“Word for Today” – Hebrews 7 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
To this day, people still think of him every time they hear the finale of Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture. You know who I’m talking about. He was one of six Texas Rangers, riding in the sun. They rode into an ambush, and all were killed but one. This single survivor laid there on the trail, and was found by Tonto and lived to tell his tale. He wore a mask as a disguise and thus began his fame, and rode a silver stallion – the Lone Ranger is his name.
For all of the Lone Ranger’s fame, his identity has remained a mystery. Some people think that behind his trademark mask is the historical Western hero Wild Bill Hickok. And yet, in episode after episode, distressed damsel after distressed damsel would be rescued without ever learning his name. Indeed, it even became customary at the end of each episode to ask, “Who was that masked man?” And the answer would always be the same: “Why, he’s the Lone Ranger!”
In our reading for today from Hebrews 7, we are introduced to a lone ranger of sorts. He is a curious and cryptic fellow, being “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life” (verse 3). At least we know his name, though: Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the king of Salem, an ancient name for Jerusalem. In Genesis 14:17-20, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Melchizedek appears to Abraham and brings his some bread and wine and blesses Abraham. In gratitude, Abraham offers him a tithe. After this, Melchizedek simply recedes into the pages of history.
Who is this masked man? And how can he be without father or mother, without genealogy, and without beginning of days or end of life? Such obscurity has led some biblical interpreters to the conclusion that Melchizedek was a Christophany. That is, he was a preincarnate appearance of Christ. This is why, these interpreters would say, he is described so mysteriously by the preacher of Hebrews.
I am not sure this is the best interpretation of Melchizedek’s identity. A common Jewish interpretive principle – and really, a common Jewish interpretive trick – involves looking at what is not mentioned in a text and then assuming that because it is not mentioned, it did not happen. The Jewish philosopher Philo, for instance, argued that since Cain’s death is not mentioned in the Scriptures, Cain did not die. Such arguments are, of course, utterly arbitrary since no written account contains every possible detail of any given happening. But this seems to be the tact that the preacher in Hebrews is taking. Because Melchizedek’s origins, birth, and death are not mentioned, he must not have any origins, birth, or death, says Hebrews’ preacher. This description of Melchizedek, in turn, helps him connect Melchizedek’s identity closely to Christ’s: “[Christ] has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (verse 16). Like Melchizedek, Christ has no beginning and no end. He is our ultimate high priest who “does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (verse 27).
We will never get full insight into the identity of Melchizedek. He will forever remain a “masked man.” The good news, however, is that while Melchizedek the priest remains masked, Christ the priest does not. For Christ has been “revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:20). The mask is off. Jesus’ goodness, life, and salvation have been revealed. That is why the preacher of Hebrews later says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). We can fix our eyes on Jesus because he is not enigmatic and hidden, but glorified before our very eyes through the cross. He is our great, unmasked high priest.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 6 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
You know the rhyme, but did you know that it was originally a riddle? Before the identity of Humpty Dumpty was so well known, children, after hearing this poem, would be asked, “Who is Humpty Dumpty?” They would then have to decipher the clues. What kind of a thing is so fragile that, once it takes a great fall, it cannot be put back together again? The picture above, taken from a 1902 Mother Goose storybook, gives us the answer to this rhyming riddle in parentheses. Humpty Dumpty is an egg.
The truth of the human condition is that we all have a bit of Humpty Dumpty in us. We are all more fragile than we care to believe or admit. That is why a stinging comment can cut so deeply. Or a public failure can embarrass so monumentally. Or a broken relationship can hurt so horribly. We are all fragile.
It is this sobering recognition of humanity’s fragility that leads the preacher of Hebrews to offer a stark warning in our reading for today from Hebrews 6:
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (verses 4-6)
The preacher of Hebrews reminds us that there are some who have taken a great fall. But this is not a fall off a wall, this is a fall from faith. The Greek word for “fall away” in verse 6 is parapipto. This is the only place in the New Testament that this word appears. It is from the verb pipto, meaning, “to fall,” and intensified by the preposition para. In other words, it denotes someone who has not just fallen, but fallen hard. They have taken a great fall.
The preacher of Hebrews warns that a person who takes such a parapipto cannot be put back together again: “It is impossible…if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance” (verses 4, 6). But this is not because God does not desire to put them back together again. Indeed, he would love nothing more than to see them repent and restored. But these people will have none of God’s restoration. Instead, they violently and vociferously “crucify the Son of God all over again and subject him to public disgrace” (verse 6). The problem, then, lies not in the will of God, but in will of these men. For they do not want to be put back together again. Instead, they rail against God and seek to destroy him. Indeed, the Greek word for “public disgrace” in verse 6 is paradeigmatizo. Like parapipto, this is a compound word consisting of the verb deigmatizo, meaning, “to disgrace,” and then the preposition para which serves to intensify the main verb. These people, then, do not just want to disgrace Jesus, they want to radically disgrace him. They want to subject him and his message to as much scathing ridicule as they can marshal.
A question that I am regularly asked about passages like this one is, “How do I know if I’ve fallen away? What if I have taken a great fall, never to be brought back to faith?” My response to each anxious inquiry is the same: “If you’re worried about your faith, then you have not fallen from your faith. For your very concern betrays that you have not rejected your faith, but instead desire to grow in it.” The people the preacher of Hebrews addresses are those who hate God and show no concern for their sin, not those who desire God and are worried about their sin. This is why the preacher continues: “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case – things that accompany salvation” (verse 9). In our case, the preacher reminds us, we have better things – salvific things. Salvific things which come from the one who was once paradeigmatizo-d on a cross for us and for our salvation.
The promise, then, is that even when we take a giant parapipto into sin, when we trust in God, we can have the full assurance that even if all the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot, the King can put us back together again. And when he does, we are stronger than ever. For we rest in the strong arm of the one who conquered all – even death on a cross.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 5 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
It was the summer of 1918 and Belleau Wood, France. A brigade of US Marines was facing off against some five divisions of German soldiers. The fighting was fierce and the battle was bloody. But the Marines were gaining ground. Then came the order: “Take the hill.” And take the hill they did. Wearing gas masks to protect themselves from the mustard gas being flung at them by their German enemies, the Marines charged the hill, scrambling on all fours, with eyes that were bloodshot and sweating profusely from the summertime heat. The German soldiers, seeing these grizzly Marines coming at them, are said to have yelled that they were being attacked by “teufel hunden,” poor German for “dogs from hell.” To this day, Marines still proudly tout the moniker “Devil Dog” as a tribute to their determination to “take the hill” in battle, no matter what.
Hills are taken not only literally in battle, but also figuratively in life. One company may try to “take the hill” of another company in a hostile takeover. At a game, one football team will try to “take the hill” of another football team as it seeks gridiron glory. And what child hasn’t played “king of the hill” where he seeks to “take the hill” of another child? We have all tried to take one hill or another at one time or another.
But some hills cannot be taken. This is the lesson in our reading for today from Hebrews 5. While companies can be bought and games can be won and positions can be secured, the things of God cannot be taken like a hill in battle. Rather, they must be granted. This is why the author of Hebrews writes:
Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. (verses 1-4)
You cannot take honors from God. Instead, such honors must be bestowed by God. The author of Hebrews offers the example of the Old Testament office of high priest, of which he says, “No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God” (verse 4). Indeed, in Exodus 16, when a man named Korah seeks to forcibly obtain this office when it has not been given to him, the ground opens up and swallows him and his family in divine judgment.
What, then, does all this mean? In the words of the apostle Paul, it means, “Each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him” (1 Corinthians 7:17). Our lives should not be marked by incessant attempts to “take hills” and obtain power. Yes, there are times when hills must be taken. Most notably, we are called in the mission of God to take the hill of hell by proclaiming the gospel to the lost (cf. Matthew 16:18). But at the same time we are called to take some hills, others are better left alone. For we are also called to be content with the positions in which God has placed us. There is no need to live our lives greedily yearning for the next hill not yet taken. For such yearning saps our hearts of thankfulness.
Are you content with the hill you’re on? Or do you live your life always trying to take the next hill? Today, thank God for the hill you are on right now and seek contentment on that hill. After all, it is a gift from the One who died on a hill called Calvary. And that makes your hill a great hill, worthy of your deepest gratitude.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 4 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
The other day, I was having a conversation with a co-worker about a vacation she and her husband had taken. They had gone on an all-inclusive cruise. And her acclaim of the cruise was ringing. “It was remarkable,” she said. “We didn’t have to do a thing. All we did was relax. You know how sometimes you come back from a vacation tired, feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation? I didn’t feel that way at all. I came back truly rested.”
I know the feeling of needing a vacation from my vacation. I once went on a so-called “vacation” with some buddies to do some hiking in Big Bend National Park. We hiked all day and slept for maybe five hours at night. By the time I returned home, I was so sore and tired, I slept for fifteen hours straight.
The Israelites too knew the feeling a needing a vacation from their vacation. In our reading for today from Hebrews 4, the author recounts how the Israelites were led to a veritable resort when they were led into the Promised Land. After all, this was the “land flowing with milk and honey.” (Joshua 5:6). Thus, it should have been a place of tranquil respite. But instead, it became a place where the Israelites continually rebelled against God and his commandments. As great as God’s Promised Land might have been, it did not offer the Israelites true rest because the Israelites belligerently toiled in their sin. This is why the author of Hebrews writes, “If Joshua had given the Israelites rest, God would not have spoken later about another day” (verse 8). Joshua could not lead the Israelites into true rest. Thus, God had to promise rest for another day in another way. What is this “other rest” that God promises? The author describes it “a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (verse 9). The Mishnah, an ancient compendium of Jewish rabbinical teaching, explains this Sabbath-rest thusly: “[There is a] time to come…that shall be all Sabbath and rest in the life everlasting” (Tamid 7:4). The rest that is promised is life everlasting, when we, as God’s people, will enjoy unfettered fellowship with him. In this world, we slog and sweat, but on the Last Day, we will rest from our work and with our God. In the mean time, however, we are to “strive to enter that rest” (verse 11, ESV).
Although I enjoy going on vacation, I do not particularly enjoy preparing for vacation. For there are always so many things to prepare before I leave the office. Bible studies have to be drafted. Guest speakers and teachers have to be scheduled. Writings have to readied. Work is always especially intense before I take time away. I have to strive in order to go on vacation. So it is with our salvation. There is an eternal rest coming, but in the mean time, there is plenty to do. There are our families to support and people to serve and lost people to evangelize. And sometimes, it can all seem a little overwhelming. But the author of Hebrews reminds us: Do not fear such striving. For such striving is fine preparation for the eternal rest you will enjoy with God.
Does your life involve some particularly severe strife right now? If so, remember that your striving in the midst of stress is only temporary. For on the other side of such strife, there lies rest. And so strive away. For your rest is coming. And it will be the best rest you have ever gotten in your life. Because it will be the rest that is eternal life.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 3 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
Little Johnny was not happy. Before every recess, his teacher, Mrs. Smith, would ask for a volunteer to be the line leader to guide the cavalcade of students from their classroom to the playground. And before every recess, little Johnny would always wildly flail his arm in the air, begging to be chosen as the line leader. But on this day, like on so many others, Johnny was passed over. Instead, Mrs. Smith chose Suzy. And Johnny could not contain his incredulity. “ But Suzy always gets to be the line leader!” Johnny protested.
Suzy does not always get to be the line leader, no matter what Johnny may say. Other students, including Johnny, get to be line leaders as well. Johnny, however, decided to employ some hyperbole to protest the inequity he perceived in the line leading system.
We all make hyperbolic statements from time to time. If our stomach is growling, we may say, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” Or, if rush hour traffic is especially slow one afternoon, we may announce to our family when we finally arrive at the front door, “It took forever to get home.” Then, of course, there is this classic hyperbolic chiding of hyperbole: “I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate!”
In our reading for today from Hebrews 3, the speaker warns his hearers about the dangers of falling away from faith in Christ. And to issue his warning, he quotes Psalm 95:
Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, “Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.” (verses 7-10)
“Human hearts are always going astray,” God says. Notably, the original Hebrew text of this Psalm does not include the word “always.” Instead, it reads, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways” (Psalm 95:10). But the author of Hebrews does not quote the Hebrew text of this Psalm. Instead, he quotes a second century BC Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint which does indeed include the word “always.” But human hearts can’t always be straying from God. Surely this is a bit of hyperbole.
Sadly, it’s not. Rather, it’s a tragically precise diagnosis of the human condition. For humans, as sinners, are not and cannot be completely devoted to God. This does not mean that a person cannot trust in God for salvation and walk with him closely. It simply means that a human’s heart will always be tempted and tugged by the wily ways of Satan. Martin Luther explains aptly:
The human will is placed between [God and Satan] like a beast of burden. If God rides it, it wills and goes where God wills…If Satan rides it, it wills and goes where Satan wills; nor can it choose to run to either of the two riders or to seek him out, but the riders themselves contend for the possession and control of it. (AE 33:III)
The human heart is tempted and tugged by Satan – always. For Satan and God are always contending for human souls.
Thankfully, the “always” of our sinful hearts is not the only “always” of Scripture. There is another “always,” which Paul so beautifully lays before us in 2 Corinthians 4:10: “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” We not only always carry around a sinful heart, we also always carry around the death of Christ, which is the salvation of our souls. And the “always” of Christ’s perfect death always conquers the “always” of our sinful hearts. And that’s no hyperbole. Praise be to God.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 2 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
My wife Melody’s self control is impressive, especially this time of year. Over these next few weeks, she and I will be attending several Christmas parties, all of which are bound to have a wide array of holiday treats and eats, from Christmas cookies to cakes to brownies to fudge. It is in these times that Melody’s willpower most clearly shines through. With a table of caloric temptation spread before her, she grabs a plate and takes hardly a thing. When I ask her, “Don’t you want some more to eat?” her response is inevitably, “No, I just want a taste.” Just a taste? Just a taste of gooey chocolate chip cookies? Just a taste of melt-in-your-mouth delectable fudge?
Unfortunately, I do not share Melody’s self-control when it comes to food. To quote the old Lays Potato Chip slogan, “No one can eat just one.” This is most certainly true of me. If one piece of fudge is good, two must be better. My plate will probably wind up piled all too high at these yuletide galas.
In our reading for today from Hebrews 2, Jesus takes just a taste. But the taste that he takes is not of some holiday treat, but of a dreadful death: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (verse 9). Jesus, the author of Hebrews says, is our “taste-tester.” And he has tasted the bitter plate of death for you and for me.
But how can a person just “taste” death? After all, death is not exactly something you can sample to see if it’s to your liking. No, once you die, you have ingested the totality of death. No leftovers of life remain.
But with Jesus things are different. For Jesus did indeed die, but he did not stay that way. His death was just a taste of death, for life awaited three days later. And by his death and resurrection, Jesus also managed to destroy the very chef of death, Satan himself. As the author of Hebrews says: “By his death Christ destroyed him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil” (verse 14). And now the promise is that because Jesus has tasted the eternal death of hell for us, we will never have to: “If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death” (John 8:52). Jesus has tasted – and trampled – death’s diner of hell.
Now, in Christ, we are invited to another taste. But this taste is a taste of life: “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8). Our Lord invites us to taste his goodness, savor his life, and sample his salvation. We can taste him in his Word, which is food for our souls (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3). We can taste him in Communion as he comes to us with his body and blood (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25). And one day, we will taste with him in a heavenly feast that will have no end (cf. Revelation 19:9). This is the glorious taste of God. And the best part is, you don’t just have to have a taste. Go ahead, devour everything on your plate. After all, it’s definitely good for you.
“Word for Today” – Hebrews 1 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
Many of these are cliché, I know, but the other day, I stumbled across this mildly amusing list of the top six things you’ll never hear a husband say to his wife:
6. “Here honey, you use the remote.”
5. “Ooh, Antonio Banderas and Brad Pitt? That’s a movie I gotta see!”
4. “I’d love to drink chai tea and talk about my feelings with you and your girlfriends.”
3. “Let me hold your purse while you try that on.”
2. “Why don’t you come to the mall with me and help me pick out a pair of shoes.”
1. “Forget Monday Night Football, let’s watch Supernanny.”
For the record, I will hold my wife’s purse while she’s trying something on. I won’t watch Supernanny instead of Monday Night Football.
The book of Hebrews, which we begin reading today, isn’t a book per se, but a sermon. We do not know who preached this sermon, but he begins with a list of the top six things you’ll never hear God say to one of his angels. They are:
6. “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (verse 5)
5. “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.” (verse 5)
4. “Let all God’s angels worship him.” (verse 6)
3. “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” (verses 8-9)
2. “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (verses 10-12)
1. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (verse 13)
This list of top six things, cited from the Old Testament, is meant to argue that, because God has said these things to Jesus while refusing to say these things even to his angels, Jesus is “superior to the angels” (verse 4) and is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (verse 3). That is, he is God Almighty himself. In other words, this sermon argues that Jesus isn’t just one divine being among many; rather, he is the divine being who created the very heavens and the earth. No one can compare to him. As such, God says things to Jesus that he would never say to any other divine being.
For the two millennia since he walked this earth, many people have said many things about Jesus. Some have talked about Jesus as a great prophet, others have called him an enlightened teacher. Still others have tried to deny, futilely and unsuccessfully, that Jesus ever existed. He was simply a figure, these scholars would say, of sectarian Jewish Messianic expectations.
In the midst of a world where so many things are said about Jesus, it is important, the preacher of Hebrews argues, to listen to what God has said to Jesus. For it is in the voice of God that we hear a true description and depiction of who Jesus really is. And Jesus, according to God himself, is superior over all. He is superior over all the angels, he is superior over all the earth, he is superior over every problem and every pain and every worry and every care. Jesus is superior over all – even you.
Every day, we face things which, frankly, are superior over us. A sickness, a tragedy, a loss – these things are unstoppable by us because they’re superior over us. There are many things in this world over which we have no say or sway. But as superior as those things might be over us, they’re not superior over Jesus. For Jesus is superior over all. And this means that Jesus can work out even the most gut-wrenching problems of this world, which are all too gleeful to sink their sadistic claws into our souls. They may be superior over us, but they’re not superior over Jesus. So whatever superior problem you might face today, take it to Jesus. For there is nothing he can’t handle.
“Word for Today” – 2 Thessalonians 3 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
Oh what sordid stories the office water cooler could tell. Yes, there are the Monday morning conversations about the Sunday afternoon football games. Those are innocuous enough. But then there are the less savory conversations – the ones that tend to be whispered rather than spoken. “Did you hear,” one person might murmur, “that Steve’s wife caught him at a bar with another woman?” “Yeah,” another might respond, “I heard she didn’t let him to come home last night.” Oh what sordid stories that office water cooler could tell. Are they important stories? Perhaps, but they are certainly not appropriate in the context of the water cooler. Are they edifying stories? Most certainly not. Are they juicy and enthralling stories? Yes. And that’s why people can’t resist sharing them in their best tabloid like tenor.
In our reading for today from 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul addresses much of the conversation that is shared around office water coolers. He writes: “We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat” (verses 11-12). Paul warns that those who do not work will find work to do. But it will not be noble work; rather, it will be the sinful work of gossip. Paul’s wordplay in verse 11 is masterful and is retained quite well by the NIV. The Greek word for “busy” is ergazomai while the word for “busybody” is periergazomai. Notice the preposition of the second word – peri – from whence we get our English word “perimeter,” meaning, “around.” Paul’s argument is this: If a person does not work, he will “work around,” so to speak, running around and butting into other people’s affairs. Such busybody work is sinful and dangerous.
True work, not busybody work, is a gift from God. Indeed, when God created the heavens and the earth, one of the things we are told about the first man Adam is: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). We were created not for idleness, but for work. Sadly, many people have traded their God-given mandate to work for the allures of laziness and “working around.” One 2005 survey found that the average office worker spends 2.09 hours per day surfing the internet when he or she should be working. Of course, these time wasters had a whole host of excuses as to why they fritter away their work hours. “I’m underpaid for the work I do,” some said. “My co-workers distract me,” others responded. And then there was, “I don’t have enough evening or weekend time to relax.” But regardless of the excuse, the bottom line is this: Such idleness breaks the command of God.
So how are we, as Christians, to respond to the gossip, laziness, and lethargy so prevalent among so many? Paul gives us this answer: “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (verse 13, ESV). We are to roll up our sleeves and do good – yes, even to those who are lazy, lethargic, and busybodies. Idleness and gossip may mark the ways of the world, but it should not mark the way of a Christian. So what good thing can you do today? It may be work, but remember, God made you to find joy in such work. Thank God for the tasks he has given you today.
“Word for Today” – 2 Thessalonians 2 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
Our last presidential election battle was a nail biter – at least on the Democrat side of the ticket. Two candidates, neck and neck, dueling it out, and spending exorbitant amounts of campaign cash in hopes of becoming either the first African American or the first female president of the United States.
In her concession speech to now President Obama, now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton uttered some words that have become a rallying cry of sorts for those who continue to hold out hope that there will one day be a female president. She said, “If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House. And although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it” (Clinton, 6.7.2008). Clinton was referring, of course, to her 18 million supporters who voted for her in the presidential primary. And indeed, those glass ceilings, once so prevalent in circles of power, have lost much of their assumed invulnerability as both men and women have risen to meet the daunting challenges of the twenty first century.
In our reading for today from 2 Thessalonians 2, we meet a leader who is seeking to shatter the high, hard glass ceilings of this world’s positions of power, except that this leader is seeking to shatter them for his own sinister purposes. The apostle Paul warns:
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (verses 1-4, ESV)
Shortly before the return of Christ, there will come a man of lawlessness. And this man of lawlessness, according to verse 4, will seek to “oppose and exalt himself against” the authority of the world’s most powerful leaders who, in the days referred to here, will consider themselves to be “gods.” The Greek for the phrase “oppose and exalt” is antikeimenos kai hyperairomenos. Notice the prefixes: anti and hyper. Anti for “oppose” and hyper for “exalt.” This man of lawlessness, it seems, will be both contrary to others and consider himself better than others. In the midst of many “so-called gods” (verse 4), all of whom have ego problems because they think of themselves as divine, this guy will have the ultimate ego problem. And it is his ego problem that will relentlessly drive him to shatter the glass ceilings of this world’s power structures.
But for all of the glass ceilings that this man of lawlessness may be able to shatter, there is one glass ceiling through which he will never be able to rise: the glass ceiling above which the true sovereign of the universe, God Almighty, sits. Yes, this man of lawlessness might try to “proclaim himself to be God” (verse 4), but he will fail miserably. For Paul continues: “The lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming” (verse 8). With just his breath, Jesus will destroy the coming man of lawlessness. For although the man of lawlessness can stand against and rise above other wicked rulers of the world, he cannot stand against and rise above the good Creator of the world. And although the man of lawlessness might be able to shatter the glass ceilings of this world’s power structures, when it comes to the glass ceiling of God, he won’t be able to put even a single crack in it, much less 18 million cracks. And that’s good news. Because for all the glass ceilings we might want to see shattered, God’s glass ceiling is one we want to see stand strong. Because God’s highest, hardest glass ceiling means that our salvation is secure. Praise be to God!
“Word for Today” – 2 Thessalonians 1 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
He was known as the Roseland Killer. In the summer of 2000, Chicago’s south side was terrorized by a series of seven murders, all of women, most of whom were indigent. After striking, the killer would leave his victims’ bodies in abandoned buildings around town to be found later by law enforcement officials.
Eventually, the long arm of the law caught up Geoffrey Griffin. In his 2005 trial, Griffin was sentenced to 100 years in prison for his deranged acts, although he was acquitted of one woman’s murder, Beverly Burns, even though forensics reports showed Burns’ blood splattered on one of Griffin’s shirts. Burns’ daughter, Jeanna, reacted angrily to Griffin’s acquittal: “I hate you,” she said to him. “I hope you burn in hell.”
“I hope you burn in hell.” Those words have been said at more than one murder trial. For when someone commits a crime so grizzly and heinous that no temporal punishment can serve as appropriate recompense, those effected by the crime have no other recourse than to hope in divinely wrought wrath. And so they say, “I hope you burn in hell.”
Of course hell isn’t a real place. At least, that’s the majority consensus on the smoldering sewer of sulfur. After all, thorny philosophical foxholes concerning a loving God and his ability, or lack thereof, to consign people to a place of eternal damnation have long since dispensed with such silly notions as hell. And yet, fascinatingly, people seem to be perfectly willing to resurrect the prospect of an eternal inferno for the worst among us – serial killers, rapists, terrorists, genocidal maniacs, and the like. For there seems to be something inside of us which cries out for justice – a justice that will right the wrongs of rabid wickedness. And, in some instances, the only appropriate form of justice seems to be hell. And so we say, in the face of grave evil, “I hope you burn in hell.”
No matter which way the philosophical winds might blow, theologically and biblically, hell is indeed a real place. It is a place, in fact, that is addressed quite colorfully by Paul in our reading for today from 2 Thessalonians 1:
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power. (verses 6-9)
Paul is painstakingly clear: In the face of grave human injustice, God will bring his divine justice. And his divine justice will be rendered through the fires of hell.
So what are we to do? How are we to respond? Are we to, like one who has just had his life shattered by a criminal mastermind, anxiously anticipate our enemies’ interminable anguish in God’s pool of pyre? Are we to announce to our enemies, “I hope you burn in hell”? Hardly. For Paul continues, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling” (verse 11). Paul does not want anyone, whether friend or enemy, to burn in hell. Instead, he prays earnestly that more and more people may be found worthy of their calling from God through Christ. Paul’s prayer is for salvation, not damnation.
Hell is the place of God’s justice. But so is heaven. The difference is, heaven is God’s justice in light of Christ’s righteousness while hell is God’s justice in light of our own righteousness, or, more accurately, our own lack of righteousness. Which course of God’s justice would you care to receive? You will receive one or the other.
I would challenge you to pray constantly, like Paul, for those not guarded by Christ’s righteousness unto salvation. Pray that they would receive God’s righteousness through Christ. For it is this righteousness that infinitely exceeds any justice wrought by hell. For it is this righteousness that can turn sinners into saints and despots into devouts. And that’s a kind of justice that we can all hope in. And so, “I hope you beam in heaven.” I really do.
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