What's Next?

Dear Faith Family,   

"...Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:28) 



I know last week's note made it seem like we are done with the letter to the Hebrews. With the picture painted and the story told, it is time to move on. And we will. But the thing is, what comes next is a new dimension to an ongoing story. What we thought was a one-off image turns out to be a necessary component of the bigger picture. And like "easter eggs" in our favorite movies or series, the author of Hebrews has been leaving clues of what comes next throughout his letter. 

While the clues are scattered throughout the letter, the key appears in the opening description of Jesus Ascended*, our high priest of good things who "After making purification for sins (i.e., making us holy), he sat down at the right hand of hte Majesty on high, having become as much more excellent than angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." (Heb. 1:3-4). With the image of Jesus Ascended* and enthroned clearly in our mind's eye, the author gives us an image that connects us to the story(ies) already told and to the one still to come. 

"But of the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your
God, has anointed you with the oil
of gladness beyond your companions.'"
(Hebrews 1:8-9) 


Quoting Psalm 45, a psalm from verse one to seventeen is packed full of beautiful praise and vivid imagery of God's appointed Ruler, and yet, the author of Hebrews chooses to draw our attention to the "anointing" of the Son-King. Why is that, I wonder? 

Perhaps, as is often the case, the author is simply referencing a part of a passage as a way to connect and summarize ideas contained in the broader passage, emphasizing the praiseworthiness of Jesus as God's King. That could certainly be the case. Or perhaps the author is simply using the common biblical technique of intertextuality to emphasize his argument of Jesus' superiority, after all, he quotes Psalms 2 and 104 before Psalm 45, and Psalms 102 and 110 immediately after. That too is a plausible explanation. Still, it seems interesting to me that, in a letter whose purpose is to paint a picture of Jesus as our High Priest and King, the one ritual that connects those two roles in history — anointing with oil — is never mentioned again in the text. Well, actually, that is not true. 

While we never read again the depiction of an anointing, we do read some fifteen times the depiction of "God's anointed". But before you go looking, you won't find those two words together in the letter to the Hebrews either. What you will find is the one word that combines them: CHRIST. 

Christ, "the anointed" or "God's anointed," is the most common title for Jesus in our scriptures, and the root of our title: CHRISTians, "little Christs" or "little anointed ones." It is this image of anointing and the awaiting of the anointed one, once and again (i.e., Heb. 9:28 above!), that connects us into the past stories and into the story still unfolding.

But, if we are honest, do we know what the imagery of anointing with oil is supposed to convey? When we hear the words "Christ" or "Christian," does the meaning within the practice of anointing inform what we envision? Probably not, but that is okay! Our disconnect from the image and practice is why we are taking one last pass through the letter to the Hebrews, allowing the image of Jesus Ascended* to lead us into the story of *Jesus Awaited. 

Here is what I invite you to do this week, whether you were at the Gathering on Sunday or not, 

  • Starting at the 17-minute mark, Listen to Sunday's sermon while Reading the story of Christ, "the anointed" from Hebrews below. 


May we find, in eagerly awaiting "the Anointed," that what lies ahead for us is not a repeating cycle of past stories, but participation in the Story still unfolding. 

Love you, faith family. God bless! 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

THE STORY OF THE ANOINTED


“Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but CHRIST is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:6)
 
“For we have come to share in CHRIST, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:14)
 
“…CHRIST did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” (Hebrews 5:5)
 
“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of CHRIST and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…” (Hebrews 6:1)
 
“…as it is CHRIST who obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6)
 
“…when CHRIST appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come and are to come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11)
 
“how much more will the blood of CHRIST, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14)
 
“For CHRIST has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” (Hebrews 9:24)
 
“So CHRIST, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly awaiting him.” (Hebrews 9:28)
 
“Consequently, when CHRIST came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:5-7)
 
“And by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus CHRIST once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

“…when CHRIST had offered for all a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool under his feet.” (Hebrews 10:12-13)
 
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of CHRIST greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26)
 
“Jesus CHRIST is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
 
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus CHRIST, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:21)