11/26/23 “Drawing Near”

Drawing Near

Hebrews 10:19-25

As you all know, The Thanksgiving holiday was on Thursday and if you’re like me, you now weigh about 10 pounds heavier than you did last week.

Thanksgiving is definitely a fiesta for the tastebuds, but it’s anything but a party for the old waistline….Amen?

We all have different Thanksgiving traditions, but no matter what they are, most of us find ourselves close to a table filled with food and chairs filled with relatives.

One could say that there is a lot of ‘drawing near’ at Thanksgiving.

We draw near to food…and we tend to draw near to other family members that we maybe haven’t seen in a while.

Our passage of scripture for today from the book of Hebrews deals with drawing near as well – but in a spiritual sense….we are told to draw near to God as well as to draw near to other brothers & sisters in Christ.

Hebrews is an important book of the Bible because it is written to 1st century Jewish Christians with the intention of proving the supremacy of Christ over everyone, and everything else – including the Mosaic law.

Some of these Jewish believers were reverting to their old ways of following the Mosaic law and the sacrificial system, not understanding that Jesus had completely fulfilled the requirements of the law on the cross.

They failed to completely understand that God now wanted them to draw near to Him - not through the requirements of the law - but through a relationship…a relationship founded upon the ultimate sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ.

The first few verses of our passage for today deal with this specific topic.

Verse 19 (Hebrews 10:19) talks about having “Confidence to enter the Most Holy Place.”

The “Most Holy Place” (Or sometimes referred to as the ‘Holy of Holies’) was the far back room of the Jewish temple (Or the tabernacle) where the Spirit of God was always present.

This room was such a sacred place, the only person allowed to enter it was the High Priest – and he was only able to enter the room once a year to make sacrifices for the people of Israel.

This was known as the Day of Atonement….

The author of Hebrews is telling us that, because of the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, those who have placed their faith in Him can confidently come before the throne of God and receive forgiveness for their sins.

Hebrews 4:16 speaks to this when it says “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Verse 20 (Hebrews 10:20) references the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn from top to bottom at the same time as when Jesus gave up His spirit and died on the cross.

This was a powerfully symbolic of the transition from the priestly, sacrificial system to the New Testament age. Believers would now be able to directly come before the throne of God to obtain mercy and forgiveness.

The need for a human priest to perform interventional sacrifices before God will no longer be needed as man would now be able to approach God with Jesus as his high priest.

Rather than having to settle for an earthly, imperfect high priest for representation before God, we now have the perfect high priest in Heaven currently interceding for us in the presence of the Father.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Verses 22 & 23 of our passage for today (Hebrews 10:22-23) continue with this theme of transition as we are told to “Draw near to God.”

God wants you to come close to Him through prayer and through the reading of His Word.

A sincere, loving heart is what our Heavenly Father desires in His children, not a reluctant attitude of hollow conformity to empty ritualism and rules.

Hosea 6:6 informs us of this truth when it conveys these words of God “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.”

You’ve probably heard the phrase: Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship.

Phrases like this are meant to emphasize what is being expressed in these verses (And others like it) that speak to a healthy spiritual heart condition as the most important thing involved in drawing near to God.

James 4:8 reminds us that if we Come near to God, He will come near to us.

I like how the Psalmist writes: “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” (Psalm 73:28)

Not only are we called to draw near to God, but we are also told to draw near to our brothers and sisters in Christ as well….we are told to congregate together.

(Display picture of Grizzly Adams)

Does anyone recognize the man in this picture?

The man’s name is actor Dan Haggerty and he played a character by the name of Grizzly Adams in a TV series of the same name back in the mid 70’s

I was around 6 or 7 years old when this program was on TV and I remember thinking to myself: “This guy has totally got it together – he is the absolute definition of coolness”

Think about it, Grizzly Adams spent his life roaming the harsh wilderness of the Rocky Mountains all by himself with a bear for a companion….a BEAR!

How much manlier can you get than that?

The one thing that really appealed to me about Grizzly, even as a young kid, was his independence. Grizzly was a tough loaner. He didn’t need anyone to help him with anything.

To many of us – especially us guys – we tend to equate individualism with masculinity….those rugged tough guys like John Wayne are often looked up to for their ability to seemingly not need any assistance or companionship.

Part of the attraction of superheroes like batman and Superman is that they work alone. They are loan wolves who don’t need anything from anybody….this is a character trait that our American culture has always admired.

Being a natural introvert, this kind of individualism and independence really appealed to me, and for the first 4 decades of my life, I was very comfortable just sticking to myself and not getting involved in the lives of other people.

 But what does the Bible say about this kind of independent individualism?

It may be very appealing to our human nature, but is it appealing to God?

Verses 24 & 25 (Hebrews 10:24-25) from today’s passage provide the answer to this question: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a whole lot of Grizzly Adams in these verses.

In fact, I see a lot of the opposite. I see people coming together in community. I see people spending time with each other. I see people sacrificing their time and resources for the good of the group. I see individuals encouraging one another through uplifting words and selfless deeds of service.

In other words, I see collectivism as I priority over individualism – especially in the church.

Jesus knew that we would need to be dependent upon one another in order to successfully live out the Christian life….iron sharpens iron, as the Bible says.

The church itself (The bride of Christ) is, by definition, a group of people.

It’s a group of people who come together for the purposes of worshipping God and encouraging each other.

This reminds me of the words of Jesus from Matthew chapter 22 when He directs us to first and foremost “Love the Lord your God” but then also to “Love your neighbor as yourself”

Well, its really difficult to love someone who you never encounter.

It’s interesting that even 2,000 years ago when the church was brand new, there were still believers who didn’t want to congregate with other believers.

Verse 25 tells us that some were in the habit of not wanting to meet together. It’s not that they couldn’t physically meet together – they just didn’t want to meet together.

I’m trying to think of excuses that people who lived in the 1st century would use for not going to church:

Maybe there would be reasons like: My cow ran off and I had to go look for it….or My brick oven was really dirty and needed to be cleaned before lunch…..or my clay water pot sprung a leak and needed to be repaired – immediately.

These days, people who claim to be Christians find all sorts of reasons to place other activities higher on their list of priorities than attending worship service.

If you Google “Top 10 reasons why people don’t attend church” here is what you will find:

10) I go to brunch on Sundays (well, you gotta have food, right?...and there is literally no other time to eat besides 10:30 to 12:00 in the morning)

9) Church is full of hypocrites (Well, unfortunately, it’s also hypocritical to claim to follow Jesus but then disobey his Word that tells us to come together along with other people to worship Him)

8) I’m against organized religion (Well, It’s a good thing the pastor here at our church is highly unorganized!)

7) Church people ignore the disadvantaged in society (Um…Let me introduce you to our Potter’s meals…and our parking lot food distributions…and our benevolent fund. If you are truly in need – we will be happy to help you.)

6) I don’t believe in God (This is a sad one because some day you will believe in His existence – the only question is – will your belief in God begin before you die or after you die?)

5) Church people are too judgmental (Given the sins that many of us have done in the past, you’ve got nothing to worry about here!)

4) I’m just not being fed (Then come a little closer to the trough – put in some effort and come to some of our mid-week ministry opportunities. I guarantee your spiritual stomach will begin to fill up)

3) At some point in my past, someone at some church somewhere was really mean to me. (You know what, there are a lot of people claiming to follow Jesus who really are not genuine believers….sounds like you crossed paths with one of these wolves in sheep’s clothing)

2) I feel like I need to get right with God before I can come to church (That’s like saying your car needs to be clean before going to the carwash, or that your fever needs to clear up before going to the Doctor…you’ve got things backwards. Come right now as you are and watch how the Holy Spirit will begin to change you and your desire to sin)

1) Churches just want my money (Actually, our church doesn’t want money that is given with a poor attitude. But guess what, the more you discover that God owns everything anyway, the more you will want to give back to His Kingdom)

So, those are the top ten reasons why people don’t attend church.

I know of a few others that didn’t make the list, such as “My kids are in sports programs that meet on Sunday mornings” or “I work every Sunday morning” or “I’m just too tired.”

Well, at the end of the day, it all comes down to priorities, doesn’t it?

What you choose to prioritize in life will have a direct impact upon how involved you will be with other believers.

Notice I used the word choose.

Now, what I’m about to say may step on some toes this morning, but if you are finding that you only attend church sporadically, or not at all, its because you have chosen a particular lifestyle that causes you to prioritize certain things over that of gathering with other believers to worship God.

Someone might say, but Pastor Andy, my job just won’t allow me to be absent on Sunday mornings.…(let me also say this as delicately as I can) If your job does not allow you to be regularly absent on a Sunday morning, dare I say,  it’s probably time to find a new job.

Someone might say, but Pastor Andy, if you only knew how tired I am on Sunday mornings – it’s the only day I can relax at home in my PJ’s all day….and besides, I can catch the services on Facebook, right?

(Now let me say this as delicately as I can) Watching our services on Facebook is not a substitute for being here in person. We air our services online for two primary reasons.

1)     The first reason is for the benefit of members who are temporarily or permanently unable to be here in person because of a medical or geographical obstacle. If someone is physically unable to be here, or they live hundreds of miles away, our livestreams are a great way for them to still feel connected to our church.

2)     The second is for reaching those who are not yet affiliated with our church, but who might develop an interest in visiting us because of what they have experienced online. It’s much less intimidating visiting a church if you have an idea of what to expect when you get there – our livestreaming, then, can serve to be a fantastic evangelistic tool in this way.

We do not – I repeat, we do NOT – stream our services for those who could easily be here but simply choose not to.

At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, ‘Why is he making such a fuss about worshipping with other people, after all, I can worship God in my own car listening to a sermon or a podcast, I can have deep prayer time with God out in the woods or on the lake, I can sing songs to my savior at home in by bedroom…why do I need to be surrounded by other people to do these things?

For one, you are disobeying passages of scripture (like the one we are looking at today) that tell us to come together as believers.

Secondly, you are being disobedient to God by not participating in the Lord’s Supper with other believers. This is an important aspect of being a Christian that Jesus specifically instructed all of his followers to experience. Along with baptism, Communion is an ordinance of the church that every follower of Jesus needs to regularly partake in.

Thirdly, choosing to ignore other Christians reveals a selfish and self-centered attitude – one that is not congruent with being a true follower of Jesus Christ. If you view church simply as a place to satisfy your own spiritual needs, then you are neglecting the primary reason why believers congregate – that being, to share our spiritual gifts as we build each other up in the faith.

A wise pastor once said “There is no ‘Me’ in the word ‘Church’”

Unfortunately, the reason why we don’t see a lot of younger people in their 20’s and 30’s in churches today (Including this one) is that many of them have bought into the lie that one can be a Christian (Or “spiritual”) all by themselves.

They have been deceived into thinking that as long as you read the bible and pray once in a while, there is no need to have a connection with other believers.

We have become such an individual-based culture that many younger Christians are viewing their faith through this individualistic lens.

Advancements in technology, especially the smartphone, have produced an exponential increase in a me-first way of thinking.

If you need proof of this, just look at a group of young people at a restaurant – I can guarantee you that the majority of them will be doing something on their phones rather than engaging in conversation with other people.

Although the internet can be used for many positive things (including facetiming with grandkids or conducting research for the sermon you are listening to right now) it can also be gasoline to the fire of man’s natural selfishness and greed.

Folks, we need to remember that being a Christian is not about us – its about building others up and encouraging others to strive forward in the faith.

Hebrews 3:13 reminds us of this truth when it says: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing.”

One final reason why we are not to forsake the assembly of ourselves is that our enemy, Satan, loves to attack those who separate themselves from the group.

(Display lion/zebra picture)

This is a powerful image of what it looks like for a Christian to be separated from the church.

We are so much more vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy when we try to live the Christian life alone…away from other believers.

It is only in the church where we find safety from our enemy and encouragement from one another.

1 Peter 5:8-9 reminds us to “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

The church is a beautiful institution that Jesus himself initiated through his apostles. It is for our benefit – and privilege – to be a part of it.

To disregard the church as unnecessary would be to do so at your own eternal peril!

I was so encouraged to hear that when Covid hit, Pastor Johnson made the decision for the doors of this church to remain open to those who wanted to continue to congregate.

The leadership at this church understood the vital importance of meeting together as a body of believers – and it remains just as vital today.

Let’s Pray.