Goal: That the hearers take comfort that God in Christ identified so intimately with us in the flesh to lift us to membership in the family of God.

Transcription

1 20 th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Hebrews 2:1-13 Connected in Christ Goal: That the hearers take comfort that God in Christ identified so intimately with us in the flesh to lift us to membership in the family of God. Hebrews 2:1, Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. The blood of Jesus Christ, God s Son, cleanses us from all sin. In the waters of Holy Baptism, we have been washed in the blood of Jesus making us to be clothed in the white robes of Christ s righteousness. By grace through faith, we are now connected, that is, joined in relationship to the Savior s death and resurrection. Hebrews 2 shows us, then, the intimate spiritual relationship that we have with our Triune God. Those whose lives are bound to Christ by faith will want to joyfully hear His Word and worship lest we fall away from the family of God and become spiritually divorced. Our attention, our eyes must be focused on Jesus the One who forgives our sins, calls us His children, and makes us to be very heirs of eternal life. (Pause) Wedding services are filled with beauty, joy, and good wishes. After the vows of faithfulness are exchanged, the couple is recognized and announced as husband and wife. Right after this, these words of Jesus appear as a solemn warning, What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate (Mk 10:7). That same kind of beauty and reverence is held before us in the Book of Hebrews. Chapter 1 details the supremacy of God s Son. Jesus is the radiance of God s glory and the exact imprint of His nature. Having died on the Cross and bodily risen from the grave, Jesus now sits at the right hand of His Father. He is far superior to anything else in all creation.

2 This beautiful description of Jesus shifts to a warning in chapter 2:1, Pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. This warning isn t about letting your mind and eyes wander while you hear a sermon. We re all guilty of that! No, this warning is about separating, divorcing, drifting away from the hearing of God s Word. Our Lutheran Confessions say in the Augsburg Confession, Article V, So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ s sake. So that we may obtain this faith God gives us His Word and Sacraments. As the body needs physical nourishment and food to remain healthy, alive, and grow, so too, souls redeemed by Jesus need to receive His gifts. The Word of God is powerful to save and to encourage and strengthen faith. The psalmist writes in 119:105, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Paul writes in Romans 10:17, Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. (Pause) Parents want to make sure that their children are always safe especially when playing outside. Stay away from the road. Wear your helmet when you ride your bike, and so on and so forth. Parents want to make sure that their children are safe inside the home. Medicines and poisonous materials are either locked up or stored away on a high shelf. Parents teach their children to brush their teeth and get them back and forth to school and many events. A noted pastor and professor of the Church once said, Worship is play. By that he didn t mean, however, that worship is foolish or unimportant. He was talking about our relationship as children of God. As human parents strive to teach their children the things of life

3 and as they take them back and forth here and there, so, too, is the importance of doing the same when it comes to the things of Christ. Just as we teach our children to brush their teeth, we teach them to pray and we bring them to church and Sunday School. Drifting away from God s house, no matter your age in life, puts you in great danger of losing His protection and help. What are the things that cause us to drift? Sports. 4-H. The lake. Hunting season. Now, these things are not bad. In fact, they can be quite relaxing and enjoyable. But what takes precedence? When it comes to the things of God over and against all other activities, God normally and usually comes in second place. Our text from Hebrews 2 uses a word that describes a boat that becomes untied from the dock and, because of contrary winds, simply drifts away. The contrary winds are false doctrines or teachings that contradict the pure and true Gospel. The apostle Paul even uses boating language when he warns in Ephesians 4 against being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (14). Hear again Hebrews 2:1-3(a), Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? The danger of neglecting God s Word, as we have heard in Hebrews 2, is as drastic as it says in Hebrews 6:4-6, For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

4 (Pause) It is so good to be connected. Try as you might to live an individual and secluded life, in the end, it just won t work. We were made for relationships and fellowship. So, the warning demands nothing more of us than that we remain connected, in the hearing of God s Word. That connection happens here, in this house of worship. As that Word goes out, God the Holy Spirit does the connecting and the saving. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh who dwelt among us. This is the amazing miracle that is also the point of our text that God the Creator should take on our human nature and be at one with His creation in this way. The bottom line of salvation is that, in the bodily resurrection on the Last Day, we will not only be restored to the status of Adam and Eve before the fall, but even greater, to the status of our Brother, Jesus, as fellow heirs of the Kingdom! This all came about in the ultimate purpose of Christ s taking on our human flesh. In this manner, Jesus left heaven by humbling Himself. Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Jesus fully drank the poison of your death so that you might not die eternally. He completely fulfilled God s Law and became the one perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. Hebrews 2:14-15, Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself 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. Because of Jesus suffering and death on that bloody cross, our salvation is made complete. When Hebrews 2:10 says that the founder of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, it uses the same Greek word that our Lord spoke from the cross when He said, It is finished (Jn 19:30). The work of saving us is finished. Done. Complete. Perfect.

5 By faith, the death and resurrection of Christ are ours. In Christ, we are now called His brothers and made fellow inheritors of heaven. Hebrews 2:11, For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers. Likewise, Paul wrote to Timothy, If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:1-12a). (Pause) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ by virtue of our Baptism s into His Name, we have the promise and guarantee that Christ will never drift away from us. 2 Timothy 2:13, If we are faithless, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself. You ve heard me say this before, but I ll say it here again. The Christian doesn t have to worship. The Christian gets to worship. The Christian wants to worship. The Christian doesn t have to be generous. The Christian gets to be generous. So, I put before you this challenge: come to worship 4 straight weeks and notice the powerful, positive impact that it has in your daily and weekly life. Strive to tithe the money that our dear Lord has first given to you. After 4 straight weeks, a good habit will have been set. In worship, we are connected to not only God but to one another. Having confessed our sins, we share the peace of Christ as His forgiven brothers and sisters. We receive the gift of His body and blood in Holy Communion. In worship, we receive a good conscience on account of Christ crucified and Him risen. By faith, we are connected connected to one another and connected to Christ. As we are learning in the Every One His Witness Bible study, we want others that we know to be connected too. Pray for them. Invite them, so that they, too, might join us in the worship of the Christ who has tasted death for them, so that they, and us, will not die eternally. Amen.