Jesus Is . . . !
Hebrews 13:7-25
November 19, 2017
I was going to start my message with this . . . Well, today is the day. Today we are finishing our study of the book of Hebrews. We’ve taken a look at discovering who Jesus is in our lives. Early in the book, we discovered Jesus is
bigger and better than the angels
bigger and better than Moses and Aaron
bigger and better than the best of the sacrifices
bigger and better than the great high priests
bigger and better than Melchizedek, the great high priest
We’ve learned Jesus is the great, holy and pure sacrifice. He’s the One who gave His life for us. He’s the One who is the same . . . yesterday, today and forever. And today, we finish with some exhortations for the church which is based on who Jesus is.
Well, that’s really how I started today’s message. But, let me give away the ending. If you don’t want to hear me, just put your hands over your ears for 20 seconds. We will have one final week on Hebrews next Sunday. I’ll tell you more later in the message.
As for now . . . Do you remember playing the game Follow the Leader or Simon Says? Those games are predicated on you following whoever is leading. You do whatever the leader does and do whatever Simon says. Sometimes it’s pretty easy, sometimes it’s pretty difficult
Leaders come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Leaders can be anyone in our world. They can be business leaders, but also they can be politicians, teachers, coaches, pastors, parents, peers. The list of potential leaders is endless. Sometimes, we have people who are leading who we really trust and admire. Those are people who are willing to do the very thing they are asking you to do. People who you see as moral, ethical and trustworthy. People who truly care for you. People you are willing to follow.
At other times, we’ve had some leaders who may ask us to do some things which are really unreasonable. Maybe even things which are illegal, immoral or unethical. We have a much more difficult time following those leaders, don’t we?
Now, as we begin to look at our final chapter of Hebrews, beginning in 13:7, the writer tells us ~
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.
Very simply, the writer is asking us to remember our leaders. Remember those who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the way these leaders live their lives, then we find people who are really living that life of faith, we are to imitate their faith. Don’t have the exact same faith, don’t imitate the way the walk, but use their example to help you live a life of faith.
Remember these people. Don’t take their example lightly or for granted. Good leadership is hard to come by. It’s not always easy.
Something else to hold onto is this ~
If you are a follower of Christ, then there is most likely someone or a few people who helped you to follow Jesus, to proclaim Him as your Lord and Savior. You believe in Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
But maybe someone asked you to come to church one day
Maybe it was the way your aunt or uncle lived their lives
Maybe it was a parent who faced tough times, but their faith never wavered.
Maybe it was that Sunday School teacher
or public school teacher.
Maybe it was a grandparent who always told you Bible stories
Maybe it was a pastor
Maybe it was someone sitting near you, who welcomed you.
Maybe it was someone in church you got to know and you saw their faith.
That’s a long list of potential leaders. There are the official leaders. They have different offices like Pastors, deacons, elders, deaconnesses, trustees, finance. Generally those are the official leaders.
The point is someone loved and cared about you enough to tell you about Jesus. They taught you about Jesus, they loved you enough to show you who He is. Someone in your life showed you by their actions, told you with their words the right path to take.
So, how did they show you the right path? They knew the right path because before they could be good leaders, they had to be good followers first. You see, a good leader has to be a good follower. And a good leader has to follow the right leader - - - - and the right leader is Jesus.
There are so many people we can thank. If I had to thank people in this church for being a leader to me, there wouldn’t just be a one or two. There would be many of you who are here, and some who are no longer with us, who showed me what it really means to lead and love and care. Be sure to thank those people, be sure to give thanks and honor those people who have made a very real and tangible difference in your life. We should value and honor good leadership.
Don't take leadership for granted. In our church, we’ve got deacons. Some churches have elders, some have both. All churches are different and we really seek to have men and women in various positions who are faithful to the Word of God. Who live lives which demonstrates God’s presence, power and grace. Folks who don’t compromise - - we are reminded to remember them.
A little later in this chapter, the writer of Hebrews says this ~
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. – Hebrews 13:17
Now, let’s look at what the writer is asking us to do. He is very clear to say OBEY your leaders and SUBMIT to them. We're not talking about blind obedience or dictatorial attitudes. The writer wants those in the church to be persuaded to follow those who are in leadership and not to resist their authority. That’s not always an easy thing to do. We want to do our own thing, we often think we know better and fight and rebel against others if we don’t agree with them.
Now, let me tell you the really cool and really scary part of this verse. On the one hand, we are told to obey and submit to our leaders, and in turn ~
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls,
Literally, this has the connotation that the leaders never sleep on the job, they are always vigilant, alert and attentive. So, that’s cool. Now the next part of this verse tells us ~
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Here’s the scary part! One day, leaders will have to give an account for their actions. When I stand before God, He is going to say, " Deutsch, I entrusted all of those people to you. You were supposed to teach them, love them, shepherd them, proclaim the Word of God to them. Let’s check out your life as a pastor! God’s going to see how faithful I was to the calling He gave me. The same is true for teachers according to James 3:1. And I will have to give an account.
I also believe God will look at each one of us and ask us the simple question, ‘what kind of member / worshiper were you? What kind of a Christ follower were you?’
Peter gives us some great help when it comes to leadership. He said this ~
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:
2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;
3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. – 1 Peter 5
Peter is clear there is never to be any heavy-handed, dictatorial, ramming and jamming of the flock. Instead, you are to be a positive example, shepherding the people of God. If a leader asks you to do something, it must be congruent with the Word of God — even if it's not your preference, or you wouldn't do it "that way."
Finally, God’s people are told this about those who are in leadership ~
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. – Hebrews 13:17
God is reminding us that one of the great attributes of a brother or sister in Christ to a leader is to obey and submit with joy! UGH!! You mean you’ve got to do that and be happy about it? Yup! Our job is to bring joy to those who are in leadership. Partly because leadership is not easy. It’s about making some very difficult decisions and the role of the people in the church is to trust those who are in leadership and follow their call to follow them . . . as they seek to follow Christ. Again, it puts a huge burden on those in leadership. Their job is to follow Christ and bring honor and glory to Him.
Along with remembering, obeying, submitting and bringing joy to your leaders, the writer adds this strange statement ~
24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints.
It seems pretty basic, but too often we don’t greet one another. We either ignore one another or we brush by with a quick hello. Sometimes we don’t like what we’re being told to do, even though it’s for the good of the kingdom and we rebel. So we don’t want to greet those leaders.
When the writer tells us to greet leaders, he wants us to express personal concern. We are to look out for the concerns of our leaders. We are to be an encouragement for their well-being.
Now, let me tell you something very personally . . .
Our deacons and trustees have had to make some difficult decisions in this church about various issues over the years. A few years ago, the deacons had to deal with some issues. I want to tell you that I greatly respect and have full confidence in these folks.
In fact, awhile ago, the deacons were meeting to discuss a very sensitive issue. They met, had other meetings. Came to my home and then we all went to McDonald’s and closed the restaurant and had a discussion. I DID NOT like their decision. Let me say it again. I did not like their decision. I told them . . . I didn’t like their decision. But I also told them that I trusted their decision making and would honor whatever they decided. I told them that before, and I told them the same thing later that night.
That’s how leadership works. Not that I have it cornered. I don’t! Not by a long shot. I make mistakes, I forget things, I remember when it’s too late. But hopefully I learn and others do.
Last week, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a pastor. When you’re in ministry, you make lots of friends who are pastors. And we share stories and concerns. I was going to share two stories with you, but I’m just going to share one story. . .
I was talking to one pastor, and in our greeting, I asked how he was doing. He said, “I hate my job!” How’s that for honesty as he prepares his sermon? I knew about some stuff going on at church. He updated me and then he said this . . . ‘everyone knows what’s going on and at our quarterly business meeting last week, nobody said a word. Nobody asked about the elephant in the room!’
He was disappointed. His heart was breaking. He’s a great guy, with a great heart. Understand he did not want to fight, he wanted the opposite, he wanted peace, healing and life transformation to occur.
As I spoke to my friend . . . I told him, and I’ll tell you the same thing. I’m never satisfied. I always want more. But I am so blessed to be part of a church which is filled with grace, mercy and forgiveness being extended before the strong arm of condemnation comes out. We’ve erred on the side of grace so many times . . . and frankly that is always the side to error on. We hope for grace and we should seek to give it, freely give it to one another.
As I said, I am so blessed to be your pastor. Yes, we have our issues. Every church does, but this is an amazing church, filled with amazing people. Many who have become my mentors and leaders without their even knowing it.
Now, I need to admit something to you. I didn’t expect to preach this long on these few verses. I want to end with one final thought which comes from verse 9 as it relates to leaders, then next week . . . yes, I really do think next week, I will tie some last verses from Hebrews 13, into a message regarding being thankful and not being thankful. For those who are used to my Bible study, you know this is how we go. It goes on and on.
So, the writer tells us in verse 9. . .
9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefitted those devoted to them. – Hebrews 13:9
The point of the writer is this ~ Many false leaders have tried to add to the Word of God. People have tried to improve upon the Word. Not so much in translation, but in saying this is true and this is not. Jesus never said this or that. Jesus really didn’t die on the cross. He actually married Mary Magdalene and had kids and lived happily ever after. There was not a virgin birth.
But, you see, nothing else is needed. We could come up with all kinds of thoughts and ideas. We could try to change whatever we want. We can say, we’ve become enlightened and smarter, but our writer tells us DO NOT be led astray by false teachings. If someone says something is OK which you know is against God’s Word, then you know not to believe them. This is also why it is so important to read the Word, so that you do know what’s in the Bible.
The writer adds, we should hold onto what is internal, the grace of God, we should not find our satisfaction through externals. Which is why food is brought into the picture. Remember, this is a book written to Jewish Christians, who knew to follow certain dietary laws. But those laws have been set aside. You can abstain from them and it will not help you, or you can eat all you want, and that will not help you.
What will help you is a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is all you will ever need. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 8 ~
8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. – 1 Corinthians 8:8
Food or anything external will never be the pathway to Christ. Following all of the rules and trying your best to be a good person will not earn you salvation. Salvation comes when you are able to proclaim with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Savior. It’s trusting in John 3:16-17 ~
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. – John 3:16-17
