Category Archives: Hebrews

The Revised Story

Posted on May 11, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The Revised Story
There was no confusion about Adam and Eve’s genealogy. God had created them himself and placed his own DNA within them. The tragic story of what they lost when they were expelled from that first Garden became human destiny. They had to leave minus God’s genetic link; his own DNA.
DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid. 1. a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

Our genealogy was created there in the Garden and that never changed. We are still God’s creation…but with that big genetic loss. We no longer carry God’s unique and perfect DNA within us but Hebrews tells us The Revised Story.

Adam and Eve’s loss no longer has to be our destiny. We no longer need to be satisfied with just a cover-up. God has dealt with our genetic loss with his promise: “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

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A Big Shake-Up

Posted on May 8, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 7:11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Barclay on Hebrews 7: “…religion is access to God…That was the theory of the matter. But in practice life showed that was precisely what the priesthood and the sacrificial system could not do. There was no escaping the human estrangement from God which followed sin; and the problem was that not all the efforts of the priesthood and not all the sacrifices could restore that lost relationship.”

Thinking:
There’s a whole slew of words that might apply to this odd [and confusing] reference to Melchizadek who apparently had no genealogy at all. Call it an allegory, parable, analogy or metaphor. No matter which word you choose it speaks of a change that was A Big Shake-Up.

Jesus has completed the complexity and confusion of that old system to restore us to God. It’s called the reality of grace and forgiveness. We no longer need to be in the right place at the right time making the right sacrifice to cover the right rule…it’s finished.

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The Safety of a Useful Crop

Posted on May 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

These people are “enlightened,” thought, decision and discipline are key to their faith. They’ve “tasted the heavenly gift.” Their faith has also included feeling and experiencing the power and goodness of God. These people “have shared in the Holy Spirit” and yet they “have fallen away” and there’s no going back. Why hasn’t their faith kept them safe?

How in the world do rain and crops fit in? Maybe knowledge about God is like the rain. It falls often, and broadly, over the land preparing large portions of it to be able to grow. Our faith may be our personal plot of land drinking in the rain and prepared to grow…but there’s a big difference between a muddy field and a useful crop. Maybe our blessing is The Safety of a Useful Crop.

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Therefore Let Us…

Posted on May 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

Sunday Thoughts:
I would much rather be told what moving “beyond the elementary” looks like than to be reminded I haven’t. So after the warnings in Chapter 5, I’m grateful for the encouragement of this first part of Chapter 6 that begins “Therefore Let Us…”

Those three words include you and me – we are “us.” Us means I am not trying to figure this out all alone.  Jesus secured the foundation of our repentance for “us” with his forgiveness and his promises. God has revealed himself to “us” in his Word and in the sacramental events of faith. Worship is an opportunity for “us” to “…be taken forward to maturity…And God permitting, we will do so”…together.

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Small Doses

Posted on April 27, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews TLB
5:8 And even though Jesus was God’s Son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey when obeying meant suffering. 9 It was after he had proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the Giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey him.

Dictionary Connection:
The Bible gives us a magnificently big picture of God in our world.  Here’s the good news for today; Jesus is God’s application for our daily experience.  When it comes to obedience we need both

ex·pe·ri·ence
1. Noun – practical contact with and observation of facts or events.
2. Verb – encounter or undergo (an event or occurrence).

1. It’s a big thought that Jesus had to learn what obedience was like from his practical  experience. He was fully divine and he proved it, but he was also fully human and that is what he has to share with us.  What if obedience is the remedy that cures us from the dis-EASE of being human?  I know it’s sometimes hard to swallow. That’s the “noun” part.

2. Life is the “verb” part of experience. It requires undergoing Continue reading →

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Bottom Line of Confidence

Posted on April 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Dictionary Connections:
con·fi·dence –
1. the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.
2. a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities.

This dictionary turned out to be the key to my thoughts again this morning. Those two parts of the definition of confidence point out something we deal with in our daily lives; knowing the difference between confidence and self-assurance.

I know other versions of the Bible use the word “boldly” in place of “confidence” but I prefer this one. There are times when my grip on being able to live my faith as well as I speak it has been reduced by weaknesses to the Bottom Line of Confidence.

Those are the times when approaching the throne of Grace and getting to Jesus has very little to do with my boldness or self-assurance. The Bottom Line of Confidence looks more like a determined belly crawl through enemy lines, knowing I need to get to that throne no matter what. I may arrive there looking much worse for the wear but I’ll be there. There…where receiving mercy and finding grace become the reality of what I’m confident in, not how capable and self-assured I am on the approach.

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The Mystery of Rest

Posted on April 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is alive 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. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Connections:
It’s interesting to me that sometimes just adding a dictionary definition to the study of the Word can enhance it’s meaning.

• re·mains – the parts left over after other parts have been removed, used, or destroyed.

What if God is reminding us that Sabbath-rest is an untapped resource that still remains after we’ve read, studied, prayed, taught and served in his name? Those are all good and essential things to do but I think Sabbath-rest is more complicated.

I know how difficult it is to get a handle on rest. Rest in my daily life often becomes the leftover time to do things I don’t have time to do when I’m busy working on something else.

I wonder if the Mystery of Rest is that God defines my work as that which keeps me too busy to dedicate my primary time to him? I do know this “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest…” It’s available. I don’t want to miss entering God’s rest by giving him only the leftovers after I’ve done everything else.

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Another Chance

Posted on April 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 4:7 God again set a certain day, calling it. “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

It took me several readings of this passage before I caught that word “again” right there at the beginning. “God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.”  It’s Sunday. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just another day on the calendar that ends at midnight with a little church thrown in for good measure. This is the day the Lord has made…for you…again.

Thank God for that one little word, “again,” just in case you missed it the first time. Even if it was a long time ago, that one word “again” means this Sunday is Another Chance for you to hear what God has to say to you personally. This is the [certain] day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it…again.

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Imperfect People

Posted on April 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Connections:
There’s a warning here about letting your heart be turned away from the living God. It becomes a matter of faith when we recognize our imperfection and our first thought is to cover it up. That’s how “a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” can happen.

Imperfect People aren’t a problem for God. He’s got a good handle on how to deal with them. What does deeply concern him is the ease with which we can make that wrong choice when confronted with our imperfection when the whole purpose of faith is to keep us connected and close to him.

That is a dismal reality that sometimes happens but there’s also hope “Today,” “so that none of [us] may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” I saved this quote from Richard Dahlstrom’s writing. http://stepbystepjourney.com/?p=1605 “All of us know our inadequacies pretty well – what we need is to be told how much we’re loved, where we’re gifted, where we can shine.”

“We have come to share in Christ” because that is how God has chosen to deal with our imperfection. We can choose to accept his anger and be left out or we can enter into our connection to him and be changed by choosing repentance. Repentance is often humiliating and painful, as pieces of that hardened heart are broken off for all to see.

What if humility and hurt are really the two halves of Grace?  What if God chooses to show us “how much we’re loved, where we’re gifted, where we can shine” through the humility and pain of repentance?  I know for sure that’s the kind of Grace that moves my heart from the pages of a great book to a life of faith connected to the “living” God.

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Jesus…The Real Fixer-Upper

Posted on April 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hebrews 3:3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Connections:
For much of my life I’ve been a home improvement fan/promoter/nut.  I’ve  spent many hours doing hands-on carpentry, creating some useful and beautiful things and then enjoying the results in my home. Turn’s out it was good training. When I read this passage this morning it became a connection for me between God’s vast wisdom and my real day-to-day life; I am a fixer-upper but “God is the builder of everything.”

God’s tools are simple; his Word, your time and Jesus…The Real Fixer-Upper. Those tools provide ideas; you provide effort and the end result is the shared enjoyment, even delight, in the house you’re building together. “We are his house if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.”

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