What Cannot Be Shaken

 Hebrews 12:18-29, Jeremiah 1: 4-10

The writer of Hebrews contrasts the old covenant of Moses with the new covenant we have now. Jesus is the mediator of this new covenant – his blood spoke more highly – brought the forgiveness than any sacrifices under the old covenant. He tells of the different attitude under the old covenant of folks fearing God which Moses experienced with the burning bush.

Our Jeremiah passage tells us about the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet. God told him God would put God’s words in his mouth. In Hebrews we are warned to not refuse our new Covenant mouthpiece. Through Christ’s work on the cross, God can speak directly to us.

The author brings up the Jeremiah’s and other prophets from the past saying how those who didn’t listen to the warnings of the prophets didn’t escape. How less than will we who are under the New Covenant escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven. God has now promised to shake up not only the earth but also the heaven. This is explained as created things and that what cannot be shaken will remain.

What is this that cannot be shaken? It is the kingdom of God and we ourselves can remain unshaken by giving thanks to God, doing acceptable worship, and having reverence and awe for God. It appears that the Hebrews were becoming lackadaisical. Perhaps God was just becoming their big buddy. They were forgiven their sins and had been given their “Get out of hell free ” card yet forgot that God was one to be respected. Since God is a consuming fire, consuming all that can be shaken – sins and worship of things other than God, things that don’t belong in the unshakeable kingdom of God, we need to show respect.

As we heard earlier about storing up treasures in heaven may we fill our lives with the things above including love for neighbor and the fruits of the spirit. Let us work toward and devote our lives to these unshakeable things.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Join Me on a Lenten Journey

For those of you not familiar with Lent, it is a season of forty days, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Easter comes early this year. Many of us not brought up in this tradition can still embrace its emphasis of focusing on the gifts Christ has brought into your lives and finding ways to share the love of Christ to others. This emphasis of love goes along well with the beginning of Lent this year, Ash Wednesday, falling on all days – Valentine’s Day. So whether or not you plan
Read more

Setting Your Hope in God

 Disclaimer: Paul talks about the Rapture in this passage a concept I still struggle with. I believe that once you die you go direct to the Lord, so bodies awaiting till the rapture to rise is hard for me to grasp. I can see how Paul was comforting the Thessalonians here but was his concept correct? Add any comments you wish to this bafflement of mine. That said, I wrote this per the text. What do you all think? Psalms 78:1-7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18   The psalmist in Psalms 78 is not only telling his current audience to listen to his teaching but to pass it on from one generation to the next. Just like he has heard it from his ancestors, he asks the Israelites to teach them to the coming generations. They are to teach them to the children yet unborn so that these children will teach their children. Why? So, they should set their hope in God, not forgetting God’s works. Fast forward to the New Testament where Paul is passing on this hope to the Thessalonians. The question these bel
Read more

Do What they Teach, Not What they Do

  Matthew 23: 1-12; I Thessalonians 2:9-13   Jesus when he talks about the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23 basically says: “Do what they teach but not what they do.” What he questions most is their motivation. They do what they do to be seen by others. They wear fancy robes and love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect. All this Jesus sums up in the word pride or not being humble. He states then that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Years later Paul writes to the Thessalonians telling how he did what Christ had instructed. That he was humble leading a life worthy of God, his motivation being for God’s glory not his own. He tells that not only are the Thessalonians his witnesses of this but God also. They have seen how pure, upright, and blameless his conduct has been. He encourages the Thessalonians to do the same. To live a life worthy of
Read more