Hebrews 4:

2018 09.09 Hebrews 4:12-16 12 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. 14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 1

Faith Favors the Bold Most of us are not by nature risk takers. We re risk averse. We re cautious. We may take calculated risks now and then, when necessary, or when our chance of success is favorable, but we generally shy away from taking a risk if we don t have to. That s certainly true for me. I m generally more cautious than bold. The greatest risk I ever took was to quit my job as a copywriter to go to seminary. I gave up a good salary, along with health insurance and a retirement plan, to go back to school after almost two decades away from a classroom. My father, the most-risk averse person I ever knew, thought I was crazy. But even so, quitting my job and going to seminary was a calculated risk. If seminary didn t work out, I could have returned to copywriting, if not with my previous employer then with another. But I once knew someone who was true risk taker. I met Brad back when I was still playing in a band. This was almost twenty years ago. My band was playing at a house party somewhere downtown in New York. We were one of three bands to play that night. We were scheduled to go on second, but we set up first because the act before us was a solo act and didn t have any gear of his own to set up. I was still tinkering with my drums when this surfer-looking dude walked up to the stage with his acoustic guitar. He did not look like he was from New York. He was wearing cut-off shorts and sandals and had long brown hair parted down the middle. He looked like he had wandered in from the beach. (I know Manhattan is an island, but it doesn t have any beaches.) He warmed up by strumming a few chords from a song. As he did, I began to play along softly. I ll never forget him turning around with his big, broad grin and saying to me, Dude, I don t play with a drummer, but if you want to join me tonight that would be cool! I did. And that was my introduction to Brad. 2

Brad was playing solo that night, but he also had a band. It wasn t so much a band as a loose association of actors and comedians who all played an instrument. They happened to be looking for a drummer. He invited me to join them, and I accepted. Unlike my band, which split all of our expenses three ways, Brad paid for everything himself. He paid for rehearsal space. He paid for transportation. He paid for drinks after a gig. He did all of this with his retirement savings. Brad had moved to New York City from North Carolina, where he worked in the furniture industry. One day he decided he wanted out. He quit his job, cashed out his savings, and moved to New York City to try to make a living acting in independent films and playing music. There was no going back for him. No safety net. No Plan B. Fortunately, he s still at it. I haven t spoken to Brad in fifteen years, but I looked him up online. He still lives in New York [SLIDE] where he runs a music program for young children and their parents. I have to say that I admire Brad s boldness, his willingness to take a risk, not because he had to, but because he didn t have to. Brad wasn t afraid to fail. I m sure that playing at preschoolers birthday parties was not what he had in mind when he decided to pursue a career in music, but he still makes a living doing something that he loves. If he had allowed fear to rule him, he might still be living in North Carolina and selling furniture, which isn t wrong in and of itself, but it was wrong for him. Fear keeps us from being bold when bold action or bold words are called for. Let me first define what I mean by bold. Although I cited it as an example, I m not talking about the boldness that it takes to quit your job and pursue your dream. Nor am I talking about the boldness of a onetime thrill-seeking adventure, like skydiving or bungee jumping. Yes, those both require a form of boldness, but the kind of boldness I mean is what the writer of Hebrews refers to in today s passage [SLIDE]: Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness (Heb. 4:16a). 3

As Christians we are called to boldness. We dare to believe what to the world seems like foolishness. We believe in a God who in Jesus of Nazareth took human flesh, was crucified, and was raised to new life. Rejecting what the world values, we dare to live in a way that reflects his life, death, and resurrection. We dare to make peace with our enemies. We dare to forgive those who have wronged us. We dare to welcome the stranger. We dare to hope when it would be easier to despair. The Christian faith, the Christian life is a call to boldness. That is what the author of Hebrews wants to instill in this passage that we have before us. This is our first time reading from Hebrews, so let s get some background on this letter [SLIDE]. Hebrews was written sometime late in the first century (AD 60-95). The author is unnamed, but it definitely was not Paul. The writing style and the theology are unlike any found in Paul s letters. The letter doesn t claim an author. It doesn t begin with a greeting from so and so writing to such and such church. In fact, it s not really a letter at all but more of a sermon. What about the Hebrews in the title? Who are they? The title Hebrews was attached to this letter because of the many references to Jewish religious rituals it contains, mostly involving the tabernacle. One such reference is the high priest, which we see in today s passage. With the references to Jewish rituals, the audience for Hebrews probably had a Jewish background, but they identified as Christians. The fact that they were Christians exposed them to persecution. The author frequently exhorts (strongly encourages) his readers to keep the faith in the face of persecution. As for where this was happening, the most likely location is thought to be Rome. So, to sum up, Hebrews was written in the late first century by an unknown author to Christians with a Jewish background who were suffering persecution, most likely in Rome. 4

So much for background. Now let s examine the passage. It s just five verses long, but it has two distinct sections [SLIDE]. Each section has a central metaphor. In verses 12 and 13 the metaphor is the word of God as a two-edged sword. In verses 14 to 16, the main metaphor is of Jesus as the high priest. By exploring these two metaphors we should be able to see why the author is telling us to live boldly in light of the grace and mercy of God as shown in Jesus Christ. The word of God has many meanings [SLIDE]. The word of God can mean the prophetic word that was spoken through the prophets. The word of God can refer to the Bible itself, in the way that I end each Scripture reading by saying, This is the word of the Lord. The word of God can refer to Jesus, who is described in the Gospel of John as the Word made flesh. All those things are the word of God, but the author of Hebrews isn t using the phrase in precisely any of those ways. He is using it to mean something like God s proclamation and God s revelation, i.e., the combined speaking and acting of God. Think of how the story of creation begins, as told in Genesis 1. The earth was a formless void, and all around was darkness: Then God said, Let there be light ; and there was light (Gen. 1:3). God speaks the world into being. God s spoken word is a living word. The word of God is living and active, the author writes [SLIDE], sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12a). It pierces flesh, divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow (Heb. 4:12b). Wow! Pretty graphic stuff! But the God who wields this sword is not a warrior bent on destruction but a surgeon cutting in order to heal. He pierces flesh not to wound but to expose, like a surgeon making an incision. This is God performing open-heart surgery, separating joint from marrow to expose the sickness of the human heart within. The word cuts through the illusions that we cling to...the way we trust in our economic resources 5

rather than in God, the way we hoard those resources because we think them ours rather than recognizing them as gracious gifts bestowed, or the way we trust in a cultural gospel that tells us that we are what we have, or what we look like, or who we know, or where we work or went to school. The word of God cuts through these illusions and holds up the human heart for judgment [SLIDE]: And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account (Heb. 4:13). My gosh that sounds terrifying! Who would want to be exposed in such a manner? Our innermost thoughts! Our hidden intentions! Our internet search history! All exposed before the one to whom we must render an account. I realize that all that sounds terrifying, but it is actually good news. First of all, there is some wordplay happening here. The word that s translated as account is actually logos, which means word. It harkens back to verse 12: Indeed, the logos of God is living and active. In other words, we are exposed before the word of God and must speak to him our word. And what might we possibly say? How would we give an account of what we ve done and what we haven t done? What would we say of the sin that festers in our individual hearts and that infects our society at large? What words could we utter in our defense? Fortunately, we don t need to say anything. Why? [SLIDE] Because we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14). The Jerusalem temple was once the center of Jewish religious life. The temple complex was organized around the idea of separation [SLIDE]. Jews were separated from Gentiles, men from women, and priests from male citizens. Each group had their assigned space. Gentiles were allowed only in the outer court, the Court of the Gentiles. Within the 6

next court, the Court of Women, male and female Jews could gather together, separated from the Gentiles. The next inner court, the Court of Israel, was only for Jewish males; women were excluded. Beyond that lay the Court of Priests with the altar for making sacrifice. And beyond the altar lay the Holy Place which contained the Holy of Holies, the space where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, the holiest place in Israel. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, and he could do so only once a year on the day of atonement, the holiest day in Judaism. The author of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus is our great high priest. He is the one with direct access to God because he is the Son of God. The high priest would make animal sacrifices on behalf of the people to atone for their sin. Again and again year after year. But Jesus does something that the high priests of old could not do. As high priest, Jesus not only sacrifices on our behalf, he offers himself as the sacrifice. He is the lamb that is slain. His is the blood that washes clean the sin of the people. And unlike the high priests of old, Jesus sacrifice occurs only once and yet is effective for all and for all time. How could this be? How could the life and death of this one man atone for the sin of all humankind [SLIDE]? Because this is not merely a man, this is Jesus, the Son of God, who has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14a). He has passed through the heavens. He was not content to remain seated on his heavenly throne. In his great love for you, for each one of us, he stepped down from his throne and passed through the heavens to come to live as one of us. He knew joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. He laughed and he cried. He celebrated and he mourned. He knew loneliness. He knew betrayal. He knew rejection. He knew temptation. He was like us in every respect except one [SLIDE]: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). 7

He was tempted as we are, but he did not sin. He remained faithful and obedient to God s will in every respect. In doing so, he showed us what it means to be human. We tend to think of sin as inevitable, as natural. To be human is to sin. And while that is true for our fallen human nature, sin is not a natural part of the human condition; it is a perversion, a corruption of true humanity. Why can we say this? Because Jesus was fully human and was without sin. In his humanity Jesus shows us what it means to be human it is to love God and love our neighbor always and in all ways [SLIDE]. In his humanity Jesus is willing and able to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin, both the sin within us and the sin all around us in our society. And in his divinity, as the divine high priest, he has the power and authority to take away the sin of the world. That right there is the reason for our confidence. The word of God is a two-edged sword, but ultimately that sword is not directed at us but at God himself, the God who made himself human in order to save us from ourselves. That is cause for celebration! Or as the writer of Hebrews puts it [SLIDE], Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). The author of Hebrews wants us to recognize that God is for us. Jesus sympathizes with our weakness. He understands why we make the sinful decisions that we do, even if he did not and would not make them. But where we might expect sin to lead to judgment, we instead receive grace, for the Son of God sits upon the throne of grace. Therefore we can go before him with boldness. To approach the throne of grace with boldness is to go before God in confession, or thanksgiving, or petition with confidence in the graciousness and faithfulness of God. It is to live knowing that we are loved by God, knowing that God is for us even when we are against ourselves, even when our sin causes us to act in self-destructive 8

ways. It is to live free of the anxiety that causes us to doubt whether we are good enough or holy enough or have done enough good works to merit God s favor. We re not, and we haven t, but that s beside the point. The point is that God is for us. Fear keeps us from seeing that. Fear prevents us from living our lives with the boldness to which Christ has called us and with which he has empowered us. Fear that we are inadequate. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of criticism. Fear of standing out. Fear of what we might have to give up if we are to boldly follow Jesus Christ. But Christ was not crucified for our sake so that we would play it safe. He was not raised from the dead for us to live as though he were still in the tomb. He is alive and at work in the world, and he has called us to meet him there. 9