Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3
Poet Maya Angelou has a clear understanding of the power knowing one’s inner self. She says, “I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it. In the face of such uncertainty believe in these two things: you are stronger than you think, and you are not alone.” This is a statement describing a person in the midst of a storm. While it could easily be perceived as a physical storm, most people would agree Maya would be referring to an emotional or psychological storm. Many of us have dealt with these storms at various points in our lives. Relationships between loved ones, stress from an employment situation, and loss of a loved one all have the ability to create intense psychological storms in one’s life. But what would we say about spiritual storms? These are create when God is trying to make a change in our inner core. It could be a test of our faith or something which is opposite of the person you are. The struggle or storm might be publicly known or privately concealed, but whatever it is, the struggle can be as turbulent as any physical storm you might encounter. Furthermore, its length can go for days, months, and in severe cases, years. Some of us may very well be in that latter stage right now.
It is In dealing with these struggles or storm that we find our true self, and it is the true self where God looks to make the greatest change within us. When we are stressed and alone, we have no place to go or look but to see ourselves as we really are. If what we see is good, we know that God will continue to nurture and grow it to its fullest potential. If it is not good, this is what we are to confess to God so that He may be the instrument of change in our life. It is this ‘not so good’ part that Paul is specifically speaking to in this final part of the Hebrews 12 introduction. When things are darkest and we are most likely to resort to the old destructive self, it is then that he asks that we look to Jesus, who as was mentioned in Hebrews 12:2 is the perfecter and author of our faith.
Paul’s statement asks us to, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men.” Now why is this of great significance? The answer is twofold. First, Paul does not command us to look to Jesus. He asks us to consider Jesus. This is a test of the authenticity of our faith because our journey of faith to follow Jesus is not a commandment. It is indeed a choice. Second, our Lord Jesus Christ withstood opposition not only from the establishments of the Sanhedrin, which is the supreme Jewish council, but also His people, His family, and even His own disciples. Could there have been anyone more alone in history than Jesus? And yet He not only withstood the opposition, He conquered it. Rather than taking the easy way out, He stayed true to His core self, which is God’s righteousness, and followed through on one of His greatest teachings in the process; to lay down His life for us. In John 15:13, Jesus says there is no greater love than one who lays down their life for their friends. Jesus laid His life down for the salvation not only of us but also those who then opposed Him. This is undeniable proof of His love for the world as well as divine truth by in essence practicing exactly what He preached. Paul, having been inspired by his own eyewitness account of these occurrences, naturally chose Jesus for us to consider when facing the storms of our lives. It is this inspiring story that is a driving force strengthening our faith and giving us the resolve to “not grow weary and lose heart.”
In summarizing the poetic introduction of Hebrews 12, we have learned a great deal of what Jesus Christ’s sacrifice really means to us. First, Paul reinforced our faith to trust in Jesus. He then moved to reiterate Jesus’ standing as indeed Lord and savior for us all. So what do we get out of the last part of this series? Paul asks us to remember who we are in Christ and to respond to the message of Jesus Christ in our hearts. In remembering who we really are, it is only through Christ that true change can occur in our lives, and when God asks us to change, we should respond affirmatively. Sometimes it requires some stormy times for us to endure, but if we stay true to ourselves and trust in Him, we will receive a seemingly endless amount of blessings. Shakespeare in the play Hamlet wrote, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” My prayer is that in Christ, we are indeed true to our own selves. Amen.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Right Thing
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
Have you ever heard a great poem and found it was so inspiring and profound that you end up dwelling on it? That kind of thinking came natural to me. After all, my middle name was from a famous philosopher/poet (Emerson). I used to write poems when I was younger, but needless to say none of them were on the level of my namesake. However every once in a while, I could hit the right tone with the right words, and blend it into poem that resembled what many of the modern poets would publish. To explain what a modern poet does is to see the world through their eyes. Most modern poets view the world as very fractured and out of control, and thus they must bring the world together through each line of their poetry.
In reading the beginning verses of Hebrews 12, I found a poetic beauty in it much like I would reading a modern poem. In it, you can visually imagine and picture a time when all is not right in the world since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Paul, in this case ‘the modern poet,’ has been given the responsibility to bring the world back together through the Gospel. He is speaking where clearly there must have been some doubt among the people. It is a time where you can sense great fear and apprehension over the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will go over the first three verses of this chapter together over the next few weeks starting with the first verse here.
To address the fears of both the Hebrews then and us today, Paul in this very first verse speaks to both our natural reasoning and our hearts. He first moves to reinforce our beliefs by speaking of those (the cloud) who had seen the many miracles of Jesus for themselves. He next appeals to the commonality in the feelings that create hesitation in us all. It could be fear, pride, doubt, or apathy, but all of these among other feelings ‘hinder’ us from following through on that which we know to be true. Further he touches on the nature of our sins to inhibit us from doing what is right. While Paul says, “the sin that so easily entangles us,” sin by itself does not entangle us. We entangle ourselves through the shame that it carries (I’ll talk about shame next week). Thus our problem in many cases is an inability to truly confess and repent for if we truly embrace the Gospel, we know we are truly saved from our sins through the light of Jesus. Finally, Paul encourages us to get fully involved in the battle to transform lives. We are not merely to walk through the motions but rather ‘run with perseverance’ the path God has laid out for us. In other words, we are to exhibit a sense of urgency in whatever God has called us to do.
Paul understood that for us to grow in our journey of faith, we must overcome some obstacles, and thus his teaching here is to build us up to overcome them. There are many reasons for us at times to feel weary from our travels. Growth after all is never easy, and in most cases will be difficult. However, the rewards of not only eternal life but also a spirit filled with love, joy, and fulfillment is worth the painful sacrifice to achieve it. Additionally, a growing Christian’s potential to spark others to accept the Gospel is the true will of God. My prayer is that we all learn to accept that in spite of all that might hinder it, seeking our spiritual growth is indeed the right thing to do. Amen.
Have you ever heard a great poem and found it was so inspiring and profound that you end up dwelling on it? That kind of thinking came natural to me. After all, my middle name was from a famous philosopher/poet (Emerson). I used to write poems when I was younger, but needless to say none of them were on the level of my namesake. However every once in a while, I could hit the right tone with the right words, and blend it into poem that resembled what many of the modern poets would publish. To explain what a modern poet does is to see the world through their eyes. Most modern poets view the world as very fractured and out of control, and thus they must bring the world together through each line of their poetry.
In reading the beginning verses of Hebrews 12, I found a poetic beauty in it much like I would reading a modern poem. In it, you can visually imagine and picture a time when all is not right in the world since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Paul, in this case ‘the modern poet,’ has been given the responsibility to bring the world back together through the Gospel. He is speaking where clearly there must have been some doubt among the people. It is a time where you can sense great fear and apprehension over the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will go over the first three verses of this chapter together over the next few weeks starting with the first verse here.
To address the fears of both the Hebrews then and us today, Paul in this very first verse speaks to both our natural reasoning and our hearts. He first moves to reinforce our beliefs by speaking of those (the cloud) who had seen the many miracles of Jesus for themselves. He next appeals to the commonality in the feelings that create hesitation in us all. It could be fear, pride, doubt, or apathy, but all of these among other feelings ‘hinder’ us from following through on that which we know to be true. Further he touches on the nature of our sins to inhibit us from doing what is right. While Paul says, “the sin that so easily entangles us,” sin by itself does not entangle us. We entangle ourselves through the shame that it carries (I’ll talk about shame next week). Thus our problem in many cases is an inability to truly confess and repent for if we truly embrace the Gospel, we know we are truly saved from our sins through the light of Jesus. Finally, Paul encourages us to get fully involved in the battle to transform lives. We are not merely to walk through the motions but rather ‘run with perseverance’ the path God has laid out for us. In other words, we are to exhibit a sense of urgency in whatever God has called us to do.
Paul understood that for us to grow in our journey of faith, we must overcome some obstacles, and thus his teaching here is to build us up to overcome them. There are many reasons for us at times to feel weary from our travels. Growth after all is never easy, and in most cases will be difficult. However, the rewards of not only eternal life but also a spirit filled with love, joy, and fulfillment is worth the painful sacrifice to achieve it. Additionally, a growing Christian’s potential to spark others to accept the Gospel is the true will of God. My prayer is that we all learn to accept that in spite of all that might hinder it, seeking our spiritual growth is indeed the right thing to do. Amen.
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