Hebrews 1
There’s a story told about Albert Einstein in heaven: Einstein was having difficulty finding people on his intellectual level to talk to, so one day he decided to stand at the pearly gates and ask everyone who entered what their IQ was.
Before very long he was having a lot of success guessing what people did for a living on the basis on their level of intelligence. For instance, a woman was ushered through the gates and in response to Einstein's question, said she had an IQ of 190. "Why, you must be a physicist," Einstein said. "Indeed I am," said the woman. "I'd love to chat with you about the progress being made in nuclear fusion and in superconductivity, as well as what's going on in space," said Einstein. "Please wait over there."
He stopped a man who was entering the gates, and the man told him his IQ was 140. "You must be a physician, probably a surgeon," said Einstein. His guess was right. "Wonderful," said Einstein. "I want to talk to you about the latest organ transplant techniques and their effects on life expectancy. Can you wait a few moments until we can get together?" Another man walked in and told Einstein he had an IQ of 95. "Is that so," said Einstein. "So what do you think is going to happen with interest rates?"
It’s rather a mean sort of introduction, and introductions can be an incredibly important part of our relationships with people, and form an important part of our response to them. It seems that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews (1:1-4) knew a lot about the importance of making an impression right at the start.
More than in any other book in the bible the writer gets straight to the point. ‘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…’
The Letter to the Hebrews is one of the great mysteries of the bible – people aren’t sure who wrote it, but it does seem to have a clear message. It seems to have been written to people of a Jewish background – people who had converted to Christianity, and who needed encouragement.
Those converts of course were risking an incredible amount by becoming Christians – there was disinheritance by the family, excommunication from the congregation of Israel, loss of employment, mental harassment and even physical torture, public mockery, imprisonment and perhaps if none of these things helped them to see sense, then death !
Later in this letter we are reminded of some of the benefits of going back to Judaism – things like the rich heritage of the prophets, association with Moses, links with the sacred sanctuary where God chose to dwell among his people – all these are surely far more valuable than a simple upper room, some bread and wine, and a man dying on a cross.
Faced with this incredible choice between the safety of the religion they had known or boldly stepping out proclaiming a new faith, people were being tempted to go back to safety… Without long introductions, without any greetings being offered, the writer gets straight to the point – long ago God spoke through prophets and that was important, because God was speaking; but now God is speaking through a much higher power. His own Son…
The message of the letter to the Hebrews is to remind the new Christians that they have far more than the words of the prophets, or the history of the Jewish religion – they have Jesus, who lived and died and rose again for us all. This week in a school harvest we thought about gold and diamonds and water and what was most important. Of course, some said gold – who wouldn’t – its precious and valuable and it can look good. And the same with diamonds…, but actually what is of course most important is water.
In a place where people have plenty, then gold and diamonds are valuable commodities, but in a place where people haven’t got water or perhaps food, then there is no more important thing than having water or having food…
This is what was going on then – the people were hearing that the superficial riches of some of the things offered to practising Jews were nothing compared to Jesus who had literally sacrificed everything for people.
Certainly the words of the prophets remained important – Jesus didn’t deny this – those words were God speaking to his people. But Jesus eclipsed their work. We are told that he is the heir of all things – that he will soon rule over the world. We are told he is the agent through whom God made the world; that he is the outshining of God’s glory – in other words God himself showing us how to live – his words and ways are God-like.
The writer says more but the point is clear that the readers or listeners are being encouraged to remember that whilst life may not always be perfect, whilst they may still face persecution and suffering, they may still face temptations to return to Judaism, they can stand firm because their faith is in the one who has conquered death… The one who is willing to take the punishment for all for no other reason than to realise a relationship…
In our other two readings from Genesis (2:18-23) and Mark (10:2-16), we are again encouraged to think about relationships – in Genesis it is the relationship between a man and woman and in the gospel of Mark we heard the words of Jesus regarding divorce…
Relationships are incredibly important in our lives and in our church. In our lives it is good to have a husband or wife, a friend, a relative or whoever, who you can trust and with whom you enjoy a relationship… and with God we are invited into a relationship, a relationship built through prayer, through study of God’s word and of course through experience.
And in our churches as well as our lives, relationships are incredibly important. God has put all around us a diverse group of people – people who we find it easy to like, some who we don’t… but we are invited as children of the same heavenly Father to journey together – a journey of life founded upon the one whom the letter to the Hebrews refers, Jesus.
The letter to the Hebrews as I said earlier is a bit of a mystery – we don’t know who it was written by but we do know it was written sometime in the first century, probably being calculated around 63-65 AD judging by people who quoted it and things it referred to… It’s a book written then about 1950 years ago and yet it is incredibly relevant…
Today we face challenges over where our loyalties lie… we face decisions over what is really important to us; we face challenges as to where we put our faith – is it hidden or is it visible ? And we face challenges as to how we regard Jesus – do we put him as a good honest man, a good teacher, someone who displayed good moral teaching, someone who was kind and caring and compassionate – someone who was even prepared to die for his friends - or do we recognise the Jesus of the letter to the Hebrews – somebody who was, and is, all of those things, but much more – someone who was involved in creation, someone who has inherited the whole world, someone who is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…
We are told that when he had made purification for our sins – in other words he had died and risen again, he then sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high… He didn’t sit down to rest – he sat down because that part of his work was done, and the rest was up to those who read and heard the letter to the Hebrews, and to the generations of Christians that would follow…
Today the work is in our hands – we are not faced with the persecutions of the early church, but we have other problems and distractions – but with God’s strength, with God’s wisdom and with God’s love binding us to him and to each other, we can proclaim boldly that Jesus is Lord… AMEN
Before very long he was having a lot of success guessing what people did for a living on the basis on their level of intelligence. For instance, a woman was ushered through the gates and in response to Einstein's question, said she had an IQ of 190. "Why, you must be a physicist," Einstein said. "Indeed I am," said the woman. "I'd love to chat with you about the progress being made in nuclear fusion and in superconductivity, as well as what's going on in space," said Einstein. "Please wait over there."
He stopped a man who was entering the gates, and the man told him his IQ was 140. "You must be a physician, probably a surgeon," said Einstein. His guess was right. "Wonderful," said Einstein. "I want to talk to you about the latest organ transplant techniques and their effects on life expectancy. Can you wait a few moments until we can get together?" Another man walked in and told Einstein he had an IQ of 95. "Is that so," said Einstein. "So what do you think is going to happen with interest rates?"
It’s rather a mean sort of introduction, and introductions can be an incredibly important part of our relationships with people, and form an important part of our response to them. It seems that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews (1:1-4) knew a lot about the importance of making an impression right at the start.
More than in any other book in the bible the writer gets straight to the point. ‘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…’
The Letter to the Hebrews is one of the great mysteries of the bible – people aren’t sure who wrote it, but it does seem to have a clear message. It seems to have been written to people of a Jewish background – people who had converted to Christianity, and who needed encouragement.
Those converts of course were risking an incredible amount by becoming Christians – there was disinheritance by the family, excommunication from the congregation of Israel, loss of employment, mental harassment and even physical torture, public mockery, imprisonment and perhaps if none of these things helped them to see sense, then death !
Later in this letter we are reminded of some of the benefits of going back to Judaism – things like the rich heritage of the prophets, association with Moses, links with the sacred sanctuary where God chose to dwell among his people – all these are surely far more valuable than a simple upper room, some bread and wine, and a man dying on a cross.
Faced with this incredible choice between the safety of the religion they had known or boldly stepping out proclaiming a new faith, people were being tempted to go back to safety… Without long introductions, without any greetings being offered, the writer gets straight to the point – long ago God spoke through prophets and that was important, because God was speaking; but now God is speaking through a much higher power. His own Son…
The message of the letter to the Hebrews is to remind the new Christians that they have far more than the words of the prophets, or the history of the Jewish religion – they have Jesus, who lived and died and rose again for us all. This week in a school harvest we thought about gold and diamonds and water and what was most important. Of course, some said gold – who wouldn’t – its precious and valuable and it can look good. And the same with diamonds…, but actually what is of course most important is water.
In a place where people have plenty, then gold and diamonds are valuable commodities, but in a place where people haven’t got water or perhaps food, then there is no more important thing than having water or having food…
This is what was going on then – the people were hearing that the superficial riches of some of the things offered to practising Jews were nothing compared to Jesus who had literally sacrificed everything for people.
Certainly the words of the prophets remained important – Jesus didn’t deny this – those words were God speaking to his people. But Jesus eclipsed their work. We are told that he is the heir of all things – that he will soon rule over the world. We are told he is the agent through whom God made the world; that he is the outshining of God’s glory – in other words God himself showing us how to live – his words and ways are God-like.
The writer says more but the point is clear that the readers or listeners are being encouraged to remember that whilst life may not always be perfect, whilst they may still face persecution and suffering, they may still face temptations to return to Judaism, they can stand firm because their faith is in the one who has conquered death… The one who is willing to take the punishment for all for no other reason than to realise a relationship…
In our other two readings from Genesis (2:18-23) and Mark (10:2-16), we are again encouraged to think about relationships – in Genesis it is the relationship between a man and woman and in the gospel of Mark we heard the words of Jesus regarding divorce…
Relationships are incredibly important in our lives and in our church. In our lives it is good to have a husband or wife, a friend, a relative or whoever, who you can trust and with whom you enjoy a relationship… and with God we are invited into a relationship, a relationship built through prayer, through study of God’s word and of course through experience.
And in our churches as well as our lives, relationships are incredibly important. God has put all around us a diverse group of people – people who we find it easy to like, some who we don’t… but we are invited as children of the same heavenly Father to journey together – a journey of life founded upon the one whom the letter to the Hebrews refers, Jesus.
The letter to the Hebrews as I said earlier is a bit of a mystery – we don’t know who it was written by but we do know it was written sometime in the first century, probably being calculated around 63-65 AD judging by people who quoted it and things it referred to… It’s a book written then about 1950 years ago and yet it is incredibly relevant…
Today we face challenges over where our loyalties lie… we face decisions over what is really important to us; we face challenges as to where we put our faith – is it hidden or is it visible ? And we face challenges as to how we regard Jesus – do we put him as a good honest man, a good teacher, someone who displayed good moral teaching, someone who was kind and caring and compassionate – someone who was even prepared to die for his friends - or do we recognise the Jesus of the letter to the Hebrews – somebody who was, and is, all of those things, but much more – someone who was involved in creation, someone who has inherited the whole world, someone who is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…
We are told that when he had made purification for our sins – in other words he had died and risen again, he then sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high… He didn’t sit down to rest – he sat down because that part of his work was done, and the rest was up to those who read and heard the letter to the Hebrews, and to the generations of Christians that would follow…
Today the work is in our hands – we are not faced with the persecutions of the early church, but we have other problems and distractions – but with God’s strength, with God’s wisdom and with God’s love binding us to him and to each other, we can proclaim boldly that Jesus is Lord… AMEN
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