19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:19-25
Last summer, we received so much rain in such a little time that the road to our house was flooded. The road has a low spot where the storm drains sit to move the water to the lake and the system can handle so many gallons of water in a minute. But however, on that day the drainage system could not keep up and the water backed up onto the road completely covering it with about a foot of water. To get home we would have had to drive through the foot deep flood waters. I had no confidence whatsoever that I could drive through the road, and the car could stall or the moving waters sweep us away, at the time I could not tell how much was there. So, we sat on the road for about an hour until the waters receded and we could with what courage we had drive through the water to reach home, and we did safely.
The author to the Hebrews is talking about his congregation having a road that the people could always have confidence in, no matter how much water was flooding the road, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh). The road to our house was blocked by water, the road to the sanctuary or house of God is open and permanent. We had no reason to rely on the blocked road, Christians can have ever reason to rely on the road Jesus paves and cares for because the road was paved in his own blood from his own body. If he makes and cares for the road, every believer can have the confidence to travel upon it, and no barrier can flood or erode it.
But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must still make the journey and go into God upon that road let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Through our baptisms, the inner soul and outer body is washed and forgiven and then able to approach the holy God. Sins are forgiven and we can go in. But the hitch always lies in the approach. Quite simply, do we go in at all? We can rely upon the road, the door is open, our sins are forgiven, but do we take the necessary steps to walk upon and to go in? Do we have faith that the road will keep, and the door will stay open and even we are forgiven? Do we approach or do we retreat? Faith says, let us approach and never, let us go back.
But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must still hold fast to the hope that while we are on the way, we are not done journeying yet, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. To hope is to anticipate the filling of the promises of God, but in the present not possessing them, or to be on the way, but not finished yet. We are still travelling as a community upon the road Jesus paves and maintains, but until we are finished, we must keep travelling, we must hold fast to hope and never waver. Here is the second hitch, the road at times becomes challenging and overwhelming and the despair of the journey urges us to turn around and go back instead of pushing through. Do we have hope and keep going or do we retreat? Hope says let us hold fast, never, let us quit.
But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must learn what it means to truly walk in the way of Jesus Christ, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. To provoke is like taking a stick and poking a hornet’s nest, the hornets will become angry. We on the way of Jesus Christ are to provoke one another, but not to anger and offense, but to stir each other up to love and good deeds. The love here is the self-giving love of God, and the good deeds are compared to the evil deeds or sins from which we are cleansed. To walk on the way of Jesus Christ is to encourage or provoke each other to greater and greater love and goodness instead of judgment and insult. Do we provoke each other to greater love and good deeds, or do we make the journey miserable for everybody around us? Love says let us provoke each other to sacrifice and goodness, never, let us hurt and hate each other.
But while we can rely on the road to God because Jesus paves and maintains it; we must remember that we can only encourage each other if we gather with each other, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. I think the key word here is habit. We will have circumstances that prevent us from gathering to pray, study, worship and serve, but the hitch is when our staying away from church becomes a habit and not an exception. You cannot be encouraged, and you cannot give encouragement if you avoid the community. For the Hebrews they started to drift away into other things because the road became challenging. We have many more things to pull us away than they did in our society, but it becomes more important to still make church a priority. Encouragement says, let us meet, never, I have other things to do.
Friends, the road to God has been paved and maintained by Jesus our great High Priest in his own flesh and blood. This means that we can have confidence to walk and journey upon it. But at some point, you need to come in by faith and never retreat. At some point you need to hold fast to your hope that you will finish and never quit. At some point you need to provoke love and goodness instead of hate and wickedness. And at no point should your neglecting to gather become a habit. If we truly are following in the way of Jesus Christ, we will walk in faith, hope, and love, and we will always do so together. Now, let’s get moving. Amen.
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