Christ Memorial Lutheran Church - Houston TX
CMLC 2024-10-06 Sermon (Traditional)
Well howdy. Well today we are beginning to look at Hebrews for about 7 weeks. We spent the last few in James and with it we're going to be looking today at the idea that Jesus is the foundation of our salvation. Now as I say that you may be thinking wait a minute. That seems pretty obvious already. Jesus died and with that killed off destroyed our sins with him. And then rose into new life and we have the hope of the resurrection. Pretty straightforward we all know this. But I would venture to say that Jesus being the founder of our salvation is not always the same as what we claim to be our faith. And that's something that I think we need to clarify a little bit today in looking at Hebrews. And in looking at Hebrews I was reminded of something that I had heard when I went to China. I was in China for about a year and I did not know the language. I tried learning. I got little bits and pieces here and there. I could tell them I want this. I want that go straight in the taxi. Stuff like that. But there would be some people who were very fluent. Even westerners like ourselves would be there and be fluent in Mandarin Chinese. And what I had heard was that there was this one man that had gone up to a train teller. I wanted to grab a train ticket getting to another city and was speaking to the person in fluent Mandarin Chinese to say I would like a train ticket and where he wanted to go. And the person behind the counter kept singing but kept saying I'm sorry I don't speak English. And the guy stopped and he said again in fluent Mandarin Chinese to the person I'm not speaking English. I'm speaking Chinese. I would like a train ticket. This is where I'd like to go. And the man behind the counter again says I'm sorry sir. I do not speak English. Until finally the second person in line had to lean around this person being a local Chinese citizen saying sir stop it. He is speaking in Mandarin. Listen to him. And then finally the westerner once again says I would like a train ticket and this is where I'd like to go. And finally the man behind the counter gets it and gives the man the train ticket. And what really stood out about this is that it wasn't what the man was saying. It wasn't about the fact that yeah he was speaking fluently but it was just about what the man behind the counter was looking for. And then in his mind when he saw the person not from his country he did not expect to hear something that would make sense to him. See oftentimes we are specifically looking for a specific person or specific type of person to share what we expect to hear. How often is it that we do that in our lives all the time? We see or hear from a specific type of person whether it be what they look like, what their gender is, what their party is, whether they are similar to us. And then we automatically filter it through that lens of whether we listen or we don't. But in our Hebrews passage the reason why it stands out is because they were looking in the Jewish community for angelic figures to give these messages from God. And the thing is is that it was so important to them because of what they had had in their history. They were looking for someone who gave a certain appearance. The thing is is that instead of looking and seeing what Jesus had said and done is that instead they still wanted something affirmed by something supernatural, something that was other word worldly. But don't we oftentimes do the same? How much we have a fascination with this hope that maybe there are angels that are speaking and maybe they are hitchhiking down a highway or speaking with the Scottish accent. Whatever it might be that we think is going to somehow be the angel that is going to say something amazing to us and we wish for it. But it is a small step then that hope for the supernatural becomes a desire to hear from anything spiritual. Even to the point where I'm standing there having to pray over somebody who thought that they were speaking to their guardian angel using a Ouija board and having to help them because they realized that the voice they kept hearing was not angelic at all. Because when we don't hear from God what other source is there to hear from the spiritual realm. And that's the thing with this is that we don't need to be waiting to hear from something spiritual out in the world because we've already been given everything because everything has been finished by Christ. The thing about this is that it points out in here is that God the Father made it very clear. This is my son. I'm pleased in him. Listen to him. Follow him. And then on top of that is that you had the disciples that had walked with him. Spent this time with them. They kept showing and seeing what it was, who it was, what he had done and said and everything. And to realize that Jesus time and time again had done all of these miraculous signs and wonders not just to try to gain that tension but to proclaim hope and future and grace and love and mercy that a person is able to be able to walk or can hear or can see not because that by itself was so important but because it was able to bring them to know Christ Jesus and that through him we are given the Holy Spirit. And that every time we walk and we speak because we're saying God I need you to lead me. I need you to be the one to guide me. And the Holy Spirit moves us and affirms us and says this is the way that you know Christ Jesus would want you to go. We already have everything. And yet how often do we ignore that? Because it's not enough somehow. See that's the thing about it is that we are oftentimes so distracted because Christ Jesus feels too normal. It's just a little bit too every day for us which maybe is part and parcel for the fact that so many people claim to be Christian so we just see it as normal now instead of realizing just how abnormal Jesus truly is. That's the thing about this is that when Jesus lowered himself to earth he said that's not what we were expecting from God. We weren't expecting God to be there with brown hair and tallest hands and a penchant for wine and really good wine too. We're looking for yet Jesus ends up breaking the mold. See that's the thing about this is that that idea of seeing Jesus and knowing that he's human this is so difficult to grasp that somehow being human did not diminish his being divine. There used to be this teaching that came back and forth throughout the time of the church especially the early church. They called it the tappinatacon and what it was is that they were like well Jesus had to let go of being divine at least in part in order to be the human side because we end up seeing that how could he do these things if he's truly God. And we oftentimes end up looking at Hebrews and we sometimes take it out of context. See out of scripture there were thirteen of the books that were discussed and debated as to are we sure that these are ones that we should be including. And Hebrews especially was debated in the early church because they didn't know for sure who wrote it. It doesn't seem to be one of the original twelve. How can we be sure? But the reason why they knew it to be something to include in scripture was because they were reading it and looking at it through the lens of the rest of scripture. And that when we see things like Jesus lowering himself. He said you're not supposed to take it out of the context of the rest of the Bible that shows that lowering himself, humbling himself, did not stop him from being God. And that's the thing with this is that Jesus did not have any flaw or any loss of who he was. And that's one of the things in here when it talks about the completion. The completion of Jesus is that this isn't somehow that dying on the cross somehow now made him something that he wasn't before. It was completing the tasks that needed to be done that he had come to take on. That in being the savior of the world was leading up to this event. It's sort of like if you were to be asking about the 2017 Astros. When were the 2017 Astros? The best team in the MLB? Was it only when they finished winning the World Series? Not really. The team throughout that whole season was that same team doing the same things, living, working, winning. But it was completed in the World Series. It's the same person just getting to that point of the task that needs to be done. But that's the thing about this is that we as people, we struggle with Jesus walking among us and being human and what that means. Because we oftentimes struggle with the idea of humility. We don't like humility. We like loud. We like bold. We like forceful. We like people who get what they want when they want it. They want it now. The idea of somebody being humble and patient and long suffering, we don't just struggle with that with Jesus. We just struggle with that in general. And that's the thing with this is that as much as we keep saying that we know who Jesus is, is that we struggle to know that he was honored for the suffering. Not in spite of the suffering, honored for having suffered. That's the thing about this. Is that in suffering on the cross, is that this is what accomplished what was needed. Because instead of just saying, oh, I see that you go through human life and that you struggle and you suffer. I see that. Oh, okay. Well, good luck with that. Is instead, no, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be in it. But not only that, I'm going to let you and all of your misconceptions of what you think God is supposed to do, I'm going to let you subject me to that. I'm going to let you punish me because of your misunderstanding. I'm going to let you kill me because of your mistake. Why? Because I'm taking the punishment on myself. And that's the thing about this is that in so doing, not only did Jesus walk on this earth and understand what it is to be us, but also to say, I'm going to love you enough that I'm going to let you kill me. And I'm still going to forgive you. We have a hard time with that, not just because of seeing it on the cross, but also in living it out in our life as well. We have a hard time with this idea that somehow our life and our faith, this is about yelling loud enough and making sure we force everybody into what we want, but rather it's in suffering for other people. There have been times that I've heard that some people have decided that they don't necessarily like to hear the sermons that are kind and forgiving. What's fascinating is that if you go back and you look at sermons from the last five years, you're going to hear a lot of law in them. But the problem is why it doesn't feel like maybe the sermons of the past is because we also need you to grasp the grace of God with it. It's always funny whenever somebody says that they want to hear more of the hell and damnation sermons. I want to make sure that you have shown everybody that they're condemned to hell. And then the funny part is that then they aren't sitting in the pews and it's like if you really were committed, then you would be listening to whatever the sermon is from the Word of God, whether you like it or not. Isn't it ironic? Don't you think? A little too ironic? Yes, I really do think. I know it's there and for those of you who don't get it, just Google, Alanis Morissette, it'll be, well maybe don't, never mind, the 90s. But that's the thing with this, is that if we're truly preaching Christ Jesus, is that it's not about trying to show everybody the condemnation that makes us somehow feel comfortable, but rather it is bringing to people a grace and a mercy that we know we needed first. See, that's the thing about the high priest, is the high priest is not going to that altar with the lamb or even with somebody else, because the perfect high priest went to the altar and put himself on it. Are you willing to be that kind of Christian? Are you willing to be the person who puts yourself in the way so that others can come to know Christ? Because that is the hard part, but it's also the way that Jesus founded our salvation. Because Jesus in humility gave of himself. So maybe we do face a world where we're oftentimes attacked, put on our back foot, offended, frustrated, it's true. But is the answer really to be louder and more aggressive in return? Or is it maybe that by showing humility, compassion, and mercy that people might actually see Jesus and in so doing come to know the Savior who gave himself for us, who gave himself for you? Thanks be to God.