Back on Monday, April 21, off the north Queensland coast, five Australians anchored
their 6.1m Haines Hunter boat near an exposed sandbar about 8:00 am. Leaving
mobile phones and sun protection on board, the group set off towards an
adjacent rocky outcrop (exposed part of bedrock) for a snorkeling expedition.
“Just as we got over to the rocks one of the boat co-owners
… turned back and could see that the boat had shifted,” one of the five later
told a local newspaper. Two men swam after the vessel but it quickly drifted
beyond reach. “The northerly [wind] had really picked up and the boat was moving far
more quickly,” the woman added.
The group scrawled a large SOS sign in the highest part of
the sand bank and climbed to the highest rocks on the outcrop. “We had reef
walkers on thankfully, but we had no food, water, cream, no hats, not much at
all. We just looked for the highest ground, we looked for rocks where five of
us could huddle together because we didn’t really want to separate, and we
wanted to be out of the wind as best as possible.”
When the boat was found floating aimlessly, Queensland Water
Police notified local rescue at 2:15 pm. A rescue helicopter was dispatched.
The chopter crew spotted the five stranded people about 4:00 pm, hoisted them into
the chopter, and brought them back to the base a bit burnt by the sun but safe and
sound. [1]
In life, there is also the danger of spiritual drift. You
think the boat of your life is securely anchored and, before you realize it,
you have drifted. But the outcome will be much more deadly than the
possibilities were for those five Australians. Spiritually, the outcome is
either everlasting life or everlasting loss. Hebrews chapter 2:1-4 posts this
spiritual warning sign:
1Therefore we must pay
much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2For
since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every
transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3how
shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first
by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4while
God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of
the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
• Learn the truth.
One way of looking at the literary structure of Hebrews is to
see five major sections, each of which has two parts: “learn the truth / live
the truth.” [2]
1:1-4 Introduction
1:5-14 Learn; 2:1-4 Live (danger:
drifting from the gospel)
2:5-18 Learn; 3:1-4:16 Live
(danger: disbelieving the gospel)
5:1-10 Learn; 5:11-6:20 Live
(danger: dullness toward the gospel)
7:1-10:18 Learn; 10:19-39 Live
(danger: despising the gospel)
11:1-40 Learn; 12:1-29 Live
(danger: defying the gospel)
13:1-25 Conclusion
We can’t live the truth as urged by Hebrews 2:1-4, unless we
learn the truth just taught. So let’s summarize Hebrews chapter one.
Human history is called “the days,” and throughout “the
days” God has spoken words to the human race. In the first phase of speaking,
God spoke by the Hebrew prophets to the Hebrew people at various times and in
various ways (1:1). Most notably, God spoke his law through Moses – the
covenant at Mount Sinai with its warnings of
blessings for obedience and disasters for disobedience. But in “these last
days” – the last part of human history – he has spoken by his Son (1:2). His
Son has the exact nature of God the Father and is the person through the world
was created and who upholds the world by his powerful word (1:2-3). The Son
came to earth and made purification for sins and after this accomplishment sat
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (1:3).
God’s speaking in words (his revelation) through the
prophets was accomplished through angels – who are created ministers ready to
do God’s bidding (Psalm 104:4). The new revelation in these last days is
through the Son. The superiority of the new revelation to the old can be
demonstrated in many ways (the whole book of Hebrews), but the first way is to
compare the Son to the angels (chapter one).
The Son has the same nature as God; the angels are only
created servants (Heb 1:5-7). The first revelation uses two primary names for God:
Elohim (God) and YHWH (Lord). The first revelation calls the Son “Elohim/God”
in Psalm 45:-6-7 with Isaiah 61:1 and calls the Son “YHWH/Lord” in Isaiah 61:3
with Psalm 102:25-27 (Heb 1:8-12). The angels never have this attribution.
Therefore, the angels are called upon to worship the Son in Deuteronomy
32:43 (Gk) with Ps 97:7 (Hebrews 1:6). Moreover, God says to the Son, “Sit at
my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” in Psalm 110:1 (Heb
1:13). God never said this to the angels, who are simply ministering spirits
sent out to serve (Heb 1:14).
Let us pause and, along with the angels, worship the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God – who has the very nature of God. Let us appreciate
him, honor him, reverence him. For he it is who was the radiance of the glory
of God while he lived on this earth. He it is who created everything and who
holds all creation together so that it does not devolve into instant chaos. He
it is who made purification for our sins – our root problem. And he it is who
became human and spoke to us the words of God as God’s final prophet.
• Live the truth.
Having learned the truth (Hebrews chapter 1), we must now continue
to believe and live the truth (Hebrews 2:1-4) despite the pressures of life. The
original Jewish readers were asked to remember what high value they placed on the
law of Moses, the revelation given at Mount Sinai, the revelation in which
angels played a part (Deuteronomy 33:2 Greek translation; Psalm 68:17). And
they were asked to remember the punishments for every transgression of that law
and for every disobedience to that law (Heb 2:2).
And then the original readers were asked to remember the new
revelation, the gospel given directly by YHWH, the Lord, that is to say, the
Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 2:3). That revelation was passed on from the Lord
through those who heard him, that is to say, the apostles supremely but also
other disciples. All of these were eye-witnesses of what was actually said and
what actually happened. Elohim (God) confirmed the truth of the message of his
Son by means of signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. If
nobody got away with anything under the old revelation, how can you expect to
get away with ignoring and neglecting the new message – given by the Lord
himself, proclaimed by eye-witnesses, and authenticated with miracles by God
the Father and the Holy Spirit?
We are now face-to-face with the warning of Hebrews 2:1. “Therefore
we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away
from it.” The two verbs in the original Greek “pay much closer attention” (prosecheo) and “drift away” (pararreo) are used in various contexts
in ancient Greek literature:
A dramatic word is employed for “drift
away,” pararreo, which means “to flow
by” or “slip away from.” It describes that carelessness of mind which, perhaps
occupied by other things, is not aware it is losing ground. Plato used it of
something slipping away from the memory, and Plutarch of a ring slipping from a
finger. Another figure often suggested is that of a ship loose from its
moorings. The danger highlighted is that of a great loss occurring unnoticed.
The cause is not taking seriously the words spoken to them. Inattention or
apathy will rob them of their treasure. [3]
But actually both verbs may have a nautical sense. New
Testament scholar William Barclay explains:
Prosecho can mean to moor a ship; and pararreo can be used of a ship which has been carelessly allowed to
slip past a harbour or a haven because the mariner has forgotten to allow for
the wind or the current or the tide. So, then, this first verse could be very
vividly translated: “Therefore, we must the more eagerly anchor our lives to
the things that we have been taught lest the ship of life drift past the
harbour and be wrecked.” It is a vivid picture of a ship drifting to
destruction because the pilot sleeps. [4]
The message of the Hebrew prophets is the Old Testament. The
message of the Lord and his hearers is the New Testament. Together they
comprise the Bible. Have you anchored your life to the message of the Bible? Your
moods will swing, your circumstances will change, only the Word of God will
remain constant. In a radio talk during World War II, C.S. Lewis spoke of the
importance of training yourself in the virtue of faith. In part he told his
listeners:
make sure that, if you have once
accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately
held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and
religious reading and church going are necessary parts of the Christian life.
We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor
any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a
matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in
Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned
out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away? [5]
The Book of Hebrews urges us, as the years of our life pass,
that we “we must pay much closer attention” (Heb 2:1). Have you slacked off?
Have you neglected the Old Testament, the fourfold Gospel, the Acts, the
Epistles, the Book of Revelation? It’s time for greater attention.
There is also the matter of drift. How you compared the
current status of your beliefs and your behavior to the doctrine and morals of
the Gospel and its application by the Apostles? Have you shifted off course from the Bible?
It’s time to get back on track – today.
A recent news article speaks of the sons of two prominent
Christian leaders who have departed from the faith of their parents [6]. Bart
Campolo, is the son of Tony Campolo, a prominent progressive evangelical. The
blogger for Christianity Today said:
The last I knew, Bart had followed
his dad and was preaching and practicing a left-leaning, though evangelical
faith.
But after I Googled his name, I
found he didn’t seem to be a part of any Christian ministry, despite having
helped found several. He has not blogged at Sojourners in over three years. His
personal website is gone. Mission Year, which he helped to start, references
him as a co-founder, but he is nowhere among those listed as currently serving
with the ministry.
While his Wikipedia page only
mentions his involvement in Christian causes, I knew I had read about a secular
connection. But, just a few clicks down I saw he is the Humanist chaplain at the
University of Southern California and a speaker for
the Secular Student Alliance (SSA).
The blogger had an immediate reaction, which – upon
reflection – he had to change:
I have to confess, the immediate
reaction I had was that this is why progressive evangelicalism and particularly
mainline Protestantism (Campolo straddled both) can be dead ends, often failing
to keep the next generation. And, there is some statistical support for that
reaction (at least for mainliners). . . . Then, I started to reconsider.
I remembered Frank Schaeffer, son
of the late Francis Schaeffer. If robust evangelicalism guaranteed continuing
fidelity, the younger Schaeffer would not be writing odd books about his
mother’s sex life [Sex, Mom, and God: How
the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics--and How I Learned to
Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway, 2011] and describing his own spiritual life
as an atheist who believes in God [Why I
Am An Atheist Who Believes In God, 2014].
Am I drifting from the Gospel? What kind of influence on
others am I? Are those under my care or sphere of influence drifting? What
actions do I need to take? Is it high time to “watch and pray”?
[1] Harry Clarke, “Five
people rescued after scrawling SOS on sandbar off north Queensland coast,” The Courier-Mail, April 22, 2014.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/five-people-rescued-after-scrawling-sos-on-sandbar-off-north-queensland-coast/story-fnihsrf2-1226891816280?nk=16c0615c5f37d5fc387ffb8cedb85fb1
[2] Here, in my own words, I
follow the research article J. C. Fenton, “The Argument in Hebrews,” Studio Evangelica 7 (1982), pp 175-76
and similar studies cited by David J. MacLeod, “The Literary Structure of the
Book of Hebrews,” Bibliotheca Sacra
146 (April 1989), p 189.
[3] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews (IVP New Testament Commentary
Series), Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 1992), on Heb 2:1-4. http://www.raystedman.org/hebrews2/heb2comm1.html
[4] William Barclay, Hebrews (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew
Press, 1975.
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=57&ch=2
[5] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: HarperCollins, 1952. PDF version p
70 of 108.
[6] Ed Stetzer,
“Deconversion: Some Thoughts on Bart Campolo’s Departure from Christianity,”
The Exchange; a blog, Christianity Today,
September 30, 2014.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/september/deconversion-some-thoughts-on-bart-campolos-departure-from-.html
Art featured: (head) Ikuko
Miklowski, “A as in …” and (yes, no) Judith Salomon, “Tile Series,” in the
exhibit Clay … Not the Usual Suspects,
September 25 to November 7, 2014, Gallery at Lakeland Community College,
Kirkland, Ohio.
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