Loving God, you invite us to come to you through Jesus Christ and to look to you for mercy and grace even in the midst of suffering.  As we gather together today, strengthen us in our faith and empower us by your Spirit, that in all things we might give glory to you; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    It occurred to me this week that if there had been Top 10 lists back in the first century, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews would have written one.  It would have been the Top 10 Reasons Why Our High Priest is Better than all those other ones.  It might have gone something like this:

#10 - Our high priest is also the Messiah
#9 - Our high priest calls us brothers and sisters
#8 - Our high priest is able to help us when we are being tested
#7 - Our high priest can sympathize with our weaknesses
#6 - Our high priest doesn’t have to offer sacrifices all the time
#5 - Our high priest is greater than Abraham
#4 - Our high priest has God’s ear - his prayers don’t have far to go!
#3 - Our high priest doesn’t go visit the glory of God once a year - he is the reflection of God’s glory!
#2 - Our high priest sets us free from sin, death and the devil
And the number one reason why our high priest is better?
#1 - Our high priest is the source of eternal salvation!

    What you have just heard is not a comedy routine, but a summary of a great deal of what Hebrews has to say.  For us, all of this talk about a high priest might not seem all that important.  However, for those Jewish Christians who first received this letter, they would have understood who the high priest is and what he does.  Since many of them were getting discouraged and thinking about abandoning their faith in Jesus, the writer really was trying to explain why believing in Jesus is better than returning to their former religion.  At the same time, Hebrews includes many quotes and references to the Old Testament in order to illustrate its message.

    In today’s reading, there were quotes from a couple of different Psalms, as well as a reference to Melchizedek.  Do you have any idea who Melchizedek is?... He was the king of Salem, and he’s also identified as a “priest of God Most High” (Gen. 14:18).  Way back in Genesis, Melchizedek meets Abram, along with the king of Sodom, and we learn that Melchizedek brought out some bread and wine.  Melchizedek also blesses Abram, and then Abram gives him a tithe - “a tenth of everything” (Gen. 14:20).

    The reason that Melchizedek is mentioned here is twofold: First, he is the only priest mentioned in the Old Testament who was not a descendant of Aaron.  All other priests had to be from Aaron’s family.  Second, the Messiah was thought to be “a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6).  In other words, we can talk about Jesus as our great high priest even though he is a descendant of David rather than a descendant of Aaron.  This is something that would be more important to a Jewish person than to us, but it helps us to understand why we’re suddenly reading about Melchizedek.

    As with any Scripture reading, though, we look within it for the message that is meant for us.  In some ways, this is an excellent reading for the first Sunday of a pastoral internship, for it invites us to think about priests and the call of God and how human beings who are called by God suffer from the same weaknesses as everybody else.  A bit of clarification here, though.

    Earlier this week, I asked some people what a priest is, and they threw out some other words like minister or pastor or clergyperson.  In reality, each of these words has a slightly different meaning.  A priest is like a mediator between human beings and God.  The priest goes to God on behalf of others, and goes to others on behalf of God.  The word pastor is related to a shepherd.  That’s why a pastoral scene might have shepherds and sheep in it.  And then there’s the word “minister,” which actually means “servant.”  I would hope that in every congregation there would be more than one minister, for aren’t all of us called to be servants of Christ?

    At the same time, Lutherans don’t tend to have priests.  This is because Martin Luther talked about something called the priesthood of all believers.  He taught and believed that we don’t need somebody to go to God on our behalf.  Every single one of us can approach the throne of grace with boldness because Jesus has opened the way for us to be able to do that.  At the same time, since Jesus is already there as our mediator and high priest, we don’t need another mediator in order to be able to come before God in prayer.

    However, just as Jewish priests were called by God, God continues to call people into various kinds of service.  Some are called to be pastors or diaconal ministers.  Some are called to be teachers or nurses or mechanics or parents or firefighters.  Some are called to be youth leaders or writers or police officers or home care workers or builders.  No matter what our vocation, there are ways to serve God and others in our daily work.

    At the same time, no matter what challenges we are facing in our work or in our family life, or simply in our daily lives, Jesus is there for us as one who understands what it is like.  Today’s readings remind us of how Jesus experienced trials and suffering and how he pleaded with God that things might be different.  Today’s readings mention testing and weakness and loud cries and tears.  No matter what we are facing, Jesus is there, sharing our pain, understanding our trials, and offering mercy and “grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

    The way has been opened for us to “approach the throne of grace with boldness” (Heb. 4:16).  In fact, we have been welcomed as brothers and sisters by the one who is “the source of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:9).  Let us then continue to listen for God’s call to us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, for all that is needed.  For where God guides, God provides, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

Pentecost 13 (NL summer)                    Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10
August 23, 2015                            Matthew 26:36-46
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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