Before we get to the final sermon in our sermon series,
I did forget to show that part of our baptisms,
we also give our baptism families the rose,
signifying new life in Christ,
and also the onesies that we give out,
which is newly baptized at Munster Church,
the Legacy Project Next Generation,
along with their baptism certificate.
We continue and we close our sermon series.
It's always interesting to close
because sometimes I'm tempted to just say,
hey, I'm gonna ask you what you learned,
what you liked, what you didn't like,
and let that be the sermon, but the elder said I can't.
So I actually have to preach.
So, which is exciting because the way Hebrews 13 is written,
it really is a great encapsulation
of what the writer was trying to bring up.
We see it in Paul's writings, it's written differently,
this is why Hebrews isn't attributed to Paul,
it's not known as a Pauline epistle,
we don't really know who the writer is though,
there are some theologians that have guesses,
it's okay to not know, it's okay to read it
and to learn what God has for us in it.
But the way that this individual kind of finishes the book,
actually to me, goes hand in hand with baptism,
and Mike can attest, we don't plan these things out, right?
We did not plan for when the skewering goes,
we're gonna have a baby, that would be weird if we did,
and understanding that we had sacraments,
this was great and a great way to kind of
really the biggest sermon illustration I have
is Ridge Kenneth, so Ridge, way to go,
that baptism is really where the,
kind of how the book of Hebrew ends,
it's a reminder of the promises of baptism.
Because we go through things in life,
and I'll hear this verbiage used,
that I am a practicing blank, right?
You hear that with potential other world religions
or other denominations, right?
You hear people go, I'm a non,
I have family members that say I'm a non-practicing Catholic.
I still don't know fully what that means.
If you are Catholic here this morning,
you could let me know, I have some ideas,
but they're probably wrong, but you also have,
I'm a practicing Muslim, or I'm a practicing vegan,
which I don't get, but we can do,
we can throw that in there, which I always think
is a really weird and a really odd clarifier.
Because one of the things that you learn
in preaching school is show, don't tell.
Show how the scripture makes a difference.
Show kind of the narrative of the book.
Don't always tell that all of you have
a varying amounts and levels of imagination.
Yes, even you, the ones that think that you don't, you do.
That this book, God's Word, is supposed to be experienced
in a way that God has set for you.
That the understanding of these words
are set for your heart, and your heart is not the same
as the person next to you, the person in front of you,
even though created by mom and dad,
Ridge has a different heart than mom and dad.
And so understanding that, I always find it funny
to say I am a practicing blank,
because in some ways we should show people that,
not necessarily tell people,
because I think the worst is if, you know,
someone says I am a practicing vegetarian,
and you see them at Rosebud eating a steak.
It makes absolutely no sense, right?
Or if you have kids that say I am a practicing
non-doer of chores, and you make them do chores,
you know, I just can hear my oldest say
that goes against my beliefs.
And then I say you're grounded.
And understanding that we should really be walking it out,
not always just talking it out,
because we learn in society that talk is cheap, right?
And understanding that for the life of a believer,
and this is a challenge I give myself,
I was gonna end with it, but I'm gonna start with it instead.
I hope nobody that is a member of Munster Church,
so if you're not a member of Munster Church,
you can be exempt.
Even though I hope you don't.
I don't ever wanna hear any of you say
I'm a practicing Christian.
Because at that point, something probably is wrong.
There's probably something you're convicted on,
there's probably something that you're not doing,
because as we tend to be, idol worshipers,
we just talked about that a couple minutes ago,
that if we have to say it,
my guess is we're not walking it out.
That I want the world to be able to see your walk,
to see the way you live your life,
to see the way you run your business,
to see the way you love your wife,
to see the way you raise your kids, all of those things.
And people go, oh, they believe in Jesus,
they are Christians.
In the next couple weeks,
we're all gonna get Christmas cards, right?
And I absolutely love that.
And I love seeing all the updates and all of those things,
but rarely do I hear about all the bad things
going on in life, right?
That when we write these cards, these Christmas cards,
that's the time people give
kind of their family updates for the year,
it's the highlight reel, it's not the not top 10,
like Sports Center does, right?
You wanna give people the top 10 things.
But rarely do I hear people say,
are Christian walks going well?
Me and Jesus, we're okay.
You don't hear that,
because you don't either wanna talk about it,
or there might be something else going on.
I want you to always be living it out.
And so the way the writer wrote chapter 13
shows a wonderful kind of breakdown
of how we practice being a Christian.
Again, something I hope you never say in life,
I'm a practicing Christian,
because being a Christian is kind of redundant.
I don't know, if someone would say to me,
I'm a non-practicing Christian,
that would be a head scratcher.
I would definitely have to sit down for a beverage with them
and go break that out for me,
because I have no idea what you're talking about.
Because the call of a believer means something.
How do we know?
We just did it in Preparation Sunday.
That's a way of life.
And so we're reminded from question and answer 70
of our Heart of Bokatechism, of our baptismal promises.
Because really in the baptism and everything
that Kenny and Daryl spoke on behalf of Ridge,
everything you guys agreed to has to do
with living the Christian life.
Question and answer 70,
what does it mean to be washed in Christ's blood
and the Spirit answer?
To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace,
has forgiven our sins because of Christ's blood
poured out for us in his sacrifice on the cross.
To be washed with Christ's Spirit means
that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us
to be members of Christ,
so that more and more we become dead to sin
and live holy and blameless lives.
Right there.
What does it mean to be a practicing Christian
is to become more and more dead to sin
and to live holy and blameless lives.
So, initial question, how's your Christianity going?
For those of you that have been in it
for years and years and years, how's it going?
For those that may be brand new to it,
how's it going?
It's a great question to ask,
maybe week in and week out, right?
Especially as we get ready to come to the table,
because more times than not,
what we're going to kind of get brought to our mind
are the times that we're not living holy and blameless lives,
but we're becoming alive to sin.
That's kind of the if-so-fact-so, right?
So, if we're growing in Christ,
we're dying more to sin,
we're picking up our cross daily,
we're living lives of justice, mercy, and humility,
like Micah tells us to,
that we're trying our best to live holy and blameless lives,
knowing that perfection is not attainable
when sin is rampant, right?
We will get there in heaven.
So, these practices, we're gonna break through,
we're gonna kind of go somewhat verse by verse
in the beginning of Hebrews chapter 13.
What are the practices of a believer?
We're gonna keep it real simple,
though some of them are really deep.
The first is to practice real love.
Let brotherly love continue, Hebrews 1.13 says.
Let brotherly love continue.
How do we know what love is?
Look to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.
We talked about that two weeks ago.
If Jesus is the one authoring the definition
of love in your life, go back to him.
Go back to how he loved.
He loved in a very real way.
He loved in a very intentional way.
We'll get to that in a second.
He loved in a way that not only was seen and felt,
but a love that was continued in the community.
Let brotherly, sisterly love continue.
This is the start of the last chapter.
So, we really should be holding on to
let brotherly love continue,
because understanding that truly loving others
is the way Christianity is continued in the culture.
Now, we can look at our world today and go,
ugh, we might not be doing the best job.
You look throughout history and you go, ugh,
we might not be doing the best job.
Now, loving other people doesn't mean you allow
for just sin to run rampant.
No, that loving people means sitting down with them
and walking through what love is,
how life is supposed to be lived.
And I've used this before.
I remember I was teaching high school catechism
at Crown Point CRC, and I won't mention his name,
because some of you are related to him,
that he was a sophomore at the time,
and we were talking about evangelism
and how we all agree relational evangelism
is better than drive-by evangelism,
where you just have a bullhorn and say,
you're a sinner, and you run away,
because that's really not going to accomplish much.
And I said, so, as sophomores and juniors and seniors
and freshmen, how would you evangelize?
What would be your go-to?
And he stands up.
I didn't ask him to stand, but he stood up.
He puffed out his chest.
He goes, I would start with the canons of Dort.
Said no one ever, right?
I go, how would that go?
Dan, our resident catechism teacher,
canons of Dort starts with what?
Thank you, yes, but what is the T
in Tulip?
Total depravity, right?
Or if you go to Jim Osterhaus's,
you go to Fallen Humanity, that we are all fallen.
Or you go to the one, there's an acronym,
bacon, bad people.
And so, understanding, I said,
so how would you start evangelism with total depravity?
That seems like you're taking a couple steps forward,
or a couple steps backwards, not forwards.
He goes, I would start by telling the person
how bad they are.
Really?
How do you think that would go?
He goes, oh, it'd probably take time to get through it.
Yeah, it would, yeah,
because I think they would stop listening.
Because I look at it, and if someone had the greatest gift
ever, and the gift of salvation, right?
So if I have this greatest gift,
I'm gonna sit down with Kenny, who I know he is a believer,
but for the sake of the illustration,
let's say he's not, right?
You're not a believer, and I sit down with you
for a cup of coffee or beer, and I go,
hey, I wanna tell you about Jesus,
and he wants me to remind you, you're an evil human being.
You are terrible, and we call that depraved.
So there's a new word for you, you're depraved.
Can I get you another?
Like, I mean, how are you engaging that?
I'm shutting down, right?
That drink's probably all over my face,
because he's flung it, right?
And he's left.
Do you think you'd, if I ask you again,
hey, do you wanna go out for another cup of coffee?
Do you say yes to that?
No, no, probably not.
And so understanding that part of our life,
again, that doesn't minimize truth.
Loving people does not mean minimizing truth,
but you have two opportunities.
You can try to beat someone into loving Jesus,
and for all of those that are maybe more,
like me, more, maybe higher authoritative
and more discipline-oriented with your kids,
how does that go than sitting down
and talking to them through a problem?
You get very different results.
The same thing goes with loving others.
Friends, you have every opportunity
to bludgeon people with the Scriptures.
You do.
You can take this as more of a battle ax,
and you can go up to someone and whack them,
and say, come to Jesus.
Or you can sit down and say, I am a sinner.
The Bible shows me that,
but it also shows me something better.
That I'm worth more than that sin or this sin.
That there is a purpose in my life
and someone who's guiding me to truth,
and that is the person of Jesus.
Now, if I go that way,
is there a chance I have another opportunity
where I can go to another person
and have another opportunity with you?
Absolutely.
Whack them with the Bible?
Probably not.
Let brotherly love continue.
And then the writer of Hebrew goes,
how do you do that?
And does it very, very well.
Do not, verses two and three,
do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.
Remember those who are in prison,
as though in prison with them,
and those who are mistreated,
since you are also in the body.
Show brotherly love, be hospitable.
One of the greatest gifts that he can give the church,
and give individuals in the church,
is being hospitable.
But we can do that the wrong way as well.
Now, I can go on a list,
I can use examples of hospitality,
and maybe you had one of those,
we talked about it a couple,
how many people had a relative
who had that one room that you were not allowed to go in.
Everything, at least in my family,
it was white leather,
everything had plastic over it.
I thought we were in the mob,
because of how it looked.
You were not, you couldn't even look at it.
You couldn't go in there.
What if you brought someone to your house,
Tony, I'm gonna use you,
you can't touch anything.
You sit in this one chair, that's it.
You can't, can I go to the bathroom?
No, you should have gone already.
Are we gonna have anything to eat?
No, I'm not cooking today.
How are you feeling in that moment?
Exactly, he's speechless.
He has no idea what to do.
He's gonna fake an emergency to try to get out of there.
But what would it look like if our genuine love
and our hospitality, even with those
that you disagree with,
sitting down and talking about the truths of the Bible.
Now, we can do the bait and switch, right?
Ken, you're just right here, so it's easy.
I'm gonna say, Ken, why don't you come over, right?
I got my first deer last weekend,
I know you haven't gotten one yet,
but understand, you can have some of the venison.
We just got it yesterday, it's super good.
I'm gonna sit down and we start eating our deer,
we're talking about hunting,
and I go, and then I just turn and go,
if you die today, would you go to heaven or hell?
Yet, there was a time, that was a Bible track,
that you could, and I worked at Family Christian,
so there were ones that looked like a million dollar bill.
A, you think humanity's dumb because there's no such bill,
right, it would have to be a bunch of 20s,
but it looked like that, and then someone might be excited,
I found money, and you flip it over and then ask the question,
if you die today, would you go to heaven or hell?
What are we doing? Church, why do we think that's effective?
Or, you have churches that put on, excuse me,
you have churches that put on kind of a haunted house,
but it's their version of hell,
and all ages can come in, and you go in,
and you see all the torment, you see the fire,
the brimstone, you see Satan with his pitchfork,
running around, and then at the end,
they want to scare you into Jesus.
Charlotte, you know what I'm talking about,
you grew up in the deep south, right, those Baptists,
you gotta be careful, right, but that's true,
that there are churches that think,
I can scare you into salvation,
because one of the next thing you have is you have an altar,
you probably have an angel, you're gonna say a prayer,
because you don't want that, do this.
You don't want that, do this.
Well, we already learned there are such things
as false conversions, there are such things
as people that don't fully understand,
that want to come to know Jesus
because of many different ways,
scaring someone into Christ
is probably not the best way to go.
That's kind of going with starting with total depravity,
and so understanding that our hospitality
can be a make or break.
Opening our homes to people,
allowing not just hospitality in your homes,
but do you have a hospitable spirit?
That's a key piece to this, do we understand
that we are called to be peacemakers,
we're called to be gentle, we're called to be loving,
right, I mean, you don't want to overdo it,
right, and invite someone over to their house and go,
let's hold hands and pray.
No, that's going way the other way, right,
that's now going creepy, so don't be conflictual,
don't be creepy, let's find a way forward in the middle.
That radical hospitality, that radical piece
means are you hospitable with those that you disagree with?
Or is everybody in your life,
look, smell, talk, act the same way?
To me, there's no variety in there,
variety to me is the spice of life,
are you engaging others that are different than you?
Are you sitting down with them,
are you having real relationships with them,
so they get to know the real you,
of who you were before Jesus and who you are now after Jesus,
because that's the greatest thing in your life.
I challenged Ileana this past Wednesday at chapel,
they were only half listening because they had a half day,
but for those that were, we talked about jobs,
right, that we have occupations,
but that's not the job of a believer,
your occupation isn't your initial job as a believer,
the job of a believer is Matthew 25, right,
to give food to the poor, to give drink to the thirsty,
to clothe the naked, to visit those that are in prison,
when we've done to the least of these,
Jesus says we have done to him.
That is the job of every believer as these are,
practice real love, practice real radical hospitality,
verse four, let marriage be held in honor among all,
and let the marriage bed be undefiled,
for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous.
Now, you can use that obviously in the context of marriage,
because the Hebrews says that,
but what we can pull from this,
especially for those of us that might not be married,
right, those of us that might have gone through divorce,
all of those things, right, this, you don't,
you're not exempt from this,
that we are called to practice relational fidelity.
We are called to practice relationships
that mean something,
we are called to be trustworthy in relationships.
If someone shares something in confidence with you,
and the next minute you're blabbing to everybody,
you have broken a covenant relationship,
you've broken an understanding with your friends.
Now, obviously if there's mandated reporting,
that whole side of things,
if you know people that are wanting
or designed to hurt themselves,
we are morally obligated to intervene
and try to get them help,
but if someone comes to you and says,
you know, I'm really struggling with this, that,
and the other thing,
and this happens in special reform churches,
and then that person goes and talks to an elder,
because, you know, elders are there
to help you work through things in life,
and then that elder finds that other person
on a Sunday morning,
and goes, hey, I heard you were struggling with this,
how does that relationship go?
How does that guy know?
I didn't tell him, I only told him,
and now all of a sudden you have conflict.
That as believers,
we are called to practice relational fidelity.
We know what that means in the confines of marriage,
and I know that that verse,
that set of verses,
that one may hurt,
because some of your past might be defined by that,
both as the one who broke,
or the one that had it broken to you.
But the one thing we also learn in service today
is that God restores,
God brings all things new,
and his desire is just that, reconciliation.
But as believers,
it's one of the worst hypocrisies, if you will,
of the Christian faith,
is for people that,
oh, they have a great Christian marriage,
oh, they have a great Christian family,
yet you know that him or her have something else on the side.
You see how confused the world gets?
If they go, wait, but that person's an elder,
but they're doing that?
The church will judge that person.
The church has mechanisms of discipline
that we've already talked about.
But this is about practicing Christianity in the world.
If our testimony walked out,
shows that Christianity in the world looked exactly the same,
friends, I love you, we've done it wrong.
It's not supposed to be the same.
This is supposed to be called to something different,
because we are held by a different standard.
We are called to be holy,
as Christ is holy, as our baptism promises signify.
Continuing on, as believers,
we are called to practice reciprocity and resolve,
verses five and six.
Keep your life free from the love of money
and be content with what you have,
for he has said,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
So we can confidently say,
the Lord is my helper,
I will not fear what can man do to me.
I find this so interesting, and it's one I give.
Some of you have received it,
when you've gone through a hardship,
cancer battle, getting ready for surgery.
One of my go-tos is Isaiah 43, right?
Where Jesus says, I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
When you walk through the waters, I will be with you.
The waves will not overtake you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
The flames will not consume you.
And in the time of that, hopefully comfort's given.
But what this says is I should also give that,
when people are freaking out about their checkbook.
When all of a sudden, the things they have in their life
aren't what they want anymore.
They desire something more.
Idle worship.
Right? We've already talked about that.
I think it's amazing that the writer P. Bruce
reminds us even in things like money and contentment,
the contempt, contentment, not contempt-ment,
that I will never leave you nor forsake you.
So you have that overdue invoice.
That mortgage hasn't, or those taxes haven't been paid
for months.
The same promise holds true.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
And that's when the test of faith really comes.
We talked about it last week.
When life's going great, praise the Lord.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
When life doesn't, praise the Lord.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Because that is instant perspective.
And it's not about this.
It's about heaven.
It's about eternity.
Yet we still practice and we still walk.
Or seven through ten, practice remembering as believers.
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings.
For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace,
not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tent
have no right to eat.
Understanding that we are called to remember.
You're going to hear it next week when we come to the table
on the night in which he's betrayed.
We remember these things.
We remember not only the way of Christ, the way of the disciples,
the way of Paul, but all of those spiritual leaders
that have gone before you.
I know for a lot of you it's a 70-year-old couple
called the Basins.
They're still around, but a lot of you bring them up.
I don't get offended, don't worry about it.
I'm taller than he is.
But understand that, and he's done that for me,
that the Basins have spoken greatly into my life,
that we remember those that have gone before us.
For some of you that have been in this church for years
and years and years, you remember, here's the thing,
you remember the good ones.
You also remember the bad ones, and every church has both.
You remember those leaders, those that have grown you
in the faith and those who have hurt you and have cut you deep.
That part of remembering is being good stewards of the past,
but looking to the faith of those that have helped build you up.
That is the practice of a believer.
Because if we don't, we run the risk of making it all about us
or thinking we are, it's Jesus, then me.
No, never.
If that's how you feel about yourself, please,
let's have a conversation.
That bubble needs to get popped yesterday.
Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
Yeah, that humility piece, it's big.
The next one, chapter, verse 17, practice respecting.
Obey your leaders and submit to them,
for they are keeping watch over your souls
as those who have to give an account.
Let them do this with joy and not with groaning,
for that would be of no advantage to you.
I would love, I would love to use that verse
when we install elders and deacons.
But week one, they're not gonna feel that.
Because it happens in church.
We get messy, we get in each other's way,
we have our opinions and it's great.
But understand that we have been given leaders over us.
Sorry, not over us.
We have been given leaders to look out for us.
They are called overseers in our church order,
but what they are there for is to hold you accountable
of faith and life.
That is our elders.
And that is a weight for every elder that has ever signed
the form of subscription.
They will be judged differently than those that have not.
Because they have had the faith of individuals in their hands.
And that is the weight of every office bearer.
Those seasoned office bearers, they have the scars,
they have the celebrations, but they also have the scars.
That as believers, we are to respect those.
Now, the last one is practice restoring, verse 18.
Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience
desiring to act honorably in all things.
That the final mark of a believer,
of the idea of being a practicing Christian,
which again, I don't ever want any of you to say,
we need to show that we are playing the long game.
In a hardship, in a conflict, everything is not always
going to be resolved just like that.
That God is in the process and is in the desire to restore
all things, because one day all things will be new.
And new is better than anything we can define.
Because they will be perfected, they will be Jesused, if you will.
Right now it's sin, we don't get it.
It is lit dimly in a mirror, as Paul says in Corinthians,
one day we will see face to face.
So as we walk this out, as individuals, myself included,
as a church, the same holds true.
That as a church, we ought to practice real love,
practice radical hospitality, practice relational fidelity.
For a church, that's the gospel, the ways of Jesus.
That as a church, we practice reciprocity and resolve.
As a church, we remember the past, good, bad, and ugly.
We try not to repeat the bad or the ugly, but we grow on the good.
We practice respecting others and the community.
And we practice and look to the restoration of the things to come.
Now Mike's going to put this out on a post next week,
we may even put it in the email, these practices.
You may want to print them out.
You may need to remind yourself of these things.
And that's the first thing I'm going to do,
is I'm going to put this right, it's going to be right next to a picture of a candle.
Because unfortunately there have been three times in this last quarter,
Daniel has seen that I have left the office with a candle still on.
So I have a reminder not to do that.
He's going above and beyond.
He reminds me this church has already had one fire,
it doesn't need another one. Thank you, Daniel.
But understand that we need these reminders daily,
because there's a force out there that wants you to do the exact opposite of these,
which will ultimately lead to death and a life without God.
So as individuals in a church, let us practice what we believe,
let us practice what we preach with our mouth, our thoughts and our actions.