Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Hebrews 10:19-25

  “Let’s Get Provoked!”

Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

I want you to imagine that there is a huge curtain hanging here that goes all the way fro m the east wall to the west wall and all the way from the ceiling to the floor. This curtain is thick and heavy. You cannot see through this curtain. It completely hides what is behind it. Now I want you to imagine that behind this curtain is one thing: God is behind this curtain.

In the days of the Old Testament, God told his people that he would be present I the Ark of the Covenant. Most of us have probably watched the movies of people out searching for the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, we know from Scriptures, was to be placed in the Tabernacle (the movable Temple) or in the Temple once it was built in a place called the Holy of Holies. This place was OFF LIMITS to everyone EXCEPT the high priest who would enter with fear and trepidation once a year to meet with God. Once a year, one person could meet with God on behalf of the whole nation of Israel. Let’s take a look at Matthew 27:45-51, “From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’ clock, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken my?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it one a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from the top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

Do you see it? The curtain that completely covered this area from side to side and from top to bottom was torn in two, not from bottom to top as we might expect if a human being had torn it. The curtain was torn in two from TOP to BOTTOM! When Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross, at the moment taking your sins and mine (those things that keep us from living face to face with a Holy God) into the depths of the earth, at the very moment, GOD tore the curtain in half from top to bottom to show us that from that moment on- ANYONE can meet with God ANY TME of day, of night, any time of their lives, whether they are young or old, any time they feel joyful, any time they feel sad. Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, as soon as we trust that he did it for us, we have FULL ACCESS to the God of the universe. Full access.

Let’s read the beginning of our Scripture from Hebrews 10:19, “Therefore, my friends, 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), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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.” Who is our great high priest? Jesus- and we are the royal priesthood. Jesus has given us access to God. And he continually prays for us at the right hand of the Father.

Do you believe this? Do you see that the curtain is no longer here? Do you know that you can meet with God ANYWHERE at ANY TIME because Jesus’ own flesh was ripped in two for you?

Then, the writer of this letter called Hebrews, continues, “If you have the confidence that you have full access to God through Jesus, then let us hold fast (like an anchor holds a ship) to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” How can we live in this confidence without going up then going down, going up then going down, going up then going down- flipping this way, flopping that way, doubting whether God really loves me, doubting whether God ever hears me, doubting whether he really died for me or not (maybe he died for you, but not for me), fearful that I’m not really going to heaven, fearful that my sin is too grievous….

How can we hold fast without wavering? Look at what is says- it doesn’t say you won’t waver if you just hold on tighter, if you just strengthen your grip. It doesn’t say anything about you or me- It says this: “And let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful.”

It’s not about you! You didn’t tear the curtain! God did! You didn’t die for you sins! Jesus did! Your faith doesn’t rest on yourself! Your faith rests on God! You break your promises! When he says you have full access now through Jesus, he means you have full access now through Jesus! “Let us hold to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” We aren’t faithful, but God is faithful. Amen?

“And, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 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.”

Usually we think of the word provoke in a negative way, don’t we. If someone is provoking me, they are irritating me, they are hassling me, they are getting on my nerves. “I am really getting provoked.” Usually isn’t a good thing. Here’s what Webster’s has to say about it: Provoke

To make somebody feel angry or exasperated, to be the cause or occasion of an emotion or response, to stir somebody to an emotion or response, to act in a way intended to bring something about, to serve as the stimulating factor for an activity.

Some translations say, “Let us consider how to spur one another on….” We know about spurs. They hurt the animal enough, he gets going, doesn’t he?

Why would the writer of Hebrews put this in here- after all this great stuff about the curtain, and the confidence we can have in a faithful God? “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 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?” He put it in here because this writer knows our tendency to get comfortable and think the church is all about us. He knew it would be easy for us to get so inward focused and feel all warm and wonderful together that we would forget that the Day of Judgment is approaching.

Everyone here, regardless of age, has probably heard about the tragedy of the Titanic- that great luxury liner that hit an iceburg and sunk in a mere two hours on April 15, 1912. Of the nearly 2200 people on board, approximately 1500 were lost and 700 were saved. It didn’t matter whether you were saved. It didn’t matter whether you were first, second, or third class- once that ship sank you were either saved or lost.

But here’s one of the most distressing facts to me:  Of the 1500 people lost, nearly 400 survived the sinking of the ship. They had life vests on and they got off the ship. But they died because the 700 people in the lifeboats, though their boats were not full, they would not come back and risk their own lives to pull those who were dying from the freezing water.

How can I provoke you, how can you provoke me to the kind of love and good provoke me to the kind of love and good deeds that will rescue a person who is, at this very moment, condemned to live forever apart from God in hell as if that curtain was still in place?

First: the writer says that we must not neglect meeting together. So here we are, floating along, singing our lifeboat songs just loud enough that we do not hear the cries for help from those who are perishing. Is this why we meet? To help drown out the world? It better not be.

We are supposed to meet so that we can provoke one another to get back out there and tell other people what Jesus has done. We are supposed to be irritants to each other in this, like a little stone in each other’s shoes, like a grain of sand in the eye, we are reminding one another to share our faith beyond these walls.

Friends, out there- in your school, in workplace, on the other side of the fence, beside you on the stool over at Bairs, or in the next booth at the restaurant- are people who need to get in the lifeboat. Some of them know it, some of them don’t. All of them need to be in the lifeboat or they will be lost forever.

Do you believe this?

If you do, I want you to take out the tract we have inserted in your bulletin today entitled, “Step to Peace with God.” Let’s take a look at it together.

This is a tool for you to have to help in your rescue efforts. Put it in your purses, your wallets, your glove compartments. Put it somewhere you can get to it in that moment that you hear a call for help. Trust me, if you’re truly listening, you will hear someone crying out for Jesus.

What holds us back in sharing our faith? Fear. It’s always fear. Fear of being rejected. Fear of being embarrassed.  Fear of being labeled some weirdo. Fear of  not being able to say it right. But please notice this: The fears all have to do with me, me, me. I’ll be rejected. I’ll be embarrassed. I’ll be labeled, I won’t be able to say it right. I, I, I. Me, me, me. That’s what the people in the lifeboats were thinking about, too. Me, me, me- while the people around them in the water were crying to be saved. We’ve got to make sure we keep meeting together to provoke each other to think beyond ourselves. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is moving confidently in spite of approaching. Let’s do everything we can to get as many people as possible into heaven from your school, your workplace, your neighborhood, your own house, and from your community.

It’s wonderful to gather together to be encouraged in our faith, isn’t it? It’s wonderful to be a fellowship of believers together in prayer. It’s wonderful to approach God confidently in worship. Though we can meet with God anywhere at any time, it’s important, and it’s wonderful to be a church family. It’s wonderful to have joined our hands together for peace and for harmony. What a blessing it is to be together- and we thank God that we are saved and can spend eternity together. I can’t tell you how incredible it is to be the pastor of  this church and to have been able to be part of its transformation in the last 4 years.

From empty dark hallways to colorful, lively ones.

From practically no activity to a bustle almost every day.

From less than 50 people gathering for worship to nearly twice that.

From few place to serve and use out gifts to many, many places to serve.

From 6 or 7 children and youth in Sunday school to 15 to 18 in the last month.

From no mission trips in 20+ years to 3 trips from last November to this one, and already 10 people absolutely committed to flying to Honduras in March to build houses for people who live in huts. Wow!

It’s wonderful to be a church family who has a sense of the Holy Spirit working in so many wonderful ways. Hallelujah! I’m very, very proud of you- and I’m very, very grateful to God.

But I would be a terrible pastor and a negligent spiritual leader for you if I did not regularly remind you that every single day is SHOW and TELL day.

Show and Tell- you have to do both. You have to show and you have to tell. You can’t just stand in front of the class and tell people that you have a hamster at home. You have to bring your hamster, and you have to tell them about the hamster while you show it to them.

We are called to show Jesus to people by the way we live and the way we speak. And, we are called to tell them about Jesus, too. May the Lord open a door for you to someone you know who is lost, and who is already within your sphere of influence, may the Lord open a heart for you to share Christ with them, and may the Lord open your mouth so that each of us might truthfully call ourselves rescuers bringing others confidently and joyfully into the presence of almighty God! Amen.