14 Pentecost 07 C Proper 17

Hebrews 13:1-8

The 13^th chapter of Hebrews stands out, and some say stands apart. Whereas the first twelve chapters lay out complex patterns of themes and develop the author’s thoughts with creative images, voicing general guidelines and Christian attitudes, now in chapter 13 he focuses on specific, practical matters that directly concern members of the community he is addressing.

The first three verses of this chapter look at how Christians are to maintain right relationships between believers. Of primary importance is the concept of Philadelphia –brotherly and sisterly love.

Verse 2 promotes a kind of logical outgrowth of this commitment to familial mutual love. Christian philia or love is to be extended even to those who are not members of their own particular Christian community. By recalling angels entertained unawares, the author’s words would remind his readers of its Old Testament lineage. Both in Genesis 18 and 19, Abraham and Lot respectively open their homes and hearts to strangers who are later revealed to be angels.

Philia love is to go beyond the comfortable to reach out to those in prison. Self preservation would tell these Christians to stay away from the jails, lest they too be put in prison. Most of us don’t know anyone in prison and so we find this verse hard to process. Some have taken this to mean that they are to go into prisons and seek to share the gospel with prisoners. Brotherly love in this sense means to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ and share God’s love with them no matter in what state of being we might find them.

The writer then gets very personal. He goes from the Christian’s public behavior and attitudes to the intimacy of the bedroom and bank account. He says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.”

The institution of marriage is under attack in ways we could never have imagined a number of years ago. One comedian said, “I never knew what happiness was until I got married, but then it was too late.” Another said, “Marriage is a great institution, but who wants to spend the rest of one’s life in an institution?”

Married life is not always an easy proposition. One woman related problems she was having with her uncommunicative husband. She said, “After my husband and I had a huge argument, we ended up not talking to each other for days. Finally, on the third day, he asked where one of his shirts was.
‘Oh,’ I said, ‘So now you're speaking to me.’ He looked confused. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Haven't you noticed I haven't spoken to you for three days?’ I challenged. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I just thought we were getting along.’"

Without the bumps and lumps, woes and warts of marriages, stand-up comics would starve. In some ways our culture has much in common with the attitude that prevailed in the first century- remaining faithfully committed to one’s partner is seen as kind of quaintly foolish, at times even marginally masochistic. We are a society where Wilt Chamberlain’s non-basketball statistics (20,000 plus women) are considered by some as impressive and laudatory as his on-court performances were. Hollywood stars think nothing of living with someone without being married and even celebrate their rejection of this sacred institution. Children born out of wedlock in the entertainment world are approaching equal numbers with those born in traditional married families.

Traditional marriage is now being redefined in ways that Jesus never would have endorsed, nor has ever been affirmed throughout the history of the church. It is almost as if people today think that the Bible can be reinterpreted any way a current society or group of people may wish.

This really is Gnosticism brought back to life where people think they have discovered some hidden wisdom that over-rides what the Bible and Church History clearly teache. Quite often we as Christians struggle with those who say they are in love and want to redefine marriage to include bigamy, same-sex marriage, or incest. We can convince ourselves that we don’t want to judge them (and rightly so) and we can try to convince ourselves that love trumps the moral teachings of scripture. This issue is especially difficult when we have family or friends who are challenging the norms of Christian marriage, but are really nice people.

Christians, it is time we begin to hold marriage (as it was designed by God) in honor not only amongst ourselves but out in our society as well. We do that by first making our marriages the best they can be. We will be having our first Marriage Course starting on Friday, September 14 to help us to do just that.

Our lesson from Hebrews continues, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.” With these words he really begins to medal in our lives. It is interesting that so many think that Christians should not have much money or material possessions. It is almost considered sinful, by some, if one is rich or if one has nice things.

The Bible makes it plain that as we say at the 8 a.m. service as the offering is brought forward, “All things come of thee Oh Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.” It is the belief of the Church that everything we have comes from God and what we give back to God through the church in the way of tithes and offerings is simply giving back to God some of what he has given us.

Perhaps you have heard these words from Deut 8:18: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

St. Paul reminds Timothy in 1 Tim 6: 6-19: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

God gives us all things for our enjoyment, and yet there is responsibility with this. The warning is that we can be tempted to think that money and possessions can satisfy the deepest needs within us. Thus, money and possessions can become the focus of our lives.

In reality all of these things have to do with we, as human beings, seeking to satisfy the deepest needs of our lives.

Karl Marx declared that the human’s deepest need was economical equality. He offered a materialistic solution as a panacea for jealousy, war and strife. The problem with Marx’s theory is that we humans are primarily spiritual creatures with our deepest needs on a spiritual level.

Sigmund Freud stated that the human’s deepest need is pleasure. He believed that the “will to pleasure” became the key to understanding human need. The problem with focusing on pleasure as our deepest need is that it is impossible to maintain the level of pleasure needed to keep one satisfied. As a result we are constantly seeking more and more pleasure, or different avenues of pleasure. I have a drawer full of CDs and cassette tapes that contain songs that at the time brought me great pleasure, but soon that great pleasure diminished causing those CDs and tapes to, for the most part, sit in the drawer.

Alfred Adler believed that the human’s deepest need is power. He thought that the need for power overrides all other needs. The problem with power is that the need for power is an outgrowth of our deeper need for self-worth. It’s not really power, but it is pride that divides us all. “If I achieve power I’ll be famous, people will respect me, and I’ll be proud of who I am. If I win this argument with my wife that will show I am a good person and I’ll feel better about myself.” The will to power can lead to a dangerous ego trip. In our first lesson we read these startling words, “The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.” Human pride, in the negative sense of that word, always begins when a person seeks to run their own life and forsake the rulership of Jesus. This is why Jesus speaks out so often against pride. In his kingdom, humility is the virtue to be sought and not an egotistical pride and an unchristian power.

Viktor Frankl posited that the human’s greatest need is to find meaning for one’s life. This need for meaning cannot be satisfied unless we first satisfy our need for self-dignity, self-worth, self-respect and self-esteem, he thought. But, if meaning is only found in attitudes of ones self or in the things of this world or the things done in this world, then there really is no ultimate meaning at all, and certainly no ultimate meaning for the soul that lives on into eternity.

Jesus Christ demonstrated that the deepest need in the human being is to be loved unconditionally, and it is in that love that all of the other needs to which I just referred are met. No greater love can be found than in the God of eternity, the one who created all things. He so loved the world that he gave his Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In other words, Greater love has no man than this than he lay down his life for his friends. Those who come to believe in Jesus Christ and receive his love are his friends.

Jesus fulfills the deepest needs in the human heart because he pours out the Spirit of his unconditional love into our hearts through Christ Jesus. How can someone who lived 2000 years ago be able to fulfill the needs in the hearts and minds of modern humans today? The answer, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.” Because Jesus is God and has always existed, he has always been able to give ultimate meaning and purpose to people. Because he rose from the dead he is able to give meaning and purpose to your life today. He has a plan for you. Because he will be the same in the future, He will continue to give you real meaning to your time on earth.

There may be some here who have allowed human pride to keep you from submitting to the rulership of Jesus in your life. Others may have allowed your pride to convince you that you don’t need God. If you look deep within you will find an emptiness that can only be filled by Jesus. I can testify that He has filled up the emptiness in me and has given me an ultimate meaning in life. He can do the same for you.

Those here who have received Jesus already may be saying to yourself, “You know I really have allowed my pride to keep me from a closer relationship with Jesus.” The good news is that you can come back into a close relationship with Him by admitting your pride, repenting of it and turning again to Jesus. He will forgive you and restore you to the relationship He designed you to have.