Heavenly Patriotism
Hebrews 13: 14-16
Intro: The story is told of a young French soldier, during the First World War, who received a serious wound during the Battle of the Somme. The young man’s right arm had been so severely damaged that it had to be amputated. The soldier was a magnify-cent specimen of manhood, and the surgeon was heartbroken that the young man would thereafter go through life maimed. The physician waited by the bedside of the officer to tell him the bad news about his arm when he regained consciousness. When the lad’s eyes opened, the surgeon said to him: “I am sorry to tell you that you lost your right arm.” “Sir,” the officer said with tears, “I didn’t lose it; I gave it—for France.”
. Our sermon this morning encourages us to do what this young man did.
. No we are not asked to give our arm but we are encouraged to give our all for our homeland.
. We are encouraged to develop a lifestyle that will honor our homeland.
. Our Scripture this morning tells us why we should be willing to sacrifice and how we should do this.
. We are back in Hebrews this morning. I think that this is the next to last message that we will have out of Hebrews.
. Lets read our scripture:
. Hebrews 13:14-17:
14For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
15Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
16And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
17Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
. The first thing we see here is the motivation for our Heavenly Patriotism.
. Our Motivation for Service to our Homeland.
. Look at verse 14 again:
14For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
. We sing the song, all I know is that I’m not home yet. This is not where I belong, take this world and give me Jesus, this is not where I belong.
. This is the message of verse 14.
. This is not my home, this is not where my allegiance lies.
. He is not saying that we shouldn’t be good citizens, we are told to obey laws and authorities.
. We should love our country and the freedom that we have through our nation.
. What the scripture tells us though is that this is only a temporary place. This is not permanent.
. Arnold Schwarzenegger once said: "As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long."
. Have you ever watched done of the swearing in ceremonies of new citizens on TV. As the ceremony is going on, the camera will pan around the room and you will she smiles and tears of joy on some faces, some will have a puffed out chest showing pride in what they have accomplished.
. When you see some of these folks interviewed, you can hear the pride and joy in their voices because they are now citizens of this great country.
. They want to tell everyone that they are a citizen.
. These people never take their citizenship for granted.
. How often folks do we take for granted our citizenship in Heaven.
. The writer of Hebrews had just written that Jesus had suffered and died in order for them to become citizens of Heaven.
. They are no longer just Jewish Citizens. Now they are Citizens of Heaven and their ultimate allegiance is to God through Jesus Christ whom they will spend eternity with.
. That is our motivation for Heavenly Patriotism.
. We have seen our motivation next we see the methods of showing our patriotism.
. The first method we see is the:
. Method of our praise.
. When we speak of the united states and it’s history we speak of the freedoms that it stands for.
. Our praise for this country is because of the freedoms that we have.
. The method of praise that we have for our Heavenly home is through Jesus.
. Look at verse 15 again:
15Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
. Our Method of praising our Heavenly citizenship is through Jesus Christ.
. We praise this country because of the freedoms that we have through it.
. We praise our Heavenly citizenship because of our freedom from sin and punishment through Jesus Christ.
. Our freedom to be who we are as God created us through Jesus.
. We praise and worship Jesus for this citizenship.
. When we meet here on Sunday we offer up to God our praises through Jesus.
. We sing the song we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord,
. We gather together to worship and praise Jesus Christ.
. That is as it should be.
. But according to the scripture, that’s not all that is required.
. Verse 15 says that our praise must be a continual praise. Proclaiming our allegiance to Jesus.
. The writer is saying that this is not just a Sunday praise and worship time. We are to be praising continually.
.How do we continually praise the name of Jesus.
. The first thing we must do is to let people know where our citizenship is.
. We are to proudly proclaim that our leader is Jesus Christ.
. We are to proudly proclaim our citizenship in Heaven.
. An old deacon was leading in prayer using one of his stereotypical phrases, which was, “Oh Lord, touch the unsaved with Thy finger.” As he intoned this phrase in this particular prayer, he stopped short. Other members came to his side and asked if he were ill. “No,” he replied, “but something seemed to say to me, “Thou art the finger.” The man is right.
.We are the finger of God that is responsible for touching the unsaved, and we cannot touch them if we never proclaim the Name of Jesus.
. Our Eternal country will never expand if we don’t continually tell people about Jesus. He is the one who can grant citizenship.
. We are to continually praise God in our lives.
. Think about something you love. If you love something, it is normally evident in your conversation. You talk about the person or thing that you love even when the conversation does not really involve that thing or person.
. I love fishing and if you talk to me long enough, fishing will come up in the conversation.
. If you talk to me long enough and you don’t know me, eventually you will find out that I am a pastor and you will be given an opportunity to converse with me about that.
. When we are saved, we make the commitment to make God the number one love of our lives. If that is truly the case, shouldn’t He naturally pop up in just about every conversation we have?
.Shouldn’t his faithfulness and kindness be passed on through our words? Won’t our words reflect our thankfulness and love towards what He has done for us? We should naturally come to the topic of God in most of our conversations.
. One method of showing our Heavenly Citizenship is to continually praise Jesus.
. The other method that our scripture shows us is to:
. Sacrifice.
. Look at verse 1616And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
. Doing good sacrificially are some of the things that please God.
. Folks we are to have a sharing heart.
. We are to be known as people who care about others.
. Doing good for other people is not a chore folks. It is an act of worship.
. It is one of the methods that we are to use to show our citizenship of Heaven.
. A major company was hiring for a position and had several candidates who were equally qualified for the job opening. To break the tie, they issued a “What would you do challenge?” as part of the interview process. It went something like this. You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night. You pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus:
.You see An older woman who looks as if she is about to die.
An old friend who once saved your life. The perfect man (or) woman you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car.
This question poses a number of moral and ethical dilemmas. You could pick up the older woman, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
Now, the candidate who was hired, out of 200 applicants still in the running, had no trouble coming up with his answer. I love what he came up with. He simply answered: “I would give the car keys to my old friend, and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the woman of my dreams.”
. There is an important lesson we can take away from it. You are always better off when you are willing to share everything God has given you. Just think about it. Because this man had a sharing heart, the old lady got to the hospital, his friend had a ride, and he got to spend an extended time alone with the woman of his dreams. To top it all off, the man got this great job because of his willingness to share his possessions.
. The company wanted a person who cared about others.
. We are called to sacrificially care about other people.
. The Apostle John wrote this in 1 John 3:17-19
. 17If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
18Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
19Our actions will show that we belong to the truth,…
. The methods that we should use to show our Heavenly Patriotism are.
. A continual praise of Jesus and Sacrificial giving to others.
. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a citizenship that is far better than our earthly one.
.There are things that go along with that citizenship.
. We are to worship, praise and sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ.
. We are to help others to the point of sacrificial giving if they need it.
. We can do this only when we become Citizens of Heaven.
. Do you have dual citizenship?
. Have you become a citizen of Heaven this morning?
. Are you a Citizen that’s takes their citizenship for granted.
. God expects us to be good citizens.
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
Worship Beyond Sunday, Doug Henry
Praise That Is Pleasing, Quinton Morrow
