Cannot Be Shaken

Cannot Be Shaken

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost, Year C

Hebrews 12:18–29

Introduction

Good morning Church family:

Week by week, we gather to sing, to pray, and to proclaim. Worship is not just what we do—it is who we are becoming. Beloved, we are living in a season of shaking. The so-called Project 25 and the mega social upheavals surrounding it have left America trembling in its foundations. Every day we are confronted with the reality that the systems we thought were permanent—political structures, economic power, even some religious institutions—are fragile, vulnerable, and passing away. The shaking is real. But the question is: what remains when everything else falls?

Hebrews 12 tells us that God promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This is not a word of destruction but of discernment: “the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain” (v. 27).

What we are seeing in Shaky America is not just political unrest or economic collapse. We are witnessing the Spirit of God exposing false foundations.

For too long, our morality has been tied to convenience rather than conviction, our spirituality built on Sinai’s trembling fear instead of Zion’s grace. We have pursued prosperity while neglecting justice. We have lifted nationalism higher than neighbor-love. We have built mega structures—mega churches, mega corporations, mega movements—that often quake under the weight of their own greed and corruption. And so God shakes. Not to destroy us, but to strip away every idol until only what is eternal remains.

But thanks be to God, Hebrews declares that we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This kingdom is not rooted in Wall Street or Washington. It is not dependent on Project 25 or any mega institution. It is the kingdom of the crucified and risen Christ, whose blood speaks a better word than Abel’s (v. 24). This kingdom calls us not to fear, but to thanksgiving; not to shallow morality, but to reverence and awe. Together, we are building a home on the Rock, the foundation that cannot be shaken. And the Word today is clear: Never try to approach God by trying to be good enough. It will destroy you. Through Jesus, receive his unshakable kingdom, and then respond in thankfulness and worship.

Point 1:

Don’t Climb Sinai with Your Goodness — It Will Break You

Hebrews contrasts two mountains—Sinai and Zion. Sinai was full of terror: fire, darkness, trembling, and judgment. God’s holiness was so fierce that even Moses trembled. No one could come near without dying. That’s what happens when we try to approach God by our own goodness.

Friends, if you try to build your home on Sinai—on your works, your reputation, your “good-enough”—the shaking of life will crush you. The rains will come. The fire will come. Your résumé, your accomplishments, your respectability cannot stand before the consuming fire of God.

This is why the hymn writer declared:

“My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

To climb Sinai is to climb into death. But Hebrews says: you are not at Sinai anymore—you’ve been invited to Zion.

Point 2:

Come to Zion—Grace, Not Goodness

Zion is not about fear—it’s about joy. It is the city of the living God, where angels sing and the names of the redeemed are written in heaven’s book. Zion represents the new covenant through Jesus’ blood, which speaks a better word than Abel’s blood.

At Sinai, God’s word said “Stay away or you will die.”

At Zion, Jesus’ word says “Come close, because I died for you.”

That is grace. That is gospel. That is the unshakable kingdom.

The invitation is clear: Don’t try to approach God by being good enough. Instead, come by faith, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That’s the only foundation that will hold when God shakes heaven and earth.

Point 3:

Respond with Thankfulness and Worship

Verse 28 says: “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

Worship is not a Sunday performance. Worship is thanksgiving. Worship is reverence. Worship is awe that spills into everyday life.

When you realize you don’t have to prove yourself to God… when you realize Jesus has already done the work… when you realize the kingdom you are standing in cannot be shaken… gratitude and praise ought to rise up in your soul.

That is why we sing. That is why we gather. That is why we build our home together on Christ the Rock.

Closing Illustration:

Ray Charles and the Real Voice

The movie Ray shows us something powerful. Early in his career, Ray Charles sounded like Nat King Cole and Charles Brown. He could have made a living by imitating them. But his wife challenged him: “Sound like Ray Charles.”