Maryam and Marzieh were summoned to an Iranian courtroom on August 8, 2009 and ordered to provide verbal and written recantation of their faith in Jesus Christ.  After their interrogator recommended they be charged with apostasy, both women stood and declared, “We love Jesus.  We will not deny our faith.”  Pastor Habibur Rahman was arrested and tortured with two other believers in Boalia, Bangladesh on June 7, 2009.  During the beatings, one of the men was burned on his hands and lips with cigarettes as officials demanded the men disclose the identification of their supporters and the number of people who had trusted Christ through their evangelism.

As I read these and other similar accounts, I am reminded of Jesus’ words to His first disciples, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first….No servant is greater than his master.  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.”  And so it has been through the ages as Christians were hated, persecuted, and martyred because of their relationship to Jesus.  At the same time, there were yet others who caved in under pressure, quit gathering for worship, silenced their testimony of Jesus, and blended into the crowd of the world around them through religious formalism.  Some became acceptable worshipers while others became functional atheists.

This passionate, courageous, faithful group to whom the book of Hebrews was written became apathetic and obviously wondered “why can’t we all just get along!?”  As they faced opposition in their mission to announce the Kingdom of God, they became spiritually lethargic, developmentally stunted, and corporately disconnected.  Consequently, they were exhorted to “keep loving one another as brothers…neglect not hospitality…remember the persecuted…respect marriage…stay away from greed.”  To drive home the point, the author then commanded them, “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of  life and imitate their faith.”  (Heb 13:7 emphasis mine)  Unfortunately, there is no way to know how this church responded to the message they received.

Maybe the point of Hebrews is not about how the original audience responded to the message, but about how we respond to the message.  We have heard and learned the “elementary teachings about Christ”, observed great examples of faith historically and personally through those who led and mentored us, and received an “unshakable kingdom.”  However, generally speaking, we are apathetic about loving others, developmentally disabled in the faith, and lethargic in prayer and worship.  We believe, subconsciously if not willingly, the prosperity doctrine of the false prophets on radio and television who teach us that life and faith is really all about me!  In view of these realities, how we respond is determined by how you respond.

How are you responding to the Lord through His Word in Hebrews?  What has changed, or is changing, as a result of your encounter with the Living God through His Word?  Are you loving others in more practical ways of hospitality?  Are you pursuing sexual purity more intentionally and accountable?  Are you worshiping the God acceptably or denying Him functionally?  What can you do to help us respond to God as He invites us to “worship Him acceptably with reverence and awe and be thankful”?

Remember, the discussion is much more interesting when you actually post a comment.

Love you all,

tim

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 11:41 am and is filed under Hebrews 13. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.