Not Neglecting to Meet Together

Hebrews 10 reveals the grace and mercy of God, and invites us to a heart posture of obedience, love, and good works. It also invites us to love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ by being in community with them.

[00:00:00] Hello and good morning. Good to be with you today. My name is Brian. I’m one of the pastors here, and it’s my delight to share with you for the first Sunday in 2025, because that’s a thing now. So, I want to share with you this morning about a significant musical experience I had in college. I went to UW Eau Claire, and I was a part of a choir called The Singing Statesmen. It was a fun group to be a part of. Functioned a little bit more like a fraternity than just a choir in some ways. Just lots of camaraderie and fun with it. But we had one particular experience when I was a part of the group that was significant. We took a trip to New York City, and the purpose of the trip was we were singing at the National Choral Directors Association National Conference, which has to be one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever been a part of. But we were singing as a choir with a guest conductor who was sort of trying to showcase some particular concepts and themes that he wanted to do. And so what that meant was that the entire audience we were singing for, they were music professionals. In fact, they were, you know, music instructors, choral directors themselves for middle school, high school, college, whatever it was. And at the end of our hour-long concert, they actually gave us a standing ovation, which was an incredibly humbling experience.

[00:01:25] Like if there was ever a group of people, you know, who could have found something wrong with what we did, it was that group of people like, they’re literally trained not just in music, but to be like, mm, that doesn’t sound right, you know? And we got a standing ovation. I don’t share that in any kind of braggy way. Like I was 1/65 of the group, you know what I mean? It wasn’t any kind of major contribution. Frankly. I think me being in that choir was a clerical error because I was the least talented musician in the room. Almost certainly. But the point is this, maybe you have had a similar experience. Here’s what I mean. Maybe you have been a part of a group, or a team, or a cast or whatever that successfully accomplished a goal that was bigger than yourself. You did something beyond your own ability. You did something that was built on not just time, but a very specific focus and purpose. And one of the things that was so interesting about that group was that, you know, certainly there were friendships in the group. That certainly is true. However, um, the friendships themselves weren’t the point. That wasn’t the thing that brought us together. Here’s this group of 65 guys from all different parts of the country, from different religious backgrounds, from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

[00:02:48] And all of that got set aside so that we could together focus ourselves on this singular purpose, this one thing which was to make beautiful music. And maybe you’ve had a similar experience where you were a part of a group that was built around something beyond just, you know, common life stage or, you know, similar interests that it was built around a focused intention. And that idea sets us up for the main idea, I hope you walk away with today, which is this: God, our father, graciously wants a relationship with us, and he wants us to have intentional relationships with our spiritual brothers and sisters. We’re going to be sort of parked in that Hebrews ten passage you heard read just a moment ago. And as we look at the passage together, you’re going to see three basic themes within the passage. The first one is a reflection on who God is. In fact, we’re kind of partway through the reflection once we get to where we begin in our passage. Basically, it’s a way to say God is great. God is awesome and we should reflect on that reality. The second theme then is because God is great, because God is good, because God is worthy, we should, as his children have a particular heart posture. We should have a way that we think about, feel about, and react to who God is.

[00:04:20] And the third theme you’ll see here is basically a prescription that if it’s true that God is good, and if it’s true that we are reflecting on that reality, that we should have a response, and our response should be a relational response focused on our spiritual brothers and sisters. So, let’s just jump ahead here on my slides for a moment, because we start with, you know, therefore, so what are we therefore-ing? You know, what is he connecting to? What is the previous passage talking about? What it’s talking about is the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and this idea that it’s transitioning now to the New Covenant and what that looks like. It points out how previous sacrifices were insufficient to deal with sin, that the blood of goats and pigeons and things was no longer the way it was going to work. It no longer needed to work that way because, you know, Jesus was the sufficient sacrifice for all of those things for all of time. And if you notice, so far in the service, in our order of service today, there is no goat sacrifice listed. That’s not a thing we’re doing today. And there’s a reason, you know, that used to be a part of the worship of God’s people. And it’s not anymore and it doesn’t have to be because of the sufficiency of Christ.

[00:05:45] And so what’s being therefored, is this idea that Christ is sufficient. His power is sufficient, and the forgiveness of sins is available to those who believe. It’s a celebration of who God is and what God has done. And so, in summary, basically, because of all that Jesus has done and all that he is, he is worthy of our obedience, of our adoration, of our praise, of our love. He is worthy. That’s the idea. And then it moves on and says, therefore, brothers, and this is sometimes brothers and sisters, depending on the translation. The point is this. He’s pointing out to whom this letter is written. You know, this letter is written to the brothers and sisters, perhaps the people of God, the family of God. And this is not a throwaway statement. He’s trying to be clear about who he’s addressing because it’s important to know if this is for you or not. But also, because the first century church, um, argued about this a lot. Church people arguing? What a weird idea that we know nothing about now. So basically, what he’s saying is, therefore, if you are in the family of God, you should do these things. That’s what he’s getting to. And so I just want to be really clear about what he’s trying to say. No matter who you are or wherever you are in your spiritual journey today, we’re glad you’re here.

[00:07:20] We’re super happy to have you be with us today. But this is what I want to be clear about. And your presence in this room or at this service, no matter how long or how short of a time you’ve made this your habit and your practice, is not the standard by which you are deemed in or out of the family of God. If you’re in the family of God, this is a great place to be. You should. You’re commanded to be a part of it. If you’re not a part of the family of God and you’re curious, great. This is a great place to be to sort of engage some of your questions. Um, but being a part of a church service has nothing to do with the standard of entry of whether or not you’re in the family of God. Think of it this way. It’s like this summer, let’s say your family is having a family reunion. Um, you don’t get kicked out of the family if you don’t show up to the family reunion. You know, that would be awkward. Like, oh, I can’t make it to the picnic in July, and you’re out of the family. That’s not how it works, right? But conversely, if you got hired to be the caterer at somebody else’s family reunion, you don’t automatically, like, get to be in the family just because you’re there, right?

[00:08:29] That’s not how it works either. It’s just not the standard of entry. So, when he’s saying brothers, what is he talking about? What does he mean? Well, in the Gospel of John we see one way of talking about the definition. John 1:12, “but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” So, what’s the standard? Well, the standard is those who receive him. Does that mean he came in an Amazon package? No, no. What it means is receiving his lordship. The idea that God is God, and I am not. It’s not just acknowledging his existence. It’s saying I accept him as the Lord of my life. And those who believed in his name. It’s not just that, you know that some fellow named Jesus lived in Nazareth back in the day. That’s not the kind of belief it’s talking about. It’s deeper than that. That this person, Jesus, that his name means something, that he was more than just some Jewish carpenter. That he was God incarnate. Believing that God was who he said he was and receiving him as Lord. That’s the standard of entry. That’s the difference. And so when he addresses this letter to his brothers, this is who he means. And this is not an unimportant distinction. It’s a very important distinction.

[00:09:56] So, he’s speaking to the family of God. So therefore, brothers, what? Well, here’s what he continues in verse 19. “Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” Now, uh, Old Testament readers will recognize the connection to the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Right away. Right? We see this term of holy place, among other things. You know, there was a time described in great detail in the Torah where only Levites who were the special priests of Israel could enter the temple, and they could only do it at certain times after having performed particular rituals in order to be there. And there was this space within the temple called the Holy of Holies, or the Holy Place. And what created the wall between the presence of God, the actual presence of God and the priests was this very thick curtain. Okay. So don’t think like, you know, window covering. Think like theater curtain. But even beefier than that, like if it fell on you, it would hurt kind of a curtain. Okay? It was this big, thick thing. And that created this barrier between God’s presence and humanity and between these priests who were coming in and being near God’s presence. But being completely in God’s presence would destroy them.

[00:11:26] And this was a problem. So, this barrier, it was a good thing in many ways, but it was also something else. It was also a barrier. It was a prevention of presence. It was a cut off of closeness. And here in Hebrews we see this change happen. This thing changes. And it says that now, meaning now after the death of Jesus, now we can have confidence to enter the Holy Place through the curtain. So how does that happen? How does that get accomplished? Well, through the death of Jesus, that is, through his flesh, as it’s described here. When Jesus died on the cross, we know that something significant happened. And we get this beautiful little detail in Matthew’s account of the crucifixion. In Matthew 27:51 it says, “After Jesus is crucified” and he actually dies, it says, “and behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” Now, okay, let’s just acknowledge what this is trying to tell us. I mean, number one, this is impressive. This is the power of God on display, like not only did it split rocks and rip a big heavy curtain, he did it without actually being there to do it. Like, this was significant. This was a big deal. But the curtain being torn was a very specific thing.

[00:12:55] What the writer wants us to see here is that both literally and metaphorically as well as spiritually, we now have access to God in a different way than we used to. There had been separation, and now there’s approachability. And in fact, not only can we access and approach the presence of God, we are invited to do so with confidence. We don’t have to be afraid of God’s wrath or God’s disappointment. We are invited to do so because the curtain has been ripped in two. It means it is no longer a barrier. It can be entered through. And that’s why he offered his flesh, his body, and put it through incredible pain and sacrificial attitude in order to accomplish this. Jesus did this incredible thing for people, for humanity, for you and for me. He offers us that. And what’s important to note here is that one thing that makes God God is that he’s more complex than any human, right? You know, some of us are pretty complicated, but he is more complex than any human. He can be both powerful and worthy of awe and at the same time completely approachable. He is both God and King, but also friend and father. And he can do both things at once, multiple things at once, because he is greater than we are. He is the better sacrifice. He is the intermediary to himself. The passage continues in verse 21.

[00:14:36] “And since we have a great priest over the house of God.” Now remember, this is the letter to the Hebrews. That’s who it’s being written to. The Jewish people, the people of Israel, the Hebrews. In the past, the only way they knew how to have access to God was through a priest. I mean, certainly prayer was always a thing. But in this way, in this atoning sacrifice kind of way, the only way they could access their relationship with God was through a priest. And in fact, doing so was obedience to the law of their fathers. This is the way it was supposed to go. This wasn’t a misunderstanding. And so Jesus, the gentleman that he is, he helps them to understand. He helps them to make a new kind of connection. A new kind of accessibility is now there. You see, because Jesus was the better sacrifice, as the passage before this talks about. And Jesus is also the better priest. He is the intermediary to himself. He is so fast and so great and so powerful that he can be both of those things at once. And he’s also like a better version of a priest in a number of ways, right? Like, you know, human priests would, like, die and have to be replaced, and human priests would have to be cleansed of sin before they could perform their duties. And Jesus doesn’t have to do that.

[00:16:00] And, you know, human priests were centralized in Jerusalem, and God is everywhere. And so, he’s a better priest in every way. And it also uses in verse 21 this phrase of the house of God or better understood as the household of God. This is a definition of the family of God and the head of the household functionally determined who was in and who was out. Because it’s not just bloodlines. It’s more than that. There was ancient adoption, for example. There was even an inclusion in the household of like, beloved servants or maybe very close friends. The household was determined by the head of the household, not just by bloodlines or other lesser things. So, when Jesus makes this sacrifice, it is so significant and so important that it completely recreated and transformed the entire sacrificial system. It also recreated how someone can have access to God fundamentally. Jesus is the better version of the sacrifice, the better version of a priest, the better version of a temple, and the redefinition of the family of God and how one enters that family. Simply put, Jesus changed everything, and it’s a beautiful thing. Amen. And so, since all of this is true, and since all of this is good, what should our heart posture be? When the writer of Hebrews speaks to that in 22, he says, “let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

[00:17:49] So the heart posture we should have, he identifies here a true heart in full assurance of faith. Assurance is a really interesting word there. What does it mean to have assurance? It means in another way of speaking, to have security. Heart security. To be confident. This is something I actually talk about with premarital couples that I work with when I’m going to be doing somebody’s wedding. And I think that men and women tend to receive love differently. And one of the things that I say to these men is I say, look, one of the things your wife needs from you is she needs heart security in every way. She needs to feel secure from you. She needs to feel relationally secure. She needs to feel, you know, financially secure, whatever that looks like. She needs to feel physically secure. You have a responsibility as a husband to give her that security and that assurance. And that’s just a small sort of sliver of the idea here, the kind of assurance that is being talked about here, a true heart in full assurance of faith, meaning you can trust who God is. You can trust what he has done for you. Our heart posture should be one of confidence, security, of assurance. And then we also see these two additional references again to the Old Testament sacrificial system.

[00:19:17] In order for certain objects to be used in the temple, they had to be ceremonially cleansed. And that happened by washing them or sprinkling them with blood or water, depending on what the prescription was. And so, what this is saying here, this is no small thing being said here. What’s being said here is, hey, Hebrew people, remember these Old Testament sacrificial ways and the way that these objects were cleansed, these altars, these bowls, whatever it was, that they were purified. What I’m telling you is you are now the objects set aside for holy practices. Your hearts are sprinkled clean. Your bodies are washed with pure water. And the message here is clear. You are a people set aside for a holy purpose. You are tools in the hands of an incredible God who wants to use you for a focused purpose. There’s something that you are supposed to be doing. And so, our heart posture should be that of a living sacrifice. He continues then in verse 23, to talk a little bit more about that heart posture, it says, “let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” The reason we can trust God is because he’s faithful. The reason we can have trust for God is that he’s trustworthy, because he always does what he says he will do, because he always follows through on his promises. And this works in a couple of ways.

[00:21:00] It works because when we look throughout history, we see that it is a history of God repeatedly following through on his promises. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus was obviously the biggest example of that. But we see faithfulness throughout all of Scripture of him following through on his promises, keeping his end of the covenant. But it works in another way too, because a lot of times the reason we doubt God, the reason we have a problem with God, is because we are angry with him for not fulfilling promises that he never made to us. Nobody ever promised you, certainly not God, that your family members and loved ones would live forever. It’s just not part of the deal. He doesn’t promise those things. So why do we get so disappointed in him when he breaks promises he never made? When God says something, he’ll do it. He follows through. He is truth, and so there’s no other way he can do it. So, what it says then is that we should hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. Because God is faithful, we can do these things without doubt. We can do these things without worry. We don’t have to waver. And what we should do is we should hold fast. Hold fast is not a phrase we use in common vernacular a lot, but it’s this idea of gripping it with all you got.

[00:22:24] Like you should hold on to God as passionately and as violently as a toddler holds on to their favorite stuffed animal when you’re trying to take it away. You know what I mean? Like, that should be your heart posture. You should hold on to him with all that you’ve got. But the thing you’re supposed to hold on to, specifically the thing you’re supposed to grip tightly, is the confession of our hope. And hope is such an important idea, and this is something I’ve shared before, but it bears repeating because hope is a directional idea. You can’t hope at nothing. You have to hope at something. Just like you can’t throw at nothing if you’re throwing, you’re going somewhere. It’s going at a target. If you’re hoping, you’re hoping at a target. One of the greatest challenges of being human, in my estimation, and frankly, one of the biggest impacts of sin is that we are so prone to misplaced hope. We are so prone to putting our hope into things that don’t deserve the hope, and things that can’t hold the weight of our hope. We are so prone to put our hope in, you know, 401Ks or family relationships or marriages or our reputation, or what our kids think of us, or whatever it might be. And frankly, none of those things I’ve listed are even bad things but they are not ultimate things, and they are all things that can let you down.

[00:23:51] People die. People leave, stock markets crash. People fail. None of those things can bear the weight of your hope. And so, what we need to hold on to, if we’re being tossed about by waves, we can’t hold on to something that isn’t secure. We have to hold on to something that is secure. And so, we hold on to the confession of our hope, which is Jesus. That’s the only thing we can hold on to and put our hope into, because it’s the only thing that can bear the weight of our hope. Because Jesus does not fail. Jesus does not leave. Jesus has not come up short. Jesus does not go bankrupt. Jesus does not die. Okay, Jesus died, but then he came back. So, it doesn’t count. All right? It’s different. It’s the only thing that can bear the weight of our hope. And because we are assured by this truth that our hope can’t be lost or fade or fail, we can live differently, and we should. And so that’s the invitation that he gives to us. And why? Well, it’s because God, our father, he graciously wants a relationship with us. He wants you to put his hope in him. He paid the price. He came near. He removed the barriers. He wants to be close to you. And that’s a beautiful thing. And so, if that’s true, then this passage invites us to a specific response.

[00:25:16] 24 and 25 of this passage say, “and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the day drawing near.” Y’all, I got to tell you, this is now one of the most encouraging passages of scripture for me as your adult discipleship pastor, because clearly the writer of Hebrews had a hard time getting people in small groups too, as is the habit of some neglecting to meet together. All joking aside, here’s the point he’s making: there is something important. There is something supernatural that happens when the people of God come together with focused intention, with purpose, not just occupying the same space. That’s not the same thing. Just hanging out with other Christians isn’t what we’re talking about. And some people neglect to do this, to meet with intentionality. Friends, I say this with love. But if you are trying to be a Christian on your own, you’re doing it wrong. It’s not how it works. We need each other. We’re commanded to meet together. And when we do, there are specific things that we should be doing according to this passage. Here’s kind of a summary of what these verses are saying. Your intention, your focus, your purpose should be to stir one another up to love, to stir one another up to good works, to prioritize obedience to the commandment to meet together as the family of God.

[00:26:51] To avoid the pitfalls that come from neglecting to meet together because there are many. To encourage one another. To remind each other that Jesus is coming again. So, stir up is an interesting idea, and I want to be clear that I don’t imagine that the writer of Hebrews had this in mind in the first century, because I don’t think they existed then, but it made me think of snow globes. So, think about a snow globe. It’s been sitting on a shelf for a while, and all the fun little glitter is at the bottom. And it looks fine when it’s just sitting on the shelf. It looks nice. But the fun part of the snow globe, the time when it’s most beautiful, is when you pick it up and shake it and you watch all the glitter go all around. That’s what the stirring up is, right? It’s this idea of when we do these things, it makes it more beautiful. It makes it the way it’s supposed to be. It fulfills its purpose and function just like the people of God. So, we need to shake each other up a little bit. We need to stir each other up to do these things. You think about these two specific things to stir one another up to love.

[00:28:13] Um, this is just what came to mind when I was reading this. I had a basketball coach who was a brilliant strategist of the game, but he also had an anger problem. And the more angry he got, the less articulate he got. And so every once in a while, we’d be in a practice and something would be going terribly wrong, and he would just blow his whistle and he’d yell, and he would go “play better!” Which I just loved. And with that lack in articulation, you know, we got it. Like, we understood the point. And I think sometimes we need to meet together and just look each other in the eye and just say love better. You know how to do this. You’re just forgetting. You’re letting your glitter just settle down to the bottom. You’re forgetting that you’re supposed to make the world beautiful. Love better. And in the same idea is to stir one another up toward good works. You can’t love without action. Love and good works go hand in hand together. They’re not really different things. The key qualifier, though, is that these good works need to be based in your love for Christ, that they need to be based in the truth of the gospel, because it isn’t love if it isn’t based in truth. You can’t love somebody with a lie, and it isn’t what is being described as a good deed.

[00:29:40] It’s not one if it’s based in something other than the love of Jesus. Like if you’re just doing things so that you feel better about yourself, or if you’re just doing things out of guilt or duty, that’s not what this is talking about. This is talking about, because of God’s overwhelming love for you and your overwhelming love for him in response, you must serve and love other people. That’s what it’s talking about. That’s what the stirring up leads to. We’re also invited here to encourage one another. And who doesn’t need a little encouragement in their life? Like, good job. Yay! And a practical way we can do that is we can thank each other and appreciate others when we see them serving and loving and doing acts of good works well. When we see them doing that and I got to say, I am repeatedly encouraged by this church body, by this local body of believers. I see people who do this, these good deeds all the time, and I am so encouraged by it. I see people who are caring for aging and dying parents. I see families who foster and adopt because of their love of Jesus. I see people show up to serve with middle schoolers out of their love for Jesus. I see these things, and it’s a beautiful and a wonderful thing, and it encourages me.

[00:30:54] And when we say thank you, it knocks into our brain this social psychological truth. Right? That what gets celebrated gets repeated. And when we celebrate people, it encourages them to keep doing it. This passage also tells us to remind ourselves that Jesus is coming again. This passage isn’t getting into timelines or when, and so it’s not what we need to talk about today. And you’ve maybe heard this before, but you know, it makes sense. There’s a little bit of this that’s sort of akin to just wait until your father gets home. It’s a little bit like that. And that’s okay, because the reality is there will be consequences. When Jesus comes back, there will be consequences. The timeline for grace will end in one way of speaking and go forever in another way of speaking. But the point is that his return is consequential. It matters, and it should matter to every believer. But further, this is a reminder that it’s not like Jesus is gone. It’s not like he forgot. It’s not like he’s an absentee God. He is still present. He is still involved. And he will be coming home again. He will return. And so, we must remind ourselves and each other. And we do this by meeting together that Jesus lives, that he is active and our response to him determines everything about our eternal destiny. God, our father graciously wants a relationship with us, and he wants us to have intentional relationships with our spiritual brothers and sisters.

[00:32:39] So how do we do that? This passage is asking for response and action. So, I just want to briefly introduce you to some sort of new language we’re presenting as church leadership, which is this idea of the Calvary Core. It’s our expectation collectively as leadership that anybody who calls Calvary home participate in these three things: that they’re a part of Sunday services, that they are a part of a shepherding community, and that they are a part of a serving group, that they’re serving in some way, the church or the community. And these three things, to be clear, this is not all that it means to be a Christian. Nobody’s saying that. But these three things are a direct response to the passage we just read. We need to encourage each other. We need to stir one another up. Those are all good things to do. The most repeated command in all of Scripture is to sing, to sing to one another, and to sing to God. And so, when we do this together, when we worship alongside each other and we sing, we are obeying the Lord, and we are encouraging each other, and that’s a good thing. But I think it’s a little bit hard to stir one another up to love and good works when we’re in a group this size, which is why we need you to be a part of a shepherding community.

[00:33:57] We need you to fully be engaged in the lives of others, so that you can be encouraged and be an encourager. And serving groups are the way that we do love and good works. We take care of other people. We serve other people, and we can do it in any number of ways. The bigger point is that you’re doing it not specifically what you’re doing, as long as it’s not sin or whatever, but we’re taking care of other people. Of course, the Christian life is more than this, but this is a great place to start, and this is a great place to live out the reality of who we are and what we’re called to do. As I conclude this morning, I want to reflect again on my experience with my choir. After three years at Eau Claire and three years of being a part of this choir, I actually got offered a job, and so I had to move and leave my university and therefore, of course, leave my choir. And the super interesting thing happened. As soon as I stopped contributing to the focused purpose of the group, I was severed from the community. I don’t mean that anybody, like, kicked me out. I don’t mean that anybody was mean or rude. That’s not what it was. It’s just that when I stopped contributing to what it is we were trying to accomplish, it wasn’t the same.

[00:35:19] I wasn’t a part of it in the same way. And friends, I think that we do this a lot as Christians. I think sometimes we feel really lonely in our faith, and when we feel the loneliest, it’s probably because we have stopped contributing to the focused purpose of what it is that we’re supposed to be doing. As followers of Jesus. We don’t look for friendships first and then try to shoehorn in purpose. We focus on purpose, and the friendships work themselves out. We need to use our friendships to honor God, especially among other brothers and sisters in Christ. A shared purpose to love and honor God should, for each of us, be a greater source of connection with others than our life stage or our common interests, or having kids the same age, or living in the same neighborhood, or being in the same income bracket. Being on purpose together should be the most significant thing that we do, and the most significant thing about who we are. Because while being a Christian requires believing rightly, and it does. Being a disciple means walking in the ways of Jesus, and included in walking in the ways of Jesus is sharing life with others who are pursuing Jesus too. Living in community with them and growing together. And with all that being true, I think we have a lot to work on. So, let’s pray.