October 7th:
Are We Ashamed? October 7, 2012 (World Communion Sunday) Call: Hebrews 1: 1-4 Text: Hebrews 2: 1-12 Read: W&S #43 Are We Ashamed? After several weeks of scriptures that threw challenges at us, We took it easy last week as we sat back and heard the comforting story of Esther and reflected on the nature and irony of God's justice.. I enjoyed last week. [small pause] But rest assured, our hiatus from challenges is over. Today the challenge is thrown down to us by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. A letter that begins with the words that called us to worship. Now we return to the letter at the beginning of the second chapter [2: 1-12] Did you hear that? Did you hear that? If you were not moved, touched, and overcome Then perhaps you heard the words he said But you did not hear what he said. "The one who sanctifies And the ones who are sanctified All have one Father," one common Godly parent. And thus, Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. Jesus the Christ is not at all ashamed or embarrassed To call me His brother Jesus the Christ is not at all ashamed or embarrassed To call flawed, imperfect, sometimes annoying Jim Barnes His brother And that's not all. I'm not his only brother I am not one of just a few elite whom He sees as His siblings. For, Jesus the Christ is not at all ashamed or embarrassed To call you Flawed, imperfect, and perhaps at times even annoying you His brother or His sister. Now, I would be excited to have Bishop Webb pass me on the street and in the presence of others say "Hello, Jim." I would feel exalted and thrilled if President Obama Or, for that matter, Gov. Romney - Wandered into this sanctuary and, in your presence called me by my first name Even if he had only learned it by reading the sign out front. And even if all he really wanted was to use the rest room. How many times greater than that is it to have Jesus the Christ Totally unashamed to have us as brothers and sisters. How can we not be moved by that? So far though, the scripture, like last week's is comforting. The challenge comes when we turn the statement around, And ask ourselves, "Are we ashamed to call Jesus our brother?" And we all want to say "Of course not!!" And when I ask the question to myself, I want to say "Of course not!! What kind of a stupid question are you asking? But let's cross examine ourselves After all, self examination is a good thing For example, breast self examination has alerted many a women To a cancer early enough to save her A self cross examination of our relationship to and with Christ May well have the same impact on us. And so now, having testified on direct examination in no uncertain terms That we are not ashamed to call Christ our brother The cross examination questions begin: Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," How many times in the past year have we Decided to skip worship (although healthy and with transportation) Because we had something better or more important to do During the time we have set aside To give God thanks For and through our brother? How many? Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," Have we ever been so ashamed of our brother That we were too uncomfortable to tell others that we couldn't do something because we were going to worship? Have we? Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," How many times this past year, have we been so excited by our brother that we have asked someone to go to worship with us? or to Bible Study? Was it more than ten? More than five? More than zero? Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," How many difficult decisions have we made this past year Without consulting him? How many decisions have we made only after consulting him? How many? Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," How many times this past year, Have we mentioned to anyone his name or our devotion to him? Is it as often as we have mentioned our earthly siblings or friends? Mr., Mrs., or Miss "Us," "I ask again, are we ashamed?" This is a sanctuary It is not a court room. There is no jury sitting here to hear the answers elicited by our self cross examination? Or to decide whether we have been telling the truth? There is, however, one judge: The very guy who is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. Did we like the answers to our questions? If each of us was the jury for himself or herself Would we believe the testimony we gave when we said, "Of course, we are not ashamed to call Christ our brother!" Would we believe it? You may have noticed that my text is not exactly as printed in the bulletin [the bulletin shows it as chapter 2 of Hebrews beginning at verse 5] but instead when I read, I began at verse 1 of that chapter. I didn't screw up Although I can understand why some of you thought I did. (after all, there is some precedent for such) Simply, as I prepared, I came to the conclusion that the first verse was essential In that verse, the writer tells us, "Therefore, we must pay greater attention to what we have heard So that we do not drift away from it." I believe that the gap between our answers The bombastic "Of course we are not ashamed1" And The heads hung in distress as we answered our own questions Is that: the answer on direct is what we really want to say And the answers on cross are what we really have to say. For our answers on our self cross examination represent Not a rejection of Christ as brother and as Lord But rather a drifting away Fortunately, that first verse Not only informs us as to what has happened But it also gives us the cure And a relatively easy cure at that: We just need to pay greater attention And now our question to ourselves is a simple, "Why not?"