Bible Speaks by Rev. L. Althouse Dec. 7, 2014 Background Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-9 Devotional Reading: 1Timothy 1:12-17 The Letter to the Hebrews is probably the least known and understood of all the books of the New Testament. We do not know who wrote it, to whom it was addressed nor when and where it was written. At one time it was ascribed to Paul, but the content and style is hardly Pauline. Nor are we likely to realize that this book is written in the most impressive Greek of the New Testament by a man immersed in Greek thought. It was probably written to one or more Greek-speaking churches composed mostly, or perhaps entirely, of Christian Jews. In the 3rd century A.D., Origen the theologian said: “As to who wrote this epistle, only God knows.” These Jewish Christians were facing great pressure and hostility as having abandoned “the truth” of Judaism. So the writer thinks and speaks in Greek about matters troubling Jews who converted to Christ. As I previously have reported, Christianity is experiencing dramatic growth among people whose background and culture are radically different from our own. But, the writer of Hebrews is demonstrating the Good News of Jesus Christ can be made known and relevant to peoples of many different cultures and religions. Perhaps in the USA there is a diminishing acceptance of the Gospel because, unlike the writer of Hebrews, we are failing to present a Christ who is relevant not only in Anglo-Saxon societies but in consciousness, words and concepts that are meaningful to the age groups, cultures and origins in our midst. The world in which we live today is a “shaken and shaking world” that has experienced so many threats, disasters and failures that we are drowning in a torrent of fear, despair and denial: the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Iron Curtain and threat of nuclear accident or worldwide annihilation, the diminishment of our planet’s vanishing assets, Viet Nam, Iraq and today the plight of the Ukraine, Palestine and Syria. And, each time we’ve thought “Happy Days Are Here Again,” an old terror appears to shake us and our world. A kingdom unshaken
Today it seems most of us are absorbed in some kind of electronic media. But instead of burying ourselves in these gadgets, we may need to pull ourselves away long enough to discover the Letter to the Hebrews is speaking to all of us: “For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’” He then challenges us: “Therefor let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:26-29). Although there are many Christians among us who believe it impossible to make the Gospel attractive and cogent to the growing masses outside the churches, perhaps Hebrews presents us with a challenge to translate the Good News of Jesus Christ into a compelling and cogent witness where we live. How can we do that? I believe we need to concentrate less on doctrines and much more on living out in our daily lives that we have found a foundation that cannot be shaken. I am not putting down creeds and doctrines, but elevating the discipleship of example. Jesus did not call us to learn a catechism, but to “Follow me” (Mt. 4:19, 8:22, 9:09,10:38, 16:24, 19:21; Mk. 1:17, 2:14, 8:34; Lk. 5:27, 9:33, 9:59, 18:22; Jn. 1:43, 10:27, 12:26, 13:36, 21:19, 21:22.). No matter how dark the world may become at any given time, there is a light that cannot be put out: Jesus Christ. Our obedience and trust are vested in him because we are confident in the way he has shown us God’s light will prevail against all of the darkness the world can muster. So that is why this epistle proclaims: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world” (1:1, 2). Essentially, we are disciples of this Jesus and our task is not to argue about him – his Messianic role, his Sonship, his role in the Trinity – but to reveal him to the world by the way we live and the reason why we live that way. Many and various ways
Christians can acknowledge that God speaks to human beings in “many and various ways,” but it is through Christ that for us: “He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power” (1:3a). When we want to ponder the meaning of God, we are limited by our humanity but, like the ancient Hebrews, we can focus not upon who God is, but what He did and does. The closest we can come to God is as close as we can be to Jesus. When we look at Jesus Christ, we are exposed to as much of the Divine Being as a human being can imagine and manage. A little girl was busily engaged in drawing. The mother asked, “What are you doing, darling?” Her daughter replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” “But, dear,” her mother said, “no one knows what God looks like.” “Well,” replied the daughter, “they will when I’ve finished!” Actually, both mother and daughter were right: No one knows what God looks like, but God can and does reveal Himself to us. If Jesus “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature,” what we experience brings us as closer to understanding who and what God is. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not only that we believe in the God Jesus reveals to us, but that through Christ we have access to that same God. William Barclay notes: “To the Greeks, the writer to the Hebrews said: ‘All your lives, you have been trying to get from the shadows to the truth. That is just what Jesus Christ can enable you to do.” So, where are you?
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