Destination: Heaven. Look How Far You’ve Come Already!

14th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/21/16
Hebrews 12:18-24


Destination: Heaven. Look How Far You’ve Come Already!


It’s happened to every one of us. You get stuck in traffic. Three lanes of interstate highway and no one is moving at all. It can happen in a congested urban area. It can happen out in the middle of nowhere.

When that happens to you, what do you do? Well, you have several options. You can wait it out with the hope that whatever is blocking the traffic will be removed soon and you’ll be on your way. But there are times when even the interstate is shut down for hours due to a horrific accident. What if this is one of those times?

Another option—one that I particularly like—is trying to get out of the traffic and use an alternate route. The map app on my cell phone is a godsend in that situation. But it’s not always the best solution. Using surface streets or rural highways can be time-consuming. You’re left wondering if you would have been better off just sitting in traffic rather than winding your way through town and getting stopped by red lights.

And then there’s the option of turning back. That’s what comes to mind when you begin your trip but weather conditions quickly deteriorate. The ice and snow are accumulating and it’s just too dangerous. So, rather than plow ahead at a slow pace, you turn around and head back home. You’ll hunker down and make the trip when the road conditions are better.

When you’re faced with situations such as those, you’re also asking yourself, “Are things better ahead of me or behind me?” Again, your traffic and weather apps on your phones can help you, but they aren’t always reliable. You’re left guessing. You hope things are better ahead of you, but until you get there you can’t be sure.

And then there’s the issue of our selective recall of the conditions behind us. Now I’m not speaking so much about traffic situations, but life situations. For instance, consider the situation of employment. We grab an opportunity to change employers, thinking that conditions ahead will be better, but it isn’t long before we start having our doubts. And when those doubts only increase, we become convinced that we were better off before. Now our former position seems rosy, even desirable, when just a few months ago we couldn’t wait to leave.

That’s exactly what was happening with the people who originally read these words of our text from Hebrews 12. They were Jewish by race and had come to faith in Jesus as their Savior. They were Jewish Christians. But that’s when their troubles began. They faced being shunned by their family members who didn’t convert to Christianity. They were scorned for not following the ancient ways of the Jews. Just as bad, they were being harassed by government officials who questioned the legality of this new religion. Their homes and property were in jeopardy. So, as they forged ahead on their Christian journey, they began to wonder if they should turn around.

They wondered if they should go back to their Jewish faith and no longer consider Jesus to be their Savior from sin. There were those among them who had faced enough pressures due to their Christian faith that they were stating, “Let’s go back. Let’s go back to demanding kosher food. Let’s make sure we adhere strictly to the dietary laws God gave us. Let’s go back. Let’s go back to doing the best we can to observe the system of daily sacrifices demanded by God. Let’s be sure to offer God the first of our animals, crops and the fruits of our vines and trees. Let’s go back to all the restrictions God placed on us—the prohibitions against touching certain things, of the monthly and even daily cleansing rites. Let’s go back to all of that because things were so much better for us then.”

Their memories of that era of their history were unrealistically pleasant.

The writer of these words pulls them back into reality. In our text he likens going back to those ways as going back to Mt. Sinai which is where God gave all these regulations to Moses who then relayed them to the people. Listen again to what he states, “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’” The writer reminds them that there was nothing fun, exciting or glorious about being at Mt. Sinai. The people begged for the entire episode to end. What’s more, Sinai was not their destination. It was only a stopping point on their way to the Promised Land. God never intended their stay at Sinai to last.

The entire encounter with the Lord there was terrifying, not enjoyable. The people standing at Sinai didn’t want to hear anything more from the Lord. Instead, they asked the Lord to speak to Moses and then Moses could speak to them. How terrible to think that God’s commands about their conduct there at Sinai even extended to their animals, which obviously weren’t members of God’s chosen people. Moses himself was terrified.

That’s because their experience at Mt. Sinai was predominantly about God’s laws which they could never keep perfectly and about the punishment for their sins. It was command after command to do this and don’t do that. And if you disobey me, here’s what I demand from you. How long would you put up with listening to that? And now these Christians were tempted to go back to that? Ridiculous!

Ridiculous especially when you consider this amazing truth: they were on their way to heaven right now and look how far they had come. In case they failed to see their progress, the writer fills them in, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” There are Bible commentators who consider these words to be among the most majestic in all of the Bible. The phrases pile up one on the other, forming a mountain of spiritual truth. And every one of them is true about you! In a sense, you aren’t going to heaven; you’re already there by faith in Jesus. By faith in Jesus, you have eternal life. You’ve come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.

As such, you are one of the firstborn. That’s God’s way of reminding you of how privileged you are. You are one of his own dear children, in line to inherit the heavenly kingdom Jesus is preparing for you. It’s all yours!

“You’ve come to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.” You are a member of the Holy Christian Church which includes all those Christians who have gone before you into heaven. You’re not separated from them; you’re one with them by faith in Jesus.

Finally, “You have…come to Jesus.” It doesn’t get any better than this! It can’t get any better than this. Jesus is the Son of God who became your Brother so that he could sacrifice himself for you. He loves you like no one else can or does. He was thinking about being with you before he created the world. He was thinking about you when he suffered, died and rose again. He is thinking about you now and will do so forever. You have come to Jesus who has brought you into the presence of his heavenly Father. Do you see how far you’ve already come? God’s goal for you—heaven with him—is in sight! It’s already yours by faith in Jesus.

You see, Christianity isn’t a risky proposition. It’s a divine guarantee. You haven’t come to Jesus so that you can only hope to make it to heaven. You already have eternal life. You’ll realize that life when Jesus calls you home to heaven. Christianity doesn’t prod you into doing your best with the hope that God will shine on you because of your efforts. Christianity is divine guarantee.

Your destination is heaven. See how far you’ve already come!

So, where do the distractions come from as you make your way there? Are there family members which question and even ridicule your devotion to Christ? Are your children’s schedules making it difficult for you to devote your time to your Lord and his saving word? Is our government making it more and more difficult for you to focus on your journey to heaven? Is your employment situation sapping your time and energy so much so that you have little left to fight the good fight of faith? Is blatant humanism, especially found on our country’s college campuses, but also so prevalent everywhere in our society, shoving you around as you try to walk with Christ? Does the onslaught of science cause doubts to arise in your heart and mind?

There’s nothing new under the sun. It’s always been that way for God’s people. In this letter, the writer points his readers repeatedly to the great heroes of faith who suffered through these very things but now are enshrined in Jerusalem the Golden. Their faith was in the same Jesus you hold to, the same Jesus who washed their sins away and dressed them in the robe of his righteousness, the same Jesus who calls you his own so that he can bless you eternally. Your destination is heaven. Look how far you’ve already come! Amen.