Becoming An Offering

 June 4 2023

Hebrews 11:39-40, 12:1-14

         We began our study of the book of Hebrews many weeks ago wondering just what is the risen Jesus up to now? The book of Hebrews did not disappoint in giving us answers to just what is the risen Jesus doing now, now that he is exulted to the highest heaven to be seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The writer of Hebrews wants us to know in clear and precise terms that it is the Son of God who came into our world as the very radiance of the glory of God, the very exact imprint of the nature of God. This Son of God came to us as this one named Jesus, the one who shares in our flesh and blood existence calling us his brothers and his sisters.And Jesus, because he shared in our flesh and blood existence also was able, then, to not just share in our life, but he also tasted death for all of us so that through his death, this Jesus, might destroy the one who rules by the power of death, the one called Satan. This is why we can know the risen Jesus as our merciful and faithful high priest who lives forever to serve his Heavenly Father. 

         So, this is who Jesus is for us right now, exalted to the highest heaven, a high priest who lives forever more to serve over God’s house as his Son. Now as we began to work our way through this book of Hebrews, what isn’t quite clear is just why is this so important for us to know, just what real difference does it make that we know that Jesus is our high priest? As we go further into this book of Hebrews what we find is that the writer of this letter focuses first, on the importance of faith and how evil it is to have an unbelieving heart. The danger, we learn, is that without a settled faith we can never be those who rest in the promises of God, never become those who experience the state of being where we are no longer striving, working to get right with God instead of being people who know the certainty of God’s faithfulness.

         So we have this sense that the issue that the writer of Hebrews is addressing is that his audience are those who are struggling to hang on to their faith. This lack of faith has so many repercussions besides forfeiting the rest that God promises. There is also the tragedy that if faith is lost then the blessings, that are to flow through the people of God, quit pouring forth into the world. When God’s people no longer bear his blessings then this calls into question the actions of Jesus upon the cross. Did Jesus really destroy the curse that held people captive through his death on the cross or was he just a man who was himself, cursed? The point that the writer of Hebrews is trying to make is that what we do is a direct reflection of what Jesus has done for us upon the cross. Either the curse has been destroyed through Jesus taking the curse upon himself and breaking its power through his death so that now the blessings of God can flow or Jesus was a man who deserves only our contempt.

         As we continue listening to what the writer of Hebrews is urgently trying to tell us, we hear in the eighth and ninth chapters that our living Jesus is not just our great, high priest but Jesus is also the mediator of the new covenant. Jesus is the man in the middle between God and humanity who brings them together in unity. This covenant was ratified with the shed blood which was necessary to pay for the penalty of the sin of humanity. Jesus, on the cross, was our high priest, representing all of us before God, taking upon himself our judgment so that we might receive instead, mercy. So, the new covenant has come about because the blood of Jesus has set us free from the first covenant. We have been set free from our past through the action of Jesus who through the eternal Spirit offered himself to the Father. And we have been given a future where we follow in the way of Jesus, to be those who offer ourselves through the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Heavenly Father.

         So, as we step back and look at where the writer of Hebrews has brought us, it appears that we are to be people who offer themselves to our Heavenly Father so that his blessings might go out into the world. What we also know is that in order for us to be people who are willing to love God by giving him not just our hearts, but giving him our possessions and further, even being willing to give God our very lives, we must be people who know that only heaven can be the anchor for our souls. We need to know that most assuredly we have an eternal home in glory, only in that way will we be those who can let loose of our grip that we are holding on to here and take hold of the greater possession that is ours in heaven. This is the wonder, the beauty, found when we gather as God’s people around the table of our Lord. Here, at the table of our Lord, we take in our hands, the blood of the new covenant which gives us confidence to enter into the holy place. Jesus our high priest who represented us, took upon himself our deaths that all of us might have life beyond the curse of sin. And here we take the bread which is the body of our Lord, our high priest, representing all of us. He perfectly accomplished the will of God, giving his body so that we might have a fresh, new mercy, which is for us a living way which leads beyond where we can see into that place which cannot yet be seen. And there residing over the Table is our great priest whose name is Jesus. He is present with us as we draw near in full assurance of faith because here is the reality of what we have placed our hope in. So, in this meal that Jesus insists we partake of, God has made a way for us to replenish our faith, and a way for us to strengthen our grip upon what we have placed our hope in, our eternal home in glory.

         Yet, as great as all of this sounds to ears that are longing to know of the way that we can be filled with faith in a world where our faith is continually shaken, this experience at the Lord’s Table is to be the place where we insist that when we rise and go from this place that we will indeed devote ourselves to actions of love and the doing of good deeds. We must remember this love beyond our hope, this love which is beyond our faith because in the end what will remain when we find ourselves in our home of glory is love. What is amazing about this hope that we have that grounds our faith, is that none of those who witnessed to their faith throughout the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, you know, those such as Abel and Enoch, Noah and Abraham and Moses and David and all of the prophets, not a single one of these has entered into this house that Jesus resides over. The reason why they are waiting patiently there on that heavenly front lawn, is as the writer of Hebrews tells us is that they have decided to not reside in their heavenly home apart from us. Isn’t this just an incredible statement? I mean there is Abraham and Moses who most assuredly should already be enjoying what they have looked forward to experiencing yet they refuse to do so because they are waiting on us to arrive, and only as we are together as a united people of God, only then will we be at last to say that we are home where we belong. Until that moment when we are all together, those who have gone before us are as the writer of Hebrews states, “a great cloud of witnesses who surround us…”. This image of a cloud which fills the holy space around the table of the Lord echoes the glory cloud which came and filled the Tabernacle and the Temple. Thus these witnesses who are those who should reside in their home in glory instead bear the glory of God into this holy space where we gather. When we know that our brothers and sisters of faith are waiting on us to make it home, and that they carry this hope of glory into the space where we gather, can you understand that by all means we need to let go of every burden that is weighing us down. We need to ask ourselves just what pulls and tugs and tears against our faith, whatever is slowing down our journey home then we need to let it go. We need to tear that sin from our hearts you know, that secret, little, indulgence that we have made room for in our life, yes, that has to go. You see, this journey home it’s a marathon not a sprint, you have to be in it for the long haul. Faith is not a prayer once said but instead it’s a pilgrimage that is walked a little every day always yearning to be just a little closer to home. So, we have to learn how to endure. What it means to be people who endure is that we are people who abide, or remain in this holy space even when experiencing suffering. When we understand that endurance is about abiding in that which we hope for, even if to do so means that we will suffer, then of course the person that we must fix our eyes on is Jesus. Jesus is the founder of our faith, and Jesus is the very end, the goal of our faith. Jesus, on that holy space of the cross, remained there to offer himself through the Holy Spirit despite the pain, suffering and death. For Jesus, there was no shame to die upon the cross, there was only glory and honor because he had offered his life fully to his Heavenly Father. This is why Jesus now resides at the right hand of the throne of God because he was willing to abide in the Spirit there upon the altar of the cross.

         So, we must fix our gaze upon Jesus who remained steadfast upon the cross despite the horrible grief and pain necessary to offer himself fully to the honor and glory of his Heavenly Father. We are not only to look upon Jesus, but we are also called once again to consider Jesus. This time this word translated as, “consider”, is a word which means to use your ability to reason things out in order to come up with a conclusion. We are to think about how it was that Jesus was able to abide there in that holy place even though he experienced horrific hostility against himself at the hands of sinners. As we reason out just how it was that Jesus was able to remain there what we find is that what Jesus focused upon is the joy that can only be found beyond the pain and suffering of this world. This joy is the fullness of what we receive from the blessing of our Heavenly Father. Jesus even there upon the cross, knew that his Father blessed him and was present with him. It was his Heavenly Father who kept his life safe, and before the face of his Heavenly Father, Jesus experienced the favor and welcome home, and in the joyous radiance of the Father, Jesus rejoiced in the blessed peace of glory. This is where our thoughts are to lead us as we ponder on just how it was that Jesus could abide there upon the cross and the answer was joy, the joy that flows out of the blessing of our Heavenly Father, the one who is with us as we suffer and hurt for the sake of Jesus.

         As we go on to what the writer of Hebrews has to tell us next, we come to a section of this letter that a lot of people struggle with because it speaks about discipline. When we begin to speak about this subject of discipline most people start telling tales about doing something wrong and getting found out and then the experience of punishment that followed, a punishment that usually warmed something other than our hearts. All of us I suspect, can relate when the writer of Hebrews  says that at the time we receive discipline it seems painful rather than pleasant, I mean, no kidding. Now, as much as we can get hung up on the painful experience we may have had being disciplined, what we cannot do is to lose our focus here because this bringing up the subject of discipline is given to us so that we can see how our Heavenly Father can use our suffering to make us holy people. The key verse is where we are told that our Heavenly Father disciplines us for our good, so that we might share in his holiness. So, if we are going to understand how our sufferings can be thought of as a way that our Heavenly Father disciplines us all so that we might share in his holiness, then we need to have some idea of what this holiness might be, how do we define it? I think the answer is found in the words used by the writer of Hebrews, words that are translated differently when taken out of the context of the story. In the seventh verse of this twelfth chapter, what is written, is “Endure, endure, this is the teaching of God, to offer yourselves as sons and daughters.” Now, this does not make sense unless we consider the holy act of Jesus, that act as written about in the ninth chapter, the fourteenth verse, when we are told that our Messiah, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, the Father. This is holiness, this offering of oneself out of love without the expectation of receiving anything in return. This offering of oneself out of love is done because this is the very imprint of the nature of God, the very radiance of his glory.This is why we can say that the name of God is faithful, steadfast love because this is the unchanging characteristics of our God. Our God is a God who offers himself to us as an act of love without fail and he desires to teach us to be people who can be known as people who love, all the time, without fail, even in the presence of evil. God teaches us that he is a God who blesses us with his presence in our life, no matter what we are going through, and no matter the opposition that we face. Yet, the only way we can know and experience this truth is that we endure, that we remain in the holy place and offer ourselves, and allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to fall from heaven so we might be known as sons and daughters of a holy, Heavenly Father. In our hurt, in our pain and in our suffering, our Heavenly Father is teaching us to look for him there and we will find that he is there, always faithful, and steadfast in his love for us. As we experience his blessing we are reminded that our Father blesses us, our Father keeps us, our Father makes his face to shine upon us and is gracious to us, our Father rejoices over us and gives us his peace. And from the blessing of God we discover the joy that is there for us beyond the suffering and hurt that we experience as we offer ourselves in love.

         What is at stake when we are called to endure is the new identity that we now have through Jesus offering himself for us. The writer of Hebrews, in his original language, states, in the tenth verse, that just as our earthly Fathers taught us for a short time as was best for them, God teaches us by offering himself as we offer ourselves so that we might grab ahold of holiness and make it our own. What is supposed to happen when we learn holiness is that our lives are to yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Now, if we know about what it means for us to be sons and daughters of God we should remember that Jesus taught us in the fifth chapter of Matthew, that, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.” This just makes sense because if to be a son or daughter of God means that we offer ourselves out of love then we will lavishly offer forgiveness just as Jesus offered himself for our forgiveness. Out of this ministry of reconciliation will come righteousness, the offering of the substance of our life so that all might have life, just as when Jesus offered up his bodily presence so that we might have life. Yes, we know that Jesus came as one of us, so that he might experience our flesh and blood existence. Yet Jesus also came to accomplish something even greater which is that we might know the very way of offering our life out of love, to live the life of the God who came as one of us. The book of Hebrews begins with the Son of God in heaven who came to earth as one of us and here as the book of Hebrews comes to a fitting conclusion we find our Heavenly Father is teaching us how to live and act as his sons and daughters. The writer of Hebrews urges us to chase eagerly after peace and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord and now we know that we must be reconciling, forgiving, people who offer forgiveness regardless of the cost because this is to demonstrate holiness. Holiness, this, we are told, is the way God is seen , imagine that, his faithful and steadfast love living in us to be seen by all around us. Holiness, we are also told, is the way we must live so that we might see God on that day when all the saints come home! May God’s holiness be seen in us! Amen!