It’s All About Jesus!

15th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/28/16
Hebrews 13:1-8


It’s All About Jesus!
I. As you serve others
II. As you overcome your sinful nature
III. As you remember your spiritual leaders


If you are employed or have been employed, it’s likely that you have listened to motivational speakers or have participated in some motivational group activities. That’s because your “team leader,” which is motivational-speak for “your employer,” knows that he or she can get far more productivity out of you if you are properly motivated. In other words, it’s about the bottom line. But that seems so crass, so greedy. So, they motivate you with your desire to make yourself a better employee, to be the best you can be, to find fulfillment and value in what you’re doing. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t do anything to help you put up with what you have to face on a daily basis.

And that leads you to ask yourself, “Why do I do what I do? Is it just to receive a paycheck so that I can pay my bills for the next 30 days? Why do I do what I do?”

That question is important in so many areas of life. And that holds true even in your life as a Christian. Today’s worship focus is the Christian life of humility. Achieving and maintaining that humble mindset and transforming it into your way of life is so difficult in our world because it means you’re not just swimming against the current, you’re facing raging floodwaters—the floodwaters of our world’s egotism and pride, a me-first mindset in every facet of life. So, why would you be humble? That’s a good question.

And then we have before us this morning our Lord’s practical instructions on ways to live that humble life. In verse after verse of today’s text from Hebrews 13 we hear that it’s not about us, what we need, what we want, what we hope to attain. And then, after sharing that list with us, the writer concludes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Don’t those words seem out of place? It’s almost as if the writer tucked that sentence in there because he didn’t know what else to say. The words are certainly true, but what do they have to do with our humble lives of service to others? Everything! Because it’s not all about us; it’s all about Jesus. That’s why we do what we do! It’s all about Jesus. Let’s see how true that is on the basis of these words from Hebrews 13.

Part I.

Let’s do a little word association. I’m going to say a word and I want you to think about what comes into your mind first. Ready? “Boundaries.” What thought came to your mind? Was it negative? In other words, do you view boundaries as limiting you? Well, there are self-help books and therapy sessions that encourage people to set boundaries. We need to do it to protect ourselves. You set them for your children. You set them for yourself. If you don’t, people may take advantage of you.

But we also set boundaries when it comes to serving other people. We’re willing to do this, but not that. We’ll go this far in our efforts to help someone, but no farther. And I understand that. You can only do so much. What’s more, you don’t want to become an enabler.

But do we ever hear of Jesus setting boundaries? I can’t think of an instance when he did. Instead, he stepped over them when he ate with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. He rubbed shoulders with goyim, the Jewish word for despised Gentiles. He helped a Roman centurion and encouraged the Jews to pay the Roman taxes. And when his Father told him he needed to serve sinners by shedding his holy blood in their place, he didn’t balk at what it would cost him. No boundaries in serving others.

So, it should come as no surprise when we read, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Keep on loving your fellow Christians even when they give you reason to stop. The Greek word for “love” used here is the love of friendship. We show our love for each other because that’s what friends do.

That we can agree on, at least in principle, but entertain strangers? Isn’t that a little dangerous? In our day and age it can be. So find safe ways to reach out to people you don’t know. Christianity isn’t a private club for members only. What can you do to help someone you don’t know?

But perhaps the most difficult of these three serving suggestions is this last one: Remember those in prison. It’s possible that prisoners need our help more than any other segment of society. But rather than remember them, we tend to marginalize and forget them. We even tend to consider them beneath us.

So, how are we going to begin to do what these words are encouraging us to do? Remember, it’s all about Jesus. It’s all about Jesus as we serve others.

When it comes to serving others, we’re usually happy to help people who have helped us. But that’s setting up a boundary, isn’t it? How can we possibly do what Jesus is asking of us here? Realize first of all that we can’t, at least not perfectly. We’re going to miss opportunities. We’re going to decline opportunities and our reasons might be sinfully selfish. That’s the way we are! Only One served others perfectly and he’s your Savior, Jesus Christ. He took all your missed opportunities to serve and your selfish reasons for doing so to Calvary’s cross and paid for them and all your sins there. And now he tells us in his word that he has made us to be priests in his kingdom by serving him as we serve others. It’s not about us or the people we serve; it’s all about Jesus.

Part II.

I’ve heard it said that all people are basically good. Given the atrocities some humans commit, that’s hard to defend. I’ve also heard there’s a little good in everybody. That’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t square with what Jesus said, “Out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mk. 7:21-22). Not a pretty picture, is it? That’s our sinful nature!

The writer focuses our attention on two of those deadly desires when he states, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I state that we live in a world that is sexually messed-up. We’re hit with it every day. God designed and reserved sexual relations for marriage. So, how can we stay pure? How can we avoid sexual sins? It’s all about Jesus. By faith in him we have the power to overcome sexual temptations.

The writer then moves on to the sin of greed. It’s rampant in our world. Even the people we’re supposed to honor and admire are often caught in this deadly sin. It’s become their god. How can we avoid it in our lives? It’s all about Jesus. The writer reminds us that we already have the greatest treasure in our lives—our Lord Jesus. With him we need nothing else. With him nothing can harm us.

It’s all about Jesus as you overcome your sinful nature.

Contrary to what we might want to believe, our sinful world was never a wonderful place to live. Even among God’s people in the Old Testament there were times when everyone did as he or she saw fit and the results were sinfully disastrous—the very same sins we see in our world today. But don’t be misled into thinking that we’ve been able to avoid them, that we’ve been successful at keeping ourselves pure, because sin lurks in every one of us. It permeates us. So what’s the solution? It’s all about Jesus. His pure and holy heart and life are your pure and holy heart and life by faith in him. At your baptism he drowned your sinful nature and created a new person within you that lives in righteousness and purity. And his death on Calvary’s cross was the punishment for the times when our sinful natures get the better of us. His forgiveness renews and restores us so that we live for him again. It’s all about Jesus as you overcome your sinful nature.

Part III.

The writer has one more area of your Christian life to address. He states, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” He asks them to remember their spiritual leaders who shared God’s word with them. He reminds them that these leaders have reached the outcome of their faith—heaven. These words were written to Christians who were considering going back to their former Jewish faith. His strong encouragement is for them not to do that. Instead, recall how their spiritual leaders have reached the goal of their faith, a goal that still lies ahead of the readers of these words. Their spiritual leaders pointed them on a daily basis to Christ, their Savior from sin. It’s all about Jesus as you remember your spiritual leaders.

Please don’t misunderstand my encouragement to you regarding these words. I’m not going to ask you to imitate my faith. The Lord Jesus knows how deficient it is in so many ways. But I will encourage you to do this: Listen as I point you to Jesus as your Savior from sin. Please pray that I always boldly proclaim Jesus to you. Pray that I never soften the message of Jesus in order to be a people-pleaser. And then join me in serving Jesus as we serve one another and even those whom we don’t know. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s all about Jesus. Amen.