Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 7:15-28. We must become a people that lay down our way of doing things and learn to trust our great High Priest. Lector: Kristin Payne
Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 7:15-28. We must become a people that lay down our way of doing things and learn to trust our great High Priest.
Lector: Kristin Payne
Last week, we considered the deep dissatisfaction that plagues all of us
It’s that great Sisyphean experience of struggle, chasing, only to be disappointed
All of us have chased that dangling carrot at some point, and it didn’t work.
We considered the old priesthood, entrusted with sacrifices to purify us before God
The Old Covenant required us to keep the Old Law, enacted through old sacrifices
And none of it worked the way we thought.
These priests who offered sacrifices for us also sacrificed for themselves.
These priests died like us, sinned like us, and presented sacrifices on man made tables inside of man made tents and buildings.
Our old problem of perpetual dissatisfaction could not be solved under the old system.
We ended last week by learning about a new priest. An unexpected priest.
He didn’t come from the tribe of Levi, which is where priests were supposed to come.
No…listen to v. 15-16:
This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
-Hebrews 7:15-16
Have you noticed what happens if you keep trying to solve persistent problems in the same way? You get persistent problems!
The old priesthood could not do what we needed done…so it was cast aside.
The tribe of Levi was replaced by the Order of Melchizedek, that great king of righteousness and peace who was a shadow of the one to come, Jesus.
They told stories of an eternal king and priest, filled with righteousness, ushering in shalom for the people.
This eternal king was so great even Abraham had to bring offerings to him.
The tribe of Levi was not enough. We needed the Order of Melchizedek
Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law never made anything perfect.
-Hebrews 7:18
Pause here with me…how many of you long for a fresh start?
Wish you could hit reset or just begin again. What is that?
That is the desire for more. That is hunger and longing.
It’s an awareness that your current strategies for solving your problems are not working. Do you see that? Can you admit that?
After centuries under the old priesthood and law, it was. Not. Working.
When faced with these frustrating realities, many of us give into despair/frustration.
But what if there was another way to see our struggles?
The Old Law and Priesthood did exactly what God wanted it to, we just didn’t see it.
Our perspectives are so limited, so finite and temporary.
When we received the law, we thought we were supposed to keep it.
The law was meant to teach us, show us, reveal to us something
Follow the story with me…
What came first: God’s creation of Adam and the Universe, or God giving a rule?
Blessing came first. No carrot dangle, no “I’ve got a rule, and if you keep it I’ll give you even MORE apple trees.”
Creation came first, followed by one rule. Just one.
The rule was to remind them who the garden belonged to.
Adam and Eve could not keep one rule.
Have you noticed what happens when you go somewhere and are given a list of rules? “20 rules for parents in the soccer league.”
Isn’t there a part of you that says “no chance I’m reading this, let alone keeping this.”
It’s too much. Too overwhelming. Couldn’t even keep one! Shift to the next rule-giving.
What came first: God’s single-handed salvation from Egypt, or God giving the Ten Commandments?
Were the 10 commandments given to keep Israel as God’s people, or to teach enslaved people how to live free?
They couldn’t keep 10…so God delivered over 600 rules. God is not dumb.
1 didn’t work, 10 didn’t work, do you think God expected them to keep 600?
No. That was never the purpose of the Law.
God continually increased the demands under the Old System to show us that we cannot save ourselves. The Old Law, priests, and sacrifices were meant to move us to throw up our arms, cry for rescue, depend on the mercy of God.
The law was meant to show us that 1. We can’t keep the law and 2. Even if it were possible, we wouldn't do it anyway!
The rules were meant to expose our hearts so that we might come to God for grace, mercy, and healing.
What if the persistent problems in our lives and our repeated failures at solving them are meant to do the same?
What if they were meant to bring us to a moment, maybe even today, of being able to say, “it’s time for something new.”
Those priests, v. 23 reminds us they kept dying. They had to keep bringing in new ones, and the new ones kept sinning, kept offering sacrifices, and they kept dying, too.
It wasn’t working, because it wasn’t meant to work like that. It was meant to prepare us not for the Tribe of Levi, but the Order of Melchizedek.
Because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore, he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. He is the king of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless…unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day.
-Hebrews 7:24-27
The Old Priesthood did not work, so Jesus came. Not of the Tribe of Levi, but the order of Melchizedek. A new priest, with a new plan for our old problem.
Jesus was the fulfillment of all the preparation.
The Laws and Priests were meant to show us fundamentally 2 things.
The Old System was meant to prepare us…and maybe all your old failures and frustrations were meant to prepare you for something new now, too.
Much can change in our lives when we come to the realization that Jesus did not come to give us a new law or even a new priesthood.
He came to give us new life. This is why he became a PERFECT high priest.
One who does not sin and does not die.
There’s much more I would like to say about this, and I will in the weeks to come, but there’s a very important place for us to begin:
We have to be willing to admit to ourselves that it’s not working.
I don’t care where you are in your relationship with Jesus this morning, you won’t overcome a persistent problem without the courage to admit your solution isn’t working.
Some of you are here this morning trying to understand who Jesus is, what this is all about
Are you willing to see that your Old Ways need to go?
Has your way of being a YOU in this world brought you satisfaction or frustration?
Peace, patience, and joy…or anxiety, anger, and depression?
Until you can look at your way of life and say this was weak and useless, you won’t move forward
We must become a people that lay down our way of doing things and learn to trust our great High Priest. He has fulfilled the law and the priesthood by offering a better sacrifice and a better covenant.
So we have a real simple invitation this morning. I want you to take a moment, and just think about a problem in your life that keeps coming up.
Where are you dissatisfied? Where is it not working?
Where can you see choices you’ve made that are robbing you of the promised fruit of the Spirit?
Can you see it? Name it? Can you bundle all the emotions and sorrow and exhaustion into a ball and hold it in your mind?
If you can, and if you know the fatigue I’m speaking of, are you willing to admit your way is not working?
I leave you with two options. Option 1 is to follow the way of ancient Israel.
Give yourself more rules. Rules on rules on rules. Rules for the perfect day.
The perfect diet. The perfect body. The perfect children. Perfect perfect perfect.
Write them all out, carve them in stone! And grind yourself to exhaustion.
That’s our family history. Crushing ourselves under the rules for thousands of years.
Option two is to leave the tribe of Levi and follow the Order of Melchizedek.
Turn to the great high priest, Jesus Christ, the son of God, that eternal priest who intercedes for us from the very throne room of God. The Lion of Judah who came like a lamb to take away the sins of the world with his own blood.
The True and Better Melchizedek is inviting you into something new.
So, if you have ears to hear this morning, turn to him and cry out for help.
Call to him for mercy and grace.
Call to him and tell him you are ready for something new.
Let’s Pray