Hebrews 13:5

Reading in the book of Hebrews I came across a statement that I did not understand.  This morning I want to discuss it with you so that I can learn and you can learn an important truth.

The troubling statement is found in Hebrews 13:5. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

The writer of the book of Hebrews is telling us to be free from the love of money and to be content.  That is fairly clear. 

The part that came to me centers around the word “because.”  The King James uses the word “for” which has the same idea.  In some way the second part of the sentence gives a reason or motivation for obeying the first part of the sentence.

Let me frame this as a question, “How does the presence of God (who promised never to leave you nor forsake you) motivate us to keep our lives free from the love of money and produce contentment?”

I know what some of you are saying, “If we have God’s presence, we don’t need to worry about money.  God will provide what we need.”   

Others of you are saying, “This sounds good in church.  But I wonder how many of those who say this have ever lost a job, ever been through a divorce that hit the pocketbook in a major way, have ever lost a home to fire or been through bankruptcy?”

On one side we have people who believe the words but have not gone through a real crisis vs. the people on the other side who are in a crisis and are troubled by the words that they read.

The author of Hebrews is writing to people who had experienced a real crisis.  They knew what it was like to be without.  I can tell you that it was not a pleasant experience for them.

We pick this up in Hebrews 10. “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. ” (Hebrews 10:32–34, NIV)

Do you see the phrase, “joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property”?  This was a true statement for the early church.  They were living for God, and if living for God meant losing what they had, they were willing to lose all for the sake of Christ and many did.

Have you ever heard the expression, “Once bitten, twice shy?” This means that a person who has a bad experience will often be very cautious the next time a similar situation comes up.  It’s hard for someone who fell off a horse to get back in the saddle.  It’s hard for someone who was hurt by a close friend to trust any friend again.  It’s hard for someone who has lost their possessions and been put out on the street not to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Can you imagine how fresh this experience was to the people who read this letter?  Even if the experiences took place twenty years earlier, they would remember the insults and persecutions.  They would remember standing up with those who were the object of public humiliation.  They would remember the day that people came and took all they had away.

On that day they had great joy.  They felt close to God.  But now, “once bitten, twice shy!”

It is possible that some of the members of the church were saving up money so that if hard times came, they would have enough to make it through.  But the cost of self-preservation was having a chilling effect on the church.

People who stood up for prisoners before needed to be reminded to do so again. “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. ” (Hebrews 13:3, NIV)

People whose homes were open to traveling teachers, evangelist and apostles were more careful about the people who stayed.  So they are reminded to open their homes. “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. ” (Hebrews 13:2, NIV)

People who experienced the loss of all were now focusing on reclaiming what they lost so they are told, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have . . .”(Hebrews 13:5, NIV)

The author of Hebrews is engaged with a battle with his readers, one that you and I may wrestle with at times.  How can we make sure that past problems don’t affect our obedience to Christ?

Jesus is clear.  We cannot love God and money at the same time.  Even if we are trying to get back what was lost, if we are giving extra time and effort to get ahead, we are going to lose something very vital, that is the priority of our relationship with God.

On the human side, how many divorces have taken place because one person was such a workaholic that his or her spouse felt neglected.  They achieved their financial goals, but lost what was more important.  The relationship with their husband or wife suffered greatly and, if children were involved, created real problems for both the parent and the child.

Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God…” The writer to Hebrews is concerned with the same thing.

But it goes even deeper.  This fixation with reclaiming what was lost affected the practical aspects of love that existed before between the Christians in the church.

Notice verse 1. “Keep on loving each other as brothers. ” (Hebrews 13:1, NIV)  He wanted this brotherly love to continue, to keep on going.

What was happening?  I am guessing at this point, but it could be that people were so concerned about getting back on track, that they didn’t give to help another believer in need.  How could they help someone?  If they did, they would fall behind in their quest to get ahead. 

How could they open their homes to strangers?  That person might do what Paul did, bring the whole city in anger to their doorstep.  How could they identify with Christian prisoners?  They might lose all they had gained. 

When people start to focus attention on themselves, they also begin to care less for other people.  It’s not automatic, but the more we seek to please ourselves, the less we desire to please God and the less we love other people.  We get caught up in our own world and don’t see the needs of others.

It doesn’t always happen this way, but the author of this book is concerned about warning Christians about adultery. We shouldn’t have to warn Christians about the dangers of adultery.  Yet, we hear stories of Christians who become attracted to other Christians and break up marriages within the church.  This ought not to be.  What is at the root of this? The root of the problem is the desire to please self, not to please God and not to love our neighbor. 

The sin that is under discussion is covetousness.  Do you remember the tenth commandment? “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  (Exodus 20:17, NIV)

The tie between adultery and materialism is covetousness.  You want what belongs to others.  You are driven to make sure that you get what you want and that you do not fall into the same crisis again.

For those of you who have been once bitten, you have been through the crisis, the answer is not to overreact and devote your life to getting back what was lost.  The answer is not to seek security in the things of this world.

The answer is to remember what happened during your crisis.

So what did happen?  Bad stuff.  I don’t know what it was specifically for you, but it was bad.

How did you get through it?  For many of us here, we got through it because we are assured of God’s presence with us in the fire.  We felt like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace.  In the midst of the flames a fourth person appeared who looked like the Son of God.  He helped us through the crisis.

That is the focus of God.  You made it through the last crisis because you knew a God who would never leave you nor forsake you. 

This, by the way, is a quote from Deuteronomy.  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV)

Israel was facing a crisis.  Moses, their leader, was not going with them into the promised land.  They were about to face conflict.   Someone would need to provide food for over a million people.  Now they would be leaderless.  So Moses tells them not to let fear stop them from moving forward.  God would be with them in their own crisis.

We have all faced crises in our lives.  If we focus on the crisis, we may compromise our obedience to God in order to protect ourselves.  If we focus on how God helped us and didn’t abandon us in our time of need, we can avoid falling into the trap of finding our security in our money or in our possessions.  And, this is of great importance, we will love better.

 I say this to ask an important question:  How many times have you said “no” to a legitimate need because it affected your plans to have a pleasurable life?  I am not talking about saying “no” because you wouldn’t have any food on your table or you wouldn’t be able to pay the mortgage on your home.  I am asking if you said “no” because your money was set aside to buy something that would not fit into the realm of necessary?

Please don’t misinterpret what I am saying.  This is not a plea for money.  This is a plea for love.  Real love. Practical love.  A love that is willing to give money because the need is real, a love that is willing to give time because the need is real, a love that does not look at our own comforts first, but rather seeks first what is best for the kingdom of God.

James tells us, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ” (James 2:15–16, NIV)

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ” (James 1:27, NIV)

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ” (1 John 3:17, NIV)

What would make a person help someone out who was in need?  A real love. 

Think back in your life.  How much of what you don’t do is determined by bad experiences in the past?  How much of your caution, your reserve, your hesitation because of those past experiences is stopping you from obeying the Lord and fully serving him today?

Do you remember the presence of the Lord in that situation?  Someone once put a dot on a board and asked, “What do you see?”  The people said, “We see a dot.”  The presenter said, “the board is so much bigger than the dot, yet you only see the little dot and not the big board.”

We are ending 2010 and entering 2011.  Isn’t it time to focus on the bigger picture, on letting go of the things that are stopping you from living for God and grabbing hold of the memory of his help in time of trouble?

The writer to Hebrews ends this part with a quote from a Psalm 118:6. “So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:6, NIV)