Scripture Hebrews 1:1-3a
Cecil DeMille was
making one of his great epic movies. He had six cameras at various points to
pick up the overall action and five other cameras set up to film plot
developments involving the major characters. The large cast had begun
rehearsing their scene at 6 a.m. They went through it four times and now it was
late afternoon. The sun was setting and there was just enough light to get the
shot done. DeMille looked over the panorama, saw that all was right, and gave
the command for action.
One hundred extras
charged up the hill; another hundred came storming down the same hill to do a
mock battle. In another location Roman centurions lashed and shouted at two
hundred slaves who labored to move a huge stone monument toward its resting
place. Meanwhile the principal characters acted out, in close-up, their
reactions to the battle on the hill. Their words were drowned out by the noise
around them, but the dialogue was to be dubbed in later.
It took fifteen
minutes to complete the scene. When it was over, DeMille yelled,
"Cut!" and turned to his assistant, all smiles. "That was
great!" he said. "It was, C.B.," the assistant yelled back.
"It was fantastic! Everything went off perfectly!"
Enormously
pleased, DeMille turned to face the head of his camera crew to find out if all
the cameras had picked up what they had been assigned to film. He waved to the
camera crew supervisor. From the top of the hill, the camera supervisor waved
back, raised his megaphone, and called out, "Ready when you are, C.B!"
C.B. had
assumed his camera supervisor knew this was the real deal but failed to
communicate that. Where would we be if God failed to communicate what he wants
of us? Well God has communicated to our ancestors. That is important to know.
That gives us a place to create faith. If God spoke to our ancestors, it stands
to reason God will communicate to us. We learned last week that God
communicates at many times and in various ways.
Hebrews 1:1-3a
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at
many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by
his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the
universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation
of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Background to the Letter to the Hebrews
Author: We
don’t know. The only NT book with uncertain authorship. He was a Jew familiar
with the Old Testament, who had never met Jesus, and was familiar with 1st
century Jewish practices.
Date:
Likely 68-69 AD. Clement of Rome writing in 95 AD cites Hebrews. The writer of
Hebrews regards the sacrificial system of the OT to still be in place – the
temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It was written during the lifetime of Timothy
whom the author knew. Possibly written from Rome or near Rome.
Recipients:
Jews. Not specified which Jews. Could be to Jews who were believers along with
believers who were slipping back into a bondage to Judaism.
Did God speak to “our” ancestors? In the book of Hebrews? NO. YES! No – the ancestors were
Jews – the decendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yes – Go back to Adam and Eve and we are all
related and therefore all people are our ancestors. But there is something
about God speaking to our direct ancestors.
It is amazing
how much we are a product of who our ancestors were.
The size and strength of the church
in America seems to be getting weaker from one generation to the next. In
families, statistics show that the strength of Christian Conviction typically
grows weaker with each passing generation. Find where Christianity was first
introduced into a family and survey the next 4-5 generations and see the
difference of a family that once served faithfully through a church, that made
a difference for Christ in their community, that stood as a shining example of
Christian life compared to generations later when corporate worship is an
option, there is no time for community involvement and it is difficult to tell
if the family truly believes or not.
However, there is good news. It
doesn’t have to be this way. There are already exceptions to this pattern but
it should become the rule instead of the exception. Parents are often poor in
talking to their kids about drugs, sex, money or other things that matter. Many
never say anything about faith to their children. Therefore, the church is the
only place where there is any hope of having a next generation stronger than
ours.
I think we could agree that Moses
must have done something right for the next generation when we see someone
strong and courageous like Joshua take over. But how well did the generation
after Joshua do for the next generation? Judg 2:8-12 Joshua
son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And
they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill
country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. After that whole generation had been
gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the
Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the
eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their
fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various
gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger.
Spiritual
Generational Decline is nothing new. It often happened among the people of Israel.
That is exactly why God had to raise up prophet after prophet so that He could
communicate with each new generation. And the cycle continued – there would be
a few strong generations and degenerate into weak ones. Even though we have the benefit of being on
the good side of the great divide of Hebrews 1:1-3 (prophets as the primary
means of communication and Jesus as the primary means of communication) we
still see this take place. I say not so here. Not with this generation. Not
with this people. A new chapter needs to be written for Ashland church that has
been greater than any chapter in its past history. Some will think that is impossible
– I say “because of those in the past who invested in this church” and because
nothing is impossible with God – we will see His glory in the next generations
and beyond.
I want people
100 years from now to look back and say – that is the spot on the Ashland
timeline when people worked to make sure we would know Jesus who was crucified
and risen from the dead.
Prior to
Jesus being God’s way of communicating, God pointed to His son through the
prophets and people of the OT: God even spoke to Adam & Eve, that the
Messiah should come of the seed of the woman,—to Abraham, that the Messiah
should spring from his loins,—to Jacob, that he should be of the tribe of
Judah,—to David, that he should be of his house,—to Micah, that he should be
born at Bethlehem,—to Isaiah, that he should be born of a virgin.
God spoke to our ancestors, but in these last days has
revealed God through His son!
The words of the prophets were written but few people read
and they were passed on through the oral tradition.
We began with
C B DeMille who was a great story teller through film. One of the greatest
American Story Tellers through words was L Frank Baum – W-OZ. (Describe his
story telling) So our social media allows us to be story tellers – through
words, pictures, film and brief messages. Take the story of Noah – before being
written – it was part of the oral tradition. It has prob been told as much as
any other bible story. All you need is a body, a voice, and imagination and
someone to tell the story too. (Tell the story of Noah)
What is the story God is writing in us that our ancestors
will speak of? It is the story of God’s redeeming love.
