It Takes a Village:
An Introduction to the Book of Hebrews
Hebrews 1:1-3
Big Idea: Hebrews is not a book to be feared, avoided, or selectively picked through; it is a book of great benefit to the people of God.
Supporting Scripture: John 16:1-4a
All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.
Intro:
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Hebrews is about a sodality … a “tribal village” if you please.
More accurately, it is about a “spiritual village’ that is in danger of splintering due to forces both outside the village and forces inside the village.
Why do I use the imagery of “village”?
Because a village is a collection of inhabitants, of people, who sense some sort of relation and are in vital relationship together. Villages are a society; a cooperation. They are tribal and clannish; not in the sense of exclusivity but in the sense of interdependency.
Villagers:
• Hunt together • Cook together
• Eat together • Play together
• Nurse / doctor together • Babysit together
• Clean together • Celebrate together
• Worship together • Laugh together
• Cry together • Die together
Their resources and their very lives are communal.
In short – they survive and thrive together.
“Together” is not optional in a village. There is no individual identity in village. It is all “we.” When one begins to be individualistic – troubles start.
A village member would never consider leaving the village and going to live alone in the jungle! That would be absurd! Villagers know they need each other.
The same dynamics apply in a church (a spiritual village) and when one or more members begin to operate in a dysfunctional way the whole village is affected. For one or more members to begin to operate in an independent manner also affects the whole village. For one to say they will go outside the “village” and be a Christian is … absurd! That is when troubles begin. When one villager steps back from the tribe it says something just as loud as when one villager steps up in the tribe. Both give permission and model something for the weaker / younger villagers … the issue is whether we will model something positive and life-giving or detrimental. I seriously doubt any villager knows what impact their participation in the village’s “body life” has or how much it is missed when it is absent. It is HUGE!
Hebrews is warning against the dangers and the causes of a splintering village. It is about the benefits of healthy “village life.” The book steadily unpacks this theme and by the time you get to the final third of the book it is front and center. It is an assumption that by drawing closer to Jesus you will draw closer to His “village.” According to Hebrews “splintering” is never about trivial things like “time management” or “needed rest” or “family.” Those are hollow excuses and indicators or deeper faith problems.
The particular village that Hebrews is written for is splintering because, as I said earlier, inside & outside forces are threatening and attacking it. The outside forces cannot be controlled (i.e., resistance, hostility, oppression and maybe overt persecution) and when the internal forces are properly addressed the outward threats can be endured and overcome.
As I suggested, there are other forces at work too –internal dynamics that have made leaving “the village” an easy option. There seem to be two big internal dynamics at play. One overshadows the other and reinforces the other.
The biggest one is that the villagers have forgotten the benefits of Jesus Christ. That is why words like “greater”, “superior”, “better”, “perfect”, and “excellent” are used so much in the book. In each case we discover that Jesus Christ far exceeds any other source of “betterment” one might be tempted to seek.
From this perspective:
[1] HEBREWS IS A BOOK OF EVALUATION
Beginning next week I will start a sermon series called, “Jesus: The Better Way.” It will address this overarching problem that can emerge in any “spiritual village” – even ours.
My next 13 sermons will be about how much better Jesus Christ is that any alternative you can devise. These sermons are listed for you in the handout and include:
Christ - Supreme In Who He Is
• Better Than Our Legends (1:1 – 2:4)
• Better Than Our Human Potential (2:5 - 2:18)
• Better Than Our Family Pedigree (3:1 – 4:16)
Christ - Supreme In What He Does
• Becomes A Better Mediator (4:14 - 5:10)
• Serves As A Better Guide (5:11 – 6:20)
• Offers A Better Relationship (7:1 – 12:8)
• Makes Better Promises (8:1-13)
• Ensures A Better Peace (9 - 10)
Christ - Supreme In What He Offers
• Provides Better Possessions (10:32 - 39)
• Instills A Better Motivation (11:1 - 12:3)
• Establishes A Better Family (12:3 - 13)
• Awards A Better Inheritance (12:1 - 29)
• Imparts A Better Life (13:1 - 25)
When a village has a proper understanding of Jesus Christ it is in a safe place and will have the wherewithal to endure any hardships and threats that come its way.
The other big contributor to the splinter affect is lack of spiritual growth. This deficiency feeds the anemic view of Jesus and makes it easy for villagers to splinter off rather than build / rely on their relationships with other villagers.
The warnings about what can result from this are dire and real and must be heeded.
These warnings are five in number. They are strategically placed throughout the book. All five have a common theme and common concern (they even have a common literary structure). If we are not careful we will not see their connectedness. But a proper reading of this letter (any letter for that matter) will show that each is dependent on the others to be properly understood.
Together they show the danger of “village drift.”
In these warnings we are encouraged to heed God’s Word. The danger of a downward spiral can be seen in the book through these warnings as well.
With that being said, Hebrews is:
[2] A BOOK OF EXHORTATION
Some of the Christians (the villagers) were not making spiritual progress and were in danger of regressing (5:12, 10:25, 6:1). This downward spiral can be detected in the warnings and it goes something like this:
o Drifting from the Word (2:1-4) – There is simple and “innocent” neglect as priorities compete
o Doubting the Word (3:7 – 4:13) – The heart begins to callous and harden as other options begin to look attractive
o Dullness toward the Word (5:11 – 6:20) – A sluggishness sets in. The passion to do the “hard things” and the right things is gone
o Despising the Word (10:26-39) –The sluggishness begins to morph into willful, overt, and intentional resistance
o Defying the Word (12:14-29) – A stiff-necked defiance emerges and rejection of Jesus Christ and His village are solidified.
We might call this “The Dangers of Back Sliding.” It is an appropriate understanding of what is happening and a danger for every village and every villager. It must, we see in Hebrews, be guarded against very carefully.
Again I say, the warnings are dire and real and must be heeded.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Wrap-Up
Spiritual villages are strongest when each member recognizes and includes the other villagers as part of their identity.
To be more personal, we are strongest when we realize we were not designed and cannot succeed as lone rangers. We must become and remain part of the family – the spiritual village – in order to please God and do His will.
By now you are familiar with my three keys to healthy “village life.” Everyone needs:
• A Mentor to assist them on the spiritual journey
• A Fellow-Traveler to walk along side them as they follow Jesus
• A Mentee to pass on their spiritual insight and to encourage.
From that vantage point we see that Hebrews is:
[3] A BOOK OF EXAMINATION
As you read the book, the question will come to your mind time and again … “What am I really trusting?” And you will discover that the only good answer is “Jesus Christ.” Nothing else, not your own good works, not your religion, not anything else at all is part of that answer. As you have heard me say many times; “Grace plus anything is not grace.”
It is Jesus only or it is something else altogether.
[4] AND IT IS A BOOK OF EXPECTATION
The good news is that the author expects the saints to change their ways, grow, and return to fellowship with Jesus.
He expects the village to survive the internal and external threats.
The author is “confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation” (Hebrews 6:9).
I like how Peter says it in his first epistle: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (1 Peter 1:3)
It is my prayer that, as we look at Jesus together in the coming weeks, you will be drawn to Him.
It is my prayer that your sense of “membership” in this village will intensify. I want you to see your need (and our need for you) to become a participating “villager” in our lives.
It is also my prayer that you take time for personal spiritual inventory and see if “drift” is setting in. If so, the longer you drift the more momentum and speed you gain and the harder it is to stop the drift and return.
There will NEVER be a better time to restore your relationship with Jesus Christ that right now.
Joe and I have taken the theme of Hebrews, coupled it with the sermon series, and developed a congregational prayer. You have it on your handout.
Can you pray this with your fellow-villagers?
Let’s use it as a prayer of devotion for the Savior.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
Jesus: The Better Way
(A Congregational Prayer from Hebrews)
Leader: Heavenly Father, giver of all good gifts,
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our legends
All: We will look to Him for character
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our human potential
All: We will look to Him for strength
Leader: Because Jesus is better than our family pedigree
All: We will look to Him for identity
Leader: Because Jesus is a better mediator
All: We will look to Him for reconciliation
Leader: Because Jesus serves as a better guide
All: We will look to Him for direction
Leader: Because Jesus offers a better relationship
All: We will look to Him for communion
Leader: Because Jesus makes better promises
All: We will look to Him for assurance
Leader: Because Jesus ensures a better peace
All: We will look to Him for comfort
Leader: Because Jesus provides better possessions
All: We will look to Him for satisfaction
Leader: Because Jesus instills a better motivation
All: We will look to Him for purpose
Leader: Because Jesus establishes a better family
All: We will look to Him for belonging
Leader: Because Jesus awards a better inheritance
All: We will look to Him for our future
Leader: Because Jesus imparts a better life
All: We will look to Him for an example
Leader: In the name of Jesus, the Better Way, we pray.
All: Amen.
