14th Sunday after Pentecost
September 5, 2004
Hebrews 12:14-29

^12:14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." ²¹The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." ²²But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." ²⁷The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our "God is a consuming fire." (NIV).

The Need to Pursue Peace and Holiness.

  Last week, the Word of God urged us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We learned that God trains us for this race of faith by allowing us to struggle against sin in our lives. So the Holy Spirit urges us to endure that training so that we finish the race. He goes on to urge us to do something else. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. We want to finish the race of faith and see the Lord. Therefore, we need to listen to our God and pursue peace and holiness.

  Last summer I joined a men's softball league in our neighbourhood. As we play our games, you can hear guys shouting instructions and words of encouragement to each other. For example, guys who have been playing for several years know the batting habits of some of the players on other teams. So they may shout some instructions to guys in the outfield: move in, move back, go left or right. When one of our own players is up to bat then everyone tries to encourage him so that he will do his best. Ball players give these instructions and encouragements because they want to win. And to win, you have to play the game well.

  The letter to the Hebrews compares our faith to a race and an athletic contest, like a ball game. The prize in the words of today's text is to see the Lord. But to receive that prize we have to finish the race and run it well. I think that Word of God is important to you. You are here this morning because you are in the game and want to play it well and finish. So the Holy Spirit shouts instructions and words of encouragement to us like the guys on my softball team. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy.

  I play the outfield most of the time. And as this is only my second year playing, guys who have been around for many years are always telling me where to stand when they know the habits of a batter. Now I could just ignore them and stand where I want. But you don't have to be a genius to know what would happen if I ignored their instruction and missed the catch because the batter did exactly what they expected. There would be consequences! In a similar way, the Holy Spirit explains why we need to pay attention and pursue holiness: without holiness no one will see the Lord.

  No detailed definition of holiness is given here. It's one of those elementary points of the Christian faith that this epistle assumes we understand. But the concept of holiness is easy really: fix your eyes on Jesus and do what he did. Let the Holy Spirit direct your thoughts, words and deeds. God is holy, so holiness is being like God. Holiness is living according to the will and plan of God, according to the 10 Commandments or the two great commandments or the Golden Rule. Holiness is a matter of listening to God's instructions once you're in the race.

  As I said, the concept is not difficult. It's not hard to understand. But it is hard to be holy because we have the innate desire to go our own way and be unholy. So the Holy Spirit says to make every effort to be holy, to pursue holiness. Let holiness be your most important effort and goal in life. It is not a sideline activity in our race, but an essential element of the race. Holiness is God's instruction on how to run and finish the race before us. If you deliberately ignore his instructions, you will not finish the race. It is impossible to fix your eyes on Jesus and then lead a life contrary to God's will.

  So the Spirit warns us about ignoring his instructions. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. Esau grew up in a godly house, but he didn't follow the instructions of his God. He married women from outside the faith and pursued greatness as the world defines it. He even sold his inheritance rights for a single meal. He should have been the one from whom the Messiah would come, but he had no interest in that. Esau had no desire to run the race of faith. He had no interest in the will and plan of God, no interest in holiness. Hunting was more important.

  This same challenge confronts us today. The values and beliefs of the world contradict the Word of God. Holiness and purity, being like God and fulfilling one's part in his plan, these things are not important to the world. Promiscuity, money, power, fame hunting and hockey are important to the world. Our old nature is of this world. When Jesus calls us to repent and believe the Gospel, it offends us! It means that we must admit to falling short of the glory of God. When Jesus tells us to trust in God and to be perfect as he is perfect, it offends us. We don't want to work that hard against the old nature. It's easier to go with the flow of the world than to daily practice the implications of our baptism into Christ. For our baptism means "that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

  So the Holy Spirit urges us to pursue holiness and warns us of the consequences of wilful sin. If we do not run the race of faith by pursuing holiness, we will not see the Lord. Just as Esau lost his inheritance and could not get it back, so we can lose our faith and not get it back. We need to pursue holiness!

  But the Holy Spirit does more than warn us. He also sets before us a motivating vision of what we cannot yet see. You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

  Fix your eyes on Jesus. That's what this is about. Here are two contrasting images of holiness. From the standpoint of faith, they are contradictory images. The first image recalls the events of the Exodus from Egypt when the people gathered at Sinai to receive God's instructions. It was ultimately a frightening experience for the people. God revealed some of his glory to these people. Here was the God from whom we were separated in Eden. God is holy, so holy that people and animals could not approach him. The appearance of God on Sinai made us long for the presence of this powerful, holy God, but also stressed our separation from him. The time had not yet come when peace with God had been made. We did not yet have direct access to God. Sinai and the Old Covenant were only a promise of something good to come.

  In contrast to that, is the picture of Mount Zion. It is the same image that we see in Revelation, of Christ in glory at the right hand of God. Here is not an image of God whom we cannot approach, but God who receives us with open arms. Here is Christ who has already died and shed his blood for all people so that we have access to God. Here are angels and the spirits of those who have already died in faith and have been made perfect. Here is a picture of Christ's holiness that is now ours. This is not a scary, gloomy picture; it's a joyful and victorious picture. This is what the Holy Spirit sets before us as we run our race; not a reminder of separation, but a vision of reconciliation and peace. Not a reminder of sin, but a vision of forgiveness and atonement. Not a reminder of death, but a vision of glory and power! This is what Christ has prepared for us and will return to give us.

  The point is this. The Holy Spirit helps us to pursue holiness not by pointing us to an angry God whom we better obey or else, but by pointing us to Jesus who appeased God on our behalf. He points us not to what remains to be done but to what is already done. We are made holy by fixing our eyes on Jesus. His blood and only his blood makes us holy. As long as we keep that vision before our eyes we remain holy. Jesus keeps us in the race. He wants you to finish the race and run it well. So he sets this vision before you to focus and direct your faith.

  This is so important that the Holy Spirit adds these words. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

  Apart from Christ, God remains a consuming fire. If we reject the Word of God and the blood of Jesus, we cannot be holy. We will be cut off from grace and mercy and have to face the judgement of God. The history of Israel should teach us that God does not play games. A whole generation died in the desert because of unbelief. Now God has spoken to us by his Son. Christ appeared, lived, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Once more God will speak and act at the return of Christ. But then it will be too late to repent. If, therefore, it was important to listen to Moses, how much more important it is to listen to the Christ! Jesus' death is not something we can take or leave as we please. The death of Christ is not a nice psychological theory that we can sit around and discuss over a smoke and a drink. The death of Christ is either our salvation or our condemnation.

  The only proper reaction to the Word of God and the blood of Christ is gratitude that expresses itself in reverence and awe; in other words faith and holiness. We have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are already part of that holy kingdom. The only logical way to live now is to put our complete hope and confidence in Christ and to be like him. So the Holy Spirit urges us: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.