Hebrews 8-10
Introduction: I took a graduate class on church leadership, and in that class we all took a Performax® Personal Profile system test to help us better understand our leadership styles. Basically, the purpose of tests like this is to teach you why you’re so annoying to your spouse and co-workers!
It rates you in 4 categories: DISC – dominance, influencing, compliance, steadiness. From those, you learn which one is your dominant trait, and then you’re supposed to gain some insights about yourself. Ultimately, it confirms what your wife has been telling you all along - It’s just that now, it’s certified! Whatever you score, it means you have certain strengths, and certain weaknesses.
I scored high in the “C” category. That means I’m the kind of person who reads the directions before I start trying to put the widget together. It means that I’m analytical, that I tend to like a plan, and that I work best in a structured environment. It means I don’t usually adapt well to change, and that I want things to be thoroughly thought through before acting. Sure enough, that described me. Some people call it a borderline perfectionist. More honest people just go ahead and call it neurotic!
Now, that can really get on the nerves of a person who doesn’t like to be bound by a schedule, doesn’t want to bother reading directions, gets bored with sameness, and wants to act quickly. Which ever of those 2 people you are, your spouse is the other one!
It also means I’m a person who gets caught up with details. I guess I already knew that. I suspected it would happen to me. Really, I don’t think I had a lot of choice! My dad and his sister were both a lot like that .
So, in our closet, when I explain to my wife, “I select my pants from the right to left, so make sure that clean pants get put on the right,” I’m innocent!
This attention to detail sometimes bothered me about my dad and aunt, and then about myself, until – until I learned that God has that same high-C quality. Then I realized that High-C-ness is next to godliness! God is really into details!
-Ill - Take your skin, for instance. God gave a lot of attention to the details of your skin. In some parts, it fits you tightly, like on your scalp. On others, like your knuckles, it’s pleated. Then there’s places where it fits fairly loosely, like around your waist, so that you can bend over. It takes ultraviolet light and uses it to change molecules already there into vitamin D. It has over 1300 nerve endings per square inch. It releases enzymes that kill bacteria and that can convert dangerous chemicals into harmless materials. It lubricates itself through sebaceous glands. It can cool your whole body. When the outside temperature gets too cold, your skin reduces the blood flow to itself to reduce heat loss. I probably wouldn’t have thought of all those details, but God sure did!
Ill – And when it comes to worship, God is into details again! In fact, the account of the creation of everything takes up about 40 verses, but when it comes to the details of how to worship God just in the book of Exodus, it takes over 230 verses!
Exodus 25:9-22 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. Have them make a chest of acacia wood--two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. Make an atonement cover of pure gold--two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
For many of us, we’ve heard about the Tabernacle that Israel built for a long time, so it doesn’t seem so odd to us. But try to put yourself in their place: for 430 years your people have been living in Egypt as slaves. Suddenly, you’re free. You trek off into the wilderness, to the desert of Sinai. You have no homeland, no army, no real government, no farms, only herds. So what’s among the 1st things that you do? Why, you build a moveable “church building” with solid gold furniture, of course! The only practical feature of the Tabernacle is that it’s mobile – because Israel was going to be doing some traveling. That’s about as practical as God investing the message of the Gospel and his Holy Spirit into these flawed vessels of clay!
There’s not a lot of what we call practicality in the way that God chooses to carry out His plan and to interact with His creation!
What does this have to do with worship? I’m glad you asked! A lot! The passage we looked at about the tabernacle and the chapters that follow it are all about Israel’s organized worship. It was detailed stuff.
Now, when we bring that home to the here and now, in the Church today, questions of detail come up. Do some hunting and you’ll find some interesting details in churches – a whole broad spectrum of attention to detail and lack of attention to detail – from high church liturgy to a little, laid-back congregation in Jamaica where, for 20 years, their vision statement has been, “No problem, Mahn!”
Then there’s Jan’s job. Part of Jan’s job description ought to just say “details.” Things we don’t even think about like tracking CCLI licensing and scheduling and leading practices. And I know there are weeks where he’d probably get more rest if it weren’t for all the details of our corporate worship that he has to take care of.
Some of you who’ve given honest effort to private worship have also had to think this through. Just how much should I bother with details? And there’s a whole broad spectrum of approaches to use for private worship too – from a very organized, structured approach, like Don Dewelt’s Sweet Hour of Prayer, all the way to the mysterious “whatever-the-Holy-Spirit-points-me-to” approach that some people claim; you know, the ol’ let-the-Bible-fall-open-and-just-read-whatever-your-finger-lands-on method.
Joke – I heard of a guy who used to do this. Each day he’d get 3 verses of Scripture just by blindly opening his Bible and letting his finger land where it may. Until one day when the first verse was
Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. Then he turned on ahead a few pages and landed on these words in
Luke 10:37 "Go and do likewise."
So he turned ahead to
John 13:27 "What you are about to do, do quickly"
In the OT, there were some little details surrounding worship that became a big deal.
• For instance, in Lev 10, when Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers and put fire in them that didn’t come from the temple fire, God burned them dead on the spot. It was a little detail of worship – where their fire came from – but God seemed to think it was a big deal.
• In Joshua 7, when Israel was destroying the city of Jericho, Achan took some gold, some silver, and a robe. It wasn’t that much, but God had told them that everything from Jericho was to be given over for worship. Achan and his whole family were stoned and buried under a pile of rocks.
• In Joshua 22, the Reubenites built an altar on the east side of the Jordan River. When the word got out, all the rest of Israel got together and said, “Buckle up, Spanky! We’re going to come annihilate you for a breech in worship details because God said not to offer sacrifices anywhere else.” It was an issue of worship details that was nearly a disaster for the Reubenites.
• At a later time, when David was king, he was having the Ark of the Covenant moved into Jerusalem for a permanent home. But David overlooked some worship details. The ark was supposed to be carried. He had it on an oxcart. The oxen stumbled, and a man named Uzzah reached out to steady the ark. God zapped him dead on the spot. It was a little detail, but it was a big deal to Uzzah!
So, we take note of examples like that in the Bible and it makes us start asking questions about us, our worship.
• Why did God bother with so much detail?
• What does He want us to do about it?
• How do we apply those truths to the here and now?
I’m going to attempt to give some answers for why, and I think by the time we’re done we’ll have answers for how - what we should do about it.
Why bother with the details?
I. Because Worship of God goes Beyond Common Created Things
Exodus 28:2-5 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor. Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
The rest of the chapter gives lots of details about their clothes.
Whenever something holy is taken and treated like it’s just common, that’s “profanity.” It means to take something that’s holy and treat it like it’s common. That’s why we call misusing God’s name “profanity.” Worship is really focused on giving special attention to what is holy. Just like this chap. in Exodus about the priests.
The priests weren’t to be just ordinary men. They were to direct Israel in worship. They had to be from certain families. They weren’t to dress like ordinary men or live like ordinary men. God gave real detailed instructions about their clothing. They were anointed and set apart for special service. On their foreheads, they wore a plaque that said, “Holy to the Lord.” When someone went to worship, it wasn’t supposed to be just some ordinary, common experience like sheering the sheep or going out to draw water at the well.
There’s something about worship that says “This is beyond ordinary stuff.”
When we give attention to worship and make it a priority – when we’re really into it as a group here on Sunday mornings; when we’re careful to make sure it happens when we’re alone too; when we give attention to its details – “at this time, in this place in this way, I’m going to worship God,” then we’re saying that this thing we call worship really matters. It’s not just some common, ordinary experience. It directs my attention beyond the created things.
Ill – We know what it’s like to treat something like it isn’t ordinary. When you fix a meal at home, it may be a nice event, and you may put a lot of work into it. But what if the meal you’re fixing is for a special occasion? What if it’s a birthday meal? There are features about that meal that make it different. It’s not ordinary. You give a lot more attention to the details for a meal like that. It’s special.
Remember how I said the priests couldn’t be just ordinary men? Their everyday life consisted of giving attention to the details of worship. They weren’t ordinary people.
Under God’s new covenant, who has replaced those priests? You! Me!
We should care about the details of worship because we’re supposed to be leading ourselves and others to think beyond everyday things.
Why bother with the details?
II. Because Worship Needs to be “In Truth”
Jesus said
John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God wants worship that is “in truth.” In other words, our attempts to describe supernatural things – things that are “beyond nature” - need to be accurate and need to point to the truth.
Ill – The Tabernacle, was full of interesting symbols, or “types” of things that were supernatural. The Bible points out some of these for us:
• The Tabernacle itself was a type of Christianity – Heb 9:8
• The Holy of Holies, the innermost place of the Tabernacle, was a type of heaven – Heb 9:24
• The veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was a type of Jesus’ flesh – Heb 10:19
• The Altar of incense is a type of prayer – Rev 5:8
• The Altar of burnt offering is a type of Jesus’ death – Heb 13:10
When I get to Heb 8-10, the writer talks about all these things. He’s pointing out how they’re all fulfilled by the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
Make sure you give attention to the details. The details mattered! Why? Because those things were a copy, a shadow, of what is in heaven.
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves.
It mattered because those earthly things were all a kind of description of things in heaven. And if you’re going to say, “God is like this” or “Heaven is like this,” you’d better be accurate!
God isn’t receiving bids for interior designs in heaven. He’s the Designer!
It does matter how we worship, and what we say about God in our worship.
I know it sounds nice to say that Jews have their way, Muslims have their way, Buddhists have their way – as long as they’re all on the way! That’s not what Jesus said about worshiping God! It was Jesus Who said the very politically incorrect
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus, who rather intolerantly said,
John 5:23b He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
God is the God of truth. It’s impossible for Him to lie. For Him to prescribe or describe anything that misrepresents Him just isn’t possible.
So, what do we do about it?
1. Make sure our corporate worship of God gives an accurate picture of God.
Paul indicated this is why our worship assemblies should be “done in a fitting and orderly way.”
But, beyond being fitting and orderly, has our worship together given an accurate picture of God? Is God boring? Is God sleepy? Is God dry? Is God distracted?
If you’re not on board as best you can be when we’re here, then what your worship is saying about God just isn’t true.
2. Make sure our individual worship of God gives an accurate picture too.
Let’s get back again to the fact that these OT things have now been replaced with their NT fulfillments. As priests, as people who are supposed to be living sacrifices, daily, how well are we representing what God is really like?
How well is your day to day life painting a picture of God for people? What’s God like?
• Vengeful, hateful?
• Apathetic?
• Involved with His creation? Involved with people?
What is heaven like?
If we’re living like we can’t wait to get there, we’re saying something true about Heaven. But if we’re living like it’s just the leftovers after life is all spent, we’re saying something that isn’t true about Heaven.
Suddenly, these “little details” of holy living – what we say, what we look at, how we think – all take on a deeper significance.
Sure, accurately presenting God in the way we worship here each week is important. But don’t forget that you – a spiritual priesthood – are presenting God to your school, your workplace, your home every day! Do details matter? Details matter.
Why bother with the details?
III. Because God Wants Us to Understand His Plan and to Know Him
I remember, I was 12-13 yrs old when I finally began to appreciate what Passover was all about.
Remember the story? After 9 plagues, God was going to send one more on Egypt. Overnight, He was going to pass through the land and kill the firstborn of every family. So He gave His people special instructions. They were to take a lamb without defect, and take care of it for 4 days. On the evening of the 4th day, they were to kill it, roast it, and eat it. None of its bones were to be broken. None of it was to be saved as leftovers. They were to take some of its blood, and outside, smear it on the sides and tops of the door frame. God’s wrath was going to come through Egypt. It wouldn’t matter if you were a Jew or not, the only place where people wouldn’t die would be in the houses of those who were covered by the lamb’s blood. God said, when He saw the blood, He would pass over those houses.
Even though they observed the Passover for hundreds of years, I doubt any Jew ever understood why no bone of the lamb was to be broken.
But one day, soldiers were breaking the legs of the men who were being crucified so that they would die sooner. When they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs. In fact, not a bone of His body was broken.
I doubt Abraham appreciated fully all that God had going on in Gen 22 as He told him to go to the hills of Moriah and to take his son, his only son whom he loved, and offer him there as a burnt offering. I doubt that Abraham realized the significance of his own words when he told his son “God Himself will provide the lamb.”
The whole OT sacrificial system never erased anyone’s sin. It just reminded them that they had sinned and needed forgiveness, and it prepared them for the idea that because of sin Someone would had to die in their place. Every lamb that was killed in the OT pointed to the Lamb of God that was to come.
These old things were all “types,” and then we finally see the reality in Jesus.
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
It’s like following someone’s footprints until you finally catch up with him and see the feet that’s making them.
It’s like seeing the shadow of someone coming around the corner, and suddenly you see the person who’s making the shadow.
All these OT shadows find their fulfillment in Jesus and they all ultimately point to a picture of Jesus and us together in heaven forever! Wow! All that detail, all that trouble, for what? For us to more fully appreciate Jesus and His plan to save us!
I love the NT and I love to talk about Jesus and stories from His life here. But you know what? I love to learn the OT and those things there because they help me to appreciate Jesus even more. When I understand the Passover lamb, and how that little lamb’s blood caused the wrath of God to pass over houses and not kill anyone there, I appreciate even more how Jesus, our Passover, has been sacrificed and how, one day at judgment God’s wrath is going to pass over me because I’ve been marked with His blood. I can better appreciate how Jesus took bread and wine from a Passover meal and said, “Remember Me. Remember my body, my blood. Do this and remember Me now.”
Details? You bet! But my whole eternity is centered around those details. I’ll take ‘em! I’ll bother with them! I won’t be bothered by them!
Conclusion:
Long before it was a law, I wore a seatbelt. From the time I started driving, even when that old thing wasn’t convenient, I wore a seatbelt. I decided that, if taking a few seconds to put on a seatbelt could save my life, I was silly to not do it. That little detail – putting on a seatbelt – has saved a lot of lives. Wouldn’t it be silly to die over a failure to do some little thing like that?
The Scriptures teach us that every one of us has a terminal condition caused by sin. And the prescription that will save us is actually pretty simple. The work part has already been done. The cost has been covered. We simply need to show up and take the prescription.
Wouldn’t it be silly to be lost forever because you failed to give attention to some details? Here they are: repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
