You can’t change this! Thoughts from Hebrews 13:7-16

I once saw a picture in the Wall Street Journal of a super taster’s tongue. The photo compared the number of taste buds on such a person’s tongue with that of a normal person. It was an incredible difference.

I suddenly understood why it is some people react so strongly to salty, sweet or slightly stale foods when I almost never have such a reaction and wonder why they do.

It also made me wonder if there is a “wimpy taster’s tongue,” where the number of taste buds are significantly less than that of a normal person. I also wondered if I am such a person because most foods taste pretty bland to me unless they are spicy hot, very sweet or extremely salty.

I’ve been more observant about this since I saw that picture and notice that people with finely crafted palates take their time with food and savor it. The smells of preparing and then consuming their meals are higher art than the usual sub sandwich and large drink from a paper cup that I prefer. I’ve also learned that I enjoy dining with people like this–my daughter and one of my sisters-in-law are key examples, because they help me slow down and savor the complexities of the foods they enjoy.

How true is this for you? Think about the difference between a candy bar and richly layered baked from scratch chocolate cake. Both are chocolate. If you devour them you barely notice the difference. If you take your time, however, and are conscious of each bite, you begin to notice a substantial difference. Some of us can do this more readily than others, but we all benefit by being more conscious of the potential beauty of what we are eating.

We have a similar experience when we open the Scriptures to learn what God says to us. Our tendency is to read quickly and hope something jumps out and makes a difference in our spiritual or moral lives. Sometimes it does. More often, however, we have to take a more deliberate and reflective approach. If we don’t we will miss God who so often speaks in a still, small voice. If our minds and hearts are not quiet, we will not hear it.

It is the difference between speeding to a destination in a high-powered car while the radio is blasting and we are balancing a cell phone on our knees and a cup of coffee in one hand, or walking to a destination and leaving early so that we can take our time. In the first scenario we arrive without having noticed the world around us. In the second, our minds are aware, rested and ready for action.

We need to be deliberate when we study scripture. A major benefit of a nicely crafted worship service is that it can prepare the mind to do so. If we are in personal study, finding the quiet space to read, reflect and pray is helpful for our spiritual digestion. Consider this text from Hebrews for instance. If we rush through a reading of it a faithful person will re-affirm that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. But if they are deliberately focused they will know why. Their faith will be strengthened with a deeper conviction of how true and important it is to have an unchanging Savior.

One purpose that can be claimed in studying Hebrews 13  is to receive encouragement as a Christian, and to be reminded of what is important for our spiritual development after we receive Jesus as Savior, after our baptism, and once we have begun exercising our spiritual gifts in ministry.  We could think about it this way:

•  If you feel lost, then God’s call in your life is to receive his salvation offered in Jesus Christ. Then be baptized as a public confession of your intention to be a follower of Jesus.
• If you wonder if God has a plan for your life then sit down with a trusted mentor to figure out where your greatest joy intersects with the needs of the world so that you can begin engaging in ministry now, where you are, with what you have.
• And if you have done these things and wonder if there isn’t something more of God that you are missing, then you are ready for what Hebrews 13 offers.

A study of the first six verses shows that going deeper into Christian living is not about accumulating more experiences at different types of revival meetings, or collecting more versions of the bible, or owning thirteen types of portraits of Jesus, as much as it is incorporating faith into the everyday aspects of how life is organized. It is about developing a household that can show hospitality and has capacity to care for other believers who might find themselves in prison or in a prolonged illness. It is about developing a household–whether we are married or single–that honors marriage as a portrait of Christ’s relationship with the church. It is about developing a household that attests to faith in God over the desire to accumulate material wealth..  In other words, if we feel as if our Christian life is going nowhere, we need to ask ourselves if this kind of capacity exists in the way our households are organized. If it does not, then we have an answer as to why we feel spiritually dissatisfied. We do not need to look any further.

Now, as we consider verses 7-16, we find the writer of this letter to Hebrew Christians is finding multiple ways to say the same thing because he repeats the theme:

            Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share      with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  (vv.15,16).

Worship and loving service to others needs to be the focus of Christian living. If it isn’t present, it is no small wonder we would feel disconnected from God.

Notice again, how these two verses start: “Through Jesus.” In effect, we need to know Jesus if we are going to bring praise to God and then turn and take the risk of doing good and sharing with others. The writer of the Hebrews wants to make sure we know about him and uses the preceding verses to tell us a little about him.

He begins by telling us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (v.8). If we read this passage quickly it almost appears like a parenthesis, something disconnected between the thoughts surrounding it. The writer talks about showing respect to the leaders who go before us, and then shifts to talking about the High Priest and the offering of sacrifices. The comment about Jesus in crossing all of the eons drops into the middle. The point of connection between these thoughts gets lost unless we slow down enough to grasp the complexity of thought, savoring all the writers wants to tell us.

As I’ve studied the passage, I find it easier to explain by working at the writer’s logic in reverse.

•  We do good and worship Jesus because we identify with him.  Why do we identify with him?
• Because we are with him outside the city.What in the world does that mean?
• The writer to the Hebrews compares Jesus to the sacrifice carried outside the city, not the normal type of sacrifice from which those serving in the temple might eat and provide for their families, but the type of sacrifice that needs a scapegoat. The reference here is to the day of Atonement in Leviticus 10, a day when the people and the priesthood makes sure all sins are covered, all sins are paid for: the sins of the people and the sins of the priests, the sins that they know about and the sins they did not, the sins that they did and the sins committed against them, the sins committed by their actions and the sins committed by their inaction. It was such an important sacrifice that two animals were involved. The first was not killed but banished to the wilderness. The second, the one representing all the sins of everyone, was killed at the temple but then carried outside the city to be burned and then discarded. This is the type of sacrifice Jesus is:  for all your sins–those you committed by acting or not acting. Those that harmed you. Those that harmed others. Those that were not just done by you, but done to you. By believing in Jesus, we are outside the city with him, no longer needing a sacrifice to pay for our sins, but with the One whose sacrifice paid for our sins. Our citizenship is now outside the city with him. Our identity is based here, and it is the reason we worship and serve others, because we identify with the lamb who was slain and by whose slaughter a people was made from every tribe, language, people and nation, who become a new priesthood who worship God and serve others, making it possible for others to find their citizenship and identity with Jesus outside the city.
• This is the Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever. This is the Jesus followed by our leaders we now seek to emulate. They are a model, showing us it can be done. We now can be a model showing others it can be done.

So let’s return to this verse in the middle about Jesus, the one that at first glance seems parenthetical, but now we know it is not. And let us allow this verse to be a calling to us:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday. Who is Jesus? Oh yes, the one who has paid for all my sins. Those who went before me–parents, grandparents, church leaders, neighbors, previous co-workers, knew this and followed him. Yes, some claimed to and botched it up pretty good. Those are not the leaders we remember. We call to mind the good examples. The people who were definitely human, but found a way to make their life a testimony of God’s goodness, God’s forgiveness and a life of worship and service.

Jesus Christ is the same today. Who is Jesus? Oh yes, the one whom I identify with and serve. I now am a model for others who will come after me. I now seek to be a good example, someone who is human yet authentic, finding a way to make my life a testimony of God’s goodness, God’s forgiveness and to live a life of worship and service.

Jesus Christ is the same forever. Who is Jesus? Oh yes, the Lamb of God slain from the foundations of the world. The one who shows mercy to us all. He is our hope, our promised reward. It is to him we offer our lives of worship and service.

So, let us return to what we know to be true. Let us dust off our bibles and get our noses in them. Let’s put creases in our journals and callouses on our knees. Let’s get our prayer closets unlocked. Let’s mark periods of sabbath in our calendars and smartphones so that we make a priority of worship with God and intimacy with our family and friends. Let’s set aside the firstfruits of our incomes again, and prioritize time for worship and service. Let this be the testimony we live, and the avenue of our growth in Christ.

If we do this the resurrected Christ will show up and increase the health and outreach of our congregations. Not because Jesus returned after an absence, but because we started believing in him again.

-mark l vincent