Unshakeable

Hebrews 12:18-29New International Version (NIV)

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 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, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn,whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 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? 26 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.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”

While I was making deliveries Friday morning, I came across a station on the radio that was broadcasting a sermon from a Presbyterian pastor out of Urbandale and he said a few things that really got me to thinking.  He made a very poignant statement regarding the Old Testament.  I missed the first couple minutes of the sermon but I think he was preaching out of Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.  In that letter, just like in the letter we have been discussing the past few weeks, there was mention of many Old Testament traditions.  In Galatians, Paul was preaching against those in the church that believed the Gentiles had to first become Jewish before they could become Christian.  Hebrews doesn’t necessarily discuss this same issue but as we have seen, it does mention the Jewish faith at length.  The Old Testament is sprinkled, in fact it is drenched, with prophecies that point to Jesus.  The point that the minister on the radio was making is that Christ completed the law.  The author of Hebrews is making the same point.  Hebrews 12:18-21 references instances in both Exodus 19:12-13 and Deuteronomy 9:19 where the Israelites had to go to Mount Sinai to hear God speak.  In these instances, the word of God terrified them.  Hearing God speak was so loud that they “begged that no other word be spoken to them.”  “The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’”  That seems extreme.  Many of us would say that we have heard God speak in some way, shape or form but we have never felt the way the Israelites, and even Moses, felt.  So we must ask the question, why?  What changed?  Thankfully for us, the writer of Hebrews answered this question.

Exodus 19:12-13 says, “And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, ‘Take heed that you do not go up into the mountain, or touch the border of it: whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death: no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned, or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live: When the trumpet sounds a long blast they shall come up the mountain.”  In other words God was unapproachable, terrifying, and majestic.  Again, not our experience with God.  While seeing God in all His glory may be those things, something has changed.  YES! SOMETHING DID CHANGE! The trumpet sounded a long blast at the death and resurrection of Christ.  Jesus is the trumpet and we may now head up the mountain!  This is why our experience is different.  The author of Hebrews notes this change in verses 22-24 and the New Living Translation says it like this, “No, you have come to Mount Zion,(not Mount Sinai in Exodus) to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.”  We have come to Jesus.  We have come to the sprinkled blood of Christ.  We have come to a new relationship with God.

Your initial reaction may then be similar to mine: we do not need the laws and regulatory notion of the Old Testament.  However, we must resist the urge to feel and think this way.  While our relationship and closeness to God may have changed because of Christ, it does not negate much of the Old Testament.  More specifically, it doesn’t change the Septuagint.  William Barclay sets it up for us like this, “Once people were under the terror of the law; the relationship between them and God was one of unbridgeable distance and shuddering fear. But after Jesus came and lived and died, the God who was far distant was brought near and the way opened to his presence.”  To me, this teaches us to have compassion for others in the sense that some may see God more like the fiery, stormy, dark and gloomy mountain in Exodus while others may see God more in the light of Christ.  For me, I have made the transition from one side to the other and back again several times.  Now I do my best to see God as a lawful, just, loving and full of grace.  The danger is found when we view God in either of these extremes.  On one hand, we must leave room for the compassion, love and grace of God.  And on the other, we must see the expectations (laws) and justice demanded by the majesty of God.  It goes back to a sermon I preached a couple months ago.  We must live in the gray.  We must live in the area in between.  Our relationship with God may be different for us than in was for the Israelites in Exodus but that does not mean God has changed.        

All week I racked my brain with a way to better explain this.  The conclusion that I came to was the change we often see in our spouse when our child is born.  We may see our loved in a different light after the birth of a child.  Does it mean that they have changed?  Not necessarily.  However, what it does mean is that we know see them with a light shining on them at a different angle.  Becoming a parent (and feel free to input any major life event here) brings out characteristics, actions, attributes, or words that we may have not seen prior to that moment.  They haven’t fundamentally changed and yet we may see them differently.  Being “married” to God causes those lights to cast upon us different.  A relationship with God does not necessarily change who we are fundamentally.  If you’re an ISU before accepting Christ into your life, it doesn’t mean you will necessarily see the light and become a Hawk fan :)  If you’re a jerk before finding God, it is likely you may still be a jerk after finding God unless you change those fundamental things about yourself.  If you have an addiction or suffer from some other debilitating sin or flaw, you may still find yourself in the same boat even after discovering your faith.  However, God will shine a light from a different angle on that sin and may cause us to think more about the effects it has on others and on ourselves but it may not necessarily change that behavior.  This is why we must become unshakeable.  “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.’ (Haggai 2:6) 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.’”  Hebrews 12:26-29  If we are to remain then we must become something more than “a created thing.”  And we become exactly that through coming to Jesus and coming to the sprinkled blood of Christ.  We come to be unshakeable by shredding the worldly things that hold us back.  I don’t want this to sound like a threat but it may serve us well to see it as a warning: if we do not shed these sins and worldly things, we too may be consumed by God’s fire. Amen.