5th Sermon at St. Paul's

Year B, Proper 28, RCL
Hebrews 10:11-25

Recently I began watching the BBC Robin Hood series that premiered three years ago. The Legend of Robin Hood, as many of us know, places Robin as a contemporary and supporter of King Richard the Lionheart during the third crusade. Robin returned to England before the King and quickly became an outlaw. For, while the King was away Prince John was seeking to steal the crown, and he set up people in authority to help achieve this goal.
So, the King has gone away and in his absence there are those who try to set themselves up in power. They establish themselves as authority figures and pretend to be supporters of the king all the while plotting to steal the crown and the people from the true King. In today’s Gospel reading we hear Jesus warning against something quite similar to this. Jesus says, “Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray”. He goes on and lists terrible things that will happen in those times, wars, famines, earthquakes…, and he ends saying that “this is but the beginning of the birthpangs”, things are going to be bad, but that will only be the beginning, there will be more to follow.
The early church was very aware these coming trials. You can see throughout St. Paul’s writings an emphasis on the end of the world. In the first letter to the Thessalonians St. Paul wrote that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”, although he expected it soon he knew that no one knew exactly when it would come, he continued, however, to write that Christians should be ready for the day of the Lord, because it was coming.
Being aware of the imminence of the day of the Lord, the early church was naturally concerned with how they ought to live. This was a concern both of what they ought to do under everyday circumstances, but also of how they were to avoid being misled by those that would come to deceive them, in terms of Robin Hood, how could the people of England stay loyal to King Richard? What could they do to not be deceived by the Prince Johns and Sheriff of Nottinghams of the world?
In today’s reading from the letter to the Hebrews we are given instruction as to how we are to live as Christians. These instructions begin by establishing Jesus as the foundation of everything we do as Christians, “since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus” the author writes. What we are able to do, we are able to do through Jesus, not through our own strength. The author goes on, “let us approach 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”. Jesus has given us the confidence to enter the sanctuary, to come into God’s presence. And naturally following from having the confidence to enter into the sanctuary is the implication that we will do just that, and that we will do so faithfully, as those who have been washed clean through our baptism into the Body of Christ.
The author then urges the Hebrews writing, “let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering”. We are not only to enter into the sanctuary but beyond that we are to hold fast to the confession of our hope, to our beliefs, to our faith. We must always remember what it is we believe, what is right. Back to the Robin Hood story, Robin does not waver in his allegiance to King Richard, he knows what is right and he sticks to that as he continues his fight against Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Finally, the author writes, “let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another”… This is the piece that stood out to me when I first looked at today’s readings and is what I really want to emphasize. The instruction that we’re given in this reading is advice for day-to-day life but it also is speaks to how we can avoid being led astray as the day of the Lord approaches. This passage ends: “and all the more as you see the Day approaching”. “The Day” being the day of the Lord, that which lies after what Jesus is speaking about in today’s Gospel reading. The author of Hebrews is telling us here, that we are given each other as a safeguard against being led astray. In the story of Robin Hood, Robin is not alone, but rather he fights with his band of merry men. They keep each other in check, they make sure that they are all continuing on with the work that has been given to them.
Now, as noble as Robin Hood’s intentions may be, I don’t suggest that we go out and follow suit with his actions. I do however think that he and his merry men are a good example of what we heard in the Hebrews lesson today. If you have seen this recent BBC series you will know that a number of time, Robin and his men are faced with difficult decisions about following their beliefs of right and wrong, and these instances usually require them to go to Nottingham where the odds are stacked against them. There is always a voice in the group saying that they should not go to Nottingham because they have very little chance of getting back out, however, every time a different member of the group reminds the others what they ought to do and ends all discussion saying “we go to Nottingham”.
Robin and his men model what our lives as Christians should be in community. These outlaws hold each other up to the standard of their belief, they remind each other that no matter what they go to Nottingham. They encourage and provoke each other to continually do what is right regardless of the potential costs to themselves. The reason they do so is because they hold fast to their hope of the return of King Richard, and this allows them to stand without wavering in the face of what is wrong in England.
The hope of Robin and his men is in King Richard the Lionheart, now our hope… well our hope is in one much greater than King Richard… We have a different king, our hope is in Jesus, it is He who gives us the confidence to enter into God’s sanctuary, to hold fast without wavering and to meet together continually urging each other on to love and good deeds. Our hope being in one much greater than King Richard should provoke us to love and good deeds all the more. We, as Christians, should always be holding our brothers and sisters accountable to our faith, we should always be pushing our brothers and sisters to go to Nottingham.
The other day I was reading the Call to Commitment e-mail that came out late last week. This e-mail summed up perfectly what I wanted to say about what we hear in today’s reading. Towards the end of the e-mail it was written, “Let us encourage each other! Along with our prayers, let us continue to offer our encouragement to those we know who are struggling to see the path ahead. There's no need for anyone to be left out!” This statement was in the context of stewardship, but it applies to every aspect of our lives as Christians together. For in our lives together we must constantly be reminding each other that we are the people who go to Nottingham no matter how difficult it may seem. For it is through the confidence we have gained in Christ and the encouragement and provocation of our brothers and sisters in Christ that we are able to continue faithfully following the way Christ has set before us. Amen.