Hebrews: The New Covenant Administration of Christ Max A Forsythe (c) Anno Domini 2005

From the Pulpit at Pilgrim's Rest Presbyterian Church in America

With a Little Help!
For the Lord’s Day:  the 7^th of August 2005

Hebrews 13: 1-6

Introduction:  I am reminded by the last two presidential elections of how closely the providential ordering of all things is manipulated beyond our control.  In the 2000 election, except for the votes of a handful of Marines on the USS Tarawa, (home stationed in Florida) the close vote could have come out differently.  And then in our own state in 2004, how the special vote on the sanctity of marriage seemed to have brought out just enough people to close the election results again. 

Generals too have admitted over the centuries just how close important battles were concluded.  “A near run thing,” Wellington called Waterloo.  Napoleon had stated that “God was on the side of the big battalions.”  And yet, the history books little note the incredible religious revival that had broken out in the Allied camps in the weeks before the battle.  From one of the regiments, loud Scottish voice had chimed out to Wellington the morning of the battle that “we will not run away, and it will take a long time to kill us all.”  And so the thin red line was strengthened by a religious zeal to do or die, and thereby history was turned and the forces of humanism were defeated in the muddy fields of Mount St Jean, there in the heartland of little Belgium.

For our theme this morning, I would take as our text the sixth verse:  “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do tome?”  Well has the Apostle remembered the words of the Psalmist in this regard?  How many times in the life of the Covenant Church, both Old and New – did the world seem triumphant?  And how many times did the forces of Satan have to admit a sudden and dramatic defeat?  Of course, we all know that the Lord God of battles knows His strategy, His plan and that these are and have been determined before the dawn of time.  And yet, for the glory of His cause, He uses the saints, one by one or grouped in churches to stand against the worldly humanistic tide and bring to fruition His providential and historic intentions.

Now, we have begun our meditation at the end of our text, and it is necessary to turn back to the beginning at set everything in better order.  But, just as all of history marches onward to the Lord’s ultimate ordained end, so must we realize the methodology by which the Apostle brings us to the conclusion of our text for today.

Development:  Chapter thirteen comes at the end of this Epistle to the Hebrews.  F.F. Bruce observes that it is evident that “our author’s argument has now been rounded off.”  It remains to see how the church is to be disciplined for the victory that is ordained.  “Victory”, you may well ask in the midst of the most humanistic of decades in many, many centuries?  One of my old history professors, when speaking of the Civil War in college warned his northern charges, that if we ever traveled in the south – we would meet people who believed they had won instead of the Union!

Well, as Christians – do we believe and act as if the church triumphant is the order of every day?  We may not show that attitude day by day, but the secular humanists scramble every which way they can to avoid any mention of the cultural wars, let alone speculate on who is winning!  I will admit that I have campaigned for Christ in the midst of many spiritual battles for at least forty years.  In that time, the liberals almost buried the Reformed authors and the principles of God, government and family that were once the hallmarks of Western Civilization.  And yet, there were a handful of traditional authors who actually kept the faith and advertised it in quality books.  Those bookish seeds have proven themselves to be manna from heaven, and here we are forty years later, actually stronger than the world would like to admit.

F.F. Bruce uses a translation of verse three that speaks to our worldly condition well.  “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourselves also in the body.”  Most of the time, the translations emphasize a prison theme here in this verse.  And while that is the most likely sense of the language, but Bruce’s translation simply reminds us that you can have a mental prison without walls.  Bound in sin, is a phrase well meant, Luther advertised it as a bondage of will.  And so, in this regard I would categorize the intent of the cultural wars in our day: to keep in bondage any and all who are not part of the appropriate socially accepted world view.

Now this is an important twist in the course of my meditation this morning.  After all – even as the Apostle begins this last chapter of Hebrews with specific “ethical injunctions” – it is these very injunctions based upon God’s commands that embarrass the worldly crowd who will not allow any criticism of their ill chosen life styles.  Commentator John Brown notes that the particular exhortations here are both moral and religious.  These principles conveyed are the very much in the spirit of God’s commandments that set the liberals in a frenzy today. 

Listen the first part of the list and consider how politically incorrect every one of these moral duties are in our popular culture.

1.        love of the brethren
2.        hospitality towards strangers
3.        sympathy with sufferers
4.        chastity
5.        freedom from covetousness

There is wrapped up in these injunctions, the communal life in Christ that should mark the Church apart from the world.  But, the world objects because they believe that the greatest sin is to categorize their favorite behavior as sinful.  This they will not tolerate, and the world has spent many decades infiltrating the church, to make the church stop condemning any and every sin!  Thereby they can remain ignorant of God’s commands and content in their worldly refusal to consider the commands of the God of heaven and earth. Sadly, far too much of the church has fallen prey to their demands.  If the worldly actually believed their favorite mantra, to each his own – they could leave the church alone and go their merry way to hell!  But of course, they will not: because as long as there is even one Christian that recognizes sin when it is seen – thereby do they suffer “unjust judgment.”

Application:  Certainly, we know and understand that it is not the church’s necessary role to judge the wicked.  That is to be left to the worldly state and finally, at the end of the age: to God in Christ!  Within the Church, as any secular institution would insist for itself – the rules for members may be more restrictive than any applied to the world at large.  We are charged by the Apostle to stand out from amongst the crowd in our behavior, so that in our attitude and demonstration of the faith before the world, we bring no disgrace to the cause of Christ.

So, let us consider in the brief moments left to us this morning the injunction of the Apostle as to what the church should look like.  Years ago, we had a hair-brained educator come in to rally the staff for one more year of excellence.  We were divided into teams and each team had to demonstrate to the others just what the school should look, taste, feel and smell like!  I won’t go into the details, but an exciting time was not had by all!

While I won’t condescend to use the same catalogue for our listing today, at the very least I want to bring up a summary statement guided carefully by our text.  The principles enjoined begins with the admonishment that love within the Church for one another be first and foremost not only a duty, but also a reality.  Since its founding in 1982, whenever a Psalter has been available – our Presbytery has ended its meetings with the singing of Psalm 133.  “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.”  Yes, I know – as many of you who have attended Presbytery do – that sometimes it is a stretch to sing those words with a realistic enjoyment.  But, now and then – it happens that with a little help from the brethren, the Lord’s goal is achieved. 

Now, did you catch something important in the way I said that?  When we began, it seemed like I was saying that with a little help from the Lord, all things can turn out well?  No, no, no – I have been thinking all along, that with a little help from us – the Lord’s will is accomplished.  Not that He needs us, in any way, shape or form – but, that He chooses to demonstrate His will in the midst of the work and witness of His Church!  Yes, all too many churches are unloving places, and we well know that this injunction is very hard to demonstrate from time to time.

Second, the Apostle admonishes us to show hospitality to strangers, not only in our public midst but in our private lives as well.  When people come into the church, we have to remember that this is not a family monopoly.  I can remember well, when this congregation first became more than a family church.  Some outsiders visited and soon became friends with the original families.  This is our responsibility everytime the Lord sends someone our way.

Third, we are encouraged to show sympathy to those who suffer.  It does not matter if that suffering is physical, spiritual or emotional – we must remember that everyone the Lord sends to His church is not there to work and minister, but often to be ministered to.  We have to remember that there are many people totally burned out in many ways who have few capacities for service left.  It is enough to allow them to worship and participate in communion, as long as they are being cared for by loving friends.

Fourth, the Apostle admonishes chastity and contentment within the marriage contract for one and all.  The godly principle here is that it is socially devastating whenever any free agent is allowed to tempt and engage any and all who may even remotely be interested.  One worldly professor once remarked that a college education was generally wasted upon any and all who hadn’t decided with whom to co-habit.  Discipline and expulsion are a necessary fact of church life in this regard.

Fifth and last, everyone must be encouraged to be content with their estate in life, whatever it may be.  Earlier this year I drove with a student who announced that they intended to be a movie star.  And then they complained that their guidance counselor had thrown cold water on the proposal by suggesting that at the very least they should have a back up plan to earn a living.  For once, I agreed with a guidance counselor.  You see, the reason there are a lot more service jobs than executive ones is the fact that there are fewer people with the skills to manage a company than there are people to do the supportive labor that makes the company or institution possible.

Now, how do we assert those mandates for Christian living within the Church?  Look at the last phrase of verse five.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  The Lord is always near to His Church and He has promised to guide and direct His people in every time and place.  With a little help from us – His will may be accomplished.  So live, breathe and act as the Apostle directs and in that living before His face – you will know the presence of the Lord in this:  His Church.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES
Brown, John.  A Geneva Series Commentary:  Hebrews.
Bruce, F.F.  The Epistle to the Hebrews.
The Holy Bible:  English Standard Version.

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