Live for the Helper who will not leave you.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 16, September 28, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Hebrews 13:1-6  Continue to show brotherly love.  ²Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it.  ³Remember those in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated, as if you yourselves were also suffering bodily.  ⁴Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.  ⁵Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.  For God has said: “I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.”  ⁶So then we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.  What will man do to me?” (EHV)

Live for the Helper who will not leave you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            The writer to the Hebrews closes this section of his letter with the question: “What will man do to me?”  Considering all the persecution of Christians in our world and all the violence that surrounds us, that might seem like a flippant, perhaps even arrogant question.  Time and again we see how the world treats believers.  We are often mocked, sometimes hated, and always questioned for believing as we do, so why should we consider this not to be a problem?

The people to whom this letter was written faced likely far greater danger than we do.  They had grown up following the Jewish faith as taught by the scribes and Pharisees, which was heavily law oriented, but that wasn’t their only problem.  Having abandoned the legal harassments of the Pharisees, they were also facing increasing attack from the pagan government of Rome.  Thus, these new Christians were under constant pressure, and occasional attacks, from Jewish teachers, many family members, and increasingly the Roman authorities.  Indeed, being a Christian in that pagan world had become physically dangerous, so the letter was written to encourage believers not to abandon their trust in Jesus as their Savior (and with it their hope of salvation and eternal life), but to Live for the Helper who will not leave you.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the writer says, “Continue to show brotherly love.  Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it.”  We can understand the obligation to show love to our fellow believers, but what so often happens in this world of trouble?  The more we hear about persecution and fellow Christians abandoning their faith under pressure from the enemies, the more we tend to fall into fear.  Will that neighbor betray us to the authorities who want to prosecute or kill us?  Will he mock us as fools for holding to so-called, “old-fashioned beliefs”?  When the world treats the Bible as a book of fairy tales, how much does that affect our willingness to display our faith in Jesus?  The answer often seems to be that we have gone mostly silent.  Many have even pulled away from helping others simply because they are afraid.  How often do we fear that some depraved individual will aim his weapon at us?

In his letter to the Roman congregation, St. Paul had written, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)  The point is, we have been united with Jesus through the faith we were granted in baptism.  There, God claimed us as His own dear children, and through the faith the Holy Spirit worked in us, God counts us as holy and righteous for Jesus’ sake.  For that reason, why should we fear what the world will do to our bodies?  Yet, because of sin in the world, and sin in us, we naturally fear death.  It seems to offer nothing good for us, and indeed, death is the consequence for sin. 

However, have we not believed what Isaiah wrote to comfort those who walk with the Lord?  Isaiah assured us, “The righteous one perishes, but no one takes it to heart.  Men of mercy are being taken away, but no one understands that the righteous one is being spared from evil.” (Isaiah 57:1)  As much as we would want to avoid death, in reality, God allows death to continue in our world so that He may use it to take us into the joy and peace of heaven.  Many a martyr for the Christian faith has been carried through the experience of death confident that because Jesus lives, so too shall we live. 

Again, St, Paul assures us, “Indeed, if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord.  So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this reason he died, rose, and lived, to be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:8-9)  After Jesus gave up His life to save us, but just before He ascended to His Father’s side in heaven, He likewise assured His disciples, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  The writer to the Hebrews was fully confident of Jesus’ promise while encouraging that we Live for the Helper who will not leave you.

We are also encouraged not to be discouraged by the ways of the world.  When fellow believers are imprisoned or mistreated because of Jesus, we must stand with them.  They need our encouragement and help, but furthermore, we needn’t be worried about the consequences of showing our faith in Jesus.  Instead, just as we would want the help and encouragement of fellow believers in times of trouble, we do great service to the Lord as we provide that help to others.  Remember the commendation Jesus foretold concerning Judgment Day for His followers:

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me. … I was in prison and you visited me.  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when … did we see you a stranger and welcome you …?  When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’” (Matthew 25:35-40)

Now, we might live in a modern world, but the ways of the world really haven’t changed all that much.  When this letter was written, marriages were often dissolved without a second thought, prostitution was rampant even extolled in the pagan ceremonies, and in the words of a modern-day movie character, “Greed is good.”  We can accurately say that nothing has changed.  One cannot look around without seeing on full display everything the writer warned against.  In fact, much of the immorality mentioned here is celebrated in our times as something positive.  Social media and various celebrities cloud our minds with promotion of such evil. 

Yet, we would be mistaken if we assume these temptations only trouble the unbeliever.  We too can and are tempted in more ways than we might even realize.  How many of us have worried about having enough money for retirement?  How many have glanced at another person as a possible replacement for a spouse?  How many times have we been reluctant to be generous in charitable giving as if we could ever be shortchanged by the greatest giver of all, our Father in heaven?  How many of us have compared ourselves to the ultra-rich and judged them more greedy and self-serving than ourselves?  No doubt, we must admit that we are not without sin in these things.

For that reason, it is imperative that we Live for the Helper who will not leave you.  Our God in heaven has connected us with His holy Son, Jesus Christ, by faith.  It is Jesus’ perfect righteousness that covers us and makes us acceptable to God.  Jesus is the one and only who lived without sin.  Jesus is the one who came down to earth to pay the penalty for our guilt.  And Jesus connects Himself to us through the bond of peace declared to us in baptism and through believing His Gospel.

Jesus also is the reason we can be confident in the face of the dangers surrounding us.  God’s Son has authority over heaven and earth, and He exercises that authority for the good of those who believe in Him.  That is why Paul could affirm the writer to the Hebrews words by saying, “If God is for us, who can be against us?  Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:31-32)  We have a divine Helper, One who lived, died, and rose again so that we would live and never die—One who will never abandon us to the whims and terrors of the enemy.  Though the devil may threaten and accuse us through those he has deceived, Jesus has already won the battle that gives us eternal life.

For all these reasons, we can stand confidently in the face of suffering, hardship, rejection, and yes, even persecution or death, “For God has said: ‘I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.’  So then we say with confidence: ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.’”  Again and again, the Holy Spirit has reminded us that because Jesus lives, we too will live and never die.  Again and again in holy Scripture, the Spirit tells us that God is ever on the side of those who believe in Jesus and therefore, we can react with this writer and with St. Paul believing with full trust:

What will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long.  We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Dear friends, no matter what trouble might appear before us in this world, no matter what threat might overtake you, do not be afraid, your Savior has opened the gates of heaven for you.  Hold confidently to His promises for they never change.  The reluctant prophet, Balaam, declared, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he changes his mind.  Does he say something, and then not carry it out?  Does he speak, and then not bring it about?” (Numbers 23:19)  With those rhetorical questions, the Holy Spirit is confirming for all time that you can believe everything the Bible says, for it is God’s trustworthy Word.  Then with joy and boldness of heart go forth in the world with Jesus, your Defender and Friend; Live for the Helper who will not leave you.  Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.