“The Consistent God” – Hebrews 13:5-10

Over the years, the Pew Research Center has produced a number of polls regarding the religious life of America. During this time, the polls have shown a growing trend of people to no longer identify with the Church and Christianity.

In the most recent survey, just over 76 percent of Americans identified as Christian, with evangelicals making up 25.4% of those who identified as Christian, with Catholics making up the next largest bloc at 20.8%.

That same survey shows that those who identify as “non-religious”—called the “nones”—has risen to its highest point at 22.8%. That’s almost as many people in our nation that do not identify with any religion as those who proclaim to be evangelicals. The largest age group who identify as “none” are between the ages of 18-29. Fully 38% of that age group do not have a religious affiliation of any kind. Another 29% in that age group don’t know whether they believe in God.

I raise these issues because the question has been raised whether or not Jesus is still relevant in our society. There are those who may not necessarily question the existence of God, but do question the relevancy of the Christian faith and the way it is practiced.

How we practice our faith goes a long way in determining how people perceive our faith. It is important, then, that we realize that Jesus is always relevant and that our lives reflect that relevancy.

In today’s passage, we know that Jesus is relevant because He is consistent—He is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Background

As the writer of Hebrews is concluding his letter, he leaves final instructions on how to live out our faith in Christ. He has spent the letter showing how Christ is superior in every way from the Old Testament and the Law. Now he wants to make sure the recipients of the letter express their faith in the way they live their lives.

In verses 1-3 of the chapter, he reminds them to demonstrate their love for one another by providing hospitality and identifying with those who are suffering for the Lord. Verse 4 is focused on the sanctity of marriage, with the warning that God judges the adulterer and the sexually immoral.

As we come to the verses we are focusing on today, we see that it is all focused around the statement of v. 8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” It is the assurance that Jesus is always there, that He is always reliable. Everything we know about God is confirmed in the life of Jesus, who never strayed from His ministry or His teachings. Jesus shows us what it means to live out our faith by being consistent in every way and remains consistent even today and tomorrow.

Central Truth: We can anchor our lives on God’s consistency.

The consistent Christ:

1. Frees us to trust Him (5-6)

“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?’”

A familiar verse that is often used out of context is Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” When most people quote the verse, they use it to mean that God will give them the power to do or be or say whatever they want to be or do or say. While there are other verses that seem to indicate this truth, that’s not what Paul is referring to. The context is important.

The verse comes at the end of the following verses: “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be c content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:10-13). An even greater context would be to look at what’s written immediately before these verses, where Paul writes to rejoice, to pray, to be thankful and to focus on the positive things in life (cf. Philippians 4:4-9). What Paul is saying is that if we will trust in God, He will see us through whatever the circumstances that surround us. God gives us the strength to endure.

This same idea is present in today’s passage. In this instance, the writer tells us that we need to avoid the love for money. Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters in His teaching on money and trust in God. The implication of what the New Testament tells us about money is that if we pursue it, we will tend to put our trust in our wealth and not in our God. The more we acquire, the less we believe we need to turn to God to see us through all circumstances.

Instead, the Bible tells us to be content with our circumstances. This is not the Bible’s way of saying we have to settle for what “fate” has thrown at us, that we should not aspire to greater things. What the Bible is saying is that our faith must always be in God. The writer reminds us God’s eternal presence with us will fortify us in all circumstances and that the assurance of God’s presence frees us from fear and doubt and assures us that victory is ours in Christ.

Because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever and because He has promised to be with us until the end of the age, we free to trust Him and be free from worry.

2. Gives us examples to follow (7-8)

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Everyone has someone they look up to, someone they want to emulate in the way that person lived or spoke or acted. We all have heroes, even if no one else knows that this person is a hero. It can be our parents, a friend or coworker. It can be a teacher, a coach or a boss or supervisor. And it can be a former pastor or Sunday School teacher or some other person who has had an impact on our spiritual growth. That’s what the writer of Hebrews calls us to do.

Each one us knows that our loyalty must always be to Jesus. The reality is, though, that how we demonstrate this loyalty was modeled by someone who came before us and taught us what it means to follow Christ. We look to their examples and remember the things they taught us.

In the Bible, we know that Paul had disciples such as Timothy, Titus, Luke and Mark. Mark also learned under Peter. It’s not that the apostles sought to usurp Christ, but they knew the importance of discipling others in what it means to follow Jesus.

As we read these verses, we are probably thinking back on someone who had an influence in our walk with Christ. We don’t try to be them, but we try to live our lives in a way that is patterned after them.

The reason we can do this is because of the consistency of Christ. The call to follow Jesus has carried forward for over 2000 years. It has done so because the One we follow has remained true to Himself and His words. We can turn to the Bible and learn about Jesus, and we can trust in the Holy Spirit to illuminate our understanding of Scripture. We can trust the Holy Spirit to guide us in a way that is consistent with Jesus, because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. His disciples have earnestly sought to reflect that same character throughout the ages.

Because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever, we can learn from those He has called to follow Him and demonstrate His life in our world today.

3. Blesses us with His grace (9-10)

“Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.”

There are several things that separate Christianity with cults. Most cults will deny the Trinity, claiming that Jesus is less than God. Most cults will be based upon works, not grace.

Another way to distinguish between cults and true faith is that cults will change their teachings to reflect changes or to correct outdated teachings of the cult’s founder. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for instance, began their cult with the firm belief that Jesus would come again when the Witnesses numbered 144,000. The moment the 144,001st member of the cult joined, the teaching changed. Mormons originally taught that the mark of a true Latter Day Saint was that their skin would turn white. That’s no longer the teaching of the Mormon Church.

While it’s true that there have been some changes in the way we interpret the Bible, there has been a consistency throughout the history of the Church that focuses on the true nature of the Word of God, Jesus. For instance, the Bible never says that slavery is wrong. As we came to a greater understanding of God and His love for all people, the Church as a whole began to understand that slavery, though present in the Bible, was inconsistent with the nature of God. Today, we use those verses that speak to the slave-master relationship as relating to employer-employee relations. The truths in those passages are still relevant and do not need to be altered to reflect our present day.

This is because the central message of the Bible is that God is love, and God expresses His love to us in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and restore the relationship between us and God when we sinned. This restoration of relationship and forgiveness of sin is a result of God’s grace and mercy, and this free gift of grace saves us and makes us the children of God. As John writes, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).

The writer tells us that, because the consistent Christ gives us salvation through grace, we have no need to change His teachings to reflect our world. We are not carried away by strange teachings, because our hearts are strengthened by grace, not works or some religious ceremony or ritual. The table the writer refers to is the altar of the Lord, reserved for God’s children.

Because Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever, we can always rely on the grace He gives and our hearts can be strengthened because of His grace.

Conclusion

There are so many things that are changing in our world. I look at the world my grandparents were born into and see the world that we now live in. At the turn of the last century, the primary means of transport was still the horse. Now, we talk of electric-powered cars and trucks, and traverse the globe through large jet airplanes. Rockets carry men and women into outer space. The telegraph and land-line telephones are now replaced by hand-held computers that are far more powerful than the computers that got us to the moon.

Society has changed, too. There are those who question whether these changes are good or not, but they are here, nonetheless.

In all these changes, there is still the fact that Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. Because Jesus is consistent, we can face the changes in our circumstances and in our world. In the final word, it is the changing world that most needs to hear the true and consistent word that Jesus saves.