Because this verse is often used as a form of ‘benediction’ at the close of a worship service, there is a danger of it’s becoming a ‘formality’ to which we become so accustomed that we don’t think very deeply about what the Author of Hebrews is conveying to his readers, many of whom are struggling with their new-found faith and are tempted to give up and go back to their old ways (cf 10:23-25, 35-36 - “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. … So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”).
We also live in very discouraging times, with things happening around us in our world, in our own lives and in the lives of those close to us, that cause us to wonder, “Where is my Sovereign God in all this as I cry out to him in prayer but he doesn’t seem to hear?” So the Author of this helpful letter is reminding them (and me) of four important, unchanging truths:
1. That our God is the source of true and lasting peace, a ‘peace that passes all understanding’ (Philippians. 4:7), a peace that we experience in a strange and marvellous way when we hand our lives over, unreservedly, to Jesus our Saviour - a peace that ‘the world can neither give nor take away’. (John 14:27);
2. Jesus is alive today because he was raised from the dead and his tomb is empty. I love singing Bill Gaither’s song: “Because he lives, I can face tomorrow, because he lives, all fear is gone; because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because he lives! And then one day, I'll cross the river, I'll fight life's final war with pain; and then, as death gives way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know he lives!”;
3. This living Jesus, my Saviour is the Good Shepherd who gave his life for his sheep and he has bound himself by an everlasting Covenant to look after me, his often stupid, wandering, sheep; and
4. His constant pastoral care for me includes ‘equip[ping me] with everything good for doing his will, and work[ing] in [me to do] what is pleasing to him’. O yes, ‘to him [alone] be glory for ever and ever’.
Helen Lemmel was born in 1864. She moved to the United States at about the age of 12 and from a young age, her musical ability was noticed by all those around her. A few years after her marriage, a tragic illness caused her to lose her vision. Her husband, refusing to attend to a blind wife, left her, so she sat down and wrote, "O soul are you weary and troubled, no light in the darkness you see; there’s light for a look at the Saviour, and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. ... His word shall not fail you he promised; believe him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying, his perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."
Rev Bruce Christian
