Roger's Postings

Saturday, August 27, 2016


Hebrews 13:7-8           Today's Message - same yesterday's                            28/8/16



{1)  Keep on loving each other as brothers. {2} Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. {3} Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. {4} Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. {5} Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." {6} So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" {7} Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. {8} Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

{9} Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

{15} Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. {16} And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.



Is the message that we hear and take on as our own today, the same as it was yesterday and in years gone by? Is Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, still preached as boldly and consistently as it was? At a time when we are hearing all kinds of strange teachings being put forward - within Christian circle and outside; and when things are changing at such a fast rate in our world, is there something that we can hang on to as a constant and secure thing, that will help us through it all? Or are we at the mercy of the winds of change - being blown this way and that; never quite knowing what is right and wrong?



As we look around us we see many people who are in trouble in this way. There are many who no longer sit here in this building or any other such building. While a number of others who do so, do so only occasionally. And perhaps there are some of us here who are not quite sure: hearing lots of other thoughts and ideas which make us question that which we have been brought up with; making us think of changing our ideas or even doubt the value of our church.



However, we are constantly warned in Scripture to beware of those who try to lead us astray with all kinds of fancy talk. It warns that in the later days there will be many who will come in God's name, but not with God's Word. They will come in their own name giving us that which our ears are itching to hear. They will claim they are ‘christian’, but in reality be far from it; even if they use the name Jesus. They will quote from the Bible without really considering what God is and has said in and through it.



We are living in very difficult times when it comes to the Christian faith; but the answer is not to walk away from that which is all important. Nor to let go of that which ultimately is the only thing that is beneficial to us all. Or again to follow that which will only simply makes us feel good, but does not deal with the real issues. To do so, is to even further erode any security and hope that we would have that will be able to give us life and salvation; and help us through the difficult and troubled times of life. As well as leaving us even more uncertain and alone. Which is of course the devils aim.



Our reading here today however gives us some very simple and important advice in this matter. So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.



Now I know this sort of thinking is out of tune with what is happening in our world today, where change at all costs is the order of the day: Where we are constantly encouraged to ignore the past as out of date and no longer relevant; And to go ahead and be more broadminded in our thinking and to accept all kinds of different thinking as being OK; and all the rest. Yes, even within the church.



But here we are encouraged to hold firmly to that which is important and to follow closely that which has been handed down to us from the very beginning; imitating the faith of the great leaders that have gone before us. Here again we are encouraged to remember Jesus Christ and what he has to say and what he has done on the cross for us, as all important.



Some time back I listened to tape where one young man, when asked who he wanted to be most like and whose example he would follow; said that he wanted to be like his father who was a committed Christian and evangelist. All his lecturers and peers got into him suggesting that he had a real psychological problem: no one follows the example of their fathers any more [ unless it their bad traits]. Now it was great to hear that he stood up and told the lot of them that they were the ones who had a problem, if they were not committed enough to stand up and imitate those many good points of their fathers.



We too, need to stand up once again and imitate those many good Christians that have gone before us. They are the ones through whom God's grace has been at work carrying the Good News of Jesus Christ on to us here today. God has been at work in and through his Church for many hundreds of years, speaking his word to each successive generation; encouraging them to stand firm in their faith. And our church here stands in that line: The Gospel being the centre and focus of everything that we stand for.



But will we be responsible for that Word going forward to the children of the coming generations; or will our slackness and indifference mean that our children and grand-children will no longer have anything to follow and imitate. Will our running here and there, following every wind of doctrine, leave nothing solid for those who come after us.



Remember again what Jesus Christ and his life, death and resurrection means for us and for the Church of all time. It is he alone that stands central to our whole being, existence and future. What he has done and continues to do for us is paramount to everything. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life through him, is what gives life and hope.



Our fore-fathers in the Faith held firmly to the biblical view that both Law and Gospel were to be understood clearly, but at the same time to be rightly distinguished. So they held to the biblical view that we are all sinners deserving death and hell and unable in any way to get ourselves out of that mess that we have made for ourselves. But at the same time they clearly proclaimed that Jesus Christ came to earth for the express purpose of taking our punishment on himself so that we might be forgiven.



Now, that we see from many of the Christian leaders that have gone before us. With full assurance that they had been forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross, they knew that they had salvation and life eternal: they had a joy and hope even in the midst of the most terrible of situations. They were able to put away from their lives many of those things that are bad and wrong such as drunkenness, envy, greed, selfishness etc. And in their place came those qualities that are good, helpful and positive. Love becoming the basis of much of what they did.



But undergirding this, always was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, that he has made available to us. They clung to that which they could not see, feel or touch; trusting that in Christ and his death lies their only hope and their only life. Then with that faith, they gave their all to share that which was so important, with those around them. Even as they faced death in whatever way or form it came, they trusted that nothing could ever separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus.



Now then, that is what our reading is calling us also to do: to imitate that faith, - carrying on forward that same hope and trust in our own life and as we face our own death. Primarily we are called to put aside all those thoughts of self and my achievements, commitment and whatever. The whole work of salvation and life now for us, lies firmly at the foot of the cross and Jesus Christ. Then with that as our basis for life, to go forward living and being the people that God has called us to be; knowing always that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.



We do so because he is forever faithful and true. He alone stands as the one who offered himself for all sinners in the past. But also who ever intercedes for us in the present. He always remains our faithful Saviour and Lord. That is the message that has been passed on to us through our Church from the past; and is that which I give you today; and I pray that it is the same message that will go on being given and imitated for years to come.



So don't ignore the Church, this message and the truth that has been passed on to us. But let us continue to see Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that he offers as being that which is of utmost importance; trusting him and so giving your all to see that this same message and faith goes on to those who follow.



 Let us pray that God will help us to continue to imitate those great men and women who have gone before us. Through it all may we always remember that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. To him alone be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.



Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

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