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Hebrews
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It's the end of a journey for some of us today — our graduating students are with us for one of the last times, and it's also the end of a journey we've had as a congregation, having read through the letter to the Hebrews most Sundays since October.
Here, right at the end, we get a hint about who wrote this letter. We don't know for certain, but we can tell from verse 19 that he had a relationship with the readers and was normally expecting to be with them: "I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon." Many think he was one of the pastors of the people he was writing to, separated from them, possibly involuntarily, perhaps through persecution. Certainly, the letter breathes the atmosphere of a pastor's care. He wants his people to know Jesus — the best news in the world about him — and he wants them to stay with him.
That, today, is God's heart for us. As we finish this letter, let's look at three resources God has given to help us know him and stay with him as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first resource is in verse 17:
"Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account."
This is a slightly awkward verse for me to draw attention to today — it could sound like an excuse for bossing people around. Sadly, there have been many stories in recent years of overbearing and abusive church leadership, which can make us nervous of a verse like this. But the right response to the abuse of a position is not disuse but right use of it — and that's what Hebrews commands. The New Testament is clear that local churches need leadership.
I'm often struck by something extraordinary in the book of Acts. On Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey, they went through cities like Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, facing fierce opposition — even stoning. Yet despite this, and despite being almost home again, they made the extraordinary decision to retrace their steps back through those same dangerous cities. Why? Luke tells us it was in order to appoint elders for the churches in every town. It mattered so much to Paul that churches had proper leadership that he was willing to put himself back in harm's way to provide it.
Verse 17 tells us leaders "keep watch over you" — more literally, over your souls. They are concerned for your spiritual well-being and your perseverance in the faith, which in Hebrews is exceptionally important, given the glorious hope of heaven and the terrible prospect of hell. Leaders are those who will give an account before God.
That's a sobering thought for every pastor. I remember vividly the day I was ordained in Exeter, when the bishop explained the job description: to be messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the Lord's — to teach, to warn, to feed and provide for the Lord's family, and to seek Christ's scattered sheep that they may be saved forever. I often return to those words and the weight of responsibility they carry.
Why does the writer suddenly mention leaders here? It fits the overall aim of the letter — helping the readers persevere in Christ on their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. In Hebrews 3, the writer recalls the scary story from Numbers of how the people rebelled and wanted to go back — and that rebellion first expressed itself as rebellion against their leaders: Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb. They wanted to fire Moses and find a new leader.
This danger is especially real when a pastor has difficult truth to tell. This doesn't mean we can't ask questions — I love it when someone asks a genuine question after a sermon, because it means they've been listening. But it does mean a posture of trust as leaders do their job of teaching and directing the church, especially when it's time to speak hard truths. Our role as leaders is not to court popularity, but to serve in a way we can account for before God: Will you nourish my people with my truth? Will you warn them of danger?
Verse 17 continues:
"Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."
A congregation constantly fighting or grumbling against its pastor leaves less time for actual pastoring, and the whole church suffers. But a congregation that wants to work with its leaders, with confidence in them, becomes a joy to serve.
Verse 18 gives the positive alternative: "Pray for us." Instead of grumbling, pray for your pastors. I need your prayers — to remain faithful, to teach accurately, to use time well, to have courage, and above all to be faithful to the Lord Jesus.
I'm thankful for the ethos in this church that expects and supports that. I remember a church warden from Bournemouth who, fifteen years after I left, still rang me once a month to ask for prayer needs. And I remember a converted Hindu evangelist, V.J. Menon, who once challenged our church council: "You spend £10,000 fixing the leak in the roof — what about the drip in the pulpit? Send him on a conference, give him training, give him encouragement to teach your word properly." That attitude has stuck with me, and I see it here too. To those of you leaving — please keep praying for your pastors wherever you settle.
The second, much greater resource is found in the benediction of verse 20:
"Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
God is the God of peace — he gave us Jesus to make peace between sinful humanity and himself, sealed in an eternal covenant made in the blood of Christ's death on the cross. And having made this covenant, God gives us a shepherd to look after us.
Imagine a farmer who sees sheep wandering on a hillside, belonging to a negligent neighbour. At great personal expense he buys those stray sheep — now they're his, bound to him in a covenant of ownership. But having bought them, he must also provide a shepherd to care for them. That's the picture here: through Jesus' death, God has made a covenant with us, and now, to serve the church, he brings the shepherd — Jesus — back from the dead for us.
What a shepherd we have: fully God, fully man. We are never alone in the Christian life — God is that committed to us. That's why, despite 2,000 years of great difficulty, the Christian church still exists worldwide today. We have a living shepherd.
The writer prays that God, through Jesus our shepherd, would equip us to live lives pleasing to him. That would make a wonderful daily prayer:
"Lord, my great shepherd, equip me with everything good for doing your will. Work in me what is pleasing to you."
The third resource is the letter itself. Verse 22 says:
"Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact, I have written to you quite briefly."
"Word of exhortation" seems to have been the standard term for a sermon — used also in Acts for preaching in the synagogue. I love that word briefly — we've spent since October in this letter, and it's still under 5,000 words in Greek! If this is brief, I wonder what a long letter from this pastor would have looked like.
That word raises the bar: it shows what God expects of his people — that we would listen carefully to what he has to say, because every word was written to strengthen ordinary believers to persevere. As I reviewed the whole series, I thought of all the ways Hebrews has strengthened us:
God's given us pastors, the chief Shepherd, and his word to help us know, live out, and persevere in the best news in the world.
We thank you, Lord God, for this great book, and for this pastor who wrote it. We thank you for the provision of Christian leadership, and pray many more would be raised up to serve. And we thank you most of all that you are the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. Please, through him, equip us with everything good for doing your will, that you may work in us what is pleasing to you through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
