and we didn’t get out the door until 5 after 12, and the Baptists got to the Cardinal Café before we did. You hypocrites! This poor woman was unable to stand up straight for 18 years, but in the name of Order and Method you would have had her wait to be healed.”

Yes, I very much fear that Jesus is talking to me. I fear that I am, in fact, the leader of the synagogue. It’s me Jesus is talking to, it’s me to whom Jesus is saying: People are more important than the Sabbath, people are more important than laws, and order, and method. Is Jesus talking to you, too?

Jesus is not saying that you and I are wrong when we go out to eat on Sunday afternoons, or when we do a little shopping. I doubt that Jesus minds a bit when we do that. Jesus is saying that we’re wrong when we put laws ahead of people.

We – you and me, as the church – we are called to minister to people, not laws. We are called to bring healing to people. We are called to heal people’s brokenness: their broken hearts, their broken souls.

Jesus refers to this woman as a “daughter of Abraham.” Jesus could just as easily have said, “This woman is created in the image of God.” Singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman’s song, “Wide-Eyed,” offers some wonderful imagery on this subject:

“When I met him on a sidewalk, he was preaching to a mailbox, down on 16th Avenue. And he told me he was Jesus, sent from Jupiter to free us, with a bottle of tequila and one shoe. He raged about repentance, he finished every sentence with a promise that the end was close at hand. I didn’t even try to understand.

“He left me wide-eyed, in disbelief and disillusion. I was tongue-tied, drawn by my conclusions. So I turned and walked away, and laughed at what he had to say, then casually dismissed him as a fraud. I forgot he was created in the image of my God.

“Not so long ago, a man from Galilee fed thousands with his bread and his theology. And the truth he spoke quickly became the joke of educated, self-inflated Pharisees – like me.

“And they were wide-eyed, in disbelief and disillusion. They were tongue-tied, drawn by their conclusions. Would I have turned and walked away, and laughed at what he had to say, and casually dismissed him as a fraud? Unaware that I was staring at the image of my God?”

If we had been there, how would we have responded to Jesus? Would we have followed him? Or would we have casually dismissed him as a fraud? Would we have complained that he was upsetting the status quo, that he wasn’t following the law? Hard questions.

But you know what’s so wonderful? Not only was this woman who was healed created in the image of God, but so am I. So are you. And Jesus says that we are all important! Jesus says that all of us here today are more important than the law, we are all more important than the Sabbath.

There’s no doubt that Jesus is talking to me, this morning. Is he talking to you, too? Are you the leader of the synagogue? We – all of us – we are called to bring healing to the people who need it. We’re not called to spout a bunch of laws at them.

We don’t bring healing to people by pointing out what they’re doing wrong. We bring healing to people by bringing people to Jesus. We can heal people’s brokenness by bringing people to worship with us on Sunday mornings – bringing them to this place, consecrated to the worship of our Lord, the place where they will hear Jesus spoken and prayed and sung.

I’m not backing down: the synagogue leader was right. The Sabbath is important. The law is important. Worship is important. But the importance of the Sabbath, the law, and worship, their importance comes from what they have to offer to the people.

The church, this congregation, is important only as long as this church is here for the people. If we begin putting the law ahead of the people, we will cease to be a vital part of the body of Christ.

People are more important than the law. We are called to bring healing to the people. We can’t let the law get in our way. The law exists for the people, not the people for the law.

Our mission, at Timothy [McNeil] United Methodist Church, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We are not called to bring people to the law. We are called to bring people to Jesus.

So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

Hebrews 11.29-12.2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses …”

One of the great things about being a United Methodist Christian is that we’re able to trace our heritage. We can look in the Bible, and read the stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. We can read how Joshua led the Hebrew people into the Promised Land. We can read how, with the help of the prostitute, Rahab, the Hebrews defeated mighty Jericho.

We can trace our heritage through Samson, and David, and all the other great heroes of the Old Testament, warriors and prophets alike. We can read about how both Elijah and Elisha raised widows’ sons from the dead.

We can look to the New Testament, to the stories of Peter and the other disciples, the stories and letters of Paul. We can trace our heritage through Stephen, and the other martyrs who sacrificed their lives rather than renounce their faith.

And our heritage continues, beyond the pages of scripture, through the early church leaders such as Augustine, through those who lived lives of extraordinary faith, like Francis of Assisi, and through the reformers of the church like Martin Luther and John Wesley.

And from John Wesley we can trace our Methodist heritage, through Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury – did you ever wonder where the name “Cokesbury” came from? We can follow our heritage through the early American circuit riders, through the upheavals caused by arguments over slavery, and the eventual reuniting of the Northern and Southern branches of Methodism in 1939. In 1968 we united with our brothers and sisters of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, adding their heritage to our own.

And we can trace our heritage right on up to today, through David Swift, Bryan Diffee, Blake Lasater, Rockey Starnes, and all the other pastors who have served this church over the years, not to mention all of you who are here this morning, and all those who have sat in those pews before you.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses this morning. You see, not all of God’s faithful witnesses are people whose names we would all recognize. The vast majority of God’s witnesses are people that no one but their family and friends have ever heard of – family, friends, and the people who sit next to them on Sunday mornings.

The fact is, you are a part of that great cloud of witnesses. Yes, you are. All of us gathered here this morning, all of us who have faith in God through Jesus Christ. We are all witnesses to the saving grace of God. We are all living, in our own ways, a life of faith.

Dr. Fred Craddock, of Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, says that, in this passage of scripture, the writer of Hebrews offers to us two portraits of the life of faith.

One portrait is filled with images of triumph and victory over all enemies – Gideon, Samson, David, and the others “who through faith conquered kingdoms … shut the mouths of lions … became mighty in war” – a portrait of dramatic deliverances from threats, dangers, and even death.

The other portrait is marked by images of torture – “mocking and flogging … chains and imprisonment,” those who were “stoned to death … destitute, persecuted, tormented … wandered in deserts … in caves and holes in the ground.”

We might call these two portraits “Triumph” and “Tragedy,” or perhaps “success” and “failure.” And yet, both of these portraits are descriptions of people who put their trust in God – they are both descriptions of the life of faith.

If we were to use these two portraits as advertisements for the Christian faith, the first group – “Triumph” – would likely draw people to the faith. People would want to share in that group’s victories. The second group – “Tragedy” – would probably prompt people to mock and jeer: “Where is your God? Why doesn’t God come to rescue you?” People most likely would turn away from the second group, to avoid sharing in their tragedies.

Some people believe that there’s a correlation between one’s faith and one’s circumstances in life. To those who believe this way, the second group, the “Failures,” are examples, not of faith, but of unbelief. That’s the explanation for why they suffer so.

On the other hand, there are those who believe that there’s a correlation between faith and hardship. To them, the first group, the “Successes,” depicts, not faith, but compromise. Why else would they fare so well?

The writer of Hebrews simply says that both groups are portraits of faith. Faith, you see, isn’t measured by calculating results. We cannot look at someone’s lot in life and judge the depth of that person’s faith. The writer of Hebrews is reminding us that this has always been true of God’s believers. The reasons for the differences in circumstances are God’s reasons, one of the mysteries of faith.

And while it might seem that the second portrait – the portrait of “Tragedies” – while it might seem that this portrait can only serve to depress and discourage us, that’s not the reason the writer of Hebrews includes it, here. The Tragedies are mentioned right alongside the Triumphs simply because the writer is telling the truth: He (or she – we don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews) –He or she isn’t sugarcoating anything. The Tragedies are included because the Tragedies are a fact of life, in faith, and because the Tragedies can offer encouragement to us, today.

We have all, at some point in our lives, suffered. We have all been discouraged. To see only more examples of suffering faith would simply add to our discouragement. On the other hand, to see nothing but examples of victorious faith would cause feelings of guilt and self-doubt – “Why can’t my faith be like that?”

In seeing examples of both Triumph and Tragedy, we are able to fit in with those who have gone before us. We can find our own place among the great cloud of witnesses. And that’s important, because like those who have gone before us, we, too, are called to “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and … run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

When you run a foot race, you don’t want to be carrying around any extra weight. You wear your lightest clothes, your lightest shoes, you empty your pockets. Watch the runners the next time the Olympics or some other track meet is on television. See how light a load they carry.

The life of faith is run the same way. We need to lay aside the weight of our sin, so that we can run with perseverance. The race of life isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. The game of life isn’t “You are the weakest link, goodbye!” No, the game of life is “Survivor,” and the only way to survive with your faith intact is to shed the excess weight of sin.

And how do we do that? By “looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” We need to look to Jesus as our teacher, our example.

Sometimes it seems like all we care about in the church are Christmas and Easter. We celebrate Jesus’ birth, then we turn around and celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the Apostles’ Creed we say that Jesus “was born of the Virgin Mary,” and “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” But what about all the stuff that happened in between? Isn’t any of that important?

Of course it is, and that’s part of the point that the writer of Hebrews is trying to make. The life of Jesus – between his birth and his death – the life of Jesus is vital for the life of the church, vital for the life of all of us who follow Jesus.

We learn how to live, we learn how to survive, by following the example and the teachings of Jesus. We can look to Jesus as the model of perseverance in the face of hostility, verbal abuse, and shame. We are reminded that Jesus in not only the Son of God, Jesus is also the Son of Man. Jesus’ capacity for sympathy and his willingness to go to the cross depended on his experiencing our flesh and blood, our trials, our suffering, and ultimately, our death.

So, who is the Jesus found between Christmas and Easter? Jesus is God’s revelation to humankind, God’s son, God in the flesh. Later, the writer of Hebrews will call Jesus our High Priest, whose offering of himself and whose continuing intercession on our behalf makes possible our salvation, and our access to God.

The Jesus between Christmas and Easter is our teacher, example, and redeemer, the Savior of the world. We – you and me, all of us – we are called to follow him, to walk in the light of his love, to walk by faith. We are called to live our lives according to his teachings, to follow his example in all that we do. We are called to heed his commandments, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

We are called to treat everyone, especially those less fortunate than us, as if they were Jesus. Jesus taught us to feed the hungry, care for the sick, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit those in prison, and welcome strangers.

This is what the life of faith is all about. The life of faith isn’t about triumphs and tragedies. The life of faith isn’t about successes and failures. The life of faith has nothing to do with our lot in life. Rather, the life of faith has everything to do with living our lives the way Jesus would have us to live.

We don’t have to conquer kingdoms, we don’t have to shut the mouths of lions. We don’t have to put foreign armies to flight, nor do we have to suffer floggings, or be sawn in two, or wander the deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.

None of these things measure our faith. They are simply things that people of faith sometimes have to deal with. The only measure of our faith is how closely we follow Jesus.

The faithful, that great cloud of witnesses, they are the ones who, rather than settled for what they have, are constantly striving for perfection, striving to be more and more like Jesus. They are the ones who, rather than standing in one place, are running with perseverance the race that is set before them.

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. And, at the same time, we – all of us, together, as the church – we are called to be a great cloud of witnesses, to surround others.

We are called to offer our testimony, to witness to others about Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who … endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and I thank God for them. Take your cure from those who have gone before us. Lay aside the sin that clings too closely. Hand your sin to Jesus, and run with perseverance the race that is set before you.

Look to Jesus, that you, too, might one day take your seat in the kingdom of God.