(Hebrews 13: 1-8, 15-16)
When I was hired as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County I was surprised and excited to learn that we had a Drug Court. When I was in private practice in San Jacinto County, Texas, many of my clients were addicted to crack cocaine and there wasn’t much I could do for them, they were all the same, all they wanted to do was get out of jail so they could score some more crack, nothing else mattered. When I became the District Attorney, I tried to use plea bargaining as a way to get them into treatment. Many would choose jail over treatment. The drug was just that powerful. I began seriously looking for a Drug Court Program I could implement but I got voted out of office before I could make that happen. Finally, I was in Drug Court, but now the drug of choice was methamphetamine. The drug had changed but the addicts were still the same. Our program was a 12-step faith-based program that didn’t really emphasize faith other than turning your life over to your “higher” power and acknowledging that you were powerless over your addiction, powerless over what was wrong with you. We had up to 24 months to help the addict become different. What I can say is that the ones who are truly successful and are still clean and sober are the ones who have enthusiastically embraced their higher power. I can’t think of any that have relapsed, even after all these years since my time with the Jefferson County Drug Court ended. I’m Facebook friends with one of my Drug Court children who has defied the odds and is truly a different person from when she first entered Drug Court. She was no different from the rest and I wasn’t sure she would succeed, but she put in the work and graduated. During the time she was in Drug Court I never picked up any clues that she was spiritual, but since her graduation I have seen her grow into a much different person. Many of her posts on Facebook are spiritual in nature and she freely praises God for her new and improved life, a different life that makes a difference. She recently reached out to me for a recommendation for a job which she did get and started earlier this week as a dispatcher for a Sheriff’s Department in another state. I was so pleased to talk to the Sheriff and to assure him that she was different and worthy of a second chance and that I understood how difficult of a decision it would be for him to hire a former drug addict for such an important job where people’s lives depended upon her. I learned that the Sheriff called her right after my conversation with him and offered her the job. God had made a difference in her life. She was no longer the same. Her post a day or two after getting the job: I love you Lord; you are my strength. Psalms 18: 1.
And same but different is what the writer of Hebrews is talking about as he or she closes out their letter to the Hebrew believers who have had their struggles with their faith. At the close of Chapter 12 the writer says: Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s continue to express our gratitude. With this gratitude, let’s serve in a way that is pleasing to God with respect and awe, because our God really is a consuming fire. Now, ordinarily I would say that this would be a good place to end the letter and leave it at that, but the writer is compelled to impress upon his or her readers that they, as human beings are all the same, but that if they want to be different it will only be through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The writer states: Keep loving each other like family. Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. In essence, what the writer is saying is that you never know who you are dealing with so treat them like you would treat a member of your own family, assuming you are on good terms with your family. Again, that was my approach as the Drug Court prosecutor. How would I want my brother or sister, son or daughter, treated if they were in crisis and needed help, compassion, and understanding? It reminds me of what Jesus said in his “Least of These” parable when he told the crowd that when they gave drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, tended to the sick, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner that they were doing it for him. Then the writer says: Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. In our endeavors to be kind and loving to others, prisoners usually fall pretty far down the list but John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist denomination, encouraged visitation of all prisoners as a part of doing all possible good, offering to them the same grace and growth in discipleship that we find in our fellowship with other Christians. He’s right and we should never have that “lock them up and throw away the key” attitude which is why I always carried a couple of New Testaments in my brief case that I would give out to my clients who were in jail waiting for their case to be resolved. I hoped it would make a difference in their life to come.
The writer then hits on a couple of areas that even Christians struggle with as we have the same lusts and urges as everyone else. He or she reminds us that marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. Infidelity was a problem then and remains a problem today and it is when we are strongest in our faith that we can resist these urges and temptations. It’s through the seeking of forgiveness and becoming a different person through Christ that we can put that life behind us. At this point the reader, who may not be a cheater, is feeling pretty good about themselves when the writer goes on to say: Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. He or she is telling us to strive to live with less rather than desiring more; to give away out of our abundance rather than accumulating more; to relish what we have rather than resenting what we are missing. The writer reinforces this when he or she quotes Deuteronomy 31: 6 where Moses, in announcing his death tells the people of Israel to be strong and fearless and not to be afraid or scared of their enemies because the Lord their God is the one who marches with them, who won’t let them down, and will not abandon them. This is why, he or she says, we can confidently say: The Lord is my helper, and I won’t be afraid. What can people do to me? Quoting Psalms 118: 6. We become content when we realize God’s sufficiency for our needs. Christians who become materialistic are saying by their actions that God can’t take care of them, or at least that he won’t take care of them the way they want or desire. This insecurity can lead to the love of money, whether we are rich or poor. The only antidote is to trust God to meet all our needs. We must see God’s love in all he has provided and remember that money and possessions will all pass away in the end.
The writer closes out his letter by saying to: Remember your leaders who spoke God’s word to you. Imitate their faith as you consider the way their lives turned out. Now that’s a whole other sermon. That one gave me a chuckle as I may not have been the best role model in my younger days, but I do think I have turned out alright in spite of my worst efforts. Maybe the writer is talking about some of your other pastors. But I will say that I did have some pretty strong people of faith in my own life who served as good role models of what it means to walk in the way of Jesus Christ and for this, I owe them a debt of gratitude. We must continue to follow the good example of those who have invested themselves in us by investing our lives through evangelism, service, and Christian education, by not being the same as what the world expects, but by being different.
In being different, we must work hard to be the kind of Christians who love our families, our spouses, our jobs, and our churches, all the while setting our sights on what is beyond the horizon. As Christians who are different, we are activists, invested in witnessing to a needy world who throw hopeful glances toward a promised community still to come. As Christians who are different, we are gardeners and builders, shaping environments, turning weed pits into floral splendor, painting and patching and clearing, as we know God is building something himself far more beautiful and breathtaking just for us. Christians who are different should be characterized by looking forward to the future. We should not be attached to this world, because all that we have here is temporary. We should not love our present home so much that we lose sight of God’s future blessing and promise. Don’t be like everyone else who store up their treasures here on earth, be different and store them up in heaven.
Let us pray.
How grateful we are that we serve a risen Savior who’s in the world today, a Savior we know is alive no matter what our foes may say. We see his hand of mercy, we hear his voice of cheer, and just the time we need him, he’s always near. Gracious and loving God, how we thank you for sending your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ to live amongst us. We know, with confidence, that with Jesus in our lives we will never be the same, that we will be different in a good way, a way that is pleasing to you as we strive to do your work and your will. We thank you for the one who walks with us and talks with us along life’s narrow way guiding us we go. And what a privilege it is to tell the world that we serve a risen savior, one who lives within our hearts. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.