Hebrews 13:15
"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name."
The
epistle (letter) of Hebrews was originally thought to have been written
by the Apostle Paul because of the ending but scholars have concluded
that the majority of the original Greek grammar and structure was not
like the writing of Paul at all, so now it is commonly accepted that the
authorship of the letter is unknown. While author identity is in many
ways important for understanding and translation, what's really
important is understanding that the truth of what's written is given by
God.
The
letter of Hebrews is written to Jews and is combating an immediate
threat among those called Christian at that time and in that place.
Chapters 1 & 2 are directly arguing again some form of angel
worship and seemingly dismantling the idea that Jesus is an angel or any
form of angel. I don't know what the people of the time thought of
angel worship but I know it is prevalent today in many ways as people
are constantly trusting in their "guardian angel" or their deceased
loved one who has become their "guardian angel" after their death.
Through chapters 1 & 2 the Hebrews writer points out that Jesus is
not an angel and that he is much more superior to them because of his
Cross and Resurrection.
Chapter
3 begin with a call to those who "who share in the heavenly calling" to
"fix your thoughts on Jesus the apostle and high priest whom we
confess."
Chapters
3-10 are filled with much that we Gentiles should learn but it is
largely instructional to the Jews who know what a High Priest is and
have a good understanding of Jewish Scriptural History. For the writer
uses their Scripture to show that Jesus is their Jewish Messiah and has
becoming their High Priest who is seated at the right hand of God making
intercession for us.
Chapter
11 is the famous faith chapter as it points out how only faith in
Jewish history was accepted by God and how now only faith is accepted by
God.
Chapter
12 talks about enduring hardships in their faith leading into the final
chapter 13 with two things that I want to point out.
First,
13:9 the writer says "Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange
teachings." And second, 13:15 "...offer to God a sacrifice of praise."
The
idea the writer is making here is not about strange teachings as in
Ripley's Believe it or Not sort of strange, but rather strange here
comes from two Greek words (translated diverse and foreign) which are
used in relation to the topic of the Christian orthodoxy that he has
spent 12 chapters explaining to them: not to believe that Jesus is an
angel (for that idea is certainly foreign lay strange).
In
today's culture we Americans believe many strange teachings about
Jesus, and I include myself in this accusation; it's impossible to not
have influenced by them. The devil whose job it is to destroy our faith
and cause us to not have faith in Jesus is sly so we need to be aware.
Books and books have been written against such teachings but I simplify
it reducing everything to this: if our attention is distracted from
faith in Jesus alone then we need to address whatever is distracting us.
And this is most easily seen in the writer's next call for us to offer
the sacrifice of praise to God.
In 13:15 we are called to, "through Jesus," to continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
Here's
a test. Go to Church someplace, anyplace, and during the worship,
focus singularly on God through Jesus Christ. On His attributes alone,
on His goodness alone, on Him and His goodness alone. Don't focus on
what He has done for you, don't focus on what you want Him to do for
you, and don't focus on whether you like the style of music, the music
leader, or the people around you. Just focus on God for who God is and
worship him!
My
guess is that you cannot do it for 15 minutes, I know I can't. Try as I
might I always seem to find myself thinking about myself, my situations
(good or bad), and my loved ones. Heck, I even find myself thinking
about the football game after church, lunch, or what might be in the
mail on Sunday. I am so easily distracted that I rarely get a chance to
focus just on God when I worship.
Maybe I am alone in this but I'm going to bet that I am not.
So what am I to Do?
Romans 7:24
"What a wretched man I am, who will save me from this body of death?"
Well,
as Paul identifies in Romans 7, we are not going to be able to succeed
though we try (as we must) but we do have one who saves us despite our
own inabilities and shortcomings. He refers to Jesus, the same one the
Hebrew writer spent 13 chapters convincing us to know and have faith in.
It
is Jesus who died on the cross defeating sin and death thus saving us,
it is Jesus who was dead for three days in the grave that resurrected
back to physical feed me and feel me life, it is Jesus through whom we
now are called to continually offer praise from our lips to God, and It
is Jesus who is now seated at the right hand of the father making
intercession for us.
Do
we believe it? With even a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard
seed? For if you do/will, then you are not alone as you navigate your
life's journey.
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