22^nd June 2016

Hebrews 1: 1-3, 13: 5-9    Jesus the Same.

Please use your imagination. The time is 60AD and here is a small, dispirited group of Jewish Christians---They were followers of the new Jesus movement but they were surrounded by a pagan, hostile environment. They had looked persecution and death in the face. Some had been imprisoned. Their property had been plundered. Some had lost heart, while others were in danger of being led astray.

The opening words of this letter to the Hebrews reminds them and us (the church through the ages) that we are not alone. The writer says, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways, by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by a son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) God is not absent. God speaks to us as we are touched by the hard realities and uncertainties of a continuing journey.

This leads into the text: Ch13:7-8.

“Remember your leaders, the men who spoke the word of God to you… Look back on how they made their exit from this life; and imitate their faith…” What is being said here is that we have heroes/mentors of the faith who have left a testimony behind and that their testimony is able to inspire us. How are they able to do that? What was the source/dynamic of their faith? The verse continues and provides the answer, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, forever.”

Christianity has never been a set of rules, a religious argument or a philosophy of life.

It is not about religion or churchianty…it is about a relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship with this extra ordinary person who appears in the centre of history and who according to C.S. Lewis is either a lunatic, liar or Lord of Life. A closer look at the gospels shows that Jesus was conscious of what might be called a “divine-self awareness” that led to him discreetly disclosing claims of deity. While others have made similar statements, in Jesus case his radical claims were later confirmed and attested by his resurrection when he was shown to be one with the very Author-source of Life.

What about this extraordinary 3D aspect of Jesus life and how does God speak to the church through the ages ‘by a son?’ An understanding of the Jesus of yesterday only comes as we reflect on the past and take the past seriously.

Jesus of Yesterday.

After listing the heroes of faith in chapter eleven the writer of Hebrews says, “let us run the race looking to Jesus (who is described as) the pioneer of our faith.” Also in chapter one he is, “the one through whom the world was created.” In the tenth verse and in other passages again Jesus is the Creative Agent of God when it says,...

 “he created the heavens and the earth.”  (Heb. 1:3 Col. 1:7). Then it is John the Apostle who highlights the mystery of Jesus pre-existence when he writes… “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

When we turn to the Old Testament it is clear that it is more than ancient history. In fact, it is an expectant revelation…everything is a preparation leading to Messiah, the Suffering Servant and child named Emmanuel, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. In a string of Old Testament passages the early church came to understand the great prophets of Israel as foretelling the mystery of the coming of the pre-existent Jesus. The writers of the New Testament found themselves struggling to put an adequate description of Jesus into words but they said he was, “The exact imprint of God’s very being---who sustains all things by his powerful word.”  (Heb. 1:3-4, John 1:14).

Jesus of Today.

Friends it is often easier to reflect on the past than it is to confront the present but when John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” he was describing one who was from the very beginning and who in the incarnation steps out of the past into the present to deal with our human brokenness. Jesus presence in this moment of time still addresses the deepest need that we have as people. Look at him addressing the present in the lives of people in the New Testament.

• To the Pharisees who challenged Jesus authority and who were slaves to the tradition of their ancestors, Jesus responded by using an Old Testament name for God,… Jesus said,… “before Abraham was I AM. (John 8:58.) “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
• To the paralysed man, crippled physically for 38 years, and by Sabbath law, Jesus said, “Take up your bed and walk.” (John 5:8)
• To the women of Samaria locked into infidelity Jesus offered Living Water. (John 4:14)

Whether we are an ancient Celtic saint walking the hills of Cornwall or someone worshipping in the 21^st century there is one common denominator, one still point in a turning world, (to use an expression of T.S Elliot) and that is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today.

It is still Jesus who changes the present by taking the terrible consequences of our human brokenness—my self-centeredness, my terrible mistakes and yours into himself in the dark hours of the cross. Jesus death and resurrection stands in the centre of history to touch and transform the present, all those things that cripple us and spoil the full potential of our lives.  Like it or not the one who suffered and died yesterday, today reigns in glory…and he addresses us in the present to say the most important thing we can do now is to seek first the kingdom of God,… to love God with all our heart and our neighbour as we ourself.

Highlighting the availability of a new, dynamic relationship with him Jesus said. “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come and abide in you and will be with you always.”  (John 14:18)

In this day of gender-identity confusion knowing this relationship, your spiritual identity and who you are in Christ is extremely important. Recently questions arose about the Archbishop of Canterbury and whether he was the legitimate child of his parents. First he explained that he came from a dysfunctional family then he made this beautiful response to the very personal question. “I know I find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my identity in him (Jesus) never changes.”

So the writer of Hebrews addresses the Christians of that period and he addresses us by saying don’t be discouraged by the influences of the day. Don’t be carried away by human extremes. Don’t be led stray by the seductive spirit of the age. Know who you are now, in the present, by looking to Jesus.

Jesus of Forever.

From a biblical perspective the people of God have always been strangers seeking a final home. (Hebrews 11:13-16) The early pioneers and settlers in Australia shared an excitement about the future that was like that of Israel entering the promised land. However, there is no permanent promised land here because the best is yet to come.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews calls us to look to Jesus who is not only the pioneer-author of the faith but more than that, He is the perfector-finisher of the faith and the heir of all things. (Hebrews 12:2)

So in summary, 1. The Jesus of yesterday steps out of the past. 2. He does this to deal with our sin and brokenness in his death and to embrace us in a present relationship. More than that, 3. Jesus resurrection is a guarantee of a certain future.

While the early Christians lived and died in an indifferent, hostile world there was a future purpose and goal beyond their present circumstances. They could face death with a confidence about the future. Just as Jesus had come and he was present, so there would come a time when He would rightly claim all things as the Lord of Life. Their hero-leaders would come and go but their eternal inheritance was guaranteed in Jesus. Friends we are called to live faithfully now but we live knowing that our love of the past, our love of the present, our institutions, our technology, our renewable energy will not save us. The scriptures encourage us to dream and to anticipate a better future. Our future guarantee is in the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today forever.

Rev E. A. (Ted) Curnow   May 2016