2/9/07 St. Mary’s at 9.30am. The Revd. Julia Boothby

Hebrews 13 v 1-8


Well, we have reached that time of year again. Tomorrow, or this week at some point schools all over the country start again after the long summer break. Teachers and staff are bracing themselves for the sudden onslaught of hundreds of youngsters and everywhere mums are frantically buying new shoes and uniform, whilst their sons and daughters are already counting off the days until half term!

As those who have lived and worked in schools for a long time, my husband and I were discussing the other day the fact that for us the new year really starts in September as opposed to in January. The new academic year seems to be the start of so many new things. When we worked in the boarding house this was even more the case, as we prepared for new boys coming and adjusting to a new school and a new way of life as they adapted to boarding. For those returning it was also a time of change as they progressed up the school, from small dorms, to individual study bedrooms and to more responsibility. What never ceased to amaze us either was how much they would grow over the summer holidays and return looking very much more grown up  (even if they didn’t act like it!!).  For those beginning a new school it is a time of even more change and new things and for those moving on from school to university or college the same applies. And so it seems that September is the start of many new things and of change all round, a change that is reflected in the weather as we see the onset of autumn and the gradual shortening of the days.

It was that word change that I began to think about as I looked at our reading from Hebrews 13. Here, towards, the end of this wonderful, if not easy, epistle, the writer begins to sum up what he has been saying with a list of injunctions that we are to do that show we are a changed people, a people of God, not of the world. We are told to

Love one another with brotherly love
Show hospitality to strangers
Remember those in prison
Honour marriage
Keep our lives free from the love of money
Remember those who have helped us to know more of God and imitate them.

It seems to me that these things represent what we might call a distinctive Christian lifestyle. They show that our hearts are not set on earthly gain and selfish ambition, in the workplace or in relationships, but on God. By the way that we live, we are to show the world that we are different, that we have been changed by God to reflect his love and mercy, and that we no longer live for ourselves, but for him. These injunctions can, in very many ways, be summed up by the phrase…not living for ourselves..., which is in marked contrast to the way that many today seem to live their lives. So often today what, at first glance appears as hospitality, is no more than a business meeting where contacts are made and deals are done, be it over dinner or on the golf course. The sanctity of marriage and relationships is constantly broken down by selfish desire and lack of faithfulness. The love of money is at the root of so many things, globally as well as in our own lives.

As Christians, the writer to the Hebrews tells us, we must act differently; we must live as those who live by faith in God. That great roll call of the saints that we have in Chapter 12 of this book reminds us of all those who have lived their lives for God, those who have been changed by him and who have looked, not to earthly gain, but to the promise of eternal life, the kingdom of God that is coming, a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And we are to imitate them; just as we are called upon to remember those whose faith and example have helped us in our journey of faith.

As I look back over my life, there are certain individuals whose encouragement, prayer and example have changed me and influenced me as I have seen God at work in them and through them. One particular man, whom I may have told you about before, was a Captain in the Church Army, although by the time I got to know him he was retired. But what influenced me was the way that when he prayed I felt that he was reaching out and touching the very face of God. There was holiness and humility in his prayers that touched me deeply. I am sure that for you too there have been those whose lives and witness has helped you; those who you can see have set their hearts on God and lived for him and not for themselves.
 
But to live like this requires us to change. In a passage in Romans that is some ways reflects this one in Hebrews, Paul tells us that we are not to be conformed to the ways of this world, but transformed by having our lives renewed by God. Time and again we are told in the Bible that we must allow ourselves to be changed by God. The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God longs to change our hearts of stone for hearts of flesh, to put his new and living Holy Spirit in our lives. John the Baptist calls for people to repent, literally meaning to turn around, to change direction and follow God’s way and not our own. And Jesus time and again calls us to follow him, to lose our own lives, to forsake our desires and plans and follow him.

So how are we to respond? We are called on to live as those in the world, but not of the world, to allow our hearts and minds to be changed by God so that we can more readily reflect his love and offer of forgiveness and hope to all that we meet. But how are we changed by God?

1. Firstly we are changed when we accept him as Lord and as king. The bible tells us that we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. But that is worked out in our lives on a daily basis as we learn to come increasingly to God in prayer, in reading his word, in listening for his voice and in being obedient to it. And that requires discipline. Spending time with God daily, waiting on him and praying. This is how we will be changed.

2. We will be changed as we learn to trust God in all the circumstances of our lives, the good and the bad. Of course trusting God in the good times is easy, but trusting God in the dark and desperate times is a different proposition altogether. It requires us to hold on to God, to cling on with tenacity, a bit like you see a limpet or shell clinging to a rock even when enormous waves come crashing down on it. And as we hold in, with tears and desperation so we discover the truth that the writer to the Hebrews tells us in those two wonderful character statements about God that he makes. First that God will never leave us or forsake us. Secondly that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. God will always be there no matter how hard life is, he does not go away. We may feel as though he does, but that is a feeling…and not a fact.

We are to be those of faith..who believe what they cannot see and hope in God to enable, strengthen and bring us through the darkest days. And to encourage us there are countless examples of those in the Bible who have faced great pain, loss and grief and yet whose trust in God brings them through to a place where, not only do they know God better, but they also have been changed by him through those circumstances to be more like him. Think of some of the great patriarchs that we have been looking at in our evensong services. Think of Jacob, running away scared for his life, leaving his family and home far behind, being cheated by Laban, wrestling with God in the dark and then able to say at the end of his life…God has been my shepherd all my days. Think of Job who loses everything yet holds on to God despite it and ends his days blessed and at peace. Think of Moses and Joshua, ordinary men who took God at his word and proved him faithful and true in all the wanderings of the people of Israel. Ultimately think of Jesus, who endured the cross and through it brought us life, forgiveness and hope. This is our God…the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. This is God who will not leave us, who is always with us and longs for us to call on him, to know his strength and enabling.

This is our God. May we trust him, love him and may we be changed…as the hymn writer puts it
“Changed from glory, into glory, till in heaven take our place, till we cast our crowns before him, lost in wonder, love and praise.”