Not Alone

Scripture:  Hebrews 10:19-25
               As I may have mentioned before, I really love Star Wars.   One of the aspects that I like about the movies are the incredible soundtracks.  Every time a soundtrack for a movie, or a remastered release of a soundtrack, became available I made sure to get it on CD.  Unfortunately, I cannot do that anymore.  There are still new Star Wars soundtracks available.  For instance, all the Star Wars shows on Disney+ like the Mandalorian have official soundtracks, but they are now only available digitally.  The availability of media and the format it is available on has changed a lot.  In regard to music, I think Gen X, people in 50’s to late 40’s have it the worst.  For a lot of them their first music was on records, but they were encouraged to replace their records with a new music format, the 8-track.   Unfortunately, those did not last long before they had to replace their music with cassette tapes, but by the 1990’s those were largely replaced with CDs, which had a good run.  However, with the release of the iPod and then the iPhone portable CD players were faded out by digital music players.  For a lot of people today they no longer have music on physical media or even digital files but instead must pay a monthly fee for the privilege of streaming the music they used to own across a lot of different formats. 

It might be my age showing, but when it comes to media like music or movies or books, I really prefer having it in a physical form.  However, I imagine that is not the case for most of the people younger than me.  In our era of technological development, it seems the only constant is that something new is coming.  As soon as a technology starts to gain prominence in the marketplace, upstarts come along to supplant it, make it obsolete, and become the next new thing.  I suppose that is how it has always been isn’t it?  In recent decades the time it takes for something to be obsolete has become a lot shorter, but throughout human history we have consistently looked to innovate, push the envelope, and change the paradigm in a way that makes the way it used to be done obsolete. 

This applies to more than just media formats and other forms of technology.  For instance, over the past several years there seems to be a constant trickle of think pieces and editorials that put forth that church has become obsolete.  The arguments are with podcasts and online services, no one really needs to go to church anymore.  They can get the message of their choice, on demand, whenever they want.  Others argue that in our busy world asking people to give an hour for a worship service, especially on a Sunday morning, is unreasonable and unrealistic.  Often these opinion pieces are being written in response to some sobering statistics.  54% of churches report that when it comes to attendance they are declining.  One quarter of all Americans consider themselves as religiously unaffiliated, and this is not just a younger generation issue.  Of boomers, that is people between the ages of 59-78, that attended church before Covid, 22% of them do not attend any church now.  

These statistics are not great news, they can be troubling and disheartening.  It is easy to see why some have begun to wonder, if in American culture, church has become obsolete.  Which is why scriptures like this morning’s are so important.  This morning’s scripture does a great job of reminding us why we are Christians in the first place, and why it is so important we do not give up meeting together. 

Hebrews can be a tricky book of the bible, and it can be especially tricky to pull individual sections out of, because it is written in such a systematic way.  Many of the books of the new testaments are epistles, they are formal letters that follow a conventional format.  Hebrews, is not that.  Its composition is more like ancient speeches and public speaking rhetoric.  Hebrews builds a systematic case for the supremacy of Christ as the ultimate savior.   This morning’s scripture comes from a transition point in Hebrews where the primary argument for Jesus has been made and is being summarized before the sermon shifts to its last point.  

The main point being summarized in this morning’s scripture is a poignant reminder to us today, but for the original audience it would have been a new way of thinking.   Because Hebrews was written to an audience of a Jewish background, the argument is made from a Jewish perspective. Under second temple Judaism, the primary way people worshipped God and atoned for their sins was through bring a sacrifice to the temple, where the priests then made the sacrifices on behalf of the people.  Using this framework, Hebrews make the case that Jesus is our ultimate connection to God because Jesus is the ultimate priest and the ultimate sacrifice. 

In the ancient world priests were the intermediaries who were the middleman between people and the deities.  Hebrews offers up that it is Jesus who serves as the ultimate and final high priest because Jesus is able to fully unite us with God in a way that no other priest can.   In Hebrew 4:14-15 we find these words, “We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are- yet he did not sin.”   Jesus, being both fully God and fully man, is able to understand us as we are, but also sits at the right hand of God the Father.  It is Jesus, who understands us, that connects us with God. 

Not only does Jesus connect us to God the Father unlike any other priest has ever been able to do so, but the sacrifice also that Jesus made on our behalf does more than just represent the punishment for our sins, it erases them.   Jesus, the high priest, by the sacrifice of his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for all who claim him.  Hebrews states this plainly right before this morning’s scripture in 10:10 where it states, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

These two points that Hebrews spends most of its space to make that Jesus brings us to God as both the ultimate high priest and ultimate sacrifice reach their conclusion in this morning’s scripture when the author of Hebrews wrote: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a since heart and with full assurance that faith brings.”   

The statements made in Hebrews were revolutionary for their time, but today the idea that Jesus forgives our sins, reconciles us with God, and connects us with our creator is foundational doctrine of Christianity.  Even though it is a fundamental part of what we believe, we still need to read scriptures like this morning’s from time to time because we need the reminder of the foundational truths we hold to.   This morning’s scripture makes the claim that because of Jesus we can draw near to God.  We can have assurance that God hears our prayers, that God forgives our trespasses, and that God leads us to love and good deeds.

This morning’s scripture reminds us that because of Jesus we can draw near to God with confidence.  This morning’s scripture urges us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.  That can be easier said than done.   It can be hard to hold to that hope, and it can be hard to remember who we are in Christ, because life can be hard.   It can feel like we are constantly lying to ourselves by saying, “we just need to get through these next couple of weeks, and then things will slow down.”   But it never seems to pan out that way.  We never get that breather we were looking for.   Because when it comes to living our day in and day out lives, It’s always something isn’t it?  There seems to always be a new complication, a new set of bad news, a new burden we were not ready for, or a new emergency we just don’t have the time for.  We can be left feeling empty, hollow, like we are just going through the motions.  We can feel like we don’t even know who we are or who we are supposed to be anymore.  Our modern world comes at us fast and we are left feeling constantly behind, constantly overwhelmed, and constantly so, so tired.  In the middle of all we go through, it is hard to remember the joyful truth of this morning’s scripture and it is hard to remember hope.

Thankfully, this morning’s scripture ends with an encouragement on how we can persevere all that life has for us, hold unswervingly to the hope we have, and remember ourselves as those redeemed by Christ.  This encouragement is for us to “not give up meeting together.”  Our faith is not supposed to just be me and my Jesus.  We were never meant to do this, any of this, alone.  Jesus himself surrounded himself with his disciples.   The experience of faith we read in the bible is always done in community.   When God founded the church in Acts, I think God knew what God was doing.  Christianity, following Jesus, is not a path we are supposed to walk alone.  By design we are supposed to be a Christian as a community. 

I understand the temptation not to do it.  I understand the temptation to think that my faith is between me and God, and I got Jesus so I am good.   I can appreciate how busy everyone is, and how nice it would be to just have a lazy Sunday morning.   I am a preacher’s kid.  In some capacity I have been involved in church my whole life.  I have seen the bad.  I know from painful experience that church people are not always nice people.   So I understand and I  can appreciate why some people are tempted to give up the habit of meeting together. 

And yet, I have also seen the good.   I have seen the beauty of we are.  I have seen how a faith community has come around it’s members who are in need and supported them.  I have seen how churches have included and made a place for those who have struggled to fit in any place else.   I have seen how two people who don’t see eye to eye on anything can still manage to look each other in the eye and pass the peace of Christ.   I have seen we can spur one another one towards love and good deeds, how together we can make a real difference in the world.   Yes, there can be some bad because all churches are full of imperfect people who struggle to get it right at times, but there is good in the church and it is a good worth holding to.  

I am convinced that as people of faith, we need each other in this life.   When the dark comes crashing through, it is within the community of faith that we are reminded that the light of the world has come.  When you need a friend to carry you, the body of Christ is there to pick us up off the ground.   When we feel lost, then we should be able to remind each other that we have been found.  It is in the community of faith that we best remember ourselves, remember the hope we have, and push each forward to being more Christlike. 

As a community of faith we should strive to be a place where we spur one another on toward love and good deed and always encouraging one another because even the our country is moving towards attending church less, the statistics also show that our culture needs us now more than ever.   There is a loneliness epidemic in our country, where 1/3rd of all adults report feeling lonely.   Those between the ages of 50-80 report the highest levels of loneliness.  Loneliness is more likely to impact men, where 15% of all adult men report not having a single real friend.  While Jesus is the only one who can truly satisfy the longings of our souls, this morning’s scripture reminds us that we should not be alone, that we are part of a community of faith.   We proudly will sing what a friend we have in Jesus, but may we strive to be a church where we can say what a friend we have in each other.   There are a lot of hurting people in our country and our community who need a friend, and as a community of faith we should be the place that can meet that need for them. 

​This morning’s scripture reminds us of who Jesus is.  It reminds us that it is only Jesus that has the power to reconcile us with God.  It reminds us that this is possible, that forgiveness is possible, because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of himself on behalf once and for all.   This morning’s scripture reminds us of the hope we have in Christ and it encourages us to hold to that hope unswervingly.   It reminds us that in order to do that, we have each other.   So may we not give up on meeting together.   May we encourage each other.   May we help one another.  May we be the body of Christ, where no one needs to feel alone.  May we be a place where others can found.   May we be welcoming and inviting to all.  May people come to know they have friend in Jesus, because the first found a friend in us.