Hebrews 9: Jesus is Greater than the Holy of Holies

Pastor Scott Jonas

Hebrews 9

Greater than the Holy of Holies

10/30/18

            There once was a man who went to the temple.  When he saw the grandeur and holiness of Solomon’s temple it made him tremble.  He barely made it in the courtyard.  He would go no further.  He’d heard what was inside the massive doors in front of him, the room called Holy Place: the giant lampstand of hammered Gold lifting up 7 lamps, the golden table that held loaves for the twelve tribes of Israel.  It gave him the shivers, a place so special, so sacred.  Through the drapes was the next room, called the Most Holy Place.  It was a forbidden place.  Images of Angels warned you not to enter.  Holiness kills the unholy like light kills the darkness.  Near the entrance of the Most Holy place was a golden altar where the high priest burned incense to protect himself from the glory of God.  Behind that curtain was the ark of the covenant which contained the original ten commandment tablets.  The ark was called the mercy seat because Yahweh sat on it like a throne.  No one had ever seen God is all his glory and lived.  The man was terrified of witnessing the full holiness of God.

            The smell of blood from animal sacrifices was also unnerving. It was a warning, this a  place of death.

            So he entered the courtyard of the Temple but stayed as far from the Holy Place as possible.  This man was a sinner and he knew it.  He entered a profession that made him make hard choices and daily compromises against his conscience.   He practically gripped the courtyard wall trying to escape an uncompromising God.  The man couldn’t even look up to heaven he was so ashamed.  He hit himself over and over, “God have mercy on me a sinner. God have mercy on me a sinner. God have mercy on me a sinner.”  He almost didn’t want God to answer back because he knew that he deserved a harsh rebuke.

            There once was a woman who went to church.  When she saw the grandeur and the holiness of the sanctuary it made her tremble.  She knew she was a sinner.  Her family, career and life constantly made her make compromises against her conscience.  She sat in the back row because a front row seat felt too dangerous, too vulnerable.  In the back row, you feel like you could escape if you needed to.  When she prayed, she didn’t look up because it felt like someone was watching.  All of the mentions of the body and the blood made her quesy.  When the Pastor had a time of silence for self reflection it felt like forever.  She just kept breathing in and silently saying “God have mercy on me a sinner.  God have mercy on me a sinner.  God have mercy on me a sinner.” 

A man in the Temple and a woman at church.  They may be separated by time and culture but they are both afflicted with the same condition.  They fear a Holy God.  Their instinct is correct and reasonable.  The tame definition of Holiness is a special place, set apart by God.  It sounds like your dining room growing up, “Mom would say, “Don’t play in the dining room. It’s only when company comes over.”  Tame.  Unless you break some china then it gets real.  The real and raw definition of Holiness is “You don’t belong here!”  You are not and will never be good enough for this place.

In Hebrews Chapter 9, the author tells the story how God’s Holiest place became obsolete.  The Hebrews sometimes saw the Temple as a forgiveness factory.  But it actually was meant as more of a grand object lesson in the Holiness of God.  The Temple and sacrificial system taught that the gap between God and us is wide.  We don’t even follow our conscience let alone follow the Lord.  He is perfect.  He created life; we take life.  He is the only source that can make things right so we have to go to him.  But we are afraid to go to him because of our sin and shame.  The temple system teaches us that we need someone to break this cycle.  We need someone who is Holy like God but is willing to meet us face to face.  We need Jesus.

The Temple’s Holy place was another sign pointing to Jesus.  This should have been obvious.   Though the temple was one of the grandest structures in the ancient world, it was temporary.  Not too long after Hebrews was written, the Temple was destroyed and hasn’t been restored since.  Human structures, even those dedicated to God, have a shelf life.  But Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is the solution to our sin and shame problem.

When Jesus died on the cross the curtain between the holy place and the Holiest place ripped in two.  This was a not so subtle way of God announcing that the Holiness of God is not restricted anymore.  The publican man beating his chest and the woman sitting in the back of the church don’t have to tremble anymore.  They can look into the face of Jesus and see his lips say these words, “I forgive you.”

The blood of animals taught the Hebrews that sin brings death.  God did not enjoy the killing of sheep and doves.  They are part of his good creation.  It pained him to receive those offerings more than the worshippers who had to give them up.  Back when Adam and eve sinned God sacrificed an animal and covered his children with the skins.  Sin brought death and more death. 

But now through Jesus Christ, we are covered by his blood once and for all.  His sacrifice was sufficient to cover the whole world.  His death put to death our sin.  When we come to receive the bread and the wine, we are not resacrificing Jesus.  That’s absurd and unnecessary.  Your sin has been covered.  Now you just have to deal with your conscience.

Our consciences were placed there by our creator as another sign pointing to God.  When we go against that inner voice, it sticks with us.  It is like a splinter in our mind that doesn’t want to go away.  It is an echo from the past that haunts us.  If there is one thing we can agree on from this week in politics, it is that the past often haunts us.  You probably have something that curses you, that tells you that you aren’t good enough for this holy place.  That is not your conscience speaking.  That is not God speaking.  That is your accuser, the devil speaking.

The Holy Spirit is not confined by a Tabernacle, a Temple or a mountain.  The Holy Spirit was gifted to you at your Baptism.  The curtain that closed off your heart was opened by Jesus.  He continually cleans your heart, mind and soul.  You are the most Holy place on earth.  Your heart is the mercy seat of God..  He dwells here.  Sitting in the back isn’t going to work.  You can’t avoid Holy places because you are one.  We all are Holy places.  Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty who wants you to stay close to Him.

Hebrews 8: Jesus is Greater than the Covenant

Pastor Scott Jonas

9/22/18

Hebrews 8

Jesus > The Covenant

                We’ve studied 7 chapters of Hebrews.  Our theme is Jesus is Greater.  Jesus is greater than Angels, Mankind, Moses, Priests, Faith, Doctrine, and Melchizedek.  All of these great people and gifts pale in comparison to the Son of God.  They are signs that point to the Savior.  Today in Hebrews chapter 8 we Jesus is greater than the Covenant.

            First we need to explain the Old Covenant.  It was established in the first five books of the Bible.  God chose Abraham and his descendants to make a contract.  God agreed to follow certain promises and the Hebrews agreed to follow other promises.  God would bless and keep them as his people.  The heavenly father would be with his people.  He would ensure that the Hebrews would occupy and thrive in the promised land.  God promised to keep his side of the bargain.  The Hebrews, agreed to follow and serve the one God, Yahweh.  They would do all that he commanded.  If God said love the Lord with all of your heart then they would do it.  If God said, walk around Jericho 7 times and blow a bunch of trumpets, then they would obey.  If God said, build a tabernacle to exact specifications then that is what the Hebrews would create.  The Father ended up demanding over 600 rules.  According to the old covenant, the Hebrews had to perfectly follow them all.  If they refuse to fulfill their responsibilities then the deal is off.  God has the right to back out.  He will no longer be their God.

            You can figure out the problem with this agreement.  God can provide his promises but the Jews can’t provide their part.  Time and time again, they fail.  Almost right away, they worship the golden calf.  What took longer, from Adam and Eve being created to them disobeying God or the Hebrews receiving the ten commandments to them worshipping the Golden calf?  I don’t know but they blew the Old covenant which at the time was a brand new covenant.  Later, they are afraid to enter the promised land, despite God being with them.  They ask for a king, rather than directly follow the Lord.  Their kings put personal power ahead of Yahweh.  Eventually, God’s people forget all about the covenant.  There are times when there are no sacrifices.  The Bible becomes a distant memory.  They all but rip up their duties that they promised to fulfill.  Once again, the Hebrews break the agreement with God.  The Lord can walk away.  That is the old covenant.

            It is enough for the reader to wonder if God knows what he is doing.  How could he make a deal with the Hebrews as if they are equals?  They clearly are not special.  They are screw ups just like all of the other nations.  Maybe you have experienced the same reaction.  Does God know what he is doing?

            During one of the times that Israel breaks it’s promises, God makes a promise.  He says,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

    when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

    and with the house of Judah,

9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

    on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant,

    and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

    after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

    and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

    and they shall be my people.

11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor

    and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall all know me,

    from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

    and I will remember their sins no more.”

            In the Old Testament, a New Covenant is predicted through the prophet Jeremiah.  The Old covenant was a precursor to a better covenant. 

            In the Old Testament, the word for a covenant  is an agreement entered into by two people.  It is dependent on conditions on which they mutually agree; and if either shall break the conditions the covenant becomes void.  It’s like when you buy a house, if the seller lies about the condition of the property or if the buyer is wrong about their financing then the deal is off. 

In the New testament, Diatheke is the  word for a covenant and it is radically different.  It is not a deal between equals but a contract between someone who has died and someone who is living.  Diatheke is a last will and testament.  Because Jesus died, the old agreement is void and his written will takes over.  The diseased person dictates the agreement, stating what they beneficiary is to receive.  Because of the cross, Jesus is able to wipe away the old and create something much, much greater.  We no longer need to perfectly obey in order to live up to our part.  We are given a gift just as an inheritance is a gift.

We talk about our inheritance in the Lord’s supper, “And when he had given thanks he gave it to them and said, this is the new covenant in my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”  Our gifts begin with forgiveness but there is also a life filled with good things, love, friendship, a family, a home, a purpose, eternal life.  The new covenant is clearly better than the old. The Old was temporary; the new is forever.  The Old was dependent on u; the new is dependent on God’s work on the  cross.  The Old was based on rules outside of us, the new is based on the inner work of the Holy Spirit. The old was based on not sinning  the new is based on God remembering our sins no more.  In some respects we are saved from the old covenant by the new.  God knew what he was doing all along.  This was the plan.  We can have confidence every time we doubt God’s choices.

But the name of this sermon is Jesus is greater than the covenant.  He obviously is greater than the old covenant which couldn’t save us.  But he also is greater than the new covenant. 

Here is what I mean.  The person you have a contract with is more important than the contract.  Anyone know veggie Tales?  It was started by Phil Vischer in the 90s.  He had a handshake deal with a fellow Christian named Dick Leach to distribute Veggie tale video cassettes.  The relationship was great until Dick died.  Someone else took over the company and sued Veggie tales.  Veggie tAles had sell or else the company would have gone bankrupt.   It was the relationship between two people that mattered, Phil and Dick, not the written agreement.  In the same way, the covenant is our written agreement with God. 

Or it is like a marriage.  I’m talking to Clayton Toney and his Fiancée Janay.  The character of the person you are marrying is more important than the wording of the ceremony.  Likewise, the new covenant is important, but more important is Jesus himself.  Your life depends on him and you can trust that he will follow through.  He came to earth for you.  He died and rose to show you that he is worthy.  Whenever you think that God doesn’t know what he is doing remember the covenant.  Jesus is greater.

Hebrews 7: Jesus is Greater than Melchizedek

Pastor Scott Jonas

9/16/18

Hebrews 7

Greater than Melchizedek

                This week was a pivotal one in our relationship as pastor and congregation.  I finally felt comfortable enough to put up in my office this, my Matrix action figures.  When I first got here I decided to wait a little while before I let you see me go full nerd.  This is who I am, a full grown adult who has action figures in his office.  My family got me this; it is neo from the movie the Matrix.  I love this movie because the hero is a Christ figure.  His real name is Mr. Anderson which means son of man.  He changes it to Neo which means New One.  He is the Messiah in a future digital world where he frees mankind from demons.  You see there is a deep theological reason why I have action figures in my office.

            In Hebrews chapter 7, the author uses another Christ figure, Melchizedek.  We learned about him in our last sermon series on Genesis.  In Genesis 14, the patriarch of the Jews, Abraham, bows to the high priest and king Melchizedek and tithes one tenth of all he owns.  Abraham recognizes Melchizedek as greater than himself and then Melchizedek vanishes from the story.  The author of Hebrews resurrects him to make a point to his Jewish audience, “The first and greatest Jew served an unknown king of righteous and peace.  God placed Melchizedek in the Bible as a sign directing you to the ultimate king of righteousness and peace, Jesus Christ.”

            Hebrews takes a figure that his readers are familiar with and shows how that figure points to Jesus.  He creates a Christ figure to help his audience see Jesus.  A Christ figure is a character or person who resembles the essential qualities of Jesus.  He or she is a Prophet, priest or King who enters human history is order to save it.  The Christ Figure is willing to sacrifice all to achieve his purpose, Just like Jesus. 

            The New Testament is filled with Christ figure references from the Old Testament.  Jesus himself referenced his story to Jonah.  Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, so too Jesus was in the tomb for three days.  Jews who knew the Jonah story could easily see how God was foreshadowing Jesus Christ with little Christs in the Old Testament.  I preached on how Joseph of the 12 brothers was a Christ figure.  There are dozens of ways in which Joseph of the Amazing Coat resembled Christ.  He was put into the ground, a well, but he miraculously rose from that death sentence and saved the known world through this resurrection.  Joseph is a Christ figure.

            Isaac, the Son of Abraham is a Christ figure.  His father offered him just like the heavenly father offered the Holy Son.  Adam is a Christ figure; because he died we all die.  Just as we all die to our sins in baptism because of Jesus.  Esther is a Christ figure.  She was from a lowly tribe but God used her to save his people.  When you look for them in the books of the Bible you find them all over the place.  The New Testament writers are using characters familiar to their audience in order to point to the ultimate savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is greater.

            Our culture doesn’t know who Esther, Isaac, Joseph or Adam is anymore.   They don’t know Jesus, really.  We are tempted to just throw up our hands and say, “How are we supposed to connect with such an illiterate and secular culture?”  But the New testament writers give us a strategy.  We can use the Christ figures of our culture to point people to Jesus.  There are Christ figures all over the place if you know where to look. 

Most people don’t read the Bible, but they do love their movies and TV shows.  If you have a passion for Netflix, hulu, movie pass and all the rest you can find Christ figures that you can use in conversation.  If you are trying to connect with a kid, then Harry Potter is a Christ figure you can use.  Spoiler alert:  He uses resurrection stone in order to save the world from the devil figure, Voldemort.  If you want to share Jesus with your grandkids, know Harry Potter. 

If you are trying to connect with a classic comic book fan, Superman is a Christ figure.  His father sends him to earth from beyond.  Superman has powers that no human possess’.  He loves humanity and daily works to defeat evil.  If you are trying to connect with a Disney fan, The Lion King is a great witnessing tool.  In fact, I own a book called “The Gospel according to Disney.  They have really figured out how to create Christ figures out of classic fairy tales.  In the Lion King, Mufasa, sacrifices himself like Christ for his Son, who is chosen like Christ.

If you are trying to share your faith with a manly man, Braveheart is the one for you.  William Wallace comes from humble beginnings in order to raise an army of commoners to defeat the evil King Edward.  Ultimately violence won’t bring freedom.  So William Wallace willing rides to his execution on a donkey in order to inspire his followers.

If you are trying to witness to someone who hasn’t enjoyed a movie since 1952, then watch High Noon.  Gary Cooper is a sheriff who is fed up with outlaws terrorizing his town.  At first, a huge crown promises to follow him into the confrontation, but slowly over time everyone abandons the sheriff.  When High Noon arrives, Gary Cooper takes on all of the powers of darkness by himself.  There are so many examples of Christ figures in our culture.  I have books on the Gospel according to Charles Schultz’ Peanuts, the Gospel according to Lord of the Rings, and even the Gospel according to Starbucks.

This week, Nike started a new ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former football quarterback who knelt during the national anthem and hasn’t been offered a contract since.  The ad’s tag line is “Believe in Something even if it means sacrificing everything.”  Nike is creating a Christ figure.  We can debate the merits of Kaepernick as a Christ figure but it is definitely a conversation starter.  What does it mean to sacrifice everything?  How does Kaepernick’s sacrifice compare to Christ’s.  Incidently, Kaepernick was raised in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Kaepernick raises the limitations of Christ figures.  This is easier to hide in books and movies where our Christ figures can ride off into the sunset or fade into obscurity like Melchizedek.  Real people like Kaepernick are all too human.  They function best when they point us to Christ, because they aren’t capable of really saving the world.  Joseph saved Egypt but then he died and eventually, the Hebrews became enslaved.  Isaac wasn’t really sacrificed.  Jonah eventually listened to God, but he was pretty bitter about it.

If we stay focused on a Christ figure then we are worshipping a created being and that is terrible for us and the figure.  But if a Christ figure gets us to Jesus then we will never be disappointed. 

In our Gospel lesson people came to the disciples asking for healing, and they failed.  But they pointed the boy with seizures to Jesus and he healed.  Point people to Jesus.

Jesus is greater than Melchizedek and all of the Bible’s Christ figures.  They were placed there in the story like Easter Eggs.  Have you ever heard that term Easter eggs in literature and movies.  An Easter egg is when the author embeds  a clue into a seemingly insignificant part of the story.  The clue prophecies how the story will end.  Adam, Isaac, Joseph, and Esther were Easter eggs pointing to Jesus Christ.

Jesus believed in something that caused him to sacrifice everything.  He believed that through the love of the Father, son and Holy Spirit, he could restore the World.  Melchizedek, Hercules, Katniss Everdeen, Luke Skywalker, and E.T the Extra Terrestrial are Easter eggs that prophecy how the story will end.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will save the day.  That is worth sharing.

Hebrews 6: Jesus is Greater than Doctrine

Pastor Scott Jonas

Greater than Doctrine

Hebrews 6

9/9/18

                Imagine that you met someone and fell in love.  The person wrote you a love letter.  The letter from your lover says things like

“The voice of my beloved!

    Behold, my beloved comes,

leaping over the mountains,

    bounding over the hills.

9 My beloved is like a gazelle

    or a young stag.

Behold, there my beloved stands

    behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

    looking through the lattice.

10 My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

    and come away,

11 for behold, the winter is past;

    the rain is over and gone.

12 The flowers appear on the earth,

    the time of singing[d] has come,

and the voice of the turtledove

    is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree ripens its figs,

    and the vines are in blossom;

    they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

    and come away.”

                That letter is very important to you.  It is proof that of your love’s devotion to you.  You cherish it.  You read it over and over.    In fact, you memorize it.  You share the letter with your friends and family.  Everyone who reads it can feel the love between the two of you.

Then you analyze the letter, parsing every sentence, every word.  You write notes, reflecting on the letter.  You interpret phrases like “my beautiful one.”  What does the author mean by that?  What does my beloved mean by “Come away.”  Come away, where?  Come away when.  You also begin crafting your own letter of response to your beloved.

Once you have interpreted every line and word you take it up a notch.  You systematize the letter.  You put the truth of the letter into categories.  Here are the parts where my beloved tells me to do something.  Here are the parts where my beloved describes the relationship.  Here is where my beloved tells me how special I am.   You create a system for understanding your beloved, your beloved’s opinion of you and the terms of your relationship.  Your response letter is getting longer and more complicated, but it is certainly done with devotion.

But you don’t stop there.  You also come up with a practical plan to share the news of your relationship.  You learn to write 15 minute speeches with the letter as the central topic.  You practice sharing the letter with those who need that kind of love:  the sick, the poor, the lonely

Finally, over time, you document your history of sharing the letter with all the different people and circumstances .  Your response letter never seems to quite be finished.

Hebrews 6:1  “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.”  One way of looking at doctrine, is that it is our response letter to God.  The Lord has given us the Bible which is a love letter to humanity.  The words I read earlier were from Song of Songs which is literally a gushy, sappy ode to love from the Lord to you.  He calls the church “his beloved.”  He is crazy about us and he wants everyone to know it.  The rest of scripture is not that gushy but at it’s core it is a letter from God expressing his desire to be with you forever.

Doctrine is where we examine God’s love letter and try to summarize it.  At the seminary, we have four departments:  the exegetical, the systematic, the practical and the historical.  The exegetical professors looks at the Bible’s words, phrases, literary genres and writes down what God is saying.  The systematic professors take what God is saying and puts that truth into categories like law and Gospel.  The practical  department plots ways for pastors to share the good news of the letter with others through sermons, teaching, counseling, outreach and more.  The historical professors like Paul Robinson, teach the history of God’s church interpreting and witnessing to the Lord’s letter.  All of the church’s doctrine is our attempt to understand the love of God, document it, and write him back.

In Hebrews chapter 5 and 6, the author was exasperated with the church.  They should be teachers of the words of God but instead they are stuck on the basic things.  They aren’t growing.  What are the basic things?  Hebrews points to teachings on repentance, baptism, prayer, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement.  We point to the elementary doctrines whenever we recite the creeds, the Lord’s prayer, the ten commandments, confession, and the sacraments.  The author is compelling us to go beyond the elementary teachings and know the deeper lessons of the Bible.

The Bible is full of hard sayings.  A few we went over in bible class.  Hebrews 2:10 says that “For it was fitting that the Father for whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”  That is no elementary teaching.  What does it mean that Jesus was made perfect through suffering?  Does it mean that he wasn’t perfect before?  Does it mean he had a flaw?  We dug deep by reading the greek, and cross references and commentaries and asking questions.  We discovered in Bible class that the sentence is saying that Jesus became the perfect sacrifice.  He was always sinless but he was prepared for the cross through suffering.  Deep doctrine.

We Lutherans are proud of our doctrine.  We take it seriously.  We have the world’s best theologians and seminary.  Our denomination was founded on the doctrine of Martin Luther and the reformers who wrote extensively and carefully.  As Dr. Robinson will highlight in Bible class today, our doctrine is a blessing that should be cherished and preserved.

But we have something greater than doctrine.  We have Jesus Christ.  Doctrine is our response to God’s words.  In seminary we talk about pure doctrine.  Sometimes our doctrine is not so pure.  We can get things wrong.  We are human.  Sometimes I get things wrong.  The original love letter of Jesus never gets things wrong.  It is full of promises that are guarantees.  Hebrews 6 says, “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”  That is pure Gospel.  That is pure Jesus.

We must never value doctrine more than Christ.  Anymore than you would value a love letter more than your beloved.  How ridiculous would that be?  Imagine not spending time with your spouse and choosing to focus on a description of your spouse.  Crazy.  We don’t have an abstract concept of God; we have Christ himself who died and rose for you.  We do recite doctrine in our service and that is necessary and good.  But it is better to receive your beloved’s body and blood at the altar.  That is something beyond words.  God is present. 

He wrote you a love letter spelling the whole thing out.  Did you get it?  Have you read it?  It is from the great one to you.

Hebrews 5: Jesus is Greater than Our Faith

Pastor Scott Jonas

9/2/18

Hebrews 5:11-14

Jesus>Faith

            Hebrews Chapter 5.  Jesus is Greater than Our Faith.  Sounds potentially heretical.  But you may have heard a pattern over the last 5 chapters.  Jesus is greater than Angels, Humanity, Moses and the high Priest.  These are not bad things.  These are not inconsequential things.  The author of Hebrews is comparing the greatest creations on earth to Jesus Christ.  It would be waste of time to hear a sermon on how Jesus is greater than the devil.  Of course he is.  The devil’s not all-knowing, all powerful and everywhere.  Comparing Jesus to a fallen angel is demeaning to the almighty.  Likewise, why would you listen to one on Jesus is greater than Missouri Football?  The Tigers are irrelevant to eternal things.  Instead, Hebrews takes the glory filled and momentous things in life and shows that Jesus is greater.    That includes our faith.

            Imagine s pastor saying these words to you from Hebrews 5:11-14  “ About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”  Ouch.

            The author is saying that it is your obligation to grow in the faith.  You are not going to grow drinking just baby’s milk your whole life.  It is time to grow up and feed yourself solid food.  Stop regurgitating the most basic teachings and move on towards the hard lessons of the faith.  Grow up!  I didn’t say it, the author of Hebrews did.  But it applies to you and to me.

            There is an aspect of faith which is your understanding of it. You learn something new and you rightly say, “It helped my faith grow.”  Everytime you come into contact with the scriptures there is an opportunity for your faith to grow more mature.  But there is also an opportunity for the word of God to bounce off of you just like a baby refusing a spoon.

            You should be teachers by now, not just students.  In other words, you should be feeding yourself and others the words of God.  Not just sitting there being fed.  Yet, what do people say when asked, “Why did you leave the church?”  “I wasn’t being fed.”  “I wasn’t being fed.”  That makes that person saying it an infant.  “I wasn’t being fed.”

            I had lunch with a man this week who goes to a non-denominational megachurch.  He said that it’s different from his Lutheran upbringing.  The pastor has this well crafted sermon that must take almost thirty hours to create.  That pastor’s sole job is to write and deliver sermons.  This man had a conversation with the pastor and the pastor said, “The first thing you have to realize in our church is that you have to take care of yourself.  We don’t have time to feed you.  You have to feed yourself.”  This man said that in the Lutheran church he was only so-so in his bible knowledge compared to other members but at this megachurch he is elite.  Maybe it is time for him to teach rather than be fed?

            This is a great test of your maturity in the faith.  Do you only receive the word of God?  Or do you also share it with others?  One is a baby.  One is a grown up.  A baby knows Jesus loves me.  But a grown up teaches those words and more.  You don’t have to be a formal teacher to be a grown up.  You don’t have to be a Sunday school teacher like Tim, the DeBords and the Bohoemes.  You don’t have to be a Bible Study leader like Jeannie Clark or  Kathy Albers.  In order to show mature Christian Faith you must share the word of God.  First, at home.  And also, at church and the community.  A mature faith shares Jesus.

            The Lutheran church has been so conscious of not emphasizing works righteousness that we go the opposite way.  WE don’t want you to think that a mature faith earns you heaven so we settle hearing the Gospel in church on Sunday.  We become Grace potatoes, a play on the phrase “couch potatoes.”  We sit and take in the Gospel but it just sits there in us until next week.  The truth is if Sunday morning is the only time you are fed the Gospel, then your faith is starving.  That is why I write down Daily Bible verses.  So that you can eat on your own every day.  Not just milk but substantial food.  That is why we have Bible Class after the service.  There the Bible is served in many courses.  You can turn to your neighbor and say, “Try the Hebrews.  It’s fantastic.”  Sunday morning Bible class is not the best way for you to feed yourself.  It is the best way to feast on the word together as a congregation.

            Maybe this text and this sermon has bummed you out.  Perhaps your faith is not as mature as you would like.  You wish that you could teach others.  You wish that you could give a lesson to little ones.  You would like to be the type of person who instructs others on scripture.  But you aren’t.  Or you haven’t.  Where does that leave you?

It leaves you needing Jesus.  And Jesus is greater than your faith.  We need the Grace of Jesus more than we need mature Faith.  Grace comes before Faith.  When people mix up my daughters names I give tell them, “Grace comes before faith.”  It is true in my family and it is true in your life.  Before you were given faith, Jesus died for you.  He graciously gave up his life for the faithless.  This act of Grace led to all sorts of acts of grace.  He gave us the Spirit and the Word.  Before you were born again Jesus graciously loved you.  He loved you before you had faith.  He loves you despite your immaturity.  You faith might go up and down.  There are times you are in the word and know your stuff and pray with your spouse and kids.  And there are dry spells where you don’t know what you believe.  Jesus is the one who greater than your faith know matter what state it’s in.

Yesterday was the funeral of our friend Klaus.  Klaus was raised in the Lutheran church in Germany.  He was baptized, confirmed and a life long church goer.  He heard thousands of sermons.  His son, Hans said that he read through the whole Bible several times.  The word affected him.  It softened him as he got older, made him gentler and more open.  But in May he had brain cancer.  The decline was quick and severe.  When I would visit him he had that look like I know I’m supposed to know you but I can’t quite get there.  He couldn’t carry on a conversation let alone teach the faith.  What Klaus needed was not more faith.  What Klaus needed was Jesus.  The mighty one who prepared a place for him with many rooms.  Jesus is greater than our faith.

Strive for maturity in the faith but know that at the end of that road is Jesus.