Our Brother frees us from the fear of death.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 1, January 10, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Hebrews 2:11-16  ¹¹For he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one Father.  For that reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers.  ¹²He says: I will declare your name to my brothers.  Within the congregation I will sing your praise.  ¹³And again: I will trust in him.  And again: Here I am and the children God has given me.  ¹⁴Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood, he also shared the same flesh and blood, so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil) ¹⁵and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.  ¹⁶For surely he was not concerned with helping angels but with helping Abraham’s offspring. (EHV)

Our Brother frees us from the fear of death.

Dear brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus,

            This week, we saw graphic evidence of what happens when emotions rule reason and actions.  The invasion of our nation’s capital by protestors is setting off verbal ballistics on all sides.  One side claims that nothing like this has ever been seen before, conveniently forgetting all the riots they applauded this past summer.  The other side claims that these rioters are justified because of malfeasance on the other side, and so the word bombs get thrown back and forth day by day.  People of all walks of life vilifying those who disagree with them, which is especially true among our political leaders and media influencers.

Time and again, we elect childish leaders with overinflated egos who are sure that only they know what is best for everyone else, and people who bribe us for votes with money they will take from us and others by force.  We put our hopes in sinful, arrogant men and women as if they have god-like powers even the ancient pagans couldn’t imagine.  Yet, we marvel that things go wrong.  Thus, we see almost all people blaming anyone but themselves for every problem under the sun, but who is really to blame?

As unlikely as it might seem, we can find the answer even in a long-forgotten comic strip.  Way back in 1971, cartoonist Walt Kelly pointed out the problem by using his comic strip character, Pogo, to say, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”  As we view all the turmoil in our families, our state, our nation, and our world, the problem is us. 

Now, it is not the color of our skin, not our level of education, not what political party we might favor, what state or nation we live in, not even what church we attend, or what faith or lack thereof we might claim—the problem is that every person on earth is infected with the poison of a sinful nature, and that poison makes us fear what we know it will bring, which is death, and our fear gives power to the devil.

Fear of death makes people do things to hide the truth, deny their fear, pretend holiness, and fight back against any perceived threat.  In doing these things, sinful people make minor gods of themselves—condemning (preferably without a trial) those who hold a differing viewpoint, casting stones at anyone else who offends or hurts us, failing to take responsibility for our own words and actions, and expecting everyone else to be perfectly agreeable in thought, word, and deed. 

This sad, sinful reality of the human condition is what the writer to the Hebrews is answering.  He doesn’t tell us how we ourselves can cure our corruption and fears, for no one ever could.  Rather, he shares with us the amazing Good News that Our Brother frees us from the fear of death.

The writer tells us, “He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one Father.  For that reason, He is not ashamed to call them brothers.”  There is real comfort in understanding that we all come from God the Father.  The one who sanctifies is, of course, Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father.  Jesus can be the Sanctifier because He alone never fell into sin.  Only Jesus has always been perfect in thought, word, and deed.  Indeed, in His perfection, God’s Son was not ashamed to humble Himself to become one with us. 

The whole universe, including us, was created through the Word of God, which is Jesus, but at the creation, humankind was specially created with a unique relationship with God, as God breathed the breath of life into the man.  Therefore, Jesus has loved us since before time began, and He has always loved us with the perfect love of God.  Thus, He willingly gave Himself into saving us from death.

The writer then quotes several passages from the ancient writings which tell us of Jesus’ joy in bringing forgiveness and salvation to His lost and wandering brothers and sisters.  Therefore, as Christ Jesus, the Man, walked this earth in our physical flesh and blood, He proclaimed the love and mercy of His Father in heaven.  Though many expected Israel’s Messiah to set up a political kingdom of power and ease, Jesus instead far exceeded those expectations to establish a kingdom of perfect love, harmony, and eternal glory that transcends this broken world, entered only by faith.  On our behalf, Jesus lived perfect humility, obedience, and humble trust in His heavenly Father, even to the point of laying down His life in death to pay the debt the law demanded for you and me and all, confident that His Father in heaven would not abandon Him to the grave. 

Because of His love and trust in His Father that Jesus lived and demonstrated continually on our behalf, Jesus will, on the last day, present all those who believe in Him to the Father of all as a holy and perfect people prepared to praise our Creator for all the ages still to come.  What a scene of triumph there is in the halls of heaven as gathered around the throne of His heavenly Father with all of us in tow Jesus finally and joyfully announces for all creation to hear, “Here I am and the children God has given me.” 

You and I who have been baptized into this kingdom of grace, and trust in the riches of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus, stand in that glorious Light, though not yet physically.  Our physical appearance at the throne comes only after all the corruption and decay of this world is put behind us in death—just as Jesus went through death to glorify His Father and Himself and to make us holy forevermore.

Like us, the people to whom this apostle wrote were also facing times of unease, danger, hardship, and persecution.  Many were under threat from the government and their own relatives for believing in Jesus.  So that their fears would not overwhelm their faith, the writer reminded them of Jesus’ love and commitment to their eternal salvation.  He wrote, “Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood, he also shared the same flesh and blood, so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil) and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.”  The eternal Son of God left His heavenly home to become one with us.  He put on the same blood and flesh we live in so that He could eliminate those things that trouble us so much.

This is how great God’s love for us is, He does not sit stewing in wrath over our sins while eagerly plotting our destruction.  Rather, Christ Jesus made Himself equal to the worst of us and even worse than that, so that no one would have to be subject to the devil’s fate in hell, for as St. Paul wrote, “God made Him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The devil is such a twisted, slanderous, malicious snake that after he manages to tempt us into sin, he gleefully pricks our consciences with the point of the law, attempting to terrify us with its curse which is death to all who sin.  Satan has used that power throughout history to lead people into ever greater sin, selfishness, greed, and hatred.  The devil knows that hell was prepared for him and his evil angels, but he so despises his Creator that he doesn’t want Jesus to save anyone. 

But dear friends, Satan’s power has been defeated forever.  How gleefully the devil must have danced when Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb.  The devil’s excitement though was oh so short lived, for Jesus rose from the grave on the third day in full and glorious victory.  To all the world, the message has gone out about Jesus rising from the grave.  His chosen apostles carried the Good News of Jesus’ sacrifice, suffering, death, and resurrection exactly as promised so that you and I and everyone else would have the opportunity to hear the Good News and be saved.

Because we are still troubled by our sinful flesh and the wickedness of this world, we find it very easy to be afraid of the trials and hardships of life in this world that is not our home.  It may feel like this is home, but our home is truly another place where none of this matters.  It is very easy to succumb to fear in the face of the torments wicked people dream up, but at most, those things can only hurt the flesh while Jesus has your everlasting future firmly in His control, so that you will dwell forever where “God himself will be with [His children], and He will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

For those who trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, there is no longer any reason to fear the world around us.  No reason to fear poverty or hardship because we have the riches of heaven waiting for us.  No reason to fear death because we will live and never die.  Even though our bodies will be laid in the grave to rest until the return of our Lord Jesus in judgment over this wretched place, we live in His mansions forever.  There is no longer any reason to fear the devil’s accusations and threats, either, because Jesus has already paid for every sin ever committed by anyone who ever lives on this planet, wiping all our sins and shortcomings from God’s memory.  There is no reason to fear viruses, angry mobs, corrupt and wicked rulers, virulent rhetoric from those who follow the devil’s lead, or anything else in heaven or earth, because Jesus is ruling all things so that we, His brothers and sisters, may dwell with Him eternally in the new Paradise.

Still, as this world continues to decay into anarchy and devilish rebellion against our Creator, many will wonder, but what is He doing for me now?  Through any trial, hardship, or pain, our confidence can and should remain: “For surely he was not concerned with helping angels but with helping Abraham’s offspring.”  Jesus didn’t live, die, and rise to help any angel, neither those who follow Him nor those who rebelled.  Their fate is sealed.  No, Jesus lived and died and rose again for you and for all who believe as “Abram believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)  Jesus paid the ransom price for the whole world so that any and all who believe in Him will be saved, and not just for momentary, earthly trinkets or time, but for everlasting glory, majesty, and peace.  Furthermore, our Lord promises that He will never leave us alone, but He is with us always, (Matthew 28:20) and His angels surround and protect us. (Psalm 91:11)

Dear friends, the years of our time on earth are often filled with hardships and trials.  We each could say with Jacob, “The days and the years of my life have been few and full of trouble.” (Genesis 47:9)  But like Jacob, who believed in God’s promises as his grandfather Abraham believed, our end is eternal glory and life with our Brother and our true Father in heaven.  We can say that confidently and boldly even in the face of whatever danger, sorrow, persecution, or death this world might throw against us, because with His sacrifice and powerful resurrection from the grave, Our Brother frees us from the fear of death.  Amen.

May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.  Amen.