Burnt toast and dog breath... Hebrews 10

"Burnt toast and dog breath",
this was the answer my son gave to the following college orientation question: "What smells remind you of home?"!
Does that mean he'll miss us?
I had to get in two more parental warnings before we left him there in that sad little dorm room;
and two more how-tos...
and two more becauses...
followed up with two more hugs;
and two more "I'm proud of and I love you(s)..."
and one big fat kiss.
As the concerns of what we failed and forgot to prepare him for set in, I am reading Hebrews 10.
This chapter (vv. 19-39) strikes me similarly.
Like a last minute parental list, these warnings, how-tos and ultimate whys of a godly life are spelled out for us:
How-to:
- Sincerely draw near to God
- Hold fast to the truth of your faith
- Consider how to encourage others in their walk of faith
- Consistently spend time with the people who encourage your faith (vv.22-25)
Why?
- Because Christ made a way for us to draw near to God (v.19)
- Because God has a reward for you if you persevere in faith (vv. 35-36)
- Because it pleases the only One who is worth pleasing (vv. 37-38)
- Because the eternal destiny of your soul depends on the perseverance of your faith in His grace and forgiveness ( v. 39)
Warnings:
(v.26-27) "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a terrifying expectation of judgment...
(v.29) "How much severer  punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God..."
(v.31) "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

At times during the last two decades of parenting we've had to spell out the consequences of behaviors very specifically; some of the warnings made no impact at all. Sometimes a child's hope of the imagined outcome far outweighed the pain of a consequence. It has been our responsibility as loving parents to increase the intensity of the warning based on the danger of the behavior. We have found that the confidence our children have in our love and good desires for them greatly impacts their consideration of our warnings. If they doubted us, they ran to destruction faster than we could say... "I told you so!"
It is not different with our Heavenly Father. His warnings to walk in faith are dire because His love and good desires for us are so intense. But if we doubt that love and good intention, His warnings seem more like threats from an angry, vengeful, Theo-egomaniac...and we want to run away faster than He can say..."I showed you so."
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it is the way of death..." Proverbs 14:12
and so He died, that in the end He made a way to life.
If your life is not pointing you to this truth: "God loves me and has a good plan for my life", sincerely draw near by asking Him to show you. I am confident in answer, you will feel the reassurance of His "I'm proud of you and I love you(s)" and they will begin to make you miss Him...

 not run the other way.

Hebrews 8-9: Re-lig-ion

Within the context of my spiritual upbringing, "religion" has been a dirty word for as long as I can remember. After all, "...it's not about religion! It's about relationship!"
But "religion" is just a word; a word that describes making a practice of something to increase our understanding.
"re"-again
"lig"- grasp
"ion"- action
...and when we do something over and over again to try to understand or grasp hold of it, we might say we do it "religiously".
Religious motivation comes from a catalytic belief.
Hebrews 8-9 refers to the religious practices of the Hebrew priests.
Practices of apparel, washings, structures, sanctified objects, sacrifices...
practices ordered by God for the Hebrews to do
over
and over again.
...Practices set up by God to help them understand that they would never sufficiently grasp hold of Him
by what they wore or what they did or what they said.
The Hebrews understood that they needed to live in relationship with their God; so they tried
but
"...gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience," (9:9)
Nothing they practiced "religiously" was enough to wipe out their awareness that they would fail
again.
And they would have to seek atonement
again.
When Jesus was sent to die on the cross, the shedding of His blood signified that God offered them the gift of himself
again.
What was lost of relationship at the intrusion of sin, was being restored.
His perfect life, lived-lost-resurrected, became the all-sufficient, once and final offering for a secured relationship with God.
"but now ONCE at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (9:26b)
It's true. I am a religious person.
I have practices of reading my Bible, praying, going to church...
I want to understand Him better!
But I do so because He already "grasped hold" of me
through Christ.

...someone's said it first! Hebrews 6-7

     For a month and a half I've been stuck in Hebrews 6-7 with nothing worth writing. This is not to say that these chapters are not filled with profound hope and truth...just that I've found no way to write about them. It occurred to me today that what should be said has been said by someone else and so I share these thoughts...not my own, except that I wholly agree!
"...original sin leads us to doubt the benevolent love of the Father and to close our hearts to the gift of his '...proposal' (offer of Himself). John Paul II wrote that 'faith, in its deepest essence, is the openness of the human heart to the gift..." This life is poured out for us in Christ's self-gift to His (people) on the cross. In essence, Christ's self-gift says to us: 'You don't believe in my Father's love? Let me make it real for you; let me incarnate it for you so that you can taste and see. You don't believe that God wants to give you life? I will bleed myself dry so that my life's blood can vivify you. You thought God was a tyrant, a slave driver? You thought he would whip your back if you gave Him the chance? I will take the form of a slave; I will let you whip my back and nail me to a tree; I will let you lord it over me to show you that the Father has no desire to lord it over you. I have not come to condemn you, but to save you. I have not come to enslave you, but to set you free. Turn from your disbelief. Believe and receive the gift... I offer you." Christopher West, prologue to: Theology of the Body Explained
     In this description of God's intense love for us and the communication of that love through Christ; we read of the powerful hope the life of Christ provides us. We read and are reminded to accept God's love, initiated and secured by Him through his Son.
He purposed to love us when He created us. He fulfilled His promise to love us in the gift of Jesus' life. THAT is the nature of our God. Unchangeable in His purpose; unmovable in His promise.
Heb. 6:19 "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil," ( veil...the depth of God's existence that we cannot see and remains a mystery to us apart from the intercession of Christ). "...where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,"
And there, before God, Jesus continues to act on our behalf.

"Therefore He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us (exactly what we need) to have such a high priest (facilitator of forgiveness and restoration with God), holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners (un-compromised by sin) and exalted above the heavens;" Hebrews 7:25-26

That was harsh! Hebrews 6:1-9

Hebrews 5:11-14, that was harsh; why was it necessary? Because it's time to grow up! What happens if an infant stops growing? He/she cannot survive.
Grow or perish.
So, is the provoking talk necessary? Absolutely.
The Hebrew believers who've understood the message of the Gospel of Christ and experienced God at work, MUST continue to grow in that understanding and experience. No matter how discouraging and defeating the times feel, if a Christian stops growing, He/she cannot survive.
Grow or perish.
If there is anything I have learned about the "Christian" life it is that it is an ongoing process.
We must be brave.
We must battle on.
There is no life in going back.
The harsh words of chapter 5: 11-6:8 are an intense warning, not from judgment or disgust but from godly men who love God's people:
v.9 "But, BELOVED, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way...
v.10 For God is not unjust..."

Christians have been brave for millennia. We will read this in Hebrews 11. But for now, be encouraged by these:

"I have given Him my faith and sworn my allegiance to Him, how then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?" John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress -1678

Christian's journey to the "Celestial City" takes him over the "Hill of Difficulty", through the "Valley of Humiliation" and through "The Valley of the Shadow of Death". Those whom he met along the way, in choosing other paths, never made it.

1	I’m pressing on the upward way, New heights I’m gaining every day; Still praying as I onward bound, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
2	My heart has no desire to stay Where doubts arise and fears dismay; Though some may dwell where these abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

                                                                                               Johnson Oatman- 1898

Heb. 5 :12-14wah...

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

Though written to the Christian Hebrews in the first century, this passage is for the church today-

You've been a follower of Christ for quite some time; plenty of time to have learned enough to pass on. But now it seems you need to start to learn all over again, the wisdom God has shared with you. Just like a newborn, instead of gaining head control...your's wobbles about. Instead of feeding yourself, chewing and swallowing the new things God has to teach you, you have go back to the basics: You are a sinful human being who is in need of God's forgiveness, based on Christ's righteous life, death, and resurrection, to establish your faith. Aren't you hungry? Aren't you yet craving something more substantial...something to chew on? Aren't you ready to take the nipple out of your mouth and say, "I am not a baby anymore?" How has this happened to you...
this reverting back to infancy?
You've been lulled to sleep and nothing seems to wake you.
Groggy
Dull
Thick-headed
...membranes must be still clogging your ears!
Claiming to be a Christian is about becoming skilled in the knowledge of what is good and right and godly AND in the practice of living it out. Trials can make living our faith out a real challenge; but until your persevering and disciplined faith lines up with your doctrine, you cannot expect to be wise and godly people.

What's in a name? Hebrews 4:14-5:10

 
What's in a name? Quite a lot when you're reading the Bible!
Sometimes the Bible throws in names or stories that get lost and misunderstood outside of ancient Jewish culture. Hebrews 5 introduces such a name that refers to such a story, Melchizedek. The story is two short verses in Genesis 14. Melchizedek, King of Salem (to become: Jeru-salem), brings a meal to offer friendship and encouragement to Abram (Abraham). This mystery king however, is referenced in Psalm 110:4 and Heb. 5,7, 8,13 as a priest. The Levitical priesthood did not exist when Melchizedek showed up in the Genesis account. Israel was not yet a nation and the Jewish people would later establish an intercessory office after the tribe of Levi. This king however, appointed by God alone, played the role of priest for Abram. On the one hand blessing Abram, on the other blessing "God Most High".
Not yet "Abraham", Abram was young in his faith in YHVH or LORD; "The One Almighty God" whose name is so precious and sacred that the Jewish people took out the vowels to prevent misusing it. Abram was still learning the truth about the One whose voice he served. He was a truth seeker, a man who'd left his home and family to obey a voice he had never heard before to go to a place he'd never gone before. It was a long journey.
And Melchizedek went after Abram
with a meal
and a prayer
and Abram received what was offered, was helped and gave an offering in thanks.
What's in a name?
Abram was later renamed as a sign of YHVH's promise: Abraham- "Father of Many".
Melchizedek bore a name which links him to Christ: Melchi-zedek, King of Salem "The personal righteous king, who brings peace through truth".
Jump to Hebrews...
"So also Christ (appointed by God alone) did not glorify himself so as to become a high priest, but He (God the Father) who said to Him, 'You are My Son, Today I have  begotten You';
You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 5:6
And this Jesus Christ- "God delivers His people", is our
PERSONAL
RIGHTEOUSNESS KING,
THE ONE WHO BRINGS PEACE
through
TRUTH.
Jesus comes after us
offering himself
and
goes before YHVH
on our behalf.

So, call on His name.

"Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Hebrews 4:14

Who am I to say? Hebrews 4:12-13

WHO AM I TO SAY?

If men may wander
from their homes
and leave a wife
and children prone
to borrow, beg and steal...
who am I to say?

If wives, alone are
left to fend
and spend their time
with other men
whose wives are left as well...
who am I to say?

If children left to
raise themselves
and entertain
with lusts un-shelved
a fading, starving soul...
who am I to say?

If those who lead in
office, grand
with gross resource
at their command
wield their vice with heavy hand...
who am I to say?

If someone's wid'ning
emerald eyes
feast upon
another's prize-
to glut and then reclines...
who am I to say?

If enemies swing
guns and swords
believing
they've divine support
to fight and maim and kill...
Who am I to say?

If all that's in a
hidden muse
Reeks rancid
poison to infuse-
blotting beauty from the world...
Who am I to say?
But there is One who may.

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:12-13