Week of 14th
Sunday after Pentecost: Hebrews 12:18-29
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning
with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those
who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what
was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned
to death." 21 The sight was
so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands
upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in
heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous
made perfect, 24 to Jesus the
mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel. 25
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when
they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn
away from him who warns us from heaven? 26
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once
more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27 The words "once more"
indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that
what cannot be shaken may remain. 28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be
thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming
fire."
This is a
passage about encountering God…which
is another way of saying, this is a passage about worship. The writer’s method
in this passage is to use contrast. He begins by telling the readers where they
have not come… they haven’t come to Mt. Sinai—which, while not
specifically named—is the obvious reference point of the place “burning with
fire; darkness, gloom and storm, etc.” (See Exodus 19). He then contrasts that
with where they have come…
to Mount Zion, to the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon
thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the
firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge
of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the
mediator of a new covenant…
Of course
the thing that’s truly interesting about what the author is saying is that the
readers haven’t actually come to
either place… the literal Mt. Sinai OR the literal heavenly Zion. Their worship
was meager, even mundane—especially when compared to the great pomp and
ceremony that accompanied the worship in the Jerusalem Temple (earthly Mt.
Zion). In other words, wherever these readers lived, their assembly was a small
unimpressive gathering, very likely held in someone’s house, around a very
simple liturgy that emphasized recalling the teachings of Jesus and a ritual
meal of breaking bread. For those who long for an encounter with the divine,
for those who long for fellowship with the Creator, for those who long for the
ability to step outside of their
mundane lives and enter—even for a moment—into a mystical reality that
transcends time and space, the little weekly table fellowship in someone’s hut
probably didn’t seem like much.
But the
writer tells them there’s more than meets the eye. In our liturgy, whether held
in St. Peter’s Basilica, a local rented gymnasium, or a clearing in the middle
of the jungle, believers are participating in a reality that includes much more
than is visible to the naked eye. The mystical JOINS the mundane; just as the
heavenly body and blood are joined to the earthly bread and wine, rank and file
believers here are joined with thousands
upon thousands of angels, and the joyful
assembly of believers in heaven.
I see two
very important spiritual truths here for the life of the believer. FIRST, to
those who routinely say “I don’t need to come to church to worship God, I can
worship much more devoutly walking in the woods or sitting in my back yard observing
nature, I would partially agree. Adoration of our Creator God can occur
anywhere and can occur alone. But the stuff being discussed in Hebrews chapter
12 cannot. One need look no further than the KJV version of the text to see
this. Vs 22 in the KJV reads: But **YE**
are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, etc. Point
being, *YE is plural. The worshiping community experiencing the mystical
reality of Hebrews 12 is A COMMUNITY. Maybe, as in the words of Jesus, it’s
only “two or three gathered together in his name,” but it’s plural. As people
of faith and disciples of Jesus we need to challenge ourselves on this matter.
Adoration of the Creator can happen
alone, but worship in the mystical gathering of heaven cannot.
SECOND,
while there is nothing overtly sacramental about Hebrews 12 (it nowhere
mentions holy communion), I take for granted that every gathering of Christians
at this time included the ritual meal (see Acts 2:42, 20:7, 1Cor 11:23). In
other words, the catalyst behind the mystical reality described in Hebrews 12
is more than just meeting as a group; it’s meeting as a group around the sacrament. Coming into the
divine presence is conditioned upon the presence of Christ—and Christ is never
more fully present than when his body and blood are joined to the earthly elements
of bread and wine. Point being, not only should our worship be in community, it should also be sacramental.
If so… then
we have had A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE in the truest, most biblical, and even most
mystical sense of the word. Think of it… the sermon can be boring; the choir
can sing off key; the organist can hit a wrong note; it can be raining and you
can have forgotten your umbrella; the group can be smaller than expected; you
can even be snubbed by a church leader…but NOTHING can dampen, and NOTHING can
take away the fact that you have had this experience.
Cheers,
TM
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