The good new days
Introduction: Useless
• I am the uncultured son of relatively uncultured parents – all of us from basically peasant stock, who enjoy the simple rather than the fine things of life. However, like many North Shore boys, I did my big overseas adventure, and went to Europe, where I visited just about all the great European art galleries – Rome, Florence, Venice, London, Vienna, Paris etc.
• 2 things struck me – first, most of them, it seemed to me, had a quality issue – far too many paintings, not so many good ones, although when I said this to my wife Catriona, who is from near aristocratic Scottish background, she laughed at me. But second, there were a lot of paintings of Jesus – thousands and thousands of him. But the most obvious thing was that most of them were around the Christmas theme – paintings of the baby Jesus in the powerful protective arms of Mary, with lots of angels looking over him.
• now, I love babies – I’ve had 3 of them myself, or at least Catriona has, and there are few more lovely things than a baby, except perhaps a 1 year old, or a 2 year old or a 10 year old; babies are lovely, but they are useless. Helpless, feeble, dependent. And I found myself getting increasingly angry as looked at all these depictions of baby Jesus, meek and mild, basically useless. Christmas, which the shops are already licking their lips for, the time when we celebrate the great grace of God in the giving of his Son, is the beginning of the story, but it’s not the end, it’s no where near the end. In fact, not even the other great scene you see in all those art galleries, Jesus hanging limp on the cross, is the end of the story. No the end of the story, the part that we inhabit, is the raised, vindicated, ascended Lord Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of God in glory, ruling until all the enemies of God are defeated.
• it is this vision that the author of the letter to the Hebrews sketches for his readers. Unlike many of the letters in the NT we know very little of the circumstances and situation of the letter to the Hebrews; we have almost nothing to go on in terms of who wrote it, where he was when he wrote it, or when he wrote it. Three things stand out, one a little uncertain, the other two fairly certain.
first, from the second last sentence in the letter, we learn that there are Italians with the author, who send their greetings to the readers. If that’s the case, then it’s not beyond imagining that that’s where the readers themselves live, and since Rome is the most significant place in Italy, it’s quite possible that the readers were in Rome.
Second, what is clear is that these are Christians under pressure, a pressure you and I can perhaps imagine, but not much more. The author says, not very encouragingly, that they have not yet suffered to the point of shedding their blood, which carries with it the grim implication that it may not be long. And in response to this pressure, it seems 2 things are happening, On the one hand, some, presumably those directly affected, are seriously considering ditching the Christian walk altogether, abandoning Christ, hardening their hearts, falling away. But on the other hand, there’s another group, perhaps on the sidelines a little, for whom the pressure is not so immediate, who see their friends suffering, who are not contemplating any grand move away of Christ, but are just slowing down in their devotion to Christ, drifting in their Christian lives, becoming dull in their understanding, wandering aimlessly with drooping hands and weak knees. And the author speaks to both of them.
And then third, the alternative to Christ for these readers is not irreligion, not just indulging themselves – in the first century, that option wasn’t really on the table. They could turn to the pagan gods, but instead, the alternative for these readers is Judaism, a favoured religion in the Roman empire, which attracted neither attention nor persecution, and it seems is from where these readers started in the first place. And so all the way through, the author is contrasting Christianity with Judaism, Christ with Moses, Christ’s sacrifice with temple sacrifices. The letter to the Hebrews is a relentless statement about the supremacy, the excellence, the glory of Christ.
• now, of course, the challenges facing the Hebrews are hardly likely to be your or my specific issues. I can’t think of the last person I spoke to who was in a dilemma over Christianity or Judaism. But that doesn’t mean that Hebrews won’t speak directly to each of us. I suspect there are times we will all suffer for being Christians, not dramatically perhaps, but nonetheless real – the contempt of work colleagues and potentially discrimination when promotion and bonus time comes; a kind of vague disinterest or uneasiness people have around you because they know you’re not into slagging people off behind their backs or endlessly boasting about your latest technological acquisition or renovation; or just the constant assumption of our society that Christianity is for fools, so if you’re a Christian then you’re a fool.
• but I wonder if sometimes we don’t suffer greatly at least in part because we have adopted the other strategy of the Hebrews, a kind of Christian go-slow. Full devotion as God’s children will cost time and money and energy and a general re-ordering of priorities. It doesn’t happen by accident, but requires the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through genuine self-discipline and focus. And so the alternative becomes to drift along, aware that there is more to the Christian life as it is described in the Bible, but not quite sure that you want to be that extreme, that dedicated, that holy.
• and underlying this seems to me to be a fear – a deep seated, almost primal fear that God’s way might not be the best way, that to walk in the footsteps of Christ will be to live half a life, and that you will find yourself regretful that you missed out. I was speaking to a friend recently for whom this is especially acute – he told me that for the last 10 years, he has been attracted to other men, but that for the sake of Christ, he has not acted on that attraction. What does it take for him to keep believing that the way of Jesus is the best way for his life, staring down the barrel of a decade after decade of celibacy?
• no, our situation is not so very different from the Hebrews, the details have changed, but the structure is profoundly similar. And so to us as to them, our author paints a picture of the power and glory and majesty of Jesus. Listen to it again, Heb 1.1–4
2. Crowned with Glory and Honour (Heb 1.1–2.9)
a) Heb 1.1–4: Through a Son who is now Seated at the Right Hand of God!
Heb. 1:1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made 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.
• Now this is a very dense passage, and it’s easy to get lost in the verbiage and take only one thing from it, the fact that God has spoken by his Son in a decisive way and thereby revealed himself. And that is true, wonderfully true – in the past God spoke in many and various ways to our ancestors (if we were Israelites, that is), but now in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son. There is all the difference in the world between these two forms of speaking – the prophets speak second hand words, if I can put it like that, what they hear from someone else they pass on. But the Son is the word of God at first hand, directly, without any break in the communication – he is the reflection of God’s glory, and the exact imprint of his very being. There is no gap to be crossed between the Son and the Father, as their is between the prophet and the Father. He is God with us, or as the gospels put it, Emmanuel. Of course, this has profound implications – if you want to know what God’s mind is, you need to be in touch with the Son, this Son, where God has disclosed his mind and purposes, and hence read and meditate upon the Scriptures, which bring to us the words and deeds and ways of the Son.
• But there is much more here than simply revelation – for example, the key phrase in the entire first section is probably, ‘in these last days’. It’s a phrase that ought to ring bells for us; the last days is the time of consummation, the time when God finally puts his plan into effect and wraps things us, gets the show on the road, and fixes up the mess. From our perspective, the last days have been going for a long time – around 2000 years. But that doesn’t change the fact that these days are the last days before the changing of the ages, and so are a time of waiting and expectation. The last days are not days of striving and uncertainty, but clarity and peace, since the decisive phase has past. These are days to stay the course.
• In what sense are these the last days? Do you see how the author describes it? These are the last days in the sense that the final last day has been decided – Jesus has been appointed heir of all things. We are constantly reminded that the biggest transfer of wealth in history will take place over the next couple of decades, as the baby boomers leave their vast accumulated wealth to their various heirs. Well, here is an inheritance to end all inheritances – literally. Jesus has been appointed the heir of all things, not just some things, not just some people, not just some institutions and companies, all things in heaven and earth have their destiny and journey’s end in Jesus – you and me and our work and our houses and our investments – it’s been decided where they will finally reside – with Jesus. That’s what makes it the last days now – because the end point has been determined. There is no lack of clarity about where the whole show is going, no uncertainty about how it’s all going to turn out – the score is 150 – 0, and there’s just a few minutes of play to go – these are the last days., the victor is all but crowned. What’s more, this is entirely appropriate – all things belong in his hands at the end because all things were created through his hands in the beginning, this One is the one through whom God created all things.
• But this status of the Son as the heir of all things is not a mere appointment, the way that the queen appoints a goveror-general. No way, this is an achievement. You see it is the second half of v. 3 – when he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. This is why the appointment of Jesus as the heir of all things is the clicking of the clock to the last days – because purification for sins has been finally and fully accomplished, and Jesus has sat down. Next week we’ll see that sitting down is in fact a reference to Ps 110, one of Jesus’ self-defining Psalms, one of the early church’s favourite psalms and where ch 1 of Hebrews ends up. For the moment, remember that Biblical sitting here is not the way you or I might sit, a function of exhaustion or tiredness, but of power and authority, security and safety, at the right hand of God.
• purification for sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Do you remember the movie JFK, and the crazy bullet theory, which Kevin Costner the lawyer tries to discredit by showing the movement of JFK’s head when he was shot – back, and left, back and left, back and left. Well Hebrews has the same approach – purification from sins, seated at the right hand of God, purification from sins, seated at the right hand of God – dozens of times in Hebrews. This is the great achievement of the Son, through which he has been appointed heir of all things. He has made purification for sins – rendered them in effect a thing of the past, a way of life that is to be left behind, belonging to the former days, not these last days. But this purification is not merely in the sense of forgiveness, although it is beautifully that, but also purification in the sense of actually getting rid of them from your life, precisely because the Son is still on the job, seated at the right hand of the Father, sleeves rolled up and working as hard as ever, interceding every day for you and for the world in these last days, that all of us would get with the program, see what has happened, know what is true and so as the author puts it in ch 12, lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Conclusion: Drifting
so the question I want to leave you with today is this – what would change in your life and in mine if we really got this? If you and I woke each morning with this kind of clarity and conviction? How would your life be manifestly different because Jesus is the resurrected, ascended living Lord, the leader of the world? Don’t think of the small things – what job you do and where you live and all that sort of thing – think of the really big things, what sort of person you are, how compassionate your character is, whether you are growing hotter or colder as a Christian. Can you see how the decision as to whether to abandon Christ, or even embark on a go slow devotion, just recedes as a sensible option? For me, three things come to mind.
• the first is this – were I to really grasp the reality that these are the last days because Jesus is now appointed the heir of all things through his great achievement of making purification for sins and being invited to sit at the right hand of the Father, I think I would be a more joyful person. Sometimes I wonder whether getting older is simply about the accumulation of more and more responsibilities – marriage, kids, house, job, friends, committees, ministries, and so on and so on. And some do OK and some do less than OK – and all that responsibility can weigh you down. But when you look to Jesus – the one who has borne the ultimate responsibility, borne it to hell and back, has taken those responsibilities to the right hand of the Father, and so the bottom line is that I am free. The future is secure, in him, I know how my life turns out. Every now and again a time travel movie comes out, and the point is always the same – the future is what you make it – but that’s not true – the future is what he has made it, he has been appointed the heir of all things, the future belongs to him, and therefore to all who are his. And that puts all those potentially joy dampening weights and responsibilities and clashes and disappointments in their right perspective.
• but second, I think that if I were to really grasp with greater attention the reality that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, sustaining all things by his powerful word, I would be a more prayerful person. This actually underlies the first one, doesn’t it. The way we can rejoice in the Lord is to make our requests known to God in prayer – with Jesus at the right hand of the father, the throne of God is a throne of grace, which we can approach with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.
• and finally, in living in the reality that these are the last days, I am hoping and praying that I will become increasingly passionate about seeing people around me who don’t know Christ saved. For Jesus’ sake, and for their sake, people who are not Christian need to come to Christ – he is their only hope, he is their true Lord, who has made purification for their sins and is reigning at the right hand of the Father, and I am hoping that as individuals and as a church, we can burn with a spiritual zeal for the salvation of souls for the glory of Jesus.
Where in your life are you feeing the gap, the gap between what you know is true and how you actually live? The gap between the fact that Jesus these are the last days because Jesus has been appointed heir of all things, and the different ways you make decisions and feed habits and let slide sins that all belong to the former days? It might be a area of service at church or in your community that you know you are gifted for but just not sure that you want to make the commitment, it seems like a lot of effort? Or perhaps it is a habitual sin that you are resisting being purified from? Or maybe it’s a relationship that is out of kilter, and the time has come for you to do something about it? Maybe you need to pray that most dangerous of prayers – ‘Lord, show me how you want me to grow; whatever it takes, make me your fully devoted child’. Wherever the challenge lies for you, know that Jesus has been appointed the heir of all things, that the future is secure, it lies in the safe hands of Jesus, and so giving your utmost for his highest makes all the sense in the world.
• let’s pray.
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