Hebrews: Another “Encounter”

WED., NOV. 11, 1998, 8:33 AM
F.P.C., A.S.C.

Here in this familiar room in this familiar church you come to hear Me… and I offer some thoughts on what you have just read and discussed. It is one of those small portions of Holy Scripture whose authorship is unknown… or disputed. It is, presumably, an encouragement to Hebrew folks who have become “Christians” to hold fast to their “new” faith, which doesn’t require all of the “sacred actions” familiar to these converts. It spoke to some of them, then, and what should it say to you, these many years later?

Is Scripture “the same, yesterday, today, and forever”? Well, you assume… and I have assured you… that Holy Scripture is some strange mixture of eternal truths and description of life, times, and practices of a people different from you in many ways. The Jews were a “minority” people, folk who, in history, had been exiled twice and ruled over by non-Jewish powers. You, in contrast, were born into and have lived as a citizen of the most powerful nation on the earth. Christianity is the dominant religion of your culture, but the highest value is on the need for diversity, in belief about “ultimate matters”, and the practices that stem from these perceptions.

I tell you repeatedly (and if I Am the Creator and Sustainer, it is obvious) that I love and value diversity, even within My favored religion. In your family (the “larger” one) you see the gamut from Orthodox and Roman Catholic to Pentecostal and “undecided”. And I pick you, out of the relative “center” to be a low-level mystic, who hears Me regularly and writes, therefore, a “latter day Scripture”, recognized and accepted by very few, even in your own family.

The Hebrew Christians, to whom this letter was addressed, were a minority, of a minority. It was difficult to give up practices and rituals that had been part of their lives from early on. (It is understandable, then, that the more liturgical churches of Christianity have adapted and adopted rituals, with rules and “standard practices” to fulfill the needs that some people have for such practices of religion). You are still surprised that 3 of your sons are active in traditions quite more structured and “orthodox” than the Presbyterian, in which they were “raised”. It is most amazing to see son Michael so dedicated to his “high” form of worship and relationship with Me.

You, personally, are a “silent minority” within your Presbyterian mode, a semi-mystic who regularly seeks… and is sought by… The Holy Spirit of the Lord God… the “father” of the Lord Jesus Christ… to hear and to write what you hear. You are not persecuted for this, but you realize you could be… and you always have some anticipation of this treatment. You don’t expect to be whipped, stoned, or sawed in half, but you know this is some sort of “barrier” between you and two sons… and probably others in the larger family.

Oh, you are not a “dangerous minority”, but I have taught you some things about Me, My perceptions and values, that would not be well received by… quite a proportion of Christians. You would not have wanted to be “punished” in the early years of Our relationship, but now… it is of less and less importance. You may well become more bold in relation to this “gift”, risking, almost in My “tradition” as Jesus. I finally said that I was the Son of God… and could forgive sins… and brought direct words from the Yahweh God.

As Jesus I am the same, through all ages, but that “sameness” includes being adaptable to the needs of the earth, whatever the age and the culture. I am One who not only encourages “strange, new ideas”, but actually generates some of these. I, in all of My Forms, am definitely a Both/And God. I sometimes punish as is deserved. At other times I forgive and forget.