Dr. Rodney Plunket

A sermon based on the purpose of Hebrews

Please look at the top of this morning’s worship order.  The heading says, “Holy God, Keep Our Fervour Alive.”  The Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines the term “fervor” both as “intensity of feeling or expression” and as “intense heat.”  It gives as a synonym the word “passion.”

How do we keep our fervor alive?  How do we stay passionate about a matter that really matters?

And let’s be honest.  We Americans are not good at keeping fervor alive.  Instead, we are a culture that loses interest fast.  We frequently lose interest in items that were quite recently our passion.  Styles of toys, music, clothes, and cars come and go at an incredible pace.  A person’s favorite this, that, or the other from last year is passé/outmoded this year.  An outfit purchased at a pre­mium price to wear in the upcoming winter might be given to Broadway’s clothing room next year or the next.  An activity or experience that is the rage one year is ho-hum in the year that follows.  And many in our culture tire of their spouses just about as quickly.

That death of fervor tendency becomes fatal when it infects us spiritu­ally.  Let me share with you the opening two paragraphs of an article published in 1994.  The author is Wayne R. Kempson.  The phenomenon he describes is extremely common, as many of us can affirm.

Where are they now?  Some came with tears streaming down their faces.  Others came with an exuberant excitement.  Still others came with quiet confidence.  In many different ways they came.  They took the pastor’s hand, they stood before the church, and they were baptized.  For a while they attended the church and took part in the fellowship of the body of Christ.  A few even accepted positions of responsibility and leadership.  One or two taught Bible study classes, others sang in the choir.  For a while they were fixtures in the church.

Then they were gone.  Each one had a reason or an excuse, a story of being hurt, a tale of being neglected, an account of mistreatment by others.  Some simply lost interest.  The details varied, but the conclusion is the same.  They no longer worship with us, most no longer worship at all.  Many have returned to life as before with no evidence of having been in our midst.  Over the years, after countless attempts to reach out and bring them back into the fold, we finally lost track of them.  In time there were so many that we created a separate category in the member­ship files for them.  “Inactive Members” we now call them, ignoring the truth that they are no more members of us than we of them (“Hebrews 6:1-8,” Review and Expositor 91 [Fall 1994]: 567).

This description of a common occurrence in church life helps us know that the message of the Book of Hebrews is an especially important message for our time.  Because the message of Hebrews addresses early Christians who are experiencing a dying fervor for the will of God.

With Kempson’s description of “Inactive Members” still in our minds, I want to read again two passages from this morning’s responsive Scripture read­ing (the passages read were Hebrews [Heb] 1:1-2; 2:1; 3:12, 14; 4:1, 14; 10:24, 26; 12:12-13).  These passages make clear that a group of Christians in the first century were heading down the same road of dying fervor that Kempson describes.

Look first at Heb 2:1.  There the writer says, “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”  The expression “drift away” does not suggest that these readers are in blatant rebellion.  It does not sound like they are adopting some heretical understand­ing of Christian faith.  Instead, it sounds like they are in danger of slowly dis­connecting from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It sounds like they are losing inter­est.  Now listen again to Heb 12:12-13 where the writer says, “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”  Again we hear a description of a tired faith that has lost its fervor, lost its heat/its passion.

These two passages and others like them reveal that the Christians to whom Hebrews is written are getting spiritually tired.  They are experiencing a weakening of faith, a loss of fervor.

And the Christians to whom Hebrews is written were once extremely zealous.  Turn to Heb 10:32-34 and follow along as I read.  In these verses we can feel the fervor that these believers once had.  The writer says,

But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.  For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.

In the past these Christians had been so faithful that the suffering of abuse and persecution did not weaken them.  They even “cheerfully accepted the plun­dering of their possessions.”  But now they are weak.  Notice that Heb 10:34 refers to their former “compassion for those who were in prison.”  But in Heb 13:3 the writer has to exhort them to be what they once were.  In that verse the writer says, “Remember those who are in prison.”

Yes, these Christians had fallen prey to a debilitating tendency found so often today.  The faith that had once been the dynamic and defining center of their lives had become tired and weak.

The writer of Hebrews addresses the readers’ spiritual lethargy in a vari­ety of ways.  And, since this morning’s lesson is the first in a four sermon series on the Book of Hebrews, we will look at several of those responses in the weeks to come.  But in this first lesson I want to focus upon just one of the ways this writer confronts spiritual lethargy.  I want to highlight the writer’s focus upon the endurance of Jesus Christ.  The writer does that to help his readers sustain and feed their own endurance.  In other words, Jesus’ example of endurance is used as a means of reigniting the fervor of these readers.  And Jesus’ example of endurance is also a powerful means of reigniting fervor in our day.

Let’s begin by looking at Heb 2:9 where the writer refers to Jesus as the one “now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.”  Notice that Jesus reached the glorified goal that God set for Him; Jesus is now “crowned with glory and honor.”  But He reached that goal because He endured “the suffering of death.”  What a great example for those whose fervor is waning.

Whatever it is that is causing us to tire spiritually, it cannot be a more harsh reality than what Jesus encountered.  But Jesus endured even when con­fronted with the suffering of death.

Please look now at Heb 3:1ff.  There the writer focuses upon the faith­fulness of Jesus.  He compares Jesus’ faithfulness to the faithfulness of Moses.  And notice the writer’s statement in verse (v) 6.  There he notes that “Christ, . . . , was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.”  Here Christ’s “faithful­ness over God’s house” is the ground for the readers to be faithful as God’s house.  And the way for them to be faithful as God’s house is by holding firm.  In other words, the notion of “holding firm” is here being used as a virtual syn­onym of Christ-like faithfulness.  Christ’s example is being used to inspire endurance.

Now please look with me at Heb 4:14-16.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It seems to me that in these verses, the writer is seeking to fulfill two goals.  One of his goals is to encourage his readers to believe that Jesus is truly sympa­thetic toward them when they sin.  Jesus is sympathetic because He knows what it is to be tested in life.  He “in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.”

But what I think is the writer’s second goal for this passage is to declare that Jesus endured and overcame testing.  He conquered every challenge with­out sinning.  Both Jesus’ role as a sympathetic high priest and his example of overcoming every test should motivate all Christians to keep their fervor alive.

Now please turn and look with me at Heb 5:7-10.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and hav­ing been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

The statement in v 7 that “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” has commonly been misunderstood.  It has been misunderstood because it has been connected to the passage in the Gospels where Jesus prays for God to let the cup of death pass from Him.  Such a connection has led people to ask, ‘In what sense was Jesus’ prayer heard by “the one who was able to save him from death,” since Jesus died in spite of that prayer?  But there is nothing but our assumptions to connect the statement here to the prayer in Garden before Jesus’ was arrested.  The point of this state­ment in Heb 5:7 is that Jesus prayed and God heard Jesus’ prayers.  And the point of this statement is a very practical one.  Since Jesus in His life had expe­riences that caused Him to pray “with loud cries and tears.”  We also can pray and God will hear us, even when our prayers are characterized by painful emo­tions.  This verse teaches us that God will hear those prayers if we pray them with an attitude of “reverent submission,” that is, “reverent submission” to the will of God.  And notice that the writer in this verse also emphasizes the posi­tive aspect of suffering by declaring that through suffering Christ “learned obedience.”  And through that suffering Christ was “made perfect” and “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”  The writer seems to me to be saying, ‘Look what the enduring of suffering accomplished in Christ.  Suffering can produce a glorious effect in us as well.’  Keep your fervor alive by looking at Jesus Christ’s example of endurance in the midst of suffering.

Now please look with me at Heb 12:1-4.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of wit­nesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Jesus’ example of endurance is clearly being used here as a means of feeding endurance and fervor.  The writer tells them to consider Jesus’ example “so that [they] may not grow weary or lose heart.”

Now look at one final passage.  Please turn to Heb 13:12-13 and follow along as I read.  “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.  Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured.”  Again the example of Jesus enduring suffering is being used as an example which the readers of Hebrews are exhorted to follow.

Sisters and brothers, when our fervor is cooling we must focus our eyes on Jesus.  We must look back and see Him as His own family thinks He has lost Him mind.  See Him, throughout His ministry, being constantly badgered by His opponents.  See Him being constantly misunderstood by even His clos­est followers.  See Him in the Garden of Gethsemane praying under so much stress that “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground” (Luke 22:44).  See Him being arrested by a crowd led by one of His own disciples.  See Him as another crowd cries out loudly with demands that He be crucified.  See Him being beaten by a Roman soldier.  See Him with the crown of thorns on His head bearing the means of His own execution on His back.  See Him nailed to the cross with people spitting on Him and taunting Him.  Whenever our fervor is cooling, we must focus our eyes on Jesus.  We must see His example of endurance.

I want to conclude by briefly noting one more very important exhorta­tion in Hebrews that clearly relates to keeping our Christian fervor alive.  Please turn and follow along as I read Heb 10:24-25.  There we read,

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approach­ing.

A powerful combination in the fight against cooling fervor is the example of Christ and the support of other believers.  The writer of Hebrews counsels his readers to figure out how to support and encourage their fellow believers.  He wants them to keep one another on the path of “love and good deeds.”

A year and a half ago, Margaret and I and David and Emily Ratcliff went to the Hawaiian island of Kauai together.  For both couples it was the 25^th wedding anniversary year, and this trip was our celebration of that milestone.

On our first full day there we got too much sun, so we decided on the second day to do a hike.  We drove as far on the northeast side of the island as you can, and then we hiked up along the side of a high cliff that overlooked the Pacific Ocean.  It was a tough hike, characterized by lots of ups and downs.  But it ended at a beautiful little beach where a significant stream of fresh water emptied into the Ocean.  We were hot and tired so we sat in that very cool fresh water stream and regained some energy.

There is another trail that continues on from the beach.  It heads further inland and ends at a spectacular waterfall.  I really wanted to continue on.  The others were not very keen, but I managed to convince them that we could do it.  So we ate the light lunch that we had brought along, and set off.  It was a much more difficult trail than the one to the beach.  We made it to the water­fall, but we were very tired.  A couple were pretty much exhausted.  And, to make bad matters worse, we had not brought nearly enough water.  The hike back to our vehicle was awful.  The beauties that we had delighted in on the trip on were completely lost on us on the way out.  Looking back we realized that we were very nearly dehydrated.  Some of us were having great difficulty just walking.

But we made it because we had one another.  We encouraged one another.  David kept us laughing by making a sound like the firing off of emergency flares.  We physically helped one other over difficult terrain.

It was a tough walk as a group.  But it would have been worse had any of us been on our own.

The same is true when we are engaged in our spiritual journey.  When fervor cools one of the best ways to reignite it is to have someone help us regain our focus on Jesus Christ.  The vision of Jesus enduring suffering often regains its empowering dynamism simply through the words of a loving brother or sister.

If you are experiencing a cooling of faith’s fervor, find Christian sisters and brothers to support and encourage you.  Allow them to “provoke you again to love and good deeds.”

And all of us should open our eyes and be alert to cooling fervor within our fellow travelers.  Sometimes we are so nervous about saying the wrong thing that often we say nothing as we watch a person’s faith die.  Let’s be a family.  Let’s be lovingly, sensitively observant.

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