Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3 is interesting because in Hebrews 1, the author seems to be laying out the facts of what God thinks of Jesus. Then in Hebrews 2, the author is laying out the facts of what Jesus has done. In Hebrews 3, the author cuts to the chase of why he is writing to the Hebrews: "Don't miss this chance to follow Jesus and see the promises of God fulfilled."

Before Jesus, the Jews were God's people. They were the circumcised. They were the ones trying to follow God. They were the ones who could be made righteous. To simplify things, "They were on the right side of the line."

But then Jesus is born, lives, heals people, prays, builds community, starts his church, dies, is resurrected, and ascends to heaven -- and now the Jews (who thought they were on standing on one side of a line with God beside them and on the other side are the sinners, pagans, etc.) find themselves on the opposite side of God standing next to the pagans, sinners, etc.

And they probably stood next to each other and were just perplexed.

"Did you eat pork?"

"No. Did you?"

"No. Of course not. Are you circumcised?"

"Yeah. Twice."

It's not like the Hebrews changed anything theologically to end up on the wrong side. It's not like they posted God's job on Monster.com and were reading over resumes from other gods. God just said, "Look, everything since the beginning of time has been building towards the moment of Jesus. You didn't see it, but that's what I was doing. The whole thing was about Jesus. Your faith was a precursor to Jesus. Accept Jesus and join his church or keep living on obsolete software. You're running Windows 97, Jesus is a Mac. Sorry."

Now, I wonder, if at the time Hebrews was written, how many Hebrews liked the idea of Jesus, couldn't find anything wrong with him, but couldn't bring themselves to abandon tradition?

How many Jews were thinking, "I'm Jewish because I've always been Jewish. My parents were Jewish. My grandparents were Jewish. My great, great, great, great, great, great uncle was Moses' cousin Dennis. This is the way we've always done things. It was right. These christians must just be radical left-wing liberals with bad theology. They aren't reading their pentatuach right -- they probably got an NLV or Message translation of the Pentateuch. This Jesus thing is a fad. I'm sticking with what's tried and true."

How many Hebrews are eternally outside of God's rest not because they didn't like Jesus, not because they didn't turn some of the agreeable things he said into bumper stickers, not because they were that committed to Judaism, but are left out of God's rest because they just couldn't abandon tradition?

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After reading Hebrews 3, I got to thinking: What am I refusing to abandon for Jesus?

Maybe I'm refusing to abandon keeping the peace with friends in favor of speaking truth?

Maybe I'm refusing to abandon how I speak to each of you individually (superficially) in favor of speaking to each of you in a way that acknowledges that you each have your own journeys with Jesus that you are on? Am I relating to each of you in a way that addresses your individual needs and my place in your life so that I can help you address sins, temptations, blessings and graces in your unique lives?

Am I refusing to disagree and question how we do church and community in favor seeing how God would use our time together (whether that's 5 minutes or 5 hours) to sharpen us, mold us, and mature us?

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I feel like the whole of our lives is a series of Jesus saying, "This is the way you used to do things, now do it my way."

This is the way your marriage used to work, now do it my way.

This is the way you used to think about this person, now do it my way.

This is the way you used to earn a living, now do it my way.

This is the way you used to spend your money, now do it my way.

This is the way you used to talk about people, now do it my way.

This is the way you used to find your value and worth, now do it my way.

Hebrews 2

"Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing
outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in
subjection to him." -- Hebrews 2:8

God has made Jesus king. The sky, the sands, the birds, the fish, the
lion, bear, you, me, our money -- all creation is a subject of His
rule. Sometimes, I feel like there are aspects of creation in my life
that I hide like stowaways. It's as if I can keep things out of the
king's sight then they are not his subjects -- out of sight, out of
mind. There are things that I consistently stow away and try to keep
under my rule as opposed to the rule of Jesus. Thoughts, lusts,
desires, jealousies, dreams -- things that for one reason or another I
am afraid to show to the king. If I show them to him, then they will
fall under his rule. If they fall under his rule, then the fates of my
desires, dreams, grudges, thoughts are not longer for me to judge.

I can handle Jesus as a friend. I can handle Jesus as the humble
servant. I can handle Jesus as the long-haired, tree-hugging, hackie-
sack playing, make love/not war, flip-flopped flapping, patchouli-
scented motivational speaker. I struggle greatly with Jesus as my
king. As someone who demands obedience and reverence. For Jesus the
king to demand (lovingly) that I relinquish my hold on my thoughts and
desires is terrifying. He says powerfully and compassionately, "The
loneliness, the hurt, the hope, the ambitions -- give it all to me.
All things -- seen and unseen -- are in subjection to me. Trust me to
be just. Trust me to lead you." Often, I'd rather hold on to my dreams
and watch them suffocate from a lack of trying than give them to Jesus
and see them taken away in an attempt to save me.

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"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself
likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might
destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and
deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the
offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in
every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the
people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able
to help those who are being tempted." -- Hebrews 2:14-18

This passage is so packed full of good stuff.

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood .... " (For us
to know God deeply, he chose to restrict himself to a physical form.)

"... he himself likewise partook of the same things ..." (He ate the
food we ate. Used a restroom. He slept in uncomfortable beds and
stubbed his toe, like me he went through the mundane motions of daily
life.)

" ... that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of
death, that is, the devil, ... " (Jesus came with a mission. He didn't
come on vacation. He didn't come on a book tour. He came for the
purpose of dying a grizzly, brutal, humiliating death so that I could
be freed from my captors.)

"... and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to
lifelong slavery. ..." (He freed us not only from our sins, but from
our fear of dying. He gave us a hope that we would never really die.
We would only close our eyes here and open them elsewhere.)

" ... For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the
offspring of Abraham. ..." (He didn't come to help his fallen angels
or the devil. He came for man -- weak, stupid, selfish, sinful man. I
can't fly. I haven't seen even a glimpse of the wonders they have. I'm
not as impressive as His angels...yet he came to save me.)

"... Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every
respect, ..." (Fingernails, hair, rumbling stomach, ear wax, brushing
his teeth, washing behind his ears, using a restroom, clipping his
fingernails, sleepy, sunburned, foot-falling-asleep Jesus.)

"... so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
the service of God, ..." (He become like us, but he would not stay
like us. He needed to show us that we had a leader who was merciful,
loving, kind, just. He came to show us that we had a high priest who
would speak to God on our behalf and who would give the ultimate
offering so that we could be right with God."

"... to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ..." (He came to
show me how to obey God and how to love God and love others. He came
to be a satisfactory payment for the insurmountable debt I had
accumulated toward God.)

"... For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to
help those who are being tempted." (I can go to Jesus with my
struggles because he faced the same temptations I face, but He did not
sin. That gives me hope that if I can follow in his footsteps, I can
survive temptations without sinning myself. And Jesus really can
relate to all of my struggles. He knows what it is like to feel
physically weaker than others. He knows what it is like to watch his
friends take brides and to know that that is not in your cards. He
knows what it's like to be betrayed, abandoned, forgotten, to have
people talk about you behind your back. He knows what its like to be
accused, questioned, harassed. Jesus knows what pain feels like. Jesus
can sympathize with anyone. That is why he is so great. That's why
he's all I've really got.)

Hebrews 1

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After
making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high,4 having become as much superior to angels as the name
he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." -- Hebrews 1:3-4

I remember being nervous for every job I've ever applied for. I hate
applying for jobs. I always feel under-qualified. Even when I applied
for a job at Movie Gallery in college -- a job with only two
prerequisites: the ability to alphabetize and the ability to wear a
clean shirt to work.

Hebrews 1 reminds me of that. Not that this is Jesus's resume, but
it's his reference letter. To me, it was like the writer of Hebrews is
saying, "OK. you want to know why you should worship and follow Jesus?
OK. Let him have a job interview. Before I give you his credentials,
let me give you his reference letter. He's got one really good
reference letter from a fairly reliable source -- God."

So Hebrews 1 basically says, "Here's why I think you should let Jesus
be your savior..."

"He's my son. I'm his father. [verse5] He takes after good stock."

"Angels (those things that scare the pee out of you when you see
them?) should worship him. [verse6]"

"He's God. He's everlasting. And he rules a kingdom. [verse8]"

"He loves righteousness. He hates wickedness. I've anointed him more
than anybody and done it gladly. [verse9]"

"You know this floating rock you live on? You like the trees and the
air and the food and water? Yeah, he helped me build all this.
[verse10]"

"Billions of years after this rock has worn out and the Energizer
Bunny has croaked, Jesus will still be going strong without a gray
hair on his head. [verse11]"

"When your grandson's grandson's grandson's grandkids are farting
around and making the same mistakes you did, Jesus will still be alive
and well and he'll be offering them the same forgiveness and grace
that he offers you. He won't retire at 65. [verse12]"

"He's my right-hand man. We hang out. We're tight. And anybody that
doesn't like him? Yeah, I make them kneel on their hands and knees so
he can rest his feet on their back for all eternity? Your fingers
hurt? Well your back's gonna hurt cuz you just pulled ottoman duty.
[verse 13]"

What other options are there? Jesus is obviously the most qualified.
Sure, a reference letter is always necessary, but it's usually nice.
Especially if the guy writing the letter has the ability to smite me
with bodily sores.

I don't pay enough attention to the reference letter. Each day I have
to put Jesus through the interview process. Instead of giving him the
job that's rightfully his and letting him rule over me, I keep
throwing him through the battery of questions: "Are you really good,
Jesus? Do you really want to help me, Jesus? Are you really trying to
give me life, Jesus? What if you screw up, Jesus? What if what you try
to give me hurts, Jesus? What if letting you be in charge means I
don't get what I want, Jesus?"

I don't take God's word seriously when he says repeatedly, clearly,
emphatically, pleading with me to let his Son -- the only true Savior
-- have the job of King/brother/best friend in my life.