Before we continue our study of Hebrews this morning, I want to take a moment to comment on our Gospel lesson found in Mark chapter 12. I love that short little story about the widow who placed her two coins in the offering. I love the way that Jesus so graciously commends this woman—not because her gift is a large monetary gift, but because her heart was large—and she gave all she had. While her two small coins may have seemed insignificant to those responsible for maintaining the temple and supporting the priests, it was the most significant gift to God that day—because she gave her all.
Jesus provides a great lesson for His disciples, one that speaks as strongly to our culture as it did theirs. Instead of being preoccupied with material wealth or political influence, Jesus is concerned with the status of the heart. You don’t see Jesus trying to get close to those who have great financial resources, but commending those who are willing to give out of what God has given them.
I fear that sometimes we think our resources are meager, and so we hesitate to give them at all. Will God be insulted by my gift of $2? Not if that’s all that I have to give. Will my gift of two dollars make a difference in the Kingdom of God? It will if it’s given with a cheerful and thankful heart.
Today in your bulletin you will find our monthly statistical update, detailing our attendance, and our giving to missions and to the work of this local church. While the report shows us as meeting all of our financial goals for the month of October, it’s important to note that we are quite behind in our goal for this church year, which ends on March 31st.
Now, please understand, I’m not the sort to beg or plead or give compelling speeches or to guilt you into giving more. We’ve all seen preachers use guilt and shame as a motivator, and while it may have short-term effectiveness, the long-term result is never good.
I would much prefer that you hear about God’s grace and His faithfulness, and that you are compelled to give—not because of a fiery preacher—but because of the God who gave so much for you. When we consider that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we realize that such love really does demand my soul, my life, and my all. And so, while I want to inform you of the financial needs of this local ministry, it is more important to me that you are truly obedient to God’s call on your life—giving of yourself with a thankful and cheerful heart.
Your finance committee met yesterday, and studied our financial reports (as we do every six months). Our spending plan is on track with current income, and so we believe that we are being good stewards of what God is entrusting to us. However, the finance committee also spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming ways to help return us to a position where we can consider returning to a full-time pastoral package. When it comes right down to it, we realized that the only way to make this happen is simply for us to be sure that we are giving our all—just like the widow and her two coins.
You see, I believe this—God doesn’t care as much about how large our gift is—He cares if we are giving our all. He doesn’t care about who gives more or who gives less—He cares if we are trusting Him to care for us, and are properly using the resources that He has entrusted to us. I believe that God wants us to give to His work in the same measure that He has supplied us—always bringing our very first and our very best into His Kingdom. I also believe that God has given us everything we need to accomplish His purposes here in Cape Elizabeth and Greater Portland…we simply have to examine our own lives to see if we are giving our all—our time, our talents, and our treasures.
The last few weeks we’ve been talking about the Old and New Covenants, and the ways in which they are different—and that the New Covenant is superior. This question of giving to God is one way in which they are different. For in the Old Covenant, the law dictated what you gave—and you were expected to give a minimum of 10% to the temple--and that didn’t count various other offerings that were collected to offer social services and run the country. Under the Old Covenant, people might actually sit and count out kernels of grain in order that they would give exactly a tenth to God. The importance of tithing was carried to every area of life—sometimes in a very legalistic way.
Under the New Covenant, however, we find quite a different set of requirements. Our widow and her coins provide one example of this requirement—that we give our all. Just as Ruth was redeemed by her Kinsmen Redeemer, we too have been bought at a great price—we are not our own, neither are any of our earthly belongings. The early church in Acts gives us examples of people who sold everything they had and freely gave to others as they had need. Why? Not because they had to fulfill some requirement of the law, but because they were motivated to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves.
Under the New Covenant, we are given a new wardrobe, we are called to go on a great adventure with a great commander, we are called to worship with wild abandon, we are called to seek first the Kingdom of God, and we are called to offer ourselves completely up to His service. And yet, this covenant is not be kept in any sort of legalistic sense, but simply by following that summary document that we talked about last week—“Love the Lord your God with [ten percent] of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Oh…wait…your Bible doesn’t say that? No…neither does mine. The sort of commitment that God calls us to is a complete and total 100% commitment. We might say that “All really does mean all.”
Now, this is not to say that we are to be in church 100% of the time. Rather, this is to say that we are to live our entire life—whether at home, at work, or at church—for God. In other words, as Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Note that the passage doesn’t say, “Whatever church-work you do, work at it with all your heart.” This verse doesn’t speak about doing our spiritual activity with more fervor and passion—it talks about sanctifying our secular life by doing everything we do as acts of worship for God. In the same way, Paul tells us to make our lives a living sacrifice—living every moment as for the Lord.
The author of Hebrews helps us better understand the differences between the Old and New Covenants in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 11-24:
11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
The author of Hebrews reminds us again that the sacrifices offered under the Old Covenant were not permanent, nor did they actually take away sins. However, Jesus’ sacrifice was a one-time sacrifice, which is able to take away sin. Verse 14 says: “by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
People often want to know if Nazarenes teach that sanctification is an event or a process. Are you made perfect all at once, or are you continuing to grow in grace? I would suggest that the answer to that question is found here in verse 14, and that the author of Hebrews would say, “Yes. Not either/or, but both/and.” The work of making you holy occurred at the cross. It occurred with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It will occur finally when you make it to God’s eternal kingdom. At the same time, you are to continue to be made holy day by day. Verse 14 uses both an instantaneous verb (He has made perfect), and a present and ongoing verb (being made holy). In this new covenant, you can have assurance that your sins were taken away when you confessed them to God, and that you can subsequently be made holy in an instant—but that you are to continue to grow in grace—being made more holy day by day.
Let’s continue with verse 15:
15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."
This is one of the most exciting elements of the New Covenant. Instead of being written on tablets of stone, it is written upon human hearts. It is as though God reached down from heaven, took His finger, and wrote the following words upon your heart: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Instead of trying to remember the 613 laws in the Levitical code, you merely have to remember the law that God wrote upon your heart. When challenged with a difficult decision or dilemma in your life, when faced with temptation or trials, you are simply to ask yourself- “how can I best love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? And how can I best love my neighbor as myself?” When you can honestly answer those questions, you will be able to discern the will of God.
Let us continue in verse 17:
17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more." 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
My brother Doug runs a website where you can unscramble a quote of the day. And so, as part of my “waking-up” routine in the morning, I will drink my cup of coffee and unscramble the quote of the day. Yesterday’s quote was: “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.”
I understand where the author of this quote is coming from—suggesting that wise people protect themselves from being hurt over and over again by remembering how people have hurt them in the past. And yet, the model that Jesus sets for us is one where we turn the other cheek so we can get slapped again. I’m glad that I follow a God who not only is willing to forgive my shortcomings, but will also remember them no more. Under the terms of the New Covenant, God chooses to forget my sins as often as He forgives them….and He forgives them whenever I confess those sins directly to Him. While the Old Covenant appeared to be about lists and laws, the New Covenant is about a personal relationship with God—a God who always stands ready to forgive, and to love me just the way I am.
It’s a good thing that God loves us just the way we are, isn’t it? This weekend I spent some time at a Maine District Youth event, where the speaker talked about how we are all “bargain-basement” merchandise—we are battered, beat up, broken, scratched, and damaged. And, just as “bargain-basement” merchandise is offered with no guarantees—sold “As Is—no exchanges, refunds, or returns,” we are the same way. God loves us just the way that we come to him—no matter how beat up we are.
And yet, as I thought about the comparison between us and bargain basement merchandise, I realized that there’s one major difference…. … .. Bargain basement merchandise is typically sold at bargain prices… … … But the price that Jesus paid to redeem us was much greater—He gave His life. Even though we could be considered worthless junk—God considered us worthy enough to pay the greatest price ever paid to buy us back. Indeed…you were bought at a price, you are not your own, therefore honor God with your whole life.
Because God loves us the way that we are, and because He forgives and forgets, and because He shed His blood to redeem us, the author of Hebrews can write these words, found in verse 19:
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two—the barrier that separated the Most Holy Place was removed, demonstrating that we now have access to the Presence of God through the blood of Christ. This is significant for two reasons—first, the tearing of the temple means that God’s Spirit would now move out upon the world through the New Temple—the Living Temple—the people of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the first great example of God’s Spirit moving out of the temple of stone in order to dwell in the hearts of men.
The second item of significance is that we now have direct access to God—we no longer need a human priest to represent us to God—for we have the Great High Priest who has made an eternal means for us to enter the Most Holy Place. It is through the blood of Jesus that we may boldly approach God’s throne as adopted sons and daughters of God.
For these reasons, the author of Hebrews exhorts us—draw near to God. I wonder sometimes if we forget that we have this access to the very presence of God. We wait until things get really bad before we start to ask God to intervene. We get half-way through our day before we realize that we haven’t spent a moment speaking with God and asking for His direction. We pray weekly for His will to be done, but we forget to ask daily how we might help accomplish His will in the world around us. We hang back from His presence, worrying that we might simply not be accepted or heard. And yet, the door to the Throneroom has already been opened—the curtain has already been torn in two. There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man—the GodMan—Christ Jesus. Draw near to God—He will cleanse your conscience, he will continue to make you holy—just draw near to Him—with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
You see, the terms of the New Covenant are not about laws but about love. Christianity is not about religious codes, but about a relationship with God. You cannot be fully living out the terms of the New Covenant unless you are drawing near to God on a daily basis and living in relationship with Him. This covenant is written upon your heart—to Love Him with your everything.
Let us continue reading Hebrews 10, with verses 23 and 24:
23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
The last part of our message this morning is this—tough times will come along this journey. The journey of faith is a journey through suffering—even Jesus passed through the shadows before He returned to Heaven. We find Jesus among those who suffer—for He is with them. As the tough times come, the author of Hebrews would tell you to hold on—to hold fast. Even though the phrase may not be particularly popular right now, the author of Hebrews might tell you to “stay the course.” Don’t look to the right or to the left, but look straight ahead with your eyes on the prize.
Why can we so tenaciously hold on to that hope? Because we know that God is faithful. He alone is able to keep His promises. He alone is able to not only keep His end of the covenant agreement, but to help us keep our end as well. Forever God is faithful and His love endures forever. For that reason, we can hold fast…we can stay the course…we can continue to run the race.
And lastly, we read in verse 24 that this race is not an individual effort but a team effort. The Christian journey is not about individual accomplishment or running in isolation. The Christian journey is about community. We are to spur one another one—we are to provoke one another to run the race and to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
That’s a radical kind of thing in 21st century North American Christianity. We tend to view faith as extremely personal—perhaps even that it’s none of anyone else’s business…but that’s simply not scriptural. We’re told to spur one another one—or, you might say in the modern-day vernacular—to give each other a kick in the seat of the pants----with love, of course!
All of Jesus’ ministry centered around authentic community—we might call it “covenant community.” The disciples were one example of the sort of “covenant community” that Jesus was creating. The early church, where the believers sold all they had and gave to those who had need were another example of “covenant community.”
In covenant community, we demonstrate God’s love for one another—we care for each other’s needs…even when it means getting dirty. We love the unlovable, accepting people just as they are…for that is what God does. We challenge each other to be the best they can be—and we hope someone will challenge us to do better as well. We are to be people of God’s Word, and we are to be people of deep, intimate relationships—a Covenant Community—Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
This is God’s plan for transforming the world—the church—living in authentic covenant community. For as we do so, we are a Living Temple of the Holy Spirit, bringing God to a world in need. You and I—as members of the Church of God—are God’s plan for reaching a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the New Covenant in His Blood.
Benediction: Jude 1:24-25To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
(Listen to this sermon online at http://www.capenazarene.org/ftp/sermonaudio/CECN_111206_requirements.mp3. Or, subscribe to our podcast at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=129585252.)
