1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:03,840 I hope that you are well this morning. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,720 If we haven't haven't met or had a chance to have a conversation, 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,520 my name is Josh. I have the joy of serving as 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:14,160 pastor here at the Garden Church, and I am excited this 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,440 morning to be continuing this series through the book of 6 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,360 Hebrews. Hebrews is one of my very 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:23,360 favorite books in all of Scripture. 8 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:30,000 It's complicated, it's dense, it's theological, but it also 9 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,560 has so much wisdom and grace for us today, and I'm excited to be 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,040 continuing our series. This morning. 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,840 We're going to be taking on chapters 3 and four and looking 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:46,240 particularly at the warning passages of he of, of Hebrews 13 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,360 this week. The big idea, if I were going to 14 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,880 summarize it into a couple of words, would simply be don't 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,600 quit. Don't quit. 16 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,560 Simple enough. And you know, I don't. 17 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,040 As I was reflecting on this this week, I don't imagine that any 18 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:10,520 of us sets out on our spiritual journey planning to just throw 19 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:15,720 in the towel. None of us dive in expecting to 20 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:22,000 to kind of fall by the wayside. But I think it's also true that 21 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,120 many of us can look back to a season in our life, to a 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,520 different moment when we we maybe prayed passionately or 23 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:35,040 sang joyfully or or dug into the scriptures eagerly in a way 24 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,280 that's different from what's true today. 25 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,960 Some of us have had an experience that somewhere along 26 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:44,840 the way of our spiritual journey, something happened and 27 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,160 we began to pull back in some way. 28 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,080 I know there have been moments in my own spiritual journey 29 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,600 where this has been true. Not at that. 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,120 Despite what I would prefer or you might think, it hasn't 31 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,880 always been up and to the right. There have been moments where I 32 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,840 took a step forward and then moments where I took a step 33 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:04,600 back. And, and one of those moments 34 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,880 when I, I took a step back had to do with sharing my faith with 35 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,400 sharing my faith with others earlier on in my faith journey. 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,920 My faith was incredible important to me as it as it is 37 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:20,640 today. And I, I was so aware of the way 38 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,760 in which Jesus had brought healing and unforgiveness, 39 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,440 transformation and goodness to me. 40 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,400 I just, I wanted everyone I knew and even people that I didn't 41 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,200 know to have that same experience. 42 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,760 I remember vividly sitting on the train sometimes and, and as 43 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:42,120 I would watch the windows pass by, especially at night when you 44 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,680 ever look out and see the city with just the windows ablaze 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,280 from hundreds or thousands of apartments. 46 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,400 And, and I remember wondering, like, do those people know 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,040 Jesus? Like, have they encountered his 48 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,120 love? Like what's, what is faith look 49 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,040 like for them? What do they know about him? 50 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,040 And I had a real passion for, for helping more people come to 51 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,880 faith. And this passion, this longing 52 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,440 showed up in my everyday practices. 53 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,760 I remember one thing that I did for for a number of years was 54 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,160 anytime I was out to eat at a restaurant, when the server 55 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,520 would take our order, I would say, hey, it's my custom to kind 56 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,880 of pray for my food before the meal. 57 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,720 Is there anything that I could pray for you about? 58 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,240 And, and very, very often that led to just deep heartfelt 59 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,760 conversations where people would share things that they were 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,400 going through or struggling with and, and we would have these 61 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,360 moments of prayer together. And then there was another 62 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,200 season that came a little bit later where there was some 63 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,120 friction, like some things hit in different ways that they 64 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,880 caused me to begin to pull back. I remember vividly, I was in JP 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,600 at a restaurant, same thing as always. 66 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,080 The server took my order. I said, hey, is there anything 67 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,800 that I could pray for you about? And I just, you know, the guy 68 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:03,480 looked like he'd been punched in the gut. 69 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,760 He just bristled. No, he kind of barked at me. 70 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,280 And then the whole rest of the meal was a little bit 71 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,200 uncomfortable. I was like, is my food going to 72 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:13,840 get spit in? Like, what's going on here? 73 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,480 Obviously, this person did not appreciate my question. 74 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,440 This is just one instance. I had dozens and dozens of these 75 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,160 conversations, but there was something about that experience 76 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,600 that kind of made me take a step back. 77 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:29,520 I started to become more cautious. 78 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,440 There were other things too, but over a period of time, this 79 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,360 posture where I was constantly kind of opening up spiritual 80 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,280 questions and conversations and and, and bringing parts of my 81 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,720 own faith life into dialogue with people who were far from 82 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,240 God. That kind of kind of waned for a 83 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,400 season. And I remember really vividly, 84 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,040 it kind of came into my awareness. 85 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,440 The shift that had occurred, something that had kind of 86 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,720 happened more gradually wasn't super conscious when I had a 87 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,160 conversation with a really close non Christian friend who 88 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,800 basically told Ally and myself, She said, you know, I've noticed 89 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,800 that you don't ever talk about your faith around me. 90 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:16,320 And we have these other mutual friends. 91 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,440 I know they're Christian too, and they're constantly kind of 92 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,240 bringing up their faith or kind of talking about it in passing. 93 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,640 And you don't ever do that. And she she was kind of like 94 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,640 irritated, almost hurt. She said, hey, I care about you. 95 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,760 I care about what's true in your life. 96 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,840 I'm not like asking you to evangelize me or something. 97 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,000 But but it seems to me that you're withholding this whole 98 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,680 part of your life that I know is deeply important to you. 99 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,040 And I feel like I'm missing out on something. 100 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,800 What gifts? And in that moment, first of 101 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,520 all, I was just incredibly moved by her care and and and value 102 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,600 for the friendship and all the different parts of our 103 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,880 relationship. But more so, I felt honestly 104 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,480 really convicted. I started to ask my like, what 105 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,400 did happen? Like how, how did I get here to 106 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,560 this point where something that had felt so natural, such a a 107 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,800 value started to shift in in chapters 3 and four of the 108 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,800 Hebrews, the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find the writer is 109 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,400 addressing something of a similar dynamic. 110 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,440 As we discussed last week, that the audience of this letter are 111 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,280 are Jewish Christians. These are people who grew up 112 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:32,280 attending synagogue and studying Torah and following the law of 113 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,520 Moses. They had, of course, come to a 114 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,080 believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah that 115 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,720 they had been waiting for. And they were stoked. 116 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,240 They jumped into faith wholeheartedly and with great 117 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,480 enthusiasm and zeal. But then as we continue to look 118 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,080 at this letter and notice the different parts of it, it 119 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,080 becomes very clear, especially from some things later that we 120 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,360 see in Chapter 10, that they had hit some obstacles. 121 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,920 They had initially started out with this great fire and then 122 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,760 there was some friction. In Hebrews chapter 10, we read 123 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,160 that that they had had an experience in verse 25 where 124 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,680 some of them had had kind of stopped meeting together. 125 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,920 And this came because they had endured, the text tells us, 126 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,600 public reproach and suffering. They had been shamed for their 127 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,600 faith. Some of them, we find, had had 128 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,320 their property seized. Others had even gone to prison 129 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,960 for their faith. There had been some real 130 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:41,080 persecution, some friction which hit this initially fiery and 131 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,040 zealous faith. And it caused them to fade a 132 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,600 bit, to take a step back. The the pressure of of a society 133 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,880 which didn't agree with their views, didn't believe the same 134 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,120 things that they did. And, and often where when they 135 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,680 were vocal or outspoken or direct about their faith, they 136 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:03,560 actually experienced social prices began to wear on them. 137 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,400 Now, they weren't renouncing Jesus outright. 138 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,200 They weren't denying Christ, but they were definitely 139 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,440 recalibrating things to see if they could just reduce the cost 140 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,920 of following him. They'd stopped gathering with 141 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:20,960 other Christians. They, they began to wonder, 142 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,080 like, maybe we could just kind of, you know, privately follow 143 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,960 Jesus without really talking about it publicly. 144 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,080 And while their exact situation is different from ours, I 145 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,960 believe this pattern, this same dynamic is alive and well in the 146 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:43,720 21st century in our zip code. The writer of the Hebrews speaks 147 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,360 with urgency in chapters 3 and four, He addresses this 148 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,400 challenge with a pretty fierce exhortation. 149 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,840 He tells them to persevere, to keep going, to not quit. 150 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,800 And to do so, he uses an illustration that would have 151 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,400 been burned into his reader's cultural memory. 152 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:07,400 He references the the story from Toran and articulated in Psalm 153 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,880 95 to to talk about the story of how their ancestors, the 154 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,320 Israelites, faded in the wilderness and now their 155 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,080 community had been rescued or liberated, as you'll remember, 156 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,160 from Egypt. They've been brought out of 157 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,440 slavery. They've been sustained by the 158 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,320 hand of God, but as they walked through the wilderness, they got 159 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,720 to this place of promise, this land that God was leading them 160 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,960 to, the land of Abraham, the land of their forefathers. 161 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,000 And right on the precipice, just as they were about to cross the 162 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,400 threshold and enter in, they stopped. 163 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,880 They turned around, see the scouts had come back and and 164 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,680 named, hey, there are giants in the land ahead. 165 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,200 The cities are fortified like this is not going to be an easy 166 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:55,800 thing. There's going to be risk 167 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:57,760 involved. There's going to be cost 168 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,480 involved. And at that decisive moment, 169 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,720 they they looked at the giants and forgot the deliverer. 170 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,480 They stopped short of entering into the promise. 171 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:12,600 This is what he's referring to when he quotes Psalm 35 or 95 172 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,280 rather saying do not harden your hearts as you did in the 173 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,040 rebellion during the time of testing in the wilderness where 174 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:24,720 your ancestors tested and tried me though for 30-40 years, they 175 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,360 saw what I did. I declared an oath in my anger. 176 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:34,160 They shall never enter my rest. These believers had seen what 177 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,560 God had done. They had experience of God 178 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,720 delivering them, but then when it came to a decisive moment, 179 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,360 they they pulled back. They decided to settle for the 180 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,240 safety of the wilderness. Some of the Union began 181 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,920 clamoring for the old days of slavery in Egypt rather than 182 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,520 pushing through and entering in to rest. 183 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,280 And the consequences that we see here in chapter 3, the writer 184 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,520 records were grim. They heard his voice, but they 185 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,240 hardened their hearts. He writes in verse 15. 186 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,840 And as a result, in verse 19, we read that their bodies perished 187 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,680 in the wilderness. They were not able to enter 188 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:23,440 because of their unbelief. In 1975, Kodak was synonymous 189 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:28,160 with photography. Over 70% of all cameras made, 190 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,960 over 80% of all film that was on the market was produced by this 191 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,080 one single company. And with an R&D budget that was 192 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,800 in the hundreds of millions of dollars, they were on the 193 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,600 cutting edge, poised to enter the future. 194 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,080 And that's when a young engineer at Kodak, in an attempt to 195 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,920 develop a new light sensing chip, built the first ever 196 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,480 digital camera. Now this prototype all the way 197 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,200 back in 1975 was not yet production ready. 198 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,600 And admittedly it was large and clunky. 199 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,080 It was cobbled together from projector lenses and spare 200 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,920 parts. It only had this tiny 100 by 100 201 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,920 grainy black and white screen that wasn't very good. 202 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:20,000 But even then, it was clear, digital is the future. 203 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,720 This is where things going. This is going to become the 204 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,560 technology that leaves the dark rooms in the dust. 205 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,680 But the path forward was uncertain. 206 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,160 Kodak had the budget to chase it. 207 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,480 They had the talent to chase it. But would they? 208 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,760 The technology that needed to be developed didn't exist yet. 209 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,400 How good with the quality really be? 210 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,560 Could it be small and expensive enough to fit in your pocket? 211 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,240 Who would even want pictures on a screen? 212 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,440 These were some of the conversations that the managers 213 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,040 had. And so, partly because of the 214 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,920 uncertainty, partly because of the questions about how it might 215 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,000 cannibalize their very successive film business, 216 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,120 holding this technology in their hand, this invention that was 217 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:11,520 the breakthrough to the future, they put it on the shelf. 218 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:16,960 They chose to dig into the things that were directly in 219 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,160 front of them. They shelved the idea. 220 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,720 Of course, today, Kodak still exists. 221 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,720 They are a quirky outlier that licenses a few pieces of tech 222 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,680 and has an exactly 0% market share. 223 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,560 They missed the moment the future arrived without them. 224 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,360 Not because they weren't there, not because they weren't poised 225 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:42,160 to succeed, but because when they arrived at the decisive 226 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,600 moment, instead of pushing forward, they pulled back. 227 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,040 And this pattern isn't just ancient history. 228 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,800 It isn't just something that happened with Jewish believers 229 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,240 in the 1st century or ancient Israel long ago. 230 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,120 I think it's happening right now today. 231 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,760 Maybe you've even experienced the same pattern show up in your 232 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:08,000 life, like you jump into community and Oh my gosh, what a 233 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,400 joy. Like you feel seen and 234 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:15,200 connected, like you belong to something that is is greater and 235 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,560 and beautiful. And then you find out that 236 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:20,160 community is made of other humans. 237 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,800 Somebody disappoints you. You get to know somebody and you 238 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,840 find out that they like see the world really differently than 239 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,400 you do. There's some unspoken 240 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,080 expectations. Somebody lets you down. 241 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,880 Somebody shows up in a way that you read is judgmental. 242 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:44,760 Ouch. And so it's so easy, right, to 243 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,680 just take a step back, to pull back. 244 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,640 Maybe you've been trying to date in a way that honors and is 245 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:56,680 shaped by your faith. But there's a wasteland out 246 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,680 there, right? The pool feels small. 247 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:05,640 The apps are exhausting. And then you meet somebody and 248 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:11,520 they're great, They're charming, they're kind, but they're not a 249 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:17,120 follower of Jesus. So you start to negotiate like, 250 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,000 the loneliness is real. Does this make sense? 251 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,880 Maybe I could make it work. Maybe like I just need to go 252 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,560 back and revise my list of what's really important. 253 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,600 Maybe you're trying to practice Sabbath in a city that just runs 254 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:39,080 on hustle and ambition and, and you try to carve out that space 255 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,800 and your coworkers like literally laugh at you. 256 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,600 People keep putting things on your calendar and assigning 257 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,880 projects that are going to be due the next week. 258 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,800 You feel behind by noon. Maybe you step into leadership 259 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,520 with integrity and pay the costs. 260 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,480 You try to forgive somebody who really hurt you and find out 261 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:08,920 just how difficult that is. Fire, friction, fade. 262 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:16,200 It is so easy to hit the pain of life, the, the wounds of life, 263 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,760 the, the, the challenges of following Jesus and, and to just 264 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,360 like the temptation that we see here in the 1st century to say, 265 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,840 I'm not going to abandon my faith, but maybe I'll just turn 266 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,040 the dial down a bit. Like maybe, maybe I'm just going 267 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,880 to accommodate to see if I can be a little bit more like other 268 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,120 people. Maybe I can just sort this out 269 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,760 in a way where the costs aren't so painful. 270 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,720 Friends, have your has your faith this morning begun to fade 271 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,200 in some way? Most of the Christians I know 272 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,880 who have have have slid kind of back into an apathetic state, 273 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,040 did not get there because they hated God. 274 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,440 Often times it wasn't even a singular decisive no moment. 275 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,000 They haven't renounced their faith. 276 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:08,240 It's more like quiet quitting. It's just accommodation, a step 277 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:13,000 back and then to protective cynicism, a bit of syncretism, 278 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:18,240 Jesus plus the city's operating gods of, of comfort and status, 279 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:23,000 of productivity and autonomy. We get disappointed and so we 280 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,760 stop hoping, we get hurt. And so we stop opening up. 281 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,040 We get exhausted. And so we stop trusting or 282 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,560 asking for help. We, we get shamed. 283 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,400 And so we stop taking risks, we get scared. 284 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,600 And so we just, we reach for that which is the visible, 285 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,840 familiar, manageable, our survival strategies. 286 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,440 This, I believe, is the hardening that that the writer 287 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,680 of Hebrews here is warning against. 288 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,280 Friends, don't allow your heart to be hard. 289 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:01,480 If we miss out on, or if we allow our fire to fade, we can 290 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,760 miss out on the rest that God offers us. 291 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:11,640 In chapter 4, the author points forward towards what is possible 292 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,400 if the Hebrews do in fact, persevere. 293 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,160 He's not just saying don't quit. He's saying, hey, if you keep 294 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,360 going, you have the ability to access something incredible. 295 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,600 And, and in this chapter, he, he articulates it's, it's kind of 296 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:31,520 delicate. It's quite of intricate. 297 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:37,440 The three kinds of rest that are at play here as he invites his 298 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,840 audience in verse #1 of Chapter 4. 299 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,520 Since the promise of entering his rest stands, let us be 300 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,400 careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of 301 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,440 it. The first kind of rest that he's 302 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,160 talking about is the kind that we've already talked about here. 303 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:59,920 It's it's the rest of the land Canaan rest, if you will, the 304 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,520 the rest involved in a physical geography that the people of 305 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,920 Israel in the in the Old Testament came up to and and 306 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,520 initially turned back from failing to access the rest that 307 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:17,720 was promised by God. But eventually Joshua did lead a 308 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,720 later generation into the land. So if that was all we were 309 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,160 talking about here, you would think, got it, people of God 310 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:30,640 have achieved rest box checked mission success. 311 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,040 But the writer of Hebrews says not so fast. 312 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:39,280 In verse 7, he quotes Psalm 95, written by David, which happened 313 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,960 centuries after Israel settles in the land. 314 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,800 And David here is saying today, if you hear his voice, do not 315 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,800 harden it, harden your hearts. In other words, even after this 316 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,840 rest of the land has been achieved, there is still another 317 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,720 kind of rest available. To explain that, he points to a 318 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,400 second kind of rest, Sabbath rest, which we see here in verse 319 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,960 #4. All the way back to Genesis we 320 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,480 remember that on the 7th day God rested from all his works. 321 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,080 He entered into Shabbat to Sabbath and then set up a 322 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,400 pattern for his people that we too might on the 7th day rest 323 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,320 from work and enter into his presence. 324 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,440 This was built into the very fabric of creation that the the 325 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,040 the the way in which our weeks are set up a moment to rest. 326 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,880 And it wasn't simply about a pause from exhaustion, but but 327 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,200 the deep settledness of things being as they ought to be. 328 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,720 But the author also points us forward in verse 9 to a future 329 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:51,880 rest, a rest that is still even now open, available and 330 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,800 enterable by the people of God. Verse 9 says there remains a 331 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,000 Sabbath rest for the people of God. 332 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,320 The door has not closed. And in this case he's pointing 333 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,560 not only to the weekly practice of Sabbath, but he's also 334 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:11,960 talking about that future age, that space when we will be with 335 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,840 God and all will be right, where Shalom will characterize the 336 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,240 world. Here's the writers logic. 337 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,720 If rest were fully achieved in Canaan, David wouldn't be 338 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,480 inviting people into it. Which means that God has always 339 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,360 been offering something bigger than a land place. 340 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,720 He's been offering a person himself a future. 341 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,360 So what does it look like to actually enter this rest? 342 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:40,600 What are, what are we talking about? 343 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,800 For those of us who may not be that familiar even with a, a 344 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,280 practice of Sabbath, I mean, I, I think what a lot of us think 345 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,520 about rest, we think about PTO. We think about a vacation with a 346 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,080 swim up bar. Maybe we think about a nap, 347 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,120 right? And I am not against any of 348 00:21:58,120 --> 00:21:59,920 those things. I'd just like to go on the 349 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:04,160 record saying I'm pro nap. OK, Like these are good things, 350 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:09,720 awesome things, yes, but but this, this vision that I think 351 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:14,560 we have culturally falls deeply short of what it is that God is 352 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:16,760 describing when he talks about Sabbath. 353 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,360 Sabbath is is a picture of what's coming, and it's an 354 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,600 invitation to live in the reality of the future, in the 355 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,240 present. Mark Buchanan talks about it 356 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,480 this way. He describes Sabbath as the one 357 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,080 day when we stop trying to make something of ourselves. 358 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,240 Not the reward for a productive week, but rather a declaration. 359 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,560 And here's what makes Sabbath so subversive. 360 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,760 Sabbath doesn't begin after you've finished your To Do List. 361 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,680 It doesn't arrive after all the books are closed, everything is 362 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,920 clean, everything is sorted. Sabbath comes whether you're 363 00:22:53,920 --> 00:23:00,640 ready for it or not and invites you to stop even when the work 364 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,280 isn't done. Especially when the work isn't 365 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,840 done because as Ritual Otis talks about, like the work is 366 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,480 never finished. How many of you can relate to 367 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,720 that? Like the work is never finished. 368 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,840 There is always more to do, and yet once a week we carve out 369 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:23,040 this space to actually pause even in the incompleteness, to 370 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,080 recharge, to enter in, to have a slow meal with people we love, 371 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,360 to take a walk without a destination, to light a candle 372 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,240 for no reason other than to to welcome and remember the 373 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,640 presence of God. These are not like indulgences. 374 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:42,680 These are are practices that help to rewire and repattern our 375 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,280 soul on the schedule of the Kingdom. 376 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,720 They invite us into the rest of God that that isn't something 377 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,560 that we have to work our way into or fight our way into, but 378 00:23:53,560 --> 00:24:00,040 something that we from Him receive not in a place, but in a 379 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,000 person. This is what the rest of God 380 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,680 feels like, Settled trust in His presence. 381 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,440 Life without the burden of proving our own worthiness. 382 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:16,120 Freedom from frantic striving. The exhale of someone who just 383 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:21,600 knows that they are loved. A reminder that we don't have to 384 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:26,600 carry the weight of the world. That we are worthy of delight, 385 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,120 of joy, of knowing that we are enough because of what Jesus has 386 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:34,040 done. Of entering into a space of rest 387 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,480 with our souls, with our bodies, with our nervous system no 388 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,240 longer ruled by the taskmasters of Egypt, but by the grace of 389 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,000 God. And this friends, is an 390 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,080 incredible gift. And also, I can say somebody who 391 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,760 often struggles to receive this gift, that it's hard. 392 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:55,920 Maybe you know this for yourself as well. 393 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,360 Because so often the ways that we operate on that we believe 394 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:05,000 are, are our pathways to accessing rest look like working 395 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,840 more, doing more, pushing harder, going faster, trying to 396 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,520 reach for other things. And so to actually enter into 397 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,760 rest that isn't manufactured by us but is received from God is 398 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,120 very counter intuitive. In fact, it can feel scary. 399 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:25,720 Does anybody else know what I'm talking about here? 400 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,920 This is the kind of rest that we are invited into. 401 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,920 Look, I know some of us have experienced this deeply. 402 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,080 Some of us, this feels fleeting. Some of us are like, I have no 403 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:39,320 idea what you're talking about right now. 404 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,960 So I want to take a moment just to pause and to actually attempt 405 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:50,640 to create for just one moment an experience of rest. 406 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,040 Go ahead and and just in your body, I'm going to slow down my 407 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,240 talking. I'm going to slow down this 408 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,680 moment. And I want you to just get 409 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,000 comfortable in a posture that feels good to you. 410 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:07,680 Like lean back in your chair, perhaps put your feet on the 411 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,400 ground, whatever. Whatever is comfortable for you, 412 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,360 for your body. Notice right now if you are 413 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,320 carrying tension in your body somewhere. 414 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,560 Maybe your jaw is clenched. You don't even notice it until 415 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,280 you pay attention. Maybe your your shoulders are 416 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,520 just tight. Maybe your gut is tight. 417 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:30,320 You don't have to fix it right now. 418 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:36,480 Just just name it and try to gently bring calmness and rest 419 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,240 to that space in your physical body. 420 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,320 And then as we, as we breathe, as we pause, I want you to to 421 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,840 not only hear, but to, to really try to open yourself up for just 422 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,760 this one moment to this invitation that you don't have 423 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,560 to save yourself. You don't have to prove 424 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,520 yourself. The world is not going to fall 425 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,080 apart if you don't check your phone right now. 426 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,320 Just whisper this prayer as you breathe in and breathe out. 427 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,160 God, I trust you help me receive rest. 428 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,080 So you breathe in. God I trust you help me receive 429 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:24,320 rest. Again, God, I trust you. 430 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:36,240 Help me receive rest. I want to invite you to just pay 431 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,960 attention to what this feels like in your body. 432 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:44,920 How long has it been since you've actually just been still 433 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,960 in the presence of God? You've allowed your body, your 434 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,240 soul, to come into the present moment and to notice what's 435 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,680 real. Friends, this morning, the 436 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:04,640 invitation for us, just as it was for the original audience of 437 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:09,520 this letter, was to enter into the rest of God. 438 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,880 And the key here is that the rest is it's not just a place, 439 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,320 it's not just a destination, it's a person. 440 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,520 Going back to the very opening of chapter 3, the first thing 441 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:28,960 that the writer here does is he says, fix your eyes on Jesus. 442 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:36,320 Look to him, look to him. See, Jesus is the place where we 443 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,200 can access rest. His argument at the beginning of 444 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,920 the chapter is that because Jesus has been faithful, you can 445 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:49,600 enter into rest, you can trust him, you can receive from him. 446 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,760 Jesus has already created Shalom, we just have to to 447 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,560 access it by believing. The writer is clear here, 448 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:03,720 though, that we do have a part. Don't fall short, he says. 449 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,880 Let us make every effort, he says in verse 11, to enter that 450 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,800 rest. It kind of sounds paradoxical, 451 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,880 doesn't it? Like make every effort to enter 452 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,040 rest? Like what are we resting? 453 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:17,680 Are we striving? What's happening? 454 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,680 But I think the key here is that entering rest isn't isn't 455 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,400 earning rest. It's more like receiving a gift 456 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,040 that has already been placed in your hands, that has already 457 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,440 been one for us, and then and then holding on to it. 458 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,240 Not drifting, not not dropping it to chase other things. 459 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,600 And persevering, in this case, I think, can look different when 460 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,160 when I think about persevering, the first place my mind goes is, 461 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:53,880 is grit, trying harder, muscling up, focusing, hitting that 462 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,640 willpower button and pushing the lever as far as I can. 463 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,520 But I wonder if very often the key to our perseverance isn't 464 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,440 isn't just trying harder, but it's actually attending to some 465 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,760 of these wounds that are keeping us stuck. 466 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,440 See for the the people of Israel long ago as they prepared to 467 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,800 face down giants for their for the folks in the 1st century 468 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:24,560 that this epistle is written to, they had some wounds they hit 469 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:29,280 some friction along the way that caused that initial fire to 470 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,440 fade. So I wonder what that looks like 471 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,680 for you. Like is there a place in your 472 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,680 life where you know that there's something that's unresolved? 473 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:46,320 Like maybe for you, that the the the problem in maintaining that 474 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:52,360 energy, that fire, that vibrancy is the fact that we haven't yet 475 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,200 figured out how to like navigate conflict with that person who 476 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,960 created the Ouch. Like we don't know how to 477 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,160 forgive or how to hold a boundary. 478 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:05,320 Maybe we were actually deeply disappointed by someone or even 479 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:09,840 by God and we haven't yet learned how to grieve, how to 480 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,640 process it, how to enter into lament and and stay connected to 481 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:19,240 Jesus even in it. Friends, persevering in our 482 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,520 faith, maintaining our vigor, pressing through entering into 483 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,360 race, into interest isn't just about training. 484 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:30,840 It's not just about intensity. It's also about the things that 485 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,920 addressing the drags on our soul, that slow us down, that 486 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,760 pull us away, that keep us from continuing on. 487 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,400 What does that look like for you? 488 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,120 Having a hard conversation, doing some forgiveness works. 489 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,000 This is not weakness. It's actually how we get our 490 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,280 legs back under us so that we continue to run, so that as 491 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,920 chapter 3 and verse 14, we're exhorted at that as we have come 492 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:05,120 to share in Christ. If indeed we hold our original 493 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,080 conviction firmly to the very end. 494 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,040 It's not about doing it perfectly. 495 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:12,520 It's about continuing to show up. 496 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,800 And so as we continue this morning and and enter into a 497 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,520 time of reflection and response, I just want to ask like, where's 498 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:24,440 the rub this morning for you as you think about your faith 499 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,040 journey, whether you're at the very beginning of it, maybe you 500 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,520 haven't even taken a first step of faith or you've been on the 501 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,720 journey for a while. And honestly, you're pretty 502 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,880 clear that you've taken somebody shots along the way. 503 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,600 A lot like this first community that we read about here in 504 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,160 Hebrews. What would it mean for you not 505 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:49,760 to not to lose that love, to stay connected to that 506 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,520 transformational encounter with Jesus that had changed your life 507 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,800 or or promises to change your life? 508 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,960 Friends, what would it look like to really enter in accessing 509 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:07,320 faithfulness by way of faith? Jesus is the model. 510 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,680 He is the example. If we fix our eyes on Him and 511 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:19,160 follow Him, we will experience that Sabbath rest, that Shalom 512 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,960 that exists only in His presence.