Concordia Lutheran Church
Pentecost 18, October 4, 2009
Bringing Many Sons to Glory
Hebrews 2
† IN THE NAME OF JESUS †
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
A Grand Canyon Passage
You stand there, and your mind and your eyes have an argument about whether what you see is really as incredible as it seems. The pastel colors seem almost washed out, as the distant causes them to fade just a little. Depth perception is almost impossible, the distances just too incredible to compute. There is a reason it is called one of the wonders of this world.
The one time I was there, there was a man, with an easel, trying to capture what he saw. I do not think he understood the magnitude of the task – you could paint for years, and only cover a small quadrant of the canyon
And as one stands at the south edge of the Grand Canyon, one can feel insignificant.
There is one important thing, that one must remember about the Grand Canyon, while one is standing at its edge, contemplating the forces of nature, and the power of God which created it.
It’s a hole in the ground. A big, and very deep hole in the ground. But you can either remember this, or learn it the hard way… (stare over and down the pulpit to the floor and wave)
One of our readings today, is what I call a Grand Canyon passage. There is a lot to it, some of the most majestic theological doctrines come into play. The two natures of Christ, the communication of attributes, Christ’s humiliation and exaltation. It views the doctrines of Justification and Sanctification and the gifts of the Spirit, doctrines about angels, and about the Creation. It even deals with the Trinity, and the Atonement, and the Covenant requiring blood. You could teach an entire seminary level doctrine class – just on this chapter.
Yet, one phrase, a small subordinate clause, sticks out to me – the equivalent basic concept of the Grand Canyon being first and foremost a hole in the ground.
You see, this passage is about God’s glory, as seen in “His bringing His many sons to glory!”
Pay attention
Lest we drift away….
Important enough for testimony
As you stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, for some there exists almost a sense of wanting to experience the incredible view closer. And so you see them inch closer, eventually some will cross the boundaries, maybe the want to look straight down off the cliff edge. You see them drift closer and closer to the edge, as they in awe not only forget the Canyon is a very deep hole in the ground, but also this little law – called the Law of Gravity.
The author of Hebrews, three times in this passage, draws our attention to the main concept, and its importance. Verse 1, ‘we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it!” He then restates it – if we neglect so great a rescue, so great a deliverance, a salvation, how then will we escape what we owe for our sins.
This truth, that Christ has brought many sons into glory, is even backed by the testimony of the entire Trinity. In verse 3, it uses Lord, the title of Jesus to say that our salvation was first proclaimed by Him. Over and over his message echoed through the Holy Land – the Kingdom of God is among you! It was then backed by God the Father, through the signs and wonders, the very power of God demonstrated by Jesus. Power over disease an demons, and even death, confirmed that Jesus authority was not like that of political and religious leaders. The Holy Spirit also testifies to this, as through the church, the gifts of the Spirit are distributed and used. The height and the depth, the breadth and the width of God’s love, seen in the cross, and in the effect that incredible act has on the people who trust in Him.
With all this, from logic to God’s own testimony, we are told – focus on this, understand this, Get this one thing straight.
You do not need to escape, for you have been rescued…
The Escape
From
To
How
If you were to walk or crawl or drift too near the edge of the Grand Canyon, you could find yourself needing to be rescued, perhaps even very dramatically rescued.
Life has a cliff edge like that, and we all drift towards it pretty regularly. Hear how this passage describes it, from a different translation,
For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. Heb 2:2 (NLT)
Simply put, you get to the edge, and you fall. Over and over we play this out in our lives. Can I get away with that little white lie? Can I get away with doing this or that which is wrong? Can I move a little closer to that which is fun, even though I know God would not want me involved in that?
We might be more sophisticated than the children, but how many times have you watched a child try and see how far they could push the envelope? Mommy said no, so I will go ask Daddy… or maybe they won’t realize I am about to climb the step ladder and jump off.
The holes we fall into might not seem so deep, or the fall that prolonged, but spiritually, they are as dangerous.
It is in the midst of such falls, that the hand of God comes in, and catches us, and would gently restore us. Restore our lives, the relationship with Him we tossed aside, and even the relationships we damaged. He rescues us, and cleans us up, big church words salvation and justification and sanctification – but basically, it is our rescue and restoration we are talking about.
Rescued from sin, restored as the children of God.
Several times in the passage, the way this was accomplished is mentioned. It is there when the writer describes Jesus being made “a little lower than the angels”. In Philippians 2, it describes this as his becoming a servant, leaving behind heaven and being born a man. Our passages in Hebrews talks of His suffering, both the suffering of being tempted as we are, and the suffering of His death. In His suffering temptation, we find hope for when we are tempted, that He understands, and will provide for us a path of rescue, either from submitting to the temptation, or from our failure to withstand it.
And the glorious death of Christ – hear the words of the passage again,
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Heb 2:9 (ESV)
There is another picture of it, in verse 17, when Jesus is pictured as the great high priest. The words “Make Propitiation” for a technical term, from the days of animal sacrifices. It pictures the high priest, once a year, entering the Holy of Holies, with the basin full of the blood of the sacrifice. There, in that place, he would sprinkle it on the mercy seat, on the arc of the covenant. It would then cover the sins of the people- for that year. Hebrews, this great masterpiece, will a few chapters away picture this,
But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent(temple), not made by human hands, that is, not of this created order; 12 and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement, may restore their bodily purity. 14 How much more will the blood of Christ, who offered himself, blameless as he was, to God through the eternal Spirit, purify our conscience from dead actions so that we can worship the living God. Heb 9:11 (NJB)
He has brought us, from the darkness of the pit, from destruction, into the very presence of the Father.
The Family of God
One day, Kay and I will return to the Grand Canyon to show my son. I picture us there a little before sunset, as the setting sun set the canyon ablaze in amazing colors. To see the glory of God’s minor creation. For scripture is clear – it is our rescue, our salvation that is His greatest masterpiece. As I picture us standing there, I can imagine the awe, the peace, the sense of being family. Standing here is, in a very real way the same. God our Father, has gathered us, before this altar. Jesus has rescued us, and cleansed us in baptism, and the Holy Spirit has healed us and made us one family.
Here there is our salvation. Here, at His altar, we are family, united in the glory of God, that we can only begin to see and seeing it, we are in awe. For we have begun to see, to taste, to experience the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.
AMEN?
