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 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵ Grace be with you all.

I recently read an article bemoaning the lost (or rapidly disappearing) art of letter writing. When we stumble across old letters, we may see things in them that seem trivial to us, but they were not to the writer or the recipient. Here, in the closing words of ‘Hebrews’, we find some of the commonplaces and conventions of ancient letter-writing. We have seen this type of format elsewhere in the New Testament. (Mind you, this is the only place we read that Timothy had a spell in prison).

In the midst of his concluding remarks, however, the writer says he has written ”quite briefly” (22). This strikes me as somewhat ironic. Hebrews is one of the towering mountain peaks of New Testament theology. Thereby lies another irony, because the writer calls it a ”word of exhortation” (22). But the fact of the matter is that Christian doctrine is to be lived; it is to change our lives.

The ”exhortation” of Hebrews, to press on and not go back, is as needful now as it was when the letter was first composed. The anti-Christian pressures, within our culture, are on the increase, and the devil is out to steal the faith from us. May God’s ”grace” be with us (25), to keep us from capitulating in the face of antagonism and hostility.

‘I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.’

PRAYER: Thank you Jesus that you are superior to anyone or anything I might trust in or give my life to. Help me to never turn back to any supposed substitute, but keep my eyes fixed on you

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep…

When I was first in the ministry, I had a poster on a wall of my bed-sit in Southport. It read: ‘We are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our song.’

This wonderful blessing, with just a few words, enshrines the heart of the Easter message: Jesus died and rose again. (Tom Wright translates this: ”May the God of peace, who led up from the dead our Lord Jesus…”). Through Him, and His achievement, we may come into a covenant relationship with ”the God of peace” (and know the peace of God). We are also brought into the fold, where we live under the loving, Shepherding staff of Christ.

No wonder ‘Hallelujah is our song’!

 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Having asked for the prayers of the Hebrew Christians the writer now prays for them.

In Ephesians 4:12, Paul says that leaders have been given to the church by Jesus ”to equip his people for works of service”. Yesterday, as I read this familiar blessing in Hebrews, I reflected on the thought that here is one important way church leaders fulfil their calling. It is by no means the only way, but we ”equip the saints for the work of the ministry” (as one translation puts it) by praying for them. It’s hard work at times, and it’s extremely important work.

What a privilege it is for us to know that God works in and through believers. The equipping comes from Him and the glory goes to Him. We need to work hard at our callings, but ultimately the work is His.

Reflect on these words, written by Paul to the Corinthians:

”For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” 1 Cor.15:9,10.

Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honourably in every way. ¹⁹ I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

In Ronald Dunn’s wonderful book: ‘Don’t just stand there, pray something’, he tells a story about a group of Sunday school children who wrote to a missionary along these lines:

‘Dear Rev Smith,

We are praying for you.

We are not expecting an answer.’

They were, of course, intimating that they didn’t need a reply. But how often do we pray without having any anticipation of anything changing?

According to our faith…??

In today’s passage I see a recognition of spiritual cause and effect. The writer seems to say, ‘You pray (cause), and something will happen in my circumstances (effect).’ As I have noted before, we don’t know that the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews. It’s author is unknown. But this part of the letter feels Pauline. In Paul’s letters, he regularly requests his readers to pray for him, clearly believing their prayers will make a tangible difference.

In a book I have about spiritual leadership, the author emphasises how important it is that preachers should pray. He says, as I recall: before you preach, pray much about the service. Then when you run out of things to pray for the meeting, continue to pray about other things. It is so important, he argues, to enter the pulpit in a spirit of prayer.

PRAYER: Lord, cause us to be people of prayerful faith and faithful prayer.

THOUGHT: ‘Unprayed for, I feel like a diver at the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe; or like a fireman on a blazing building, with an empty hose.’ John Gilmour (Missionary to Mongolia).

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

‘There are people-more than a handful, I’d say-who find fault with me. Things I say, or don’t say, deeds I do, or don’t do, attitudes they detect in me or detect the absence of. Sometimes, I’m scorned or scolded for personality deficiencies, which-admittedly-I abound in. I am not warm and cuddly like pastor so-and-so. I am too bloody-minded, or-conversely-an incurable soft touch. I don’t preach a clear vision. I do preach a clear vision, but not a compelling one. I do preach a compelling vision, but compelling us towards the wrong ends. I talk too much about money from the pulpit. I don’t talk about it enough.’ Mark Buchanan: ‘Spiritual Rhythm’, p.79.

Just about every local church will be able to relate to the above comments. The calling can prove ever so demanding, and there are times when you feel you just can’t win. It’s interesting that the writer to the Hebrews takes a pragmatic approach here. He says, in effect, be the kind of supportive congregation your leaders will enjoy shepherding. It’s not particularly good for churches to have unhappy leaders. Those who have ”authority” over others, under God, carry an enormous responsibility, so help them all you can.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that church leaders can never be wrong, or go wrong, and there may be times when we need to challenge them in kindness and love. But if it has to be done, let it be carried out sensitively and thoughtfully. Gossiping about them, rather than going to them personally, is not the right way.

Think about how you would like to be corrected, and let this guide your approach.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for our leaders. I see they are your gifts to the church. Help them in their challenges and struggles today. I acknowledge that they may well be carrying burdens I know nothing about. Help me to love them, serve them, follow them and pray for them. I ask that I will be one who makes their ministry a joy.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

When the Bible speaks of Christians offering ‘sacrifices’ to God, it does not mean atoning sacrifices. This book has made it abundantly clear that Jesus offered, once-for-all, the only sacrifice which can ever remove sin. However, our response to His final Sacrifice should be to offer sacrificial lives of worship. True worship is costly. We ought not to imagine that we can do it on the cheap (consider David’s words in 2 Sam. 24:24). It starts with giving to God our ”bodies as living sacrifices” (Rom.12:1). Everything flows from this commitment. As the church, we are a ”holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Two of these are mentioned in verses 15,16, and I note a lovely balance between talk and walk, word and deed, lip and life. Christians are called to declare their allegiance to Christ in speech, but also to demonstrate their loyalty to Him in actions. True religion involves doing good and helping others (Jas.1:27).

As someone observed, there must be ‘no credibility gap’ between our talk and our walk.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 

In one of John White’s many fine books, he spoke about Christian witness being about simple honesty. We are not in hiding. ‘This is who I am; this is what I believe. If you want to know, I’ll tell you. I’ll give you a reason for the hope I have’ (see 1 Peter 3:15,16).

In verses 15,16 of our chapter we have two further examples of what Christian worship entails. In the first place, it means praising God. But the implication seems to be that this is not restricted to ‘times of worship’ in Christian gatherings. It also involves the public acknowledgment of God and proclamation of His Name out in the world.

We need to remember that this exhortation was given to believers in a context of persecution, where such ”praise” would place them in the firing line and require enormous courage.

 “A good witness isn’t like a salesman, his emphasis is on a person rather than a product. A good witness is like a signpost. It doesn’t matter whether it is old, young, pretty, ugly; it has to point the right direction and be able to be understood. We are witnesses to Christ, we point to him.” John White

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through’, sang the country and western artist Jim Reeves.

The truth is we Christians don’t belong here. We will always be outsiders. Of course, there is a natural instinct to want to be liked, loved even; and accepted: to belong. But we don’t and we won’t. We are disciples of Jesus who was treated as an outsider by the Jewish religion He actually came to fulfil. We need to recognise that, as His people, we are strangers and aliens here. We don’t fit in. We’ve been born ‘from above.’ We belong to another Kingdom. ‘Our citizenship is in heaven.’ Part of the deal in becoming a Christian is that we accept we are going to share in the scorn, insult, derision and abuse which was heaped on Christ. When people are friendly towards us, as some people will be, we are naturally grateful. But let us never forget what the true score is.

I think ‘The Message’ expresses this very well:

” So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This “insider world” is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name” (13-15)

 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Some Jews taught that it was spiritually beneficial to eat meat that had been sacrificed on the altar. But Christians have a different altar, not where the bodies of animals are offered, but where the body of Christ was sacrificed for us. To eat from Christ’s altar is to feed, by faith, on Christ Himself (John 6:53-56). Again, the superiority of the New Covenant, over the Old, is underlined. The Jewish priests were pursuing the ‘shadow’, but by God’s grace and mercy we have the Substance. How much better it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus than to be permitted to eat a particular piece of meat!

‘God has established the new covenant, and no promises remain for those who refuse its blessings.’ Tom Wright: ‘Hebrews for Everyone’, p.175.