[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Today marks the conclusion of the series on The Epistle to the Hebrews with our final message, and my, it has been quite the journey. We’ve discussed quite a bit—as the epistle does seem to cover a variety of topics, particularly from the perspective of Jewish Christians. Perhaps one notable difference about this Epistle is the condition which these Christians find themselves in—in that things are heating up. There is the threat of persecution, or perhaps persecution is already underway for some. Thus, we see that serious and deeper tone at times. Nevertheless, in all our meditations our message today will further elaborate on what has already been stated—with further explanations and appendices where necessary. Let’s go ahead and dive in and see what we can discuss.

       Now for the first area of discussion. It was brought up the thought of what would have happened had the Jewish people accepted Jesus instead of crucifying him. Do you think this was really possible, and if so, what would it have looked like?

       Was it possible for the Jewish people to accept Christ and his message instead of delivering him over to death? Certainly, it would appear it was possible. Invariably, at this point will be brought up the fact that numerous prophecies from the Old Testament said Jesus was going to die, and that he would pay for the people’s sins. We can bring to mind Isaiah chapters 52 and 53, as well as what Mary quoted in Luke chapter 1 (actually referring to Hannah’s prayer from 1 Samuel chapter 2), or other passages and verses. Thus, it would be thought that if the Jewish people had accepted Christ, wouldn’t it null and void all of these passages? In other words, didn’t God determine that Christ would die on the cross? Before directly getting into that, we need to understand that it all depends on where we are coming from when we think regarding how time or history works. If we are approaching life from a Calvinistic vantage point, we believe that everything is predetermined by God in advance. That is, every single thing that ever happens happens because God originally, in the past, at some point, decided it was going to be that way. Of course, if we are considering life from an Armenian vantage point (or something more along those lines like Open Theism or even a Dispensational theology), we would say that free-will has a factor in what happens throughout time. That is, individuals really do have free-will, and are able to make free choices as pertains to this and that, that no one is ‘locked in,’ if you will, to making a bad choice. No one has to decide to do what is wrong. Then the debate comes at that point of whether God can see what is going to happen (what free-will choices persons make) or whether he truly cannot due to the nature of reality. That then becomes a whole other debate.

       We do know that all the Old Testament passages had original meanings in their context, much like the passages of the New Testament have. Thus, it is possible that say, the Jewish people had accepted Christ, that those Old Testament passages would have simply retained their original meaning, and not had a double-meaning: a meaning for the time period in which it was written and a meaning for later time. In the case of what Mary said, for instance in Luke chapter 1 (simply to take a random example here), it could be said that when she says “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” that that could be applied to the fact that Jesus actually saves the Jewish people by becoming their King (that is, assuming they accepted him as Messiah). So, the same line of thinking would be applied to other passages. But what of sin? How does sin become dealt with if the Jews accepted Jesus? Actually, we don’t really know for sure. That’s a big question, though, it doesn’t seem like it disqualifies that the Jews would certainly crucify Jesus. In reality, in all probability, it seemed that they would. Jesus noted how they had killed some of the prophets in the Old Testament, or also persecuted them. If we are looking at things from the vantage point that God clearly sees the future, then we would take the stand that God was able to say all these things in the Old Testament and whatnot because he ‘knew’ for sure that it was going to happen. For the person who believes that that’s not the way it works, that due to free-will future contingencies are open, it could be said that this was likely a high probability that they would kill Jesus. And at this juncture, one can either say God made the predictions based on that high probability, or if that’s not satisfactory that God predetermined, or fixed, the crucifixion to happen. Though, in that case, it raises questions as to how God could do that when individuals have ultimate free-will.

       In the same vain to all this is what was brought up in Hebrews chapter 10, and this has been mentioned in the past before, when it was stated that the Jews had their last chance to accept Jesus as Messiah in Acts chapter 7 but instead they stoned Stephen. We remember there that Stephen gave his famous speech against the Jewish leaders and all the Jews calling them out for what they had done in killing Jesus (hence, free-will). That’s an interesting aside there, that if free-will didn’t exist, how could Stephen call them out for that which God predetermined them to do? It get’s hairy pretty quick. Nevertheless, Stephen seemed to believe, for that is the reason he gave his speech, that the Jews could really repent of their sin and change their direction. And some seem to think that by the image of Jesus standing in Heaven, looking down at the whole thing, that that was a sign he was ready to come back, ready to return to the earth to reign as King. It is as if God even extended the opportunity past the cross, in hopes that the Jews would or could still possibly get it. Anyhow, what would have happened had the Jews listened to Stephen, taken what he said to heart, and changed their way? What would of happened? Well, under the belief that they could have, it seems Jesus would have returned at that point and human history would be a lot different than what we know. And, then seems to arise the question (probably chief among other questions) of what would have happened to us listening here right now? Ah, well, it seems we wouldn’t have existed, right? That’s a very uncomfortable thought. Yet, for those who believe in absolute free-will, that even when persons marry or have relations and create a child, that that power is what brings souls into existence, then we are getting really deep. The speaker believes this is why individuals like and adopt Calvinism, because at the end of the day it is way more comfortable. If God predetermines everything, there is really nothing to be concerned about (even if that’s subconscious). But if he doesn’t, ah the consequences of actions! The consequences of free-will, and the consequences of sinful choices!

       The next topic of discussion. It was mentioned that Calvinism ‘story-izes’ life. What did you mean by that? Can you elaborate further.

       Let us quickly tackle this. It would appear, and this relates to what was just talked about, that the events that happen in life are all tied in together. Almost as if all events are related to one another, as if there is a great orchestration of events, where one event leads to another as if someone was causing it. Of course, it is common in the Evangelical experience to hear a person saying something along these lines. Like, for instance, that something bad happens in a person’s life and then the person later concludes that God brought the trouble into their life which led to this or that—to something good or even to something bad. Perhaps it was to teach them a lesson. Maybe there is a series of events where one thing led to another thing. Nobel Prize winner and Psychologist Daniel Kahneman in his book titled ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ (2011) discusses how people do this. Particularly in chapter 6 of that book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow,’ he shows how our minds have a tendency to link events together in a sequence, as if it’s a purposeful or deliberate story that’s unfolding. This works well under a Calvinist mindset where individuals believe everything is predetermined, and that thus the famous saying becomes true “All things happen for a reason.” The speaker, on the other hand, sees circumstances quite differently. The speaker believes, and as the research shows in Kahneman’s book, that all things do not in fact happen for a reason. That the world is full of chance, a concept which Jesus seemed to allude to on more than one occasion (see Luke 10:31, Luke 13:1-5, & John 9:1-5 for some examples). The freedom found in this is that when bad situations happen, we no longer have to conclude that God caused them to happen, or even allowed them to happen (as if all decisions have to flow through him to happen; think about Satan here). It also means that even good that happens isn’t necessarily a result of God doing it for us. We need to think more deeply as Evangelicals than we are prone to do. The belief is present that God works good out of bad things that happen, or even compounds good at times, but in doing so that doesn’t mean he caused the initial bad.

       Moving on. In the second half of Hebrews 10, it was discussed that people ought to live with balance in focus. Can anything more be said as to living in balance?

       Balance is based on the notion that the world is created in order. We believe that when God created the world, he set up certain boundaries of things, made certain natural processes, etc, and within all of that is balance. It would seem that when we try to live our lives out of balance that we suffer, right? For example, if a person spends too much time working, that time has to come from somewhere. The person may be taking it from their family, or even taking it from needed rest and relaxation if they are single. The point is to avoid extremes, and even to avoid burnout. If we hold balance in mind in everything we do, then there is no fear of bad consequences down the road. It would appear that a lot of the imbalance comes from misunderstanding Scripture, like thinking that God wants us to work till we drop dead or are dead tired. A passage might be cited from Jesus to support this, or even from the Apostle Paul. Yet, we need to hold in mind that efficiency drops greatly when we are tired. It just is what it is. If you’re an over-worker, try it sometime. Try taking an hour or two off, and then the next day go back and do the same thing. You will likely find that you have extra energy to do things, and can think clearer. Thus, you become more efficient. Being overachieving in our work initially sounds appealing. It sounds like we could get quite a bit done if we are like that. Yet, it really is an illusion. It doesn’t lead to the great production that we believe it does or will. One thing related to this, for instance, is that the speaker has found that when taking a vacation, if you plan too much, or plan things that are too rigorous, the vacation turns into more of a chore than an actual vacation. There is a common saying ‘I need a vacation from my vacation.” That’s something to keep in mind when making the plans. Just because it might be ‘cool’ to tell others you did this or that, it might not actually be enjoyable to do it. Regardless, when we are not on vacation, it is wise to plan time off in our schedule like anything else would be planned. Blocking out time for rest and relaxing makes sure it gets done (man, that sounds bad).

       The next area of discussion. Hebrews 11 speaks of how God will reward us in the future. It was brought up that we will have friends in Heaven as part of that reward. It seems like we don’t hear that enough, and almost as if that is a better motivation for Heaven versus actual material rewards.

       That is well said, well said. The speaker believes this fact can often get overlooked. Probably because the Bible doesn’t seem to directly allude to it in the way we are trying to think about it today. And that’s probably because of the communal nature of the first century, in that it was likely already presumed that individuals would spend eternity with those they love. Another fact is that material goods, whether we like it or not, are motivating for us (as the many commercials on the internet and TV show us). Anyhow, it is a high thought to think about the fact that God “rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV). That’s certainly what’s going to be most delightful as pertains to the future, besides the fact that we are in direct communion with God, on a face-to-face level, is that we will be with many people we love—not just family members, but with those who were are friends with during our life. The beautiful thing is that for those who are there, there won’t be any kind of tensions, divisions, or problems that may have been around in this life. We try to live in peace, but we all know that there are still many things floating around in the air, some which are spoken and some which are unspoken. All these things will be gone. Not to mention that we will easily be able to be friends with the opposite sex to a much greater degree because the physical attractiveness related to reproduction will be completely gone (of course, there a few Christians who believe it won’t be, like the Eastern Orthodox Christians). Nevertheless, we believe it will, so we will be able to have close relationships with anybody and everybody. This is good news too for the person who may have a disability that puts up a barrier between them and others. That barrier will finally be gone. And another beautiful thing is that we can become friends from individuals of other time periods. After all, we have all eternity to get to know people. Even famous people we will almost certainly meet at one point or another. Whoever you want to meet if they are there. Personally, meeting George Washington and Queen Victoria—to throw out some examples—sounds good.

       The final question. The importance of prayer was discussed at the end of Hebrews. It seems like prayer can sometimes get boring. Are there any good ways that we can make prayer more interesting so that we actually engage more in it?

       It would seem that most of us who are devoted followers of Christ do indeed spend a good amount of time in prayer on a weekly basis, and probably even a daily basis. We really believe that prayer will make a difference for the things of which we pray, and have a positive impact on people’s lives. That being said, one of the most difficult aspects as pertains to seeing prayer answered is that a lot of the answer to prayer goes unseen. It’s not something we are privy to a lot of times. We like to see a direct connection between things—to see that what we are putting effort towards truly is making the difference. With prayer, a lot of times there is no way to see what actually is going on as a result of our individual prayer. If we pray for a person that we don’t know very well, we may not even get a follow up to know if that prayer really helped the person. And too, in all this, we might assume that if there was no tangible result that our prayer actually wasn’t worth praying. So, we make the importance of prayer based on the end result. Thus, there are different traps we can fall into when it comes to prayer, rather than simply just praying for persons and not being concerned in seeing the end result.

       That’s the process of prayer from a results perspective, but it would appear that there is also trouble found in the actual praying for things in the first place. What is meant is that we can find actual prayer to be labor-some or even boring. As for the first thing, it is indeed true that at times prayer can be labor-some, as that’s just the way it is. We may have to spend a good deal of time on a particular subject—praying for that thing—in hopes to see a greater impact, or even to do spiritual warfare. Say, for instance, we spend 30 minutes praying about one particular subject matter. That may be necessary at times. As for the boring part of regular prayer, it would seem that a good method to use to combat this is visualization during prayer, or using our imagination. This is something that has been personally practiced for a long time, and it is believed to be highly beneficial. We can begin by imagining ourselves temporarily leaving the earth, like in going up through the sky and entering outer-space. We can then picture ourselves going through outer-space until we reach Heaven. Perhaps it takes awhile, and we imagine all the sights of the stars and the planets along the way. Then we arrive in Heaven, and we enter the throne room of God. Since we can’t really picture God, perhaps we simply picture a bright light. Perhaps some even picture the Lord Jesus Christ sitting there. Whatever works would be fine. We can then commune with God, giving him reverence, praise, thanks, and asking our requests and for whatever we need forgiveness for. It seems this kind of practice makes prayer far more interesting than simply quietly saying sentence after sentence to ourselves under our breath. It seems prayer becomes much more alive this way.

       In fact, recently a book was read on this very subject, and while, again, it’s already been practiced for a long time, the speaker found it to be both interesting and helpful. Pastor Greg Boyd in his book ‘Seeing is Believing: Experience Jesus through Imaginative Prayer’ (2004) lays out some discussion about using the imagination when it comes to prayer, and he even provides some specific examples, concerns individuals have, and some elaboration on how the Scripture supports such a practice. Folks might find some of its information as helpful. While some may feel that they can begin to practice such a method without much explanation, like if you’re used to visualization in other areas, though others may want to dive into the whole subject, and try to be persuaded or grasp a good understanding of why it might be helpful. Of course, seeing something benefit others is always helpful, and the book provides that. The book even delves into why some persons may find it difficult to relate to God at times due to issues from their past, like in their childhood. Anyhow, imaginative prayer is something profitable to us, for we want to clear the way as best we can when it comes to our relating to God. We don’t want circumstances from our past to get in the way to how we see God, or how we might commune with him.

- Daniel Litton