Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 10:19-25. He taught that a life worth living is a life immersed in the people of God. Lector: Melissa Gordon
Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 10:19-25. He taught that a life worth living is a life immersed in the people of God.
Lector: Melissa Gordon
Look at verse 20 with me:
By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
-Hebrews 10:20
By his death–everything that’s going to be said this morning, and in the weeks to come, is true because Jesus died. By his death and through his death…what?
A new and life-giving way has been opened to us into the presence of God.
What a startling few words…new way of life, that gives life, that leads to God’s presence
What is it you want out of life? These precious few days and years we have…
That’s a hard question for most of us to answer…but let’s look at it from another way
Does your way of life give you life?
Do you know the difference between a life-giver and a soul-sucker?
The soul-suckers are those people that, either by disposition or difficult circumstance, just drain the life out of a room.
They’re the ones that tell you you can’t do it, you’re not good enough, it won’t work.
“I found this wood and I”m going to build something awesome!”
“Ha! You? Good luck with that! Call me when the shed collapses!”
Do you know them?
Have you ever had a soul-sucking job? Minutes feel like hours, hours feel like days…
And we’re supposed to spend 50 years having our souls sucked out of us so we can what? Enjoy our last 10?
Soul suckers are those people, places, realities that make us wonder if life is worth living at all.
Have you ever had a life-giving job?
The ones that you wake up eager for, you leave the office on Friday smiling…
Even more rare are life-giving people. Those that build you up, encourage you, help you to laugh and find the goodness in life.
Does your way of life give you life? Do the people in your life give you life?
Well…for ten chapters now, we’ve heard Jesus is better than the angels and prophets
We’ve heard Jesus’ work is better than the old covenant, the old law, the old priesthood, and the old sacrifices.
If Jesus is better, and his work is better, then what must that mean of the life he’s invited us into?
By his death, he has opened a NEW, LIFE-GIVING way of life.
So…what is it? Welcome to church.
That’s what we’re talking about through the Spring.
A life worth living…struggling forward by faith.
Ten chapters now have begged the question “how do we respond?” And the answer we are given first here might surprise us. Get ready for worship.
That’s it. Get ready! But it might look different than you think.
Something very important happens right in the beginning…
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can…
-Hebrews 10:19
It does not say, “dear friend, YOU can” or “I can”
It says “hey guys, look what WE get to do…”
We respond to the greatness of Jesus TOGETHER
We get ready for worship as a community.
Hear how these invitations are given. Six verses:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, WE can…and since WE have…let US go…for OUR guilty consciences have been sprinkled…OUR bodies have been washed…Let US hold…to the hope WE affirm…let US think of ways to motivate…let US not neglect…but encourage ONE ANOTHER…
-Hebrews 10:19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (emphasis added)
Every single verse here is plural.
Dear brothers and sisters, we can, we have, let us, we have, we have, let us, we affirm, let us, let us, one another.
Do you hear it? Do you see it?
The life Jesus invites us to, a life worth living, is a life lived together.
If we want to experience the life-giving way of Jesus, we have to trade ME for WE
Jesus saves a ME to make me a WE…do you understand?
YOU are saved so you can be ADOPTED into a family, the church.
BUT… raise your hand if you’ve been hurt by another human
Keep that hand raised if the hurt another human caused you STILL hurts years later
When we experience those hurts, and those hurts linger, all of us close off/shut down
The pain is great, and worse still are the long term side effects
We’re scared and skeptical of words like ‘community’.
It’s hard to become a “We” when you’re not sure it’s safe to be a we.
What’s more, some of us don’t even know how to do that.
A life worth living begins immersed in community, but how do we do that if we are hurt or confused? V. 21
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm
-Hebrews 10:23
Together, we hold tightly to the hope we affirm. Here’s the hope:
BY HIS DEATH…JESUS purifies us, forgives us, heals us. We have to hold onto that
We’re not talking about generic community here, we’re talking about being the church
And the church is not built on shared hobbies or similar personalities.
It’s built on the hope we profess, the hope we hold onto.
“Our hope is built,” the old song reminds us, “on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
WE have to live like an US and that begins when WE hold onto this hope together
Because…
God can be trusted to keep his promise
-Hebrews 10:23
We have to make a decision…is our way of life life-giving or soul-sucking?
If you have allowed your hurt to win…listen. When you are hurt, it’s not all your fault!
Maybe some of it is, but being hurt is not your fault.
But if you let your hurt drive you into isolation, skepticism, cynicism, you’re letting hurt win.
If God keeps his promises, then we can trust him when he tells us a life worth living is a life immersed in his people.
We ground ourselves in his promise, our great hope. Then what do we do?
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
-Hebrews 10:24
A life worth living is a life spent motivating others to love and good works
A life worth living is not about MY good, it’s about OUR good
How much of your time is spent trying to motivate someone else to do something wonderful?
Let your imagination soar with the idea…what if we, together, were paying attention to each other, listening to each other, scheming for ways to motivate one another?
So much hurt happens in relationships when we are focused ONLY on ourselves
We come into relationships thinking “what can you give me?”
That’s how you become a soul-sucker instead of a life-giver.
Look at what comes next:
Let us not neglect our meeting together…
-Hebrews 10:25
How are you going to listen and motivate people you never see?
If you want to experience the gift of community, a life worth living, you have to prioritize being around people.
It could be as small as committing to gathering every Sunday. Rain or shine.
Maybe you’ve done that and still feel disconnected…maybe you serve at one of the other services or attend Bible Fellowship.
There are all kinds of ways to gather with people on Sundays here.
Maybe you start coming to game night, swing dancing on Fridays, prayer on Wednesdays, bible study on Fridays, school of spiritual formation on Mondays…
These are not church programs, their opportunities for connection
I’m not saying you have to do ALL of that. But a life worth living is a life immersed in the people of God. Don’t put it off, get around your brothers and sisters.
Here’s my favorite one next:
But encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
-Hebrews 10:25
In all my years in the church, I’ve had people ask for help to become a better preacher
A better pastor. A better husband and wife.
I’ve had people pray for the gift of teaching, gift of prophecy and healing.
People asking for help with evangelism or missions…
I’ve had people tell me they have the gift of CELIBACY!
Doozies over the years. But I’ve never had someone say or pray for the gift of encouragement.
I’ve never had someone say they longed to be more encouraging.
But oh, the wonders that can happen when we receive even a small dose of encouragement
If you have a life giving person in your life, are they not encouraging?
Don’t they breath hope into you? Humans require such little encouragement to do incredible things, and most of us are absolutely starving for a drop of it.
Try to imagine this with me now: you chat with a co-worker on Monday. How was your weekend?
“Oh man, so refreshing. I got together with my friends and they listened to me. Really paid attention. They gave me some great ideas for a project I’m working on, they made me feel on top of the world. I was in a bad place on Friday, but my friends…they’re just so refreshing.”
What would you even say to that? BUT THAT’S WHAT WE COULD BE!
And we become that when you decide to be that.
We gather to worship God. We sing, we pray, and do all those wonderful things.
We experience the presence of God there. And you know where else we find God’s presence? In. Each. Other.
We worship God when we listen to each other, motivate each other, encourage each other
You would never miss a Sunday if even half of us said “that’s who I’m going to be.”
We can become that, because that’s who Jesus is, and his spirit is in us.
Don’t you see? He hears your prayers. He pays the closest attention to you.
Has he not motivated you to greater love and good deeds?
Has he not spoken words of encouragement and affirmation over you time and time again?
What if our church was filled with life-giving people? By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way into the presence of God.
Let’s pray.