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Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16: the ‘eccentric’ vineyard owner

Life can seem unfair when working hard and missing out on a deserved reward. In this passage Jesus shows God (as a vineyard owner) giving the same reward to each person regardless of how much they work. How is this fair? Ash Clarkson explores this seeming biblical injustice to reveal a God who knows far more about our nature than we do!

Our passages today: Psalm 80:8-19 and Matthew 20:1-16, Preacher Ash Clarkson, Sunday 24th December.

Introduction

This seems a strange passage for Christmas Eve. What does an eccentric businessman have to do with Christmas?

Christmas is a time of gift giving and the birth of our saviour. It’s not based on our own labour or our possessions; none of which translate to our heavenly reward. We’re receive eternal life regardless of whether we come to Christ early or in the last hour of our life.

The workers in the vineyard receive the same reward and grumble. Everyone receives at minimum what they deserve and some got more. There is no place for jealousy in God’s kingdom. Everything he gives us is out of his generosity and we deserve nothing.

Context of our passage

We come to the parable after the story of the rich young ruler who was told to sell all he had.

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” [26] But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” [27] Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”

Matthew 19:25-27 ESV

Some of the disciples were businessmen who had family businesses. Levi was a tax collector who had been taking some on the side before he came to Jesus.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. [30] But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Matthew 19:28-30 ESV

Our passage explained

Labourers for the vineyard

Our passage of the vineyard then takes place. The hours were 6am to 6pm and labourers would be in the square at 6am. A denarius was a fair days wage and enough to feed a family.

The day progresses and the labourers who haven’t found work get picked up by the vineyard owner.

From an early perspective what could they achieve in an hour? Very little pay and very little value add; it’s a slightly odd hiring practice.

An odd arrangement?

There’s also slightly odd payment practice:

“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

Leviticus 19:13 ESV

What he does is in accordance with the law, but the amount is surprising:

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ [9] And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

Matthew 20:8-9 ESV

“It’s not fair!”

Think about how you would feel in each group. The last group would get the equivalent of a denarius per hour, whereas the last group would get a denarius per day.

The workers grumble, setting out through their eyes: it’s not fair.

saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ [13] But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? [14] Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. [15] Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

Matthew 20:12-15 ESV

The Lord’s response

The grumbles are described as friends. This is an address as someone near and dear to him that he cares about.

The disciples are the first hearers of this parable are the disciples. A vineyard is an image of God’s kingdom (e.g. Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5).

The first to follow Jesus gets eternal life and the ones that come after also get eternal life.

We have all gone astray. We’re labourers who sleep on the job and yet he still gives us what we need.

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” [16] So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Romans 9:15-16 ESV

Application

The disciples were starting to think that God owed them something. When Jesus was dying there were two men with him. The thief on the cross got his denarius at the 11th hour.

The disciples were not to judge based on their achievements.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:4-8 ESV

The king of all creation was born in a stable, not a palace. His humble birth made the first of all creation last.

Because of the death on the cross we get mercy. When we work hard and we don’t get the gains we say it’s not fair and assume it’s because of sin and that we’ll get what we deserve in God’s kingdom, but the world is turned upside down.

Position and prestige don’t matter, only grace matters. We might think that our lifetime of service might entitle us to something. This is not to deny that there may be different rewards, but it’s all because of God’s grace.

This is liberating: the world is all about being someone, but the kingdom of God it’s not like this. In God’s kingdom, the currency is mercy and grace.

How do we receive God’s mercy? By receiving the call of the landowner to work in his vineyard. Turn to Jesus and follow Him!

God’s goodness and grace is dying on a cross for us.

Resources

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Winter trees at dawn

Haggai 2:1-9 – The Promise of Better Things

Read Haggai 2:1-9

Summary

After many years of exile in Babylon, God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, the dwelling-place of God (at that point in history) with his people. But opposition brought that rebuilding to a halt, and years passed. God sent Haggai to call God’s people to reshape their priorities and resume building his temple, reflecting their devotion to him.

Looking at progress, the temple rebuild appeared slow and the end-result destined to look inferior to the first temple. Like slogging through a thick bog, the lack of progress could be discouraging. So again God spoke to his people through Haggai (2:1-9), encouraging them to remain devoted to their God. God acknowledges their present situation, announces his presence with them, and promises future glory.

Our passage explained

v1-5

Approximately one month after God’s people begin rebuilding the temple, God once again speaks to the people through Haggai (vv.1-2). God acknowledges their present situation, saying “‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” (v.3). God acknowledges that some of his people remember seeing Solomon’s temple, the house in its former glory. They are upset when they see the new temple, because it cannot possibly match the former (cf. Ezra 3:12-13).

Not only did the new temple seem inferior in looks, it seemed inferior in presence. God came and dwelt with his people in the tabernacle at Sinai when he covenanted with them (Exodus 40:34-35), and the Glory Cloud moved to Solomon’s temple when it replaced the tabernacle (1 Kings 8:10). Yet the glory of God departed the temple due to the people’s rejection of God (Ezekiel 10). Would not the new temple also be inferior, because God’s glory was no longer present there?

If this was the thinking of a great many of God’s people, then Haggai’s words offered encouragement. God announces that he will be present with them. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people are all in turn encouraged to “be strong” and continue to “work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt” (vv.4-5).

While God’s people had departed from God’s covenant, God’s faithfulness endured. And God was still working through his people to bring about his salvation plan. The outward inferiority was only outward, because “my Spirit remains in your midst”: God still dwelt with his people. Therefore, they should “fear not” (v.5).

v6-9

God’s salvation plan was still in effect, and the future glory will exceed that of the past! God promises that “In a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land” (v.6), bringing judgment and destruction on everything wicked (see Hebrews 12:25-29). In this judgment, all the ill-gotten riches of the nations would come to God’s presence, to glorify him, since they truly belong to God (vv.7-8).

Though the temple may appear inferior, and God’s people a small and insignificant part of a foreign empire, God would still achieve his salvation aims. “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts” (v.9). 

Our passage applied

The temple they built would be more glorified than Solomon’s temple, because it was that temple which Jesus, the true dwelling-place of God with man (John 1:14, 2:13-22), came to in the latter days, bringing peace (Luke 2:32). The true peace of God’s covenant blessing would be found in Jesus, and will be fully experienced when he returns to earth to shake the heavens and earth in judgment once more.

As we struggle with our sins, or perhaps look at the church and wonder where progress is, this passage reminds us better things are coming. It seems like we do not grow in personal holiness, or the church does not advance. We can get discouraged, and weep like those older Jews at the sight of the temple.

But in the midst of discouragement, God is still present with us, our God who is faithful to his promises. He encourages us to persevere in putting sin to death, to keep sowing the seeds of his kingdom even though we are weeping (Psalm 127).

Not only is God present, but through Jesus we have true peace with God (Ephesians 2:11-16). And one day, when God shakes the heavens once more, we will be found with him and receive the riches of the earth as an inheritance.

This passage reminds us that God is not done yet. In the midst of discouragement, we can still be strong and carry on, knowing God is with us and will bring peace with the glory of his presence displayed for all the world to see.

Resources

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Hammer and nails

Haggai 1 – Reshaping our Priorities

Read Haggai 1

Summary

After many years of exile in Babylon, God brought a remnant home to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, the dwelling-place of God (at that point in history) with his people. But opposition brought that rebuilding to a halt, and years passed. Homes were rebuilt, while a shell sat on the Temple Mount. God’s people focused on their own desires, not on serving God.

Into this scene, God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage his people to trust him and focus on him. The book of Haggai opens with a call to God’s people to reshape their priorities. They should reflect on their present barrenness, return their devotion to God, and resume building his temple.

Our passage exlpained

v1-6

In verses 1 to 6 of chapter 1, God tells his people to reflect on their present barrenness. Haggai speaks to the people through Zerubabbel the governor and the High Priest Joshua, representing the civil and spiritual leadership of God’s people (v.1). He points out that the ‘conventional wisdom’ of the time was not to rebuild the temple, because of the opposition and hardship felt by the people (v.2).

Responding to this, God asks “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (v.4). In other words, while God’s temple remains unfinished, the people as a whole have rebuilt their homes and even lavishly decorated them with wood panels. 

Instead, they should “consider their ways” (v.5) and reflect on their overall situation. “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes” (v.6). What they have is not enough, and what they earn does not go far enough. It is as if their wallet has a hole in it, and the coins keep falling out. They are barren in their wealth, even as they live in nice houses.

v7-11

Having reflected on their present barrenness, Haggai instructs them to return their devotion to God (vv.7-11). For many years they sought after their own material worth. Instead, God tells them to “consider their ways” and go to the hills to bring wood down: not for their own walls, but for God’s temple (vv.7-8). They should do this so “I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified” (v.8).

Looking after themselves and not focusing on God had brought them nothing (v.9). God himself had withheld his covenantal blessings on their labours, refusing them the blessings of fruitful crops (vv.10-11). They did not trust in God to protect them from their enemies, and continue building the house where he dwelt with them. They needed to return their devotion to God.

v12-15

Convicted by God’s condemnation of their living, the people heard God’s call to resume building the temple. The people heard the message, and “feared the LORD” (v.12). God declared in response “I am with you” (v.13) promising his covenantal help. Reflecting the message of God delivered through Haggai, they resumed building the temple within a month (vv.14-15).

Our passage applied

This passage looks like a free hit for a moralistic message about giving more in the expectation of blessing, but that is not the issue here. Instead, this passage is a reminder that our hearts and lives should be devoted first of all towards God, not ourselves.

God’s people abandoned the place half-built that in that age was meant to represent the glory and dwelling-place of God, and focused on their own material gain. Like them, we can get hooked on our own material gain: be that possessions, careers, the kids. We put God on the back-burner, skipping prayer, and missing church services where we are fed from his word and the sacraments.

Like God’s people in Haggai’s day, we need to reshape our priorities. God calls us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Our hearts and lives should seek to worship God and bring Him glory, despite the opposition we may face in our own day, or the sacrifice of time and resources for our own advancement.

Because we are sinners, we must admit we cannot do this with our whole hearts. But just as God’s people repented and heard God’s promise that “I am with you” as they turned their lives back to God, so too God is with us. Jesus’ zeal for God’s house was perfect and complete (John 2:12-17), and it is Jesus’ righteousness exchanged for our sin on the Cross (2 Cor. 5:21).

This passage exhorts us to reshape our priorities to focus our hearts and our lives on serving and glorifying God. As we look to honour and worship God by seeking his kingdom, we can be sure that God is with us, blessing us with the riches of his love and mercy, and the promise of eternal life.

Resources

Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.




Hebrews 13:22-25 – Blessings and Greetings

For thirteen chapters, the author of Hebrews has encouraged, warned, and exhorted us to persevere in the Christian faith. Jesus fulfils all God’s promises to save us from our sin, and is the substance of the ordinances and administrations of the Old Testament. We should willingly bear the same rejection and reproach of the world which Jesus bore, because it is in Jesus that we find peace with God.

As the author of Hebrews concludes his letter, he pronounces a blessing and offers greetings to his readers and hearers. In these last words in Hebrews 13:20-25, he prays that God would equip us, work in us, and shower his grace upon us.

Verses 20 to 22 are described as a benediction, which means “good word”. The words found here are a blessing and encouragement, often found at the end of New Testament letters and often pronounced at the end of a church service.

Firstly, the author prays that God would equip us. He prays “now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good” (vv.20-21). He describes God as the God of peace, the God who by his own will and act has brought peace between us and him (Romans 5:6-8), and grants us peace even in the midst of troubles and trials in the world.

The God of peace is the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. This is the only time that the author speaks explicitly of the resurrection (he has referred elsewhere to Jesus’ ascension). But he makes clear that the peace we have with God comes through Jesus, who is not dead but alive and ascended on high. Therefore he is an active great shepherd of the sheep, the one who watches over his people.
Jesus the great shepherd is the one who blesses and equips us by the blood of the eternal covenant. As the author has explained over the course of his letter, that is Jesus’ own blood shed as part of the eternal covenant of grace. Through Jesus, our great high priest, the great shepherd, whose own blood saves us and brings us peace with God, we are equipped with everything good.

Secondly, the author prays God would work in us. God equips us with every good thing through Jesus Christ so “that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (vv.21-22). God equips us through Jesus to work in us to sanctify us and help us to live the lives of thankful obedience and perseverance which we have been encouraged and exhorted to live over the previous chapters.

He prays that God would work in us so that Jesus, God in flesh, may be glorified. He asks God to equip us through Christ that we may do good deeds through Christ so that we may bring glory to Christ.

Thirdly, he wishes us to be showered in grace. After offering greetings from himself and from others with him (vv.23-24), he ends his letter with a blessing: “grace be with all of you” (v.25). The author has written because he wants his readers and hearers to live in God’s grace, to receive God’s grace, and to persevere in God’s grace. This grace is not just for a select few, but for everyone.

As we read these words, we should be reminded that it is God who has sought to bless us and greet us back into his loving presence, through Jesus Christ. God is a God of peace, who provides us with stability in the turbulence of life in a sinful world and the struggles of faith.

It is God who demonstrates his power to give eternal life because he has raised Jesus from the dead, and raised Jesus to his side. It is through Jesus’ blood that the promises of God in the covenant of grace are ratified and our sins set aside. It is through Jesus, our great shepherd, that we are watched over, kept and preserved, from the lures and snares of this world.

All this is done so that we may be equipped through the Holy Spirit to do God’s will and offer sacrifices of praise which please God, to the praise and glory of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ forever.

So, “may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!



Hebrews 13:15-19 – Sacrificing the Fruit of our Lips

Last week we read of how the author of Hebrews encouraged us to bear Christ’s reproach and go to him “outside the camp,” focusing on Jesus’ unchanging person and unchanging teaching. This is part of a series of applications of the teaching of the previous chapters, encouraging us to persevere in Christ, because he has fulfilled all the types and shadows present in the figures and sacrifices of the Old Testament.

As we join Jesus outside the camp of worldly acceptance and living, seeking the city to come, how ought we to live? According to verses 15 to 19 of Hebrews 13, we should offer praise to God, share our lives and possessions with each other, and obey the leaders God has given us.

Firstly, we are encouraged to offer up praise to God. In verse 15, we are encouraged to “through him … continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Instead of offering up rams as sacrifices to God, we are instead to offer up a sacrifice of praise. This sacrifice is offered up through Jesus, empowered by him and not by our own strength. Our lifestyle ought to be one of praise continually offered up to God, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

The sacrifice of praise to God is described as “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name”. The author has in mind Hosea 14:2 which encourages Israel to return to God, asking him to forgive their iniquity and they will then “pay with bulls the vows of our lips”. The Greek translation of Hosea 14:2 says “pay the fruits of our lips”. The idea here is that what we speak and say ought to offer up praise to God, both in what we say and how we say it. Our words should be like bulls cast upon the altar of our lips, sacrificed to God.

Secondly, we are encouraged to share our lives and possessions with each other. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (v.16). Rather than viewing our time and possessions as existing solely for our benefit, we should view them as possessions which we can use to help each other and do good deeds.

Instead of offering animals as sacrifices to please God, we offer up good deeds and our possessions to help each other out, seeing these as sacrifices offered up to God. In place of putting the ram on the altar, we might put the ram on a spit roast for us all to enjoy as a meal, so to speak. Serving one another with what we have, and doing good is a sacrifice which is pleasing to God, and acceptable to him.

Thirdly, we are called to obey our leaders. Verse 17 says “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” This sounds hard and scary in our day of caution about authority, especially when it has been abused. But God places the eldership over us to care for us, guarding over our souls as under-shepherds. When we submit to them, we make the job easier, which helps them do so with joy instead of groaning!

Since they are called to watch over our souls, prayer is an important way we can obey and submit to our leaders. The author himself, as a leader, asks them to “pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (v.18). This is even more important as he is currently away from them (v.19) and hopes to return soon.
All of these encouragements are outward focused. They focus us upward to God, and outward to each other. They encourage us to think of everything which we do, and everything which we say, as sacrifices offered up to God. How would it change the way we speak, the way we act, and what we do with our time and our possessions if we thought about them as thank offerings to God for saving us?

We also have a timely reminder to keep the leadership of the church in prayer. We should pray that we might be faithfully taught and led in the green pastures of God’s word, and encouraged to live our lives as sacrifices pleasing to God. The leadership of the church desires our prayers for them, that they may grow in grace and godliness, and in turn help us to do the same. Pray for your pastor! Pray for the elders and deacons, of this and every faithful congregation.

As we go outside the camp, we can devote our lives to God and each other as a thank offering. Best of all, we can be sure that God will find our feeblest offerings pleasing and acceptable, because Jesus’ sacrifice has brought us peace with God.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!


Outside the Camp

Hebrews 13:9-18 – Outside the Camp

Life in this world is shifty, changing, and uncertain. Society’s views can change in a generation, leaders in an instant, lives upturn in a moment. In this uncertain world we can trust in the unchanging nature, will and purpose of Jesus (Hebrews 13:8), who has secured our salvation and fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Old Testament.
Because Jesus is unchanging, his message is also unchanging. So the author of Hebrews can encourage us to focus on Jesus’ teaching (Hebrews 13:9-14). To do this, we ought to avoid false teaching, embrace the gospel of grace, and follow Jesus outside the camp.
Jesus is unchanging, and the truth is too, so the message which we receive and pass on should not change either. In verse 9, the author exhorts us to “not be led away by diverse and strange teachings”. The Greek word for diverse can also mean “many coloured”, which helps us understand what is meant.
The teachings described here are false, because they are in some shape “colourful” or “strange”. A teaching which is dazzling to see, beautiful to the eyes yet complex and unclear, leading to destruction. Or, a radical “insight” or a new and different teaching received, which is completely foreign (and often contradictory involving mental gymnastics) to the teaching of Scripture. We must stay away from false teaching.
Instead, we should embrace the gospel of grace. The author continues in verse 9 to say “for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” For his original hearers, the context was the Old Covenant system of food sacrifices, fulfilled and replaced by Christ.
Our hearts should find strength in God’s grace, fed to us through his Word and the administration of the sacraments. This is made clear in verses 10 through 12, where we are reminded that we “have an altar from which those who serve the tent [Jews] have no right to eat” (v.10). The altar is in heaven, not earth, and is that on which Jesus offered himself, not the earthly copy (see Hebrews 9).
Jesus fulfils the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, when “the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (vv.11-12). Placing hope in any old Jewish sacrifices is pointless, because they pointed forward to Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, we find forgiveness only in Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice, not by any other way of salvation.
Avoiding false teaching and embracing the gospel of grace will not find adoring fans in this life. So he exhorts us to “go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (vv.13-14).
The atoning sacrifice was removed from the camp to symbolise the removal of sin, and Jesus likewise was crucified outside Jerusalem, despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). We should go to Jesus where he is found, outside the camp, despised and rejected. If that means the same for us, so be it. Our home is not here on this earth, in this present evil age, but in the heavenly city which Abraham looked to (Hebrews 11:10), capital of the kingdom which cannot be shaken (12:18-29).
This passage encourages us to learn more of the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and avoid false teaching. The best way to discern a counterfeit is to study the original, and so we should devote ourselves to learning more of God’s grace, gaining strength from it.
We should also expect to see plenty of false teaching, which looks slick and enticing with smooth talking and with great entertainment values. There is plenty of that in our city, on television, and the internet; together with the worldly radical insights which preach a message foreign to Scripture, sometimes bending and twisting God’s Word to try and make it fit. As appealing as it may be, the end is destruction. Jesus is unchanging, and his truths never change, so we must stick with the message which does not change.
Nor should we expect our desire for the gospel to make us “Mr. Popularity”, but instead accept that at best we will be tolerated, but some will certainly despise us and reject us for our faith in Christ. We trust in him whom the world rejected, but has become the cornerstone. We cannot expect to be loved by this world for our stand.
Yet as we avoid false teaching and embrace the unpopular message of Jesus, we can take encouragement that Jesus is unchanging, and his promise to bring us to his side in the city not made with hands endures. Because there is where our true home is.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!


Hebrews Life

Hebrews 13:1-8 – Life in the Christian Community

The author of Hebrews has written of how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament types and prophecies. The author has warned us multiple times to persevere in trusting Christ for our salvation. Now, in chapter 13 the book of Hebrews moves on to some points of application for the Christian life. Firstly, in verses 1 to 8 the author covers how we are to live as members of the Christian community.

We can group these encouragements around three commands: to show love for each other, to love doing good, and to love imitating our leaders.   Firstly, we are to show love for each other. In verse 1, the author exhorts us to “Let brotherly love continue.” He suggests two ways in which we can share “brotherly love” with each other.  

One way we can show brotherly love is by offering hospitality to each other, and to strangers: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (v.2). In the author’s day, hospitality was an important social custom because inns could be dangerous places (cf. Genesis 18:1-15, 19:1-3). In our day of social isolation, opening our homes to each other and to strangers is one way in which we can encourage each other and open a door to the gospel.  

A second way we can show brotherly love is to actively care for those imprisoned “as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (v.3). While likely referring to Christians imprisoned for their faith, we can show the same love today by caring not only for those imprisoned, but also Christians undergoing difficult trials of life. We can also pray and care for the persecuted Church in other parts of the world.  

Secondly, we are to love doing good. Two examples are given of holy living: faithfulness in marriage, and contentment. In verse 4, the author tells us to hold marriage in honour, and not defile the marriage bed, because God will judge those who do not. We live in a society whose ethics and morals are much like those of the author’s day. Just as maintaining sexual purity before and during marriage was important then, so too it is today. We must all honour marriage in our lives before we marry, and in our marriages. We must not follow the worldly way.  

A second way to love doing good is to show contentment. This is described in verse 5 as avoiding a “love of money” and to “be content with what you have”. Everything we have is a gift from God, and showing contentment is a way of honouring God, because he knows what we truly need and “will never leave you nor forsake you” (v.5; Josh 1:5). Likewise, avoiding a love of money means we avoid making an idol of self-sufficiency, and instead view money as an opportunity to do Kingdom good, knowing that God is our helper (v.6; Ps. 118:6).  

Thirdly, we are to love imitating our leaders. The author exhorts us to remember “your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (v.7). The God-appointed leaders of the Church – the Elders (teaching and ruling) and the Deacons are those to whom we should look as examples of living. Like us all, they sin and fall short of perfection, but they are called to live lives of maturity and example to us (see 1 Tim. 3). We are not called to follow their personality, but consider the way they live and imitate their faith in God accordingly. Just as our leaders should strive to follow God and mature in faith so too we should look to these men as examples and do likewise.  

In reading these commands we could be tempted to dismiss these words as out of date or not speaking to us today. After all, we live in a rich and vibrant society where we have so much wealth and enjoy so much pleasure. Why deny our heart’s desire for contentment and holiness? Why care for others, and why on earth would we imitate men who have failings just like us? The answer comes in verse 8, where the author states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  

Because Jesus is unchanging, the commands and the promises of God are unchanging. Living a life of Christian community where we love each other, love good, and love imitating our leaders is just as valid for us today, because the redemption we have received from God through Jesus is the same for us today as it was in the author’s day. When we do these things, we are demonstrating our faith in Jesus, and our trust that God will draw us to his side.  

We join the saints of old (v.6, Ps 118:6) in saying “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” As we start a New Year together, instead of picking a few resolutions to abandon, let’s adopt loving community together as a pattern for our lives.

Ash

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!