Sermon For Trinity 18 - 11 October 2009

Sunday 11 THE 18th SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY (Amos 5.6-7, 10-15; Hebrews 4-12-16; Mark 10.17-31) This morning I am going to focus on the reading from Hebrews Hebrews 4-12-16 Let‟s look at the reading together. The author wrote in a stylish literary fashion rather than in the ordinary sort of Greek spoken by the man in the street. The beauty and poetry of the language may perhaps be compared to the splendour and grandeur of the King James Bible or Shakespeare‟s English Language. The first paragraph is about the Word of God. The second is about Jesus, our Great High Priest. THE WORD OF GOD For Jews, a word was more than a sound with a certain meaning. A word was power. The creative voice of God is heard in the Book of Genesis. When God speaks big things happen. God says, ‘Let there be light and there was light’. The prophet Ezekiel foretells, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord GOD.’ Christians come to the Bible not because of the intellectual significance of the words. They come to the Bible because its words reveal God to us. The Gospel of John gives the good news: ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us.’ The Letter of James contains practical advice on living out the Christian faith, ‘Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave…. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.’ And in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, St Paul speaks of the Word of God at work, „We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.’ (1 Thessalonians 2:13-16). Words build up. Words encourage and discourage. Words can also hurt and harm. Words don‟t just say something; they also do something. In the marriage ceremony two little words are spoken. They are only two little words, but words of crucial importance. The bridegroom is asked, „Will you take... to be your wife…?‟ The bride is asked “Will you take... to be your husband…? Two little words are given in reply. And what are these two little words? The two words are “I WILL!” These are words of promise, to love, cherish, protect, and provide for. Marriage is usually taken very seriously and the rights and obligations of marriage are enforceable in law. The words “I WILL!” are powerful words. (Some suggest saying “I love you” is important in a marriage but the words that keep it going are “I am sorry”, “I was wrong”, “You were right”) Words do things. If human words can do things, just think how much more the word of God can do to achieve God‟s purpose. OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST Now let‟s focus on the second part of the reading. Jerusalem‟s Temple was the main place of Jewish worship and was believed to be God‟s exclusive dwelling place on earth. The Holy of Holies was the inner sanctuary of the Temple. This room originally contained the Ark of the Covenant: a large box covered in gold that held the tablets of the Ten Commandments. In the Holy of Holies there were no windows or doors to let in light. According to the Law of

Moses, the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows cleansed men‟s bodies from sin. Once a year on Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement – the High Priest alone entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood of sacrificed unblemished animals. Man was reconciled with God in this yearly ritual. The High Priest was the link between God and his people. The Letter to the Hebrews identifies Jesus as the perfect high priest and shows the differences between the Law of Moses and the Gospel. Jesus‟ death meant that his blood was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus was sinless but he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. No other New Testament writer explains the greatness of Jesus quite in the way that the writer of Hebrews does. See the words, „passed through the heavens.‟ In the New Testament „heaven’ can mean the heaven of the sky or being in the presence of God. Jesus has passed through heaven and is in the very presence of God. The Christmas hymn „In the Bleak Mid-Winter’ comes close in making the same point when it says that Jesus is so vast that even heaven is too small a place for him, ‘Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away, When he comes to reign.’ Jesus knew temptation more than we can ever know and he went far beyond the limit of human endurance in pain, but he did not sin. Those who live sheltered lives may be disgusted and condemn those who fail. Jesus did not live a sheltered life. Travel advice is best sought from someone who has travelled the road before you. Jesus has travelled the road we travel. Jesus is able to identify with human beings because he has known life as a human being. Jesus is aware of every weakness of ours and can give us sympathy and compassion. When we suffer, Jesus knows and understands. Jesus is merciful because he knows and forgives. Jesus is perfectly God, and perfectly man… he is our perfect high priest. God has spoken in a variety of ways. In creation, in nature, in amazing miracles and the different ways in which he has intervened directly in human affairs by the words given to prophets. For the author of Hebrews, the words of Scripture are words of God today. God who has spoken, still speaks and that word continues to be valid, and the Psalmist reminds us, ‘For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture…. O that today you would listen to his voice!’ (Psalm 95 The Venite) By Adam's disobedience in the garden, we are sinful and so God became one with us and spoke for himself. Jesus, the perfect Word of God, brought the voice of God to man and showed us who God is. The Bible speaks the Word of God, the commandments of God, the offer of God. Jesus brought God to human beings and he can bring human beings to God. Read the Bible? Yes! But do more than that. God‟s word is alive and working. God‟s Word is not just to be read. It is something to be done… for God knows every one of us and sees everything we do, God‟s word lives and works within us, if we only ask him to. His word is sharper than the sharpest knife, piercing bones and mind, Jesus, God‟s only Son, was tempted, yet he did not sin. He is our perfect High Priest, now in heaven, where he reigns. Pray for help from Jesus every day, and when problems you do face. You‟ll find a listening Saviour, love, mercy and also grace. Poem based on Hebrews 4-12-16 Paul Heatherington

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