The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 29, 2010
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
St. Andrew’s Church
Hebrews 13:1-8
“The Good Life”
I don’t watch a lot of television commercials but I have to admit that there’s a series that I enjoy. They feature a burly African-American beer truck driver and his disdain for certain social settings. The latest one I’ve seen happens at a dog show and the driver just can’t handle it. His partner is instructed to pull their beer out of the event. Toward the end of the ad the driver sees a painting on an easel and exclaims “is that a picture of da dog?”
There are definitely different ideas on what constitutes the good life. For some, the good life is a dog show, fine wine and classical music. For the beer truck driver the good life is downing a few cold ones with friends at a ballgame.
The good life is often associated with material prosperity. Do you remember the television program, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? One should note that the champagne and caviar set can be some of the most miserable people on earth.
T.S. Eliot wrote these words a number of years ago:
Old men ought to be explorers,
Here and there does not matter,
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union,
a deeper communion.
[East Coker from Four Quartets]
A deeper communion – that’s what we yearn for. Here and there doesn’t matter – so much of life is so insignificant. To be still and still moving – what a great paradox.
“Be still and know that I am the Lord,” God says to us in the Scriptures. We are told “Rest in the Lord” and “Go and make disciples.”
Be still and still moving
Into another intensity
Into the ultimate intensity – the Lord our God, and into another’s intensity – humanity, other human beings. Our second lesson covers both these intensities and it helps us to understand what is really the good life.
Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 1 is about Philadelphia. Not the city, but the practice of brotherly love. Philadelphia is the Greek word for brotherly love.
The Apostle Paul says about love in the church, “Love one another with brotherly affection.” Romans 12:10
The Apostle Peter says, “Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” 1 Peter 1:22
At the Last Supper Jesus said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
In the ‘70s, two of the leaders of church renewal were Keith Miller and Bruce Larson. Miller was a layperson and Larson was a clergyman. Larson studied at Princeton Seminary and on weekends he would minister in a small church near the Hudson River.
He recounts that one weekend when he went up to the church he served he heard some shocking news about a teenage girl in the congregation. She had left town to live with her older brother because she was pregnant. Larson asked the woman who told him this, “Could I go and see her?”
Oh, no, she replied, you’re the last person she wants to know what happened.”
Larson reflects, “Suddenly it hit me: That’s what’s wrong with the church in our time. It’s the place where you put on your best clothes; you sit in Sunday School, you worship, you have a potluck dinner together – but you don’t bring your life! You leave behind all your pain, your brokenness, your hopes, even your joys.” [One Anothering, p. 17]
That was over 35 years ago, but how much has really changed? We don’t dress up quite as much, Sunday School isn’t as robust as it once was, but don’t we still hide our pain, our brokenness, even our hopes and joys?
A few years ago I offered two images of the church. The first was bumper cars. You get in your car, you mix it up a bit, and then you get out and go elsewhere. We can go to church, worship in our familiar pew, say a few hellos and head out the door for home.
A second image is a roller coaster. In a roller coaster we’re in separate cars, but we’re all linked together. We experience the same ups and downs, the unexpected curves and at the end an abrupt stop. Everything we do on a roller coaster we experience together. In the roller coaster church we worship together, we fellowship together, we study together, we serve together, we invest in each other’s lives. We experience life together – the ups, the downs, the unexpected curves, and we are vulnerable to share not only our hopes and joys, but also our pain and brokenness.
We are, after all, the Body of Christ. We are one body in our Lord. We are the family of God, brothers and sisters of the same heavenly Father. We belong together. We are on a life journey together. This is how God intended it to be.
At times we meet others along the way that need our help.
v. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Verse 2 is about philoxenia, which is the Greek word for love of strangers, just as xenophobia is the fear (or even hatred) of strangers. There’s a wonderful Irish saying about strangers, do you know it? The Irish say that a stranger is only a friend that you haven’t met yet. On Thursday, Bob McKinley and I on an area golf course caught up with two men playing in front of us and they invited us to join them. We played some holes with Ron and Chris, father and adult son, and enjoyed their company. Strangers are only friends you haven’t met yet.
Shortly after 9/11, federal agents thought they heard the word “Tappahannock” used in some suspicious radio transmissions that they were monitoring. Tappahannock, Virginia is a town of 2,068 people and they began wondering whether they would be the next terrorist target. In his documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore asks an auto mechanic, “Do you feel extra suspicious of outsiders?”
The mechanic replies, “Oh well, everybody does that. That’s just something that happens… Never trust nobody you don’t know…”
A woman from Tappahannock confesses, “When I look at certain people I wonder, ooh, my goodness, do you think they could be a terrorist?”
A climate of fear makes hospitality to strangers nearly impossible. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his readers not to neglect showing hospitality; do we need to heed that exhortation?
Verse 2 alludes to Genesis 18 where Abraham had an encounter with three strangers who turn out to be the Lord and two angels. Abraham receives the three as guests. He gives them water and then a meal. It’s a beautiful example of hospitality.
During His public ministry, Jesus was dependant on the hospitality of others. You may recall that Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” [Matthew 8:20]
When Jesus sent out the 12, He made them dependant on the hospitality of others. When He sent out the 72, He made them dependant on the hospitality of others. From then on, Christian workers have been dependant on the hospitality of others. Christian hospitality is integral to the Gospel.
v. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
Do you remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 about treating prisoners and others? He said,
Mt. 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Mat 25:36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Jesus is asked, when did we do these things and He responded that when you have done these things for the “least of these my brothers, you did it for me” (Mt. 25:40). The context of these words is Judgment Day when God “will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (v. 32).
Back in Hebrews, we read in verse 4,
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
We shift to a different kind of relationship in verse 4. We shift to the most intimate of all relationships. The marital relationship is to be honored by all because it was established by God in creation. It is to be protected from sexual immorality.
Two kinds of sexual sin are mentioned. The word that is translated “sexually immoral” can mean any form of sexual transgression, pre-marital or extra-marital. The word in the original Greek of the New Testament can be translated as prostitution or fornication. The second word, adultery, specifically refers to the sexual boundaries of marriage.
Why does God limit sexual expression to one man and one woman in a marriage relationship? Because to broaden the sexual boundaries destroys the unity and intimacy of the marriage relationship that God designed for our benefit. More could be said, but let’s move on to verse 5.
v. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Money is not evil, but the love of money is. It is coveting what we don’t have that gets us in trouble. Money is often front and center in the conceptions of the good life. However, according to Hebrews, contentment and trust are what establish the good life. We live in uncertain times, yet out second lesson dwells on the greatest certainty of all.
v. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Jesus is unchanging, completely reliable and trustworthy.
For over 35 years, Ravi Zacharias has been speaking to college students at schools like Harvard and Princeton. His weekly broadcast, “Let My People Think,” is carried on 1,692 radio stations. A few years ago, members of his staff suggested that he speak on the topic “Has Christianity Failed You?” Zacharias wasn’t sure how much interest there would be for this, but he allowed his staff to rent the famous Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. They publicized the event and sold tickets.
Much to his amazement, 4,000 people filled the hall. Outside scalpers were selling tickets at above the face price. In his book-length treatment of the question “Has Christianity Failed You?” Zacharias raises another question:
Is Christianity a mindless game in which we are hurled into
the storms of life with false assurances, or are the instructions
we have been given so detailed that we can anticipate what the
storms of belief will be like, know who is in control, and what
to do when we reach solid ground? [p. 13]
Zacharias recounts how he once viewed a football game from a nosebleed section. At the time he thought “how small the players looked and how vast the playing field appeared.” Another time he was given seats close to the field, “so close to the players that I could almost hear them breathing, and I was quite surprised by how big they were and by how small the field really was.” [p. 18]
Zacharias observes that our experience of Jesus can be like that. When we get close enough to Him we can see how “mighty and strong He is and how navigable life is with Him as the captain.” [ibid.]
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is unchanging, completely reliable and trustworthy.
The same Jesus who is portrayed in the Gospels is with us today in the power of His Spirit. The same Jesus who was known by the apostles is made known to us by their writings and by His Spirit that lives in us. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is unchanging, completely reliable and trustworthy. His constancy is just one of His divine perfections. Because Jesus is unchangingly good, we can trust Him.
Hebrews says,
v. 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Verse 7 is the first of three verses that refers to Christian leaders. Leaders are to be remembered – v. 7, obeyed – v. 17, and greeted by the epistle’s recipients – v. 24.
Christians are to be followed inasmuch as they are following Jesus. This is why I’ve dealt with v. 8 before v. 7. Christian leadership must flow from Jesus or it is not Christian leadership. This is the precise reason that we left the Episcopal Church.
If you want to encapsulate the authentic Christian life, these eight verses of Hebrews chapter 13 are a good place to start. The Christian life is the good life. The good life is about a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ and relationships with Christian brothers and sisters. It is also about the care of strangers and the mistreated.
The good life is about God and people.
In the good life,
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union,
a deeper communion.
That is the real good life.
