Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Original Manuscript:
When I was in City Year, I worked with a student, we'll call him Danny. Danny was a fascinating kid for many reasons. One was that while his reading ability was well below grade level, his reading comprehension was off the charts. I discovered this in working with him and others in my reading pull-out group. His teacher also noticed his abilities, and where he was lagging behind, so she took extra time to help build Danny up to where he needed to be.
There was one week, toward the spring, when Danny was being a real trouble maker. He misbehaved so much, he got suspended for a week after that. When Danny came back, he was a little calmer, but acting up still.
I took Danny aside to see if I could figure out what was going on, and in a rare moment of wisdom it hit me: the DCCAS were coming up, D.C.'s standardized testing for students. I looked at Danny and said "Are you worried about the DCCAS?" He looked sheepishly at me and nodded.
I then said to Danny, "Look, you may not do well this year on the tests. But if you keep working the way you have, you will do well on them next year. Don't worry about this year. Make next year your goal." That made Danny feel better, and I don't recall him acting up again that year.
We are all like Danny. We want to know that at the end of the day, we're going to be okay. That is why the end times interests us so much. We want to know that when the end comes, as we see in Daniel this morning and as we see with the end of the Temple in the Gospel, that we'll make it through fine, especially if we, like Danny, put in the work.
Our reading from Hebrews is meant to give us comfort. We will make it through okay, and not because we have done any work. We will be okay because of the work that Jesus has done for us.
Quoting Jeremiah, Hebrews declares the words of the Holy Spirit: "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."
We can, as Hebrews tells us, "enter the sanctuary" with confidence. We have nothing to fear because Jesus has it covered.
Jesus has it so covered that His work has led to law being written on our hearts, as Hebrews quotes again from Jeremiah. Jesus doesn't just make us okay to enter into the sanctuary. He is there to make us whole again. All we have to do is listen to His voice right here, right now in our hearts.
The work of making us feel whole still continues. Hebrews calls us to also build one another up. That is why the work we do here today is so important. In coming together as one in this community, we help build each other. We are there to help each other. We help remind one another that Jesus has us covered. We remind each other that we will be alright in the end.
There are times where it may be hard for us to remember that Jesus has got our backs. It might not seem like He's there. We might look at the world around us with all the violence, fear, and disaster and be unsure where God is. As the Psalm reminds us, God is right there, at our right hand. We might stumble from time to time, but He will keep us from falling down completely in the end.
To know this, we have to listen. What is God saying you today? How is He reminding you that you are not yet at the end of your story and with Him you will never be? How is God speaking to you? How is God giving you a reminder that the Lord is very near, so near that God's law written upon your hearts?
Just as importantly, we have to be there for one another to build each other up and remind one another that even in the darkest of times Jesus is there and has us covered.