Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 7 points out that Jesus is superior to other high priests of the Hebrew tradition, because his lineage traces back to Melchizadek, an obscure priest in Genesis to whom Abraham tithed his plunder of war. 

Of the Hebrew high priests, the author says,
    There have been many of those priests,
        because death prevented them from continuing in office;
    but Jesus has a permanent priesthood,
        because he lives forever.
    Therefore he is able to save completely
        those who come to God through him,
        because he always lives to intercede for them.
                  Hebrews 7:23-25

Two comments on this passage. 

First, the author suggests that a central weakness of the Hebrew religion was that priests had to make yearly sacrifices to keep up with the annual accumulation of sins. When a high priest died, another took over to keep the forgiveness going. 

Jesus, in contrast, has a permanent priesthood. He made one sacrifice to deal with all sin for all time. But like the old-time priests, he didn’t entirely solve the problem of sin. The author says Jesus lives forever to intercede for us, implying that we, like the Hebrews, need someone to help us obtain recurring forgiveness for recurring sins. 

I do wish Jesus had solved the sin problem. But despite my relationship with him, I keep on sinning day after day, year after year, and Jesus keeps interceding on my behalf with God.

A second comment on this Hebrews passage: it says Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to intercede for them. I don’t feel he’s saved me completely yet, because I keep sinning. My mind, my imagination, my relationships, and my behavior often seem more unsaved than saved. I hope Jesus is planning a future state in which he will save me completely, as he promised. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, here are three things I believe. 

I believe I am a sinner. As I age, the problem of sin seems more deeply entrenched than ever. I am not the man I set out to be. I have not had great success at living a holy life, or loving you and my neighbors as I ought. I agree with the author of Hebrews that what I need is not just a yearly brush-up of forgiveness, but a dose of eternal salvation. 

I believe that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. That he dealt with the problem of sin, that he is present at your throne, and that he always prays for me. Do receive his prayers, accept me because he has introduced me to you, look at me in the light of his intercession, and forgive all my sins: past, present, and future. 

I believe Jesus is on my side, that he deals with the sins I have confessed, with the sins I have not yet confessed, with the sins I confess but am unable to shake, and with the sins I am unaware of.

Jesus has made me his brother, your child. Have mercy on your family, O God.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

Hebrews 7 discusses the priesthood and law that Moses set up for Israel, with Aaron as the first high priest. Comparing Aaron’s line of priests with Jesus, who came from a different line, the writer says,
  The former regulation [that is, the priesthood of Aaron] is set aside
      because it was weak and useless
      (for the law made nothing perfect),
  and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
      Hebrews 6:17-19

“Weak and useless” is a rather harsh judgement on God’s law that established ancient Israel’s religion. If the system was weak and useless, why did God bother to set it up? And why are we still studying it?

The Book of Hebrews explains that it was weak and useless because the law can’t make anything perfect. Interesting thought. What use is God’s law if it can’t make things perfect? 

I answer that question by looking at the two moral problems we need to solve. 

The first is how to eliminate, or at least reduce, evil. Laws of all sorts do impact this problem, but law of any type has severely limited effectiveness. If laws could solve the problem of evil, our country probably has enough laws to make a perfect society! Russia and China have lots of laws too, but they may be less perfect than ours.

The second moral problem: how to make people good. Goodness is not simply obeying laws and avoiding evil. It is being motivated to actively love each other and God. 

Laws are helpful, because they contribute to solving the first moral problem. They do motivate some of us not to murder and steal, and to drive only a little faster than the speed limit. 

But “law and order” politicians are wrong when they think harsher punishments increase public safety and reduce serious crime. 

Imagine two conspirators planning to rob a liquor store. Do they call in their accountant to do a cost-benefit analysis on the project? If the prison term for armed robbery is longer than the prison term for unarmed robbery, are they likely to leave their guns at home? If the punishment for break and enter is harsher than the punishment for robbing without property damage, are they likely to hire a locksmith instead of breaking the door down? 

The punishments written into law do provide some incentive not to do evil, but not everyone attends to this. The author of Hebrews watched the high priest make the same sacrifices year after year for his own sins and others. Is there any way out of this never-ending cycle of never-ending sin?  

The system is so broken not even God’s law can fix it. To stop sinning and begin loving requires stronger motivation and greater willpower than any list of rules can supply. 

In our verses today, the author hints at an answer, saying, “The former law is set aside because it is weak and useless, and a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God.” 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we feel the weakness of your law in our lives. It is a sad week for us when our best efforts yield only the news that we didn’t murder anyone, that we didn’t commit adultery, that we didn’t rob a liquor store. You made us for better things than that, father, for relationships of love, for communication and community and good works.

Your law is not able to motivate and empower us to live the life of love we need. Help us then to find that better hope, the hope with which we draw near to you. Replace our never-ending cycle of sinning and repenting with a better cycle of drawing near, of receiving your spirit, of learning to loving you and others. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 6 says,
  Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose  
      very clear to the heirs of what was promised,
        he confirmed it with an oath.
  He did this so that,
        by two unchangeable things
          in which it is impossible for God to lie,
        we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us
          may be greatly encouraged.
  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
                    Hebrews 6:17-19

Hebrews pictures our souls as ships adrift on the ocean, needing an anchor or port. Today’s passage describes the anchor and its use. 

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul,” says the author (v. 19). I find this odd, because we hope for things future, not things present. How can I cast my anchor into the future? 

Are we driven by fear to use this anchor?  Hebrews says we have fled to take hold of the hope set before us (v. 18b). Why do we flee? What do we take refuge from? The book of Hebrews says we run from hard hearts that are ready to give up the faith (Heb 3:15). We run from suffering that teaches obedience (Heb 5:8). We run from temptation (Heb 4:15), and we run from baby-bottle immaturity (Heb 5:12-14). Paul says, “Flee evil desires. Pursue righteousness” (2 Tim 2:22). 

The anchor of hope that Hebrews offers attaches itself to “two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie”–his promise and his oath (v. 17-18). We’re not sure what promise and what oath, but the author is clearly impressed that God doesn’t just make promises. Sometimes he swears an oath to convince sceptical hearers that his promises are real. Perhaps the author remembered God’s oath to Abraham after he prepared to sacrifice Isaac. God said, “I swear by myself I will bless you” (Gen 22:15). Or perhaps it was God’s promise to David: “I swore an oath to David . . . One of your descendants I will place on your throne” (Ps  132:11). Or perhaps it was God’s promise that the Messiah would be a priest: “I have sworn an oath. . . you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek ” (Ps 110:4). 

The hope Hebrews offers as an anchor of the soul is a destination and an attitude. We flee from our troubles and temptations into Port Hope, casting our anchor on God’s firm promises, waiting for storms to is better than our past. This hope encourages us, enabling us to live with patience and optimism.   

Let’s pray. 

Father, our lives are adrift on an ocean of chance and change. Our thinking slows, our bodies age, our memories fuzz. The news shouts at us every day of earthquakes and wars, pandemics and winds of political change. What is our place in all of this? Are we flotsam and jetsam on the ocean of life? Bit players in a cosmic drama? Disposable pawns in the chess game of life? 

Lord, help us not to believe the future is just more of the present. Draw us into Port Hope where we can anchor on your unchanging promises.  Help us wait patiently until you bring a better future. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 5 says,
Though by this time you ought to be teachers,
    you need someone to teach you
            the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.
    You need milk, not solid food!
  Anyone who lives on milk,
    is still a baby,
            and is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
  But solid food is for the mature,
    who by constant use have trained themselves
            to distinguish good from evil. (vv. 11-14). 

After introducing us to baby food and grown up food, the author of Hebrews goes off in a strange direction. He doesn’t tell us to start eating adult food to make us grow up. Instead, he tells us to get into a training program, in which we constantly distinguish good from evil. What makes us grow is not adult teaching, but adult practice in discerning good and evil. 

It’s easy for teachers to get a bit defensive about this passage, saying, “Oh, yes, it is  important to practice discernment, but the foundation for good practice is good teaching. You have to start with the milk of Christian basics–how to be born again, etc.; then you proceed to some meaty teaching that will guide your discernment of right and wrong.” 

Good argument, maybe, except it completely misses the point Hebrews is making. The author doesn’t emphasize teaching and knowledge as the foundation for maturity. On the contrary, he says that people can’t even understand advanced teaching until “by constant practice [they] have trained themselves to discern good from evil” (v. 14). 

So what does training in discernment look like? Some would say, “That’s easy. Just read your Bible and do what it says! It tells you everything you need to know about good and evil.” 

I say it’s not quite that simple. Scripture provides lists of things not to do because they are evil, but you can’t grow up just by staying home and doing nothing

Because God wants us to grow by discerning and doing what is right. I must replace bad attitudes with love. I must replace neutral behavior with activity that builds community. I must replace  foolish opinions with wisdom. When I am solidly engaged in the project of transforming my heart into a heart of love, and my neighborhood into a community, then I am ready to stop sucking milk from my baby bottle, and start eating a bit of solid food.

Solzhenitsyn said, “If only it were all so simple!. . . But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” (The Gulag Archipelago, Part I). Discernment, training in good and evil, starts with seeing my own heart problems and destroying the evil there. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, it’s time for us milk-drinkers to move up to solid food. Help us to discern the good and evil in our hearts and in our actions. Give us a vision of true righteousness. 

– Help us discern where our obsession with news and social media and entertainment obstructs our ability to hear you and obey.

– Help us discern which is more important to you: Should we be politically active in helping church and government adopt the right policies on abortion and gender and sexuality? Or does our activity there simply contribute to fragmentation and divisiveness in society?

– Help us discern where our hearts are wayward and careless and unruly, that we may bring them fully into your kingdom. 

Our father, we feel the line between good and evil that runs through our hearts and our attitudes and our actions. Help us to practice discerning good and evil in our hearts, in our relationships, in our world.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”. 

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Hebrews 5 says
  [Jesus] offered prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears
      to the one who could save him from death,
            and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
  Though he was a Son,
      he learned obedience from what he suffered,
      and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation
            for all who obey him . . . (vv. 7-9). 

Here are two observations about this passage. 

First, the word “obey” occurs twice: Jesus learned obedience through suffering, and he saves those who obey him. I find it interesting that Jesus learned obedience, and that suffering was part of the lesson plan. We don’t talk a lot about Jesus growing and maturing and learning during his human life on earth. 

After pointing out that Jesus learned obedience, the Book of Hebrews says he saves those who obey him. This is not a description of instantaneous salvation by faith. It’s an invitation for us to learn and grow as Jesus did, to respond to our sufferings by learning obedience, and to receive the promise that he will save those who obey him. 

A second observation is that this passage presents prayer as a paradox. “Jesus prayed. . .to God, who was able to save him from death, and God heard him because of his reverent submission” (v. 7). From this verse, you might conclude, “God heard Jesus’ prayer and saved him from death.” 

Bad conclusion. Jesus prayed at Gethsemane that God would bypass the way of the cross. But that’s the very thing God, “who could save him from death”, didn’t do. 

This is the paradox of prayer. If we are on the path of salvation, obeying Jesus with reverent submission, God hears our prayers, as he did Jesus’ prayer. We are confident God is powerful enough to grant whatever we ask. But for reasons of his own, he often refuses to give what we ask, and sometimes he even gives us the opposite. 

Why bother to pray, then? Because prayer is part of our path of obedience. As we learn obedience through suffering, part of our pain is that God often lets the suffering continue, declining to release us from it or to fix the problems that cause it.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, after Jesus asked you to bypass the cross, you refused his request, and you made the cross the centre of his story. You place a cross at the centre of our story too, for Jesus told us to take our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23). Since he provides salvation for those who obey him, we must live the story of our cross, abandoning our fantasies of comfort and riches and pleasure.

Help us then to learn obedience through the things we suffer, as Jesus did. And bring us to eternal life with him.     

Amen. 

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.