Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Hebrews 12:14-29. Look after each other and see the face of God. Lector: Erin Warmbier
Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Hebrews 12:14-29. Look after each other and see the face of God.
Lector: Erin Warmbier
I experienced a living parable in my back yard a few weeks ago
I wanted to hire someone, or at least some equipment, to build a patio.
Basically a hole with fancy gravel in it. Nothing technical.
My beloved said to me, "you want to spend a few hundred bucks to save a few hours of digging?" I did. But saying it out loud felt foolish.
She knows I have a tendency to take the easy way out, and she wouldn't let me.
Made plans to dig. Friends willing to help.
Told a land scape architect in our church I was only digging a couple inches down.
"You could do 2...but you really want 4-6 to do it right." I about passed out.
But Ryan and Brent came and we dug 4-6" down. Graded. Nice.
My friend Rob brought the base gravel over in his truck. #Blesst.
After the gravel was down, and both my hamstrings pulled, I imagined being on a couch soon.
Like an idiot I asked Rob, "do we need to tamp this?" His eyes said it all.
"You don't NEED to, but if you want to do it right."
So I drove to Ace and bought an overpriced tamper and we took turns tamping.
We did it right. We got it done. I feel satisfied, even thankful we did it right.
At three separate times, I saw an easier way through this project. Easier for me.
Each time, someone I care about said, "Don't do it easy. Together, Let's do this right."
Earlier in ch. 12, the Preacher describes Christianity like a race.
Maybe that's a good reminder on Mother's day...parenting is like a race.
But it's not like the races the rest of the world runs, with the best athletes going for record times.
Remember what he said:
take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
Hebrews 12:12-13.
Let the parents say amen? You run as parents, but you run with a limp.
Ours is a race run by limping runners.
Weak runners. Lame runners, those who just might fall.
And is it not when we're hungry, or tired, or weak, that we look for an easy way out?
This is what the preacher is warning against:
Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn for a single meal.
-Hebrews 12:16
Jewish Tradition thought Esau was the worst of the worst.
His name was mud. A Benedict Arnold. A Dolores Umbridge.
Calling someone an Esau was a terrible insult. Lazy, faithless, godless, immoral
But, we all have a little Esau in us.
A little pressure, pressure, some hunger, and the temptation is to abandon a life worth living for a life that feels a little more comfortable right now.
It's difficult to do a back yard project well by yourself.
It's nearly impossible to be a parent by yourself.
It is NOT POSSIBLE to live a life worth living by yourself.
The easy-way-out calls to us when life gets hard, doesn't it?
Without each other, we will take the way of Esau
We cannot endure suffering or cultivate joy on the road of faith alone.
So here, as come near the end of our time in Hebrews, the Preacher reminds us of the gift of each other:
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life
-Hebrews 12:14
Back-yard-project word here. "work" here means to move decisively and rapidly.
Work with intensity and urgency...make every effort...to live at PEACE with everyone!
Peace is hard work. Some of us are experts at numbing out or shutting down.
Act like fainting goats...just shut down and play dead.
But this is the Esau-way out. You cannot get true peace this way.
Know what happens when a coyote finds a goat playing dead? Goat stops playing...
Faking being at peace is fake peace.
True peace requires intensity and urgency, real effort. Connects to a holy life.
A different, a set-apart, life worth living kind of life.
The way WE work for peace together is one of the primary realities that set us apart as Christ's church.
And before we get to how we do it, look at what we get!
those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
-Hebrews 12:14
The hope of a beautiful backyard space makes the sweat and blisters worth it
The hope of children who live consequential, honest lives make the long days worth it.
Seeing God's face make the hard work of holy living worth it.
That is the joy set before us, what breaths wind into our sails.
At the end of our limping race, we get GOD. So how do we do it?
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.
-Hebrews 12:15
Beautiful. That's the sermon. Look after each other so we receive the grace of God.
Connect the last two ideas...
Look after each other and see the face of God.
Whatever "look after" means...the goal is receiving grace. Incredible.
Look after each other and see the face of God.
Two words I want us to think about here to define "look after"
Curiosity and compassion.
Peace is not achievable without curiosity and compassion.
Curiosity means we take interest in each other and learn to listen to each other.
If the goal is seeing the face of God this becomes a bit easier, amen?
Do you know that to look into the face of someone else is to look into the face of God?
Every man, woman, and child you come in contact with is an image bearer of God.
What's more, every Christian is filled with the Spirit of God.
We don't have to fake curiosity...we have to want to see the face of God.
Right there in front of us! Incredible opportunity.
We get an example of one thing to pay particular attention to:
Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you...Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau
-Hebrews 12:16
Bitterness is a poison that blinds our eyes
We listen for bitterness, cynicism, unresolved hurt that can become infect.
We pay attention to friends trying to take short cuts.
Posture of curiosity. Pay attention, ask questions, listen.
Which leads to the response of compassion. Very important word.
It's different from empathy. Empathy is important, too, but it can be dangerous.
Empathy is the awareness/understanding of other people's feelings.
Sometimes, it can even mean feeling their feelings. This can be a wonderful gift...
But it can also inhibit us from caring well for our brothers and sisters.
Instead of one bitter person you get two.
We can absorb other people's emotions in unhelpful ways.
Compassion is an emotional response to an emotional problem.
It's a desire to help. It's feeling with action.
Like faith is internal confidence expressed through external action.
So we listen, we strive to understand, and then we are able to act.
The actions we take have been considered at length these past weeks
Fundamentally, our compassion moves us to encourage those around us
Fundamentally, our encouragement is "hold on, it's worth it!"
Remember, you get to see God after this! Remember, you are a citizen of heaven!
Remember, there is a great reward! Listen to how the Preacher puts the reminder a few verses earlier:
afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
-Hebrews 12:11
This is the great gift we bring each other, the kind of TRUE PEACE only possible in Christ
So, we listen to one another with curiosity.
We encourage one another with compassion.
We make every effort to build peace.
Have the hard conversation, look after each other, not to be right, but to see God.
And there's one final word I want to leave us with, holding it all together.
This is the antidote to bitterness, the fast-lane to peace, the secret ingredient of a life worth living:
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
-Hebrews 12:28
Curiosity. Compassion. And above all gratitude.
Thankful for the gift of each other. The face of God in each other.
Thankful that we have each other, because Christ has united us.
Thankful that we are untied, because Christ died for us.
Thankful that Christ died for us to bring us to an unshakable Kingdom.
Can you imagine if we became this together?
If we didn't wait to see who would take it seriously, but instead decided to be this?
If we reached out to others because we wanted to see the face of Christ.
Even if someone is awkward or has different interests...Jesus loves awkward people!
We are workers in a vineyard, not line cooks at McDonalds.
There is a long road ahead of us, it takes time.
The goal for us is the face of God, and a peaceful harvest of right living.
This is the heart of living as citizens of an unshakeable kingdom
We look after each other to see the face of God. We work hard to make peace with one another, earnestly seeking a harvest of right living.
We are curious, confident God is always up to something.
Compassionate with ourselves and others, because that is how God is with us.
And ultimately grateful, keenly aware that God came near, made his home with us, suffered and died for us, was raised for us, and is now seated on the throne of grace for us.
Look after each other, Christian, and see the face of God.
Let's pray.