Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 for Sunday, September 2, 2007

Translation:
(1) Let the brotherly love continue. (2) Do not forget hospitality for by this some have unknowingly entertained angels. (3)Remember the prisoners as having been in prison with them, those being ill-treated as if you yourselves are ill-treated. (4) Keep marriage precious among all, and keep marital sex undefiled, for God judges a man who practices sexual immorality and is an adulterer. (5) Keep free from greed being content with what you have, for he has spoken "I will never ever desert you, neither will I ever abandon you." (6)Therefore we have confidence to say, "The Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?" (7)Remember your leaders who spoke to you the word of God, reflecting on the outcome of their manner of life imitate their faith. (8)Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and unto eternity.

(15)Through him, therefore, let us all offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is fruit of lips confessing in his name (16)And do not forget doing good and fellowship for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That's the phrase isn't it? It was just today that I was talking with a friend about how we sometimes forget that the Old Testament is still very much a part of our faith tradition. This scripture reminds me of this conversation.

Virtually all of the injunctions in this scripture can be traced back to the Old Testament. After all, Jesus was Jewish. Jesus was not the first Christian and neither were many of his followers even after his death. They were Jewish. For a long time after Jesus' death, what we know as Christianity was a sect of Judaism. It makes sense, therefore, that much of our own Christian tradition would look and sound like Judaism.

But, too often we read the New Testament as the most important part of the Bible, forgetting that there is a very large body of scripture. Jesus, after all, never quoted anything from the New Testament (there was no such thing in his lifetime!). Everything Jesus quoted came from what we now call the Old Testament.

For instance, the exhortation to hospitality reminds us of how Abraham and Sarah welcomed three strange visitors who told them of the good news of a son (Genesis 18:1-21.) The exhortation on marriage comes from Jewish ideas about marriage, particularly the prohibition against adultery in Exodus 20:14. A warning against greed comes loosely from the ten commandments (Exodus 20). The moving quotation in v.5 "I will never ever desert you, neither will I ever abandon you" comes from Deuteronomy 31:6, but similar words can be found in other parts of the Old Testament. The courageous response of the believer in v.6 "The Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?" comes from Psalm 118:6.

We often hear that Jesus is all we need and that Jesus is the Way, which is true. But it turns out that faith is more complicated than simply accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The first step is certainly accepting the most basic creed, "Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior" but the question after that becomes "so what?" Christians of every age have always lived in cultures that forced them to define their beliefs more often by their actions than what they say.

So, Hebrews reminds us to open up our whole Bible and live our beliefs. Continue with brotherly love. Be hospitable. And don't just remember the prisoners the way you remember to get milk on the way home. Remember the prisoners as if you were one. Make sure you value marriage. Don't defile sex and remember that adultery is a sin, even if you do accept Christ. Don't be greedy. And live these things courageously because the world and our culture will test your limits. After all, God literally (the Greek actually says this) promises to never ever come unbinded from you and never ever leave you behind. And since God's word is true, what else should you fear? Even if you really do become a prisoner because of what you believe, God's promises will stand firmer than your captor.

As it turns out, becoming a Christian doesn't make you exempt from learning the ways of living as they are described in the Old Testament. The laws of the Old Testament, even if you followed all of them exactly, would never set you free from sin. Only Christ can do that. But, it doesn't mean you're exempt from the law! This is good news for not only are you set free from sin through Christ, but by following God's commands you are set free to live as God intended. Rejoice!