CONFESSION- Part 2

Therefore…

Getting back to Hebrews passage I began this chapter with, the first eleven verses of this chapter explore an exposition on Psalm 95: 7-11. This is the third Psalm exposition so far in Hebrews. From the very first time that I read Hebrews I was struck by how often the word “therefore” was used. The author is clearly building an argument that is intricate. That is not to say the gospel of Christ is difficult, but making the transition from old covenant thinking to new covenant thinking is difficult. Even a couple of years ago I found myself embracing and preaching the true gospel of Christ while continuing to use old covenant thinking. I think that happens a lot in the emerging sect of Christianity. I see this often in new church communities. There will be a group of people that want to “do” church different. For a while they do a pretty good job, but because it was established out of frustration about the old form and not about an embrace of something better it is just the same thing. It is putting new wine in an old wineskin. It will corrupt itself. The majority of the time this new emerging community ends up looking just like the community they left with a smaller building and catchier music. Eventually this new church’s primary goal is to have a new, larger building.

Chapter three of Hebrews is reinforcing the sacrifice of Christ above all else. The chapter begins this by placing Christ above one of the central characters in the Old Testament, Moses. There is no one more important to the Jews. The author began by placing Jesus above the prophets. Big statement. Then he goes a step further by placing Him above the angels. Even bigger statement. Now he is taking it all the way and puts Jesus above Moses. This approach is to build an argument regarding the central issue of Hebrews, access to God. For the original readers there was a limitation to access to God which was blocked by Old Testament tradition, keeping of the Law, and the culture of Judaism. For us, access to God is often blocked by the same things: tradition, acting the right way or appearing happy, and the culture of Christianity.

I am going to begin my journey through chapter three by looking specifically at Christ’s superiority over Moses. Previously in Hebrews Jesus’ superiority over the prophets in Psalm 2 is reviewed, Jesus over the angels in Psalm 8, and now Jesus over Moses in Psalm 95. Is there more to using Psalms as the primary reference for prophets, angels and Moses than literary technique? I think so. The Psalms are a collection of poetry by people about their joys and frustrations being in a relationship with God. The author of Hebrews realized frustrations and joys are significant parts of not only knowing God, but being in his will. Old covenant thinking can be found today as much as in the Old Testament. New, old covenant thinking is so often about avoiding the frustrations of knowing God. In contemporary faith we often talk about this type of frustration, but the subtle message is very different than true intimacy. The best way that I can put it is that frustrations are okay in retrospect. It is great if a Christian can say he has struggled with doubt, but not that he is struggling with doubt. When someone expresses any frustration which is currently happening the response is to help that person see the errors of his ways, repent, and not struggle anymore. The wayward believer isn’t judged as long as they repent because of the great testimony it produces about the grace of God. But look in the Old Testament at the heroes of our faith. Jacob wrestled with God his whole life, David, the author of many of the Psalms, seemed to continue to struggle with God, and Moses seemed to argue with God on a regular basis.

I believe the author of Hebrew uses the Psalms to stress the superiority of Christ over the old covenant because true intimacy with God, the basis of the new covenant, is about the ups and the downs of a real relationship. My wife and I are not as close as we are because our life has been all grins and giggles. We have faced dealing with a son that went through a major surgeries before he was one years old. We have dealt with false accusations of child abuse toward that son due to an injury that couldn’t be explained. We have faced me being unemployed after being fired from a church and not being able to find a job. And the list goes on and on. We are close to God not only because of the multitude of blessings that He gives us, but because of the multitude of trials that He allows us to face. A critical part of intimacy with God is we struggle with His will, our sin, and the struggles of this life. It is a lie that is often used as a means of recruiting new members in the church today that becoming a Christian makes life amazing. Often what becoming a Christian means is that it makes life livable. That is not to say that life isn’t great with God. Once you experience a real relationship with God I can’t imagine why anyone would do it any other way. But for all the burdens you are able to hand over to God there is a reality of this world that is revealed.

Let’s get back to this passage. In addition to, or as a part of, Jesus’ superiority over Moses, it is also a warning against disobedience and unbelief. I think the author feels it is important to stress at this point that despite all he has written about the new relationship with God through Christ not being about old covenant behaviors, it is still about holiness. Obedience isn’t just doing what we’re supposed to do, but being in communion with God. When we are living in communion with God our behaviors will reflect that communion. When we are not living in communion with God our behaviors will reflect that as well. Communion is not an in or out type thing though. It is a process of learning to be in communion. Maturity is the process growing in communion with God. There are a lot of implications here for reconciling our behaviors with our values. Someone can have good values with bad behaviors or bad values with good behavior. We have to be careful not to equate the two. But ultimately, neither is the primary goal. If someone wants to truly develop in each area they have to get to the source: communion with God. For most of my life I used an old covenant formula to serve my needs. True communion with God can’t be about how it serves your interest. I have used the word intimacy a lot in this book, but don’t mistake that with equality. I have chosen the word communion with God for this chapter because despite the intimate relationship God wants to have with us, He is still God.

Looking at this passage in a little more detail we can see this a little clearer. The author makes a point by comparing Jesus to Moses. Among all the other reasons this is significant, just as Moses led people from bondage to the Promised Land, Jesus leads people from the bondage of the old covenant to the freedom of the new covenant. The early Christians faced two equal and opposite pressures: One is living by the Law and tradition and the other is living by the grace that they have in Christ. The author of Hebrews doesn’t diminish the Law (prophets, angels, Moses). The Old Testament standards are still the standards of righteousness in many ways. Hebrews simply makes Jesus greater. Grace is not a free pass to sin. In fact, it is a call to greater holiness than ever before. Regardless of how much I write about it is not what you do, but who you are, you are still called to perfection. Passion serves a purpose in a relationship with God. For many, traditions and rituals might serve a purpose. But ultimately the greatest test of communion is obedience.

For the original readers, the struggle was that in many ways what they had before worked. The author challenges the assumption of what seems to work. Just because something is working for you doesn’t mean it is the truth. He does this by saying that Moses is great, but Jesus is greater. The old covenant was good, but the new one is better. Remember this is a warning from the author to make sure we fix our eyes on Jesus. The author says we confess Christ therefore we need to act in accordance with what we He brings. The author is saying it is time to become a Christian. He is saying Christians need to start acting like it. For the original readers, that meant to stop relying on the traditions of the Old Testament for spiritual growth. For us it means a cultural form of faith doesn’t cut it. It means being a really good member of a church doesn’t cut it. It means that seeking the blessings of God alone doesn’t cut it. It means that it is time to fix our eyes on Christ.

My time in the institutionalized church revealed to me that the church, for the most part, isn’t ready for that type of commitment. Developing good members is more often than not the real goal. Radical obedience upsets a system and the more an institution is organized the less it can handle disruption. The churches I served in stressed radical membership, not maturity. I am now ashamed at how often I gave into the pressure to teach radical membership over radical maturity. I even now grieve for the multitudes of other ministers that at one time desired to offer discipleship and give meaning who have given into the pressures of the institution. It is only by fixing our eyes on Jesus we mature and we have the integrity to help other mature.