The Sure and Steadfast Anchor of our Soul
Hebrews 5:11-6:20
St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
September 8, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes
I’m curious, how many of you actually read the warning labels of products that you buy? Think about it. Medications, for example, Nytol is a sleep aid and on the warning, it says, “May cause drowsiness.” The sunshine shades we put on our dashboards; the warning is “Don’t place while driving.” A hairdryer: “Do not use while sleeping.” On an iron, a warning label: “Do not iron clothes on body.” How many of you know that on a package of Qtips it says, “Do not put swabs in ears.” We think, ‘I thought that’s what they’re for.’ So often we say, “I don’t read warning labels, because they are for someone else.”
We often think that warnings are for someone else, and often we approach Scripture that way. Today we want to read one of the most challenging passages in Scripture. We know that Hebrews has at least seven explicit warning.
The writer of Hebrews constantly reminds his audience of the salvation of God’s people through the Red Sea and into the Promised Land. He is writing to the redeemed Jewish community, completed Jews, or messianic Jews. They live in a pluralistic society, probably Rome, and they are finding it harder and harder to have stability in their faith, in their lives, now they have committed to following Christ. Their main temptation, under persecution, is to go back to what they knew, we all do that don’t we? They want to go back to Judaism, back to the law, and the writer of Hebrews says, “No, no, no, don’t go back, Jesus is the better high priest; he is better than anything that you have formerly known and he is worth it all. Don’t give up!” And this is the heart of the message today.
There are some parallels between their time and ours. We are not being persecuted, like they were, but it gets harder and harder to live out the gospel. Theologian Stanley Howard calls Christians, “Resident aliens,” in his book, “Resident aliens: Living in a Christian Colony.” It is not to say that we’re hiding out, but we live and we’re sent into the world.
We are a people what theologian Scott Knight calls, “dissident disciples.” We are exiles, my friends, living in Babylon, a pluralist society where we have placed truth on the shelf and our morals are nuanced, nebulous, and undefined. The consequences of not having a north star, a compass, a foundation is chaos, lack of purpose, and self-destruction.
This is a famous passage on apostasy, the abandonment of our belief and embracing a contrary lifestyle or opinions we previously held.
His message is about perseverance. You cannot have a more secured foundation than that which is found in Jesus Christ. He mentioned that Jesus is the better high priest and then he says in verse 11:
About this we have much to say, (all of that, previously) and it is hard to explain (and this is one reason why), since you have become dull of hearing.
Now this is a hard message to hear. If we have tension in your soul, I’ve done my job.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.
Let me pause here. Some of us ought to be teachers, taking on new roles in God’s work.
Then he goes on:
You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness (the gospel), since he is a child.
But solid food is for the mature, (watch how he qualifies this) for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
The mature is able to discern what is right and what is wrong. Friends, how desperate are we for that in our day. True believers who help train the next generation, young people, if you have grandchildren, if you know others, to pour into the next generation. This is paramount in our trajectory in this world.
Then it starts to get murky:
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
and of instruction about washings (by the way, the word here is plural for baptism, the only place we find this in Scripture) the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
Now Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, “The Message” helps us understand this passage: His paraphrase of these verses:
“So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
Some have softened the blow of this passage by saying, “None of these things are explicitly Christian.” The argument they pose is that the Jews believed that we are justified by faith. The Jews believed in ceremonial washings, the Mikveh. The laying of hands for consecration, you see that in the Old Testament. The resurrection of the dead, the phrases taught that. Eternal judgment. The list is explicitly Christian, that’s why it is challenging.
Look at verse 4:
For it is impossible (everyone say “Impossible”, not unlikely, not improbable), in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance,
since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
What is up with this passage? “They have seen the light,” this is often an idiom for salvation. They have tasted salvation, they experienced the Holy Spirit, the promise of eternal life in the word of God, then have fallen away. This is apostasy, big “A” apostasy. What do we do with this passage?
It is impossible for them to return. Now, you are already thinking about it or thinking of someone else: “Am I saved? Are they saved?”
It is important to know that he is addressing believers. It is like any book in the New Testament, like any epistles, he is speaking to the gathered. I would nuance this along the way, I am speaking to those who are believers and those who are not. And only God knows.
I’m speaking to those who came to Christ many years ago, you were baptized, confirmed, church member, thinking you came to Christ, you’re not a believer, you’re not saved.
We can approach this with humility. Lets start with two phrases that I don’t think this passage is talking about, that we often use. The first one: losing our salvation. I get this question at time, “Can I lose my salvation?” Now, if you understand salvation, we are saved by grace, “one way love,” through, faith, in what Christ has accomplished for us. We bring nothing to the table. The only thing that we bring to the table is our sin that makes it necessary.
Look at how self-centered this question: “Can I lose, MY salvation?” It is a ridiculous question. No, you cannot lose your salvation, because you can’t lose something you did not gain. You did nothing for it, you can’t lose it. Like you are going to misplace the keys today.
Some of us are convinced that we cannot lose our salvation, but we often ask ourselves, “Can I lose my faith?” Sometimes our faith is not strong enough. Now we’re getting close to what this text is saying, “Is it possible to lose my faith?” Again, always back to the thematic example of those who did not enter into the promised land. That’s what he is talking about all this time. Why did they not enter? Because they did not keep the law? Because they were not good enough? Because of some rules they did not follow? Because they did not adhere to the ten commandments?
Why did they not enter in? Lack of faith. Unbelief. Not trusting in the promises of God. Let’s keep this in context: the writer is talking about apostasy. Persevere in the faith.