SERMON MANUSCRIPT
The letter to the Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish believers who had experienced affliction, temptation, and stagnation in their lives of faith. Believing in Christ, belonging to Christ, and behaving like Christ had cost them. And, because of their hardship and immaturity, this congregation had a number of members considering a return to the traditional Judaism out of which they had been saved.
And its to these confused Christians that the author writes this pointed epistle, encouraging them to keep going because anything or anyone for which you leave Christ is deficient as he’s the apex, the summit, the culmination, the pinnacle. There is none like him. Jesus Christ is the greatest revelation of God. He’s greater than the prophets, those to whom God’s people listened with reverence. He’s greater than the angels, those before whom humans tremble with fear. He’s greater than Moses, Levi, Joshua, and Melchizedek. He offers a greater rest, a greater ministry, a greater priesthood, a greater sacrifice, a greater example, a greater promise, a greater covenant, and a greater future. He’s immeasurably supreme, glorious, majestic, exalted, and victorious.
“So,” the author writes, “don’t shrink back. Press on! Don’t pull up lame. Run the race! Sprint into the unknown clinging to what you do know: that Jesus finished the work, paid for your sins on the cross, ratified the New Covenant in his blood, and now sits as your perfect and eternal High Priest. Have faith! Grow up! Run hard! Serve well!”
Chapter 12 ends with a summary charge. [12:28–29] Because of what God’s like, what he’s done, and what he’s promised, those who belong to him are to offer him “an acceptable service.” We’re to give him what he’s owed, worship him as he deserves, and be the people he desires. But how? What does that even look like?
OUR SERVICE
At first glance, chapter 13 seems to answer those questions with a list of commands. “Offer God an acceptable service and here’s what our service will look like when we do.”
[13:1] Keep loving the family of God. We all know that our affection for God’s people can wax and wane. “Don’t let it,” he says. Stoke the flames of familial love and, as you do, know that that fire shouldn’t stay in the hearth of the assembly but spread to other saints as well. [13:2a] First century travel wasn’t easy so, if you heard of another believer coming through town, inviting them in was an intentional act of love.
Many Christians at this time were also being imprisoned and mistreated for their profession (10:32–34). So, the author points out that to “let love of the brethren continue” (13:1) will also mean [13:3ab]. A specific example of this is found in [13:23]. So, love God’s people—those in your midst, those travelling around, and those imprisoned and hurting.
And, while you’re at it, honour marriage, a celebration of human love. [13:4ab] It seems that the Hebrews were struggling with covenant faithfulness. They were neglecting the New Covenant and, it appears, the marriage covenant as well. “Don’t do that,” the author writes.
The God of the universe is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. And his people are to be covenant-receiving and covenant-honouring people. And this includes marriage. God sets the terms, definitions, and expectations. We don’t get to redefine, marginalize, trivialize, or defile. We are to honour marriage as a reflection of our love and as an act of our worship.
Also, be content. [13:5ab] Don’t be greedy Christians, envious and idolatrous. Love the Lord, not money. Be content with what you have.
And, [13:7]. Don’t forget the people God used to introduce you to Christ, nurture you in Christ, feed you in Christ, and keep you in Christ. And seeing the good fruit it bore in you, “imitate their faith.” Work to be like them as they are like Christ. And, for crying out loud, [13:9a]. There are half-truths all over the world and dangerous novelties all over the church. Be on guard and cling to what is right.
And, while you do that, [13:16a]. This likely speaks of financial generosity to those in need, sharing what God has entrusted to you with his children who have less.
[13:17a] Your agreement with, affinity for, and approval of your leaders is irrelevant. If they’re not directing you to sin then yield to them. And, “Pray for us” (13:18a), the author commands, speaking as one of those leaders, calling for their obedience and submission, but also their intercession. He then models that leader-directed love in [13:24–25].
In light of all that God has done for us in Christ, offer him “an acceptable service.” What might that look like? Well, here’s a Christian maturity starters pack, a holy checklist to make sure you’re on the right track: keep loving, show hospitality, remember the hurting, honour marriage, be content, imitate godliness, avoid novelty, give generosity, obey submissively, pray intentionally. That’s all there is to it!
I want to be more hospitable than my selfishness and my introversion sometimes allow. I want to model a good marriage more than I’m able. I want to default to submission more than my flesh does. I want to be characterized by these things, and I’m confident you do also. And we all want to be part of a church filled with people like this, an assembly of believers characterized by unflinching love for one another, unlimited compassion for the hurting, contentment and generosity, orthodoxy and prayer. Um, yes please! Sign me up!
The question is, how? How do we consistently “offer God an acceptable worship” with our lives and obey commands like those listed in Hebrews 13? Are we supposed to just toughen up, plan it out, look within, and buckle down?
No! As always, what God calls us to do be empowers us to do. He doesn’t just give us a list of commands and say, “Good luck!” “Call me when you’re done!” Never. Our God directs us for our good, but he also gives us what we need to be successful, and it’s no different here.
GOD’S PROVISIONS
So, let’s go back through the chapter and shift our focus from our service to God’s provisions for that service; from what we’re to do to what God has already done.
As we read earlier, we are to “let love of the brethren continue,” not neglecting “to show hospitality to strangers.” Why? Well, for one reason, [13:2b]. In the opening chapter, the author said [1:14]. Now, in the closing chapter, he explains there’s a chance that in exercising love you’ll be hosting supernatural helpers. As you help strangers you may be helping those God sends to help you. We help others because God has, is, and will help us. Command? Love and help the family of God! Provision? God’s supernatural love and help he’s given us.
And, sure, [13:3ab]. But why? [13:c] Jesus was given a body (10:5) in the incarnation and offered his body (10:10) as a sacrifice for our sins. And, having done so, has created a body of which we are now members, bound together by the Spirit of God, belonging to the Son of God. So, when one of the members of our body is hurting, we deal with it.
Why should we honour marriage? [13:4c] The warning of judgement is a provision from God. God takes his word seriously and when we listen to Satan’s repeated undermining question, “Has God really said?,” we can expect consequences. And when we question or doubt God’s covenants, whether the New covenant or the marriage covenant, it’s a big deal. He said, “the two shall be one flesh” and “what God has joined together, let no one separate.” He means it and he will defend his word. So honour it.
Do you see the pattern? Yes, God gives us a command, a way to serve him acceptably and worship him rightly. But he also gives provision for obedience every single time, provisions without which we will not obey. Let’s keep going.
[13:5ab] How? The economy is flailing. Taxes are high. I can’t afford a house. How can I be content? [13:5c–6] Believers can be content with what they have because they have God’s presence and God’s help. The God who spoke the universe into existence loves me and provides for me. I’m not afraid of what I don’t have. I’m not afraid of what people might think and do to me. It’s when I take my eyes off of Jehovah Jirah, my provider, that contentment is fleeting.
Why should I imitate heroes in the faith? Because [13:8]. “Those who led” us, fed us, and modelled faith for us, may be imperfect and may even fall, but the God they told me about, the Lord they pointed me toward, doesn’t change.
[13:9a] Apparently, one such strange teaching at the time had to do with food, likely around the sacrificial system. [13:9b] Christians mature by grace. We benefit not by man-made religious practices, rites, and laws, even if they promise temporary relief from suffering.
Avoid these strange teachings. Why? [13:10–15] Some teachings are rooted in a desire for cultural acceptance and the relief from scorn. They will present as a “middle road”—maybe sexual ethics, social justice ideologies; less talk about sin and hell, more about inclusiveness and relativism. If you attach these teaching to your Christianity, you’ll be blessed and won’t have to battle so much.
Don’t fall for that. Sniff out those false teachings, those doctrines of demons, those affronts to the truth, and, instead, walk with Christ. And, where did he go? Outside the camp for us, the place of impurity and reproach. Go with him. Cling to truth because he is the truth and because he bore reproach “that he might sanctify the people through his own blood.” Cling to truth, as unpopular as it may be, because the Truth laid down his life for you.
We are also to “not neglect doing good and sharing,” (13:16a) [13:16b]. God promises his pleasure if we are generous. We are to [13:17a]. Why? [13:17b] You don’t obey your leaders because they are owed it. You don’t do it because you agree with everything they say. You do it because their God-given job is your protection and maturation and they will answer to God for the job they’ve done. Please make it easy on us! And “pray for us,” [13:18b–19].
Here’s the point. When we try and serve God as he deserves in our own strength; when we try and become the people he desires with our own efforts, ignoring all the provisions of God, that is the enemy of grace. It’s like me tacking a DIY project and refusing to use instructions, online tutorials, offers of help from knowledgeable friends, and tools from my garage. “I can do it myself!” How’s that going to go? How foolish is that? How unnecessary is it?
We have an assignment to tackle, a project to complete, and a race to run. We are to grow up in Christ, to look like Christ, and be used by Christ. We are to love, give, fight, pray, thank, host, remember, imitate, obey, submit, and so many other things. It’s overwhelming and if we try to do those things, or be those things, without the provisions that God has given to us—his help, his people, his judgment, his presence, his immutability, his servants, his pleasure, his word, his Spirit, and his Son—we’re fools.
CHRIST’S GLORY
So, we’ve seen our service and God’s provision but there’s one final beautiful motivating truth that the entirety of Hebrews has been screaming and is punctuated by this final section. It’s all for Christ’s glory. For the fame of his name. For the praise of the Son. For the honour of the Saviour. For the reputation of the Lord. [13:20–22]
This is what the book of Hebrews is all about, brothers and sisters, and why chapter 13 is such a fitting conclusion. We are not to be a people who shrink back because following Christ is hard. We are not to be a people to forget our faith and fall off the path. We are not to be a people who casually stroll about the blessings of the New Covenant.
No, we are to be a people who are consumed with a vibrant and true and beautiful and powerful view of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, our Lord, our Priest, and our coming King. We are to know what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do. And, empowered by all of those gracious gifts from God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the certainty of our salvation, we are to “bear with this word of exhortation,” living lives that “offer to God an acceptable service,” a worship worthy of who he is, a life that reflects him character, holy and pure. And we do it all because Christ is great. Because he’s worth it. Because he’s worthy of nothing less than that.
We are being invited, encouraged, and prodded to serve our God with everything we’ve got, by his power and provision, and for his glory.
Let’s be that type of people.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
