Jump Start # 3666

Hebrews 12:4 “You have not resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.”

Our passage today is a great reminder of the effort, dedication and commitment we must make to the Lord. Simply put, the writer is saying, “You haven’t tried hard enough.” How easily we give up. Any inconvenience, the least hardship, and many complain and quit.

I was reading about the Arkansas preacher, Joe Blue. He loved the Lord. He loved preaching. He often went without food because he had no money. And, the troubles he endured was amazing. One summer evening as he was preaching, there were those standing outside the meeting house throwing walnut shells at him through the open windows. In another place, still visible to this day, are the burn marks on the wood floor of an old church building, where a fuse was lit and dynamite was in the pulpit, with the attempts of killing Joe Blue. The blasting caps didn’t work and Blue went on preaching.

But our verse isn’t about persecution. It’s not about the Shadrach moments in our lives when we must stand while others are bowing. There are times like that. The whispers, the stares, the ignoring, those things hurt, but onward we march with the Lord.

The direction of our verse is about sin. Resisting sin. Yield not to temptation, as the hymn reminds us. Resisting blood, not in standing for the truth, but in fighting sin. Sometimes we might do a better job of handling hardships and opposition than we do in fighting sin.

Resisting to the shedding of blood in striving against sin. Here’s why:

First, sin will change our character. It’s hard to be strong in the Lord when we carry sin in our hearts. Either the word of God will drive the sin out of your life or the sin will drive the word of God out of your life. The two do not like each other and will not co-exist in the same heart. And, when we allow sin to dwell in us, our character changes. We become weaker in faith. Our walk is inconsistent. Compromises have been made. It will hurt us.

Second, multiple places in our New Testament reminds us that with the Lord, the fight against sin can be won. Be holy, as He is holy, Peter tells us. James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Also, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. With every temptation, the Corinthians were told, God provides a way of escape. So, the excuse, “I couldn’t help it,” really isn’t true. You can help it. You can resist. You can flee.

Third, your mind and the environment you surround yourself with makes this harder or easier. Have you noticed that it is harder to think bad thoughts when singing praises to God with others in worship? Have you noticed that when you are really focused in a sermon, looking up passages, and thinking deep, it’s hard to sin? But alone at night, watching some worthless movie, the thoughts of wrong come easily. So, you want to resist sin, change your setting.

To the Hebrews that originally got our verse today, the shedding of blood and the resisting sin likely were tied in to the troubles they faced being a Christian. Jesus shed His blood for us. Will we shed our blood for Him? I hiked several miles the other day. Half of it was uphill. And, most of it was walking on tree roots that were sticking out of the ground. The pace was slow. My ole’ feet were tired that night. Two things helped. First, I wasn’t walking alone. My sweet wife was with me. She was always a few paces ahead of me and she’d stop and ask me if I needed a rest or a drink. I’d tell her, “no,” and we’d keep going. The other thing that helped was seeing others coming down the path. Little kids. People older than I was. They’d made it to the top. Several would tell us, “it’s not far,” or, “it’s worth it.” So, we’d keep going. Sometimes we saw some, turn around and go back. That’s what the Hebrews were thinking about doing. That’s what the devil wants you to focus on. But we keep going. And, when we stay with it, we reach our goal.

How hard are you trying? Do you allow the words of someone who is inconsiderate stop you? Do you allow a little gossip to stop you? Do you allow a little trouble to stop you? It’s easy to turn around. But you never see the view and the beauty at the top if you do. And, if you do, all that you have done so far, will be wasted.

How hard are you trying?

Roger

Jump Start # 3663

Hebrews 9:3 “And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies.”

As the writer of Hebrews is describing layers in which Jesus is superior to the Old Testament system, he moves into the concept of the tabernacle and the holy place. Our verse identifies an aspect in which most Jews would have read about and maybe even imagined but hardly anyone ever saw it. Only the high priest, and only once a year, was allowed to cross through those curtains into the holy of holies. A few verses later, the point is made that Jesus also entered into the holies, not one made by hands and not one in which animal blood was sprinkled. And, what is interesting about this is that Jesus Himself would have never walked through those curtains in the temple. He was not allowed. He was not of Levi and not a high priest.

I wonder if anyone asked a high priest what the ark looked like and what it was like to walk behind those curtains. I also wonder if a priest felt that he was being pestered by such questions that he may have thought it was none of their business. He may have concluded, if God wanted you to see what was behind the veil, He would not have placed a veil there in the first place. But He has, and you are not allowed to see.

The death of Jesus and the tearing of that Temple curtain, symbolically showed that all people have access to God. One did not have to go through a priest. One did not have to have a priest sprinkle blood on his behalf. Most of us have seen drawing and models of what the tabernacle and temple looked like. We’ve seen depictions made by artist of what the ark in that holy room would look like. But, so few ever got to actually see it.

All of this made me think of many other things that we benefit from but rarely see. The behind the scenes story of how things came together is often not understood nor appreciated.

One would be the many hymns we sing. Song writing, there are actually two aspects of this. One is the lyrics or the words. The other is the tune or melody. A few gifted people can do both. More often, a tune and a poem or some words from others are put together and it becomes a great hymn. Some songs, this is true in the pop, country and even hymn writing, comes quickly and easily. A hymn comes to one’s mind, and the writer jots down on a napkin or piece of paper some notes. Later he works it out on a piano and fine tunes what he has. Once in a long while, the tune comes to the mind and heart of a writer and it’s nearly completed as fast as he can write it down. For most others, it’s a long and tedious process of playing the same line over and over and over until another line makes sense to him.

The tune and the words are worked out. A publisher is found. And, today, we sing those wonderful songs on a Sunday morning and they fill our hearts with great joy. Few understand and few appreciate the long, long process to birth a song. And, for most, especially in the area of hymns, there is very little compensation other than bringing glory to the Lord.

Sermons are like that as well. We gather on a Sunday and the preacher pours his heart out, hoping to match the right words and the right concepts to help us see the Lord. Some sermons need to knock the shine off of our shoes. Some sermons build us up. Some sermons encourage. Some instruct. Some warn. Some sermons take a lot of time to develop. There are words to chase and understand. There is a structure and a flow that must make sense. Then out an outline for the audience and a powerpoint for the audience and there is just a lot to building a sermon. One summed it this way. Start with an earthquake and go up from there. An introduction. Following a text. Illustrations that make sense. A conclusion to bring the audience to a response. Then the delivery. Not a monotone. Not screaming. Knowing when to pause. Eye contact.

I like writing sermons. It’s a challenge. And, every week the preacher is trying to bring his best. In the audience, we come and we listen but few know how many hours, how much research, how much thought went into making that one sermon. And, when the week is over, the preacher starts all over again.

Salvation is like this. Oh, we’ve read the passages about Jesus coming and dying on the cross. But, to know how hard that would be. To truly understand what all He endured. To see how much He loves us. I’m not sure if we will ever fully understand what all went behind bringing us safely home to the Father.

Heaven is like this. We have word pictures from Revelation about a gold street and gates of pearls. It’s described as a land where there are no tears. There is no mourning. There is no pain. That’s almost fantasy for us. We have no postcard pictures from Heaven. No travel agent has a colorful pamphlet on Heaven. Much like the Holy of Holies, we imagine. We have ideas. But none of us have truly seen it. But, we know by faith God will take care of us.

Behind the scenes…great lessons can be learned from that. And, a greater appreciation ought to come from all of that.

Roger