Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Hebrews 3:1-6 reminds God’s people to remember Jesus. This should be a surprising statement. Then again, when we consider much of modern American Christianity, Jesus is pretty hard to find. I’m constantly seeing articles about how to make Christianity relevant to our larger culture. Sadly, these methods rarely seem to focus on discovering Him in Scripture, considering His claims, reviewing how He fulfilled many detailed prophecies, or gathering together purposely around Word and Sacrament. Want to be more relevant? Talk about social issues in church. Want to be more welcoming? Don’t throw anything difficult at people. Want to be more inclusive? Try purposely celebrating people’s different cultural, sexual, or religious backgrounds. Anything but Christ crucified for sinners, and every last human being bound by sin, needing rescue by Jesus’ death in our place.
It’s time to get back to the Scripture. In Hebrews 1-2, Jesus is described as the great and mighty Lord of all, spoken of in advance throughout the Bible. He is the one irreplaceable in all our theology and, therefore, in all our life. We neglect him at our great peril. Remember Jesus, the apostle and high priest. He is the one sent from above (apostle) to work forgiveness and reconciliation with God (priest). He was faithful in all that he came to do. He deserves all our honor and respect.
Maybe this makes us uncomfortable. We are used to being the center of our universe, or at least being encouraged and rewarded when we decide to do what’s right in caring for others. We like that role. But it isn’t the one the Bible gives us. If all our service to others, all our care, all our concern is driven by our own concept of what the world is like, we have forgotten what it means to be Christian. Above all, to be Christian is to remember Christ, who has redeemed the world and uses us as his instruments to call others to his grace. If we want to call ourselves Christian, let us remember Christ.
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