Weekly Devotional for October 18, 2015

Scripture text: Hebrews 6:1-12 (Appointed for October 19)

One of the tricky things about reading through the assigned texts for a given week in the daily lectionary is figuring out which one I wish to write about in this space. That’s usually because the daily lectionary includes a number of rather obscure passages that are generally overlooked for a reason. They’re throw-away texts dealing with historical minutia or they’re angry prophecies about political alliances that no longer apply in our day and age or something else equally useless. Despite fundamentalist claims to the contrary, not all Scripture is of equal value. There’s a lot of chaff in the daily lectionary that you have to sift through to find the wheat.

Today, I have the opposite problem. The assigned texts for Monday, October 19, are not only highly applicable to our daily lives in 2015, but there’s more than one of them that I could choose to speak on today. The first is from 1 Samuel 8, a text I was first introduced to in seminary. It’s the warning of the prophet Samuel towards those in his day who were clamoring for a king, thinking that would make them strong against their enemies. It’s a good “be careful what you wish for” text and definitely has something to say to us during this election year. But I largely covered that topic already in a previous Devotional, so I’m not going to retread that here.

The second text is from Hebrews. The context of this passage is probably the first real theological argument that happened in the early church. Paul addresses this numerous times in his letters and here the author of Hebrews (who, despite popular tradition, is NOT Paul) takes his stab at the question. What is that question? Whether one needed to become Jewish before becoming Christian, to go through the Jewish initiation rites (including circumcision) to be a part of the church. The canon of Scripture is largely in agreement that not only were these issues contrary to the teachings of Christ, but to ask the question was, in many ways, an exercise in frivolity. Hebrews plays along with this in addressing the issue as childish.

How many of the traditions and “sacred cows” of the church today could we say that about?

I wrote last week about how often we get wrapped around the axle with things that don’t really matter, like what Christmas greeting we are to use or receive. That’s a good example. Too often the church expends all its energy over things that simply are not important. Hebrews calls us to “grow up,” to focus our energy instead on what truly matters: the teachings of Jesus Christ. Who are we and what are we to be about as Christians? The Scriptures make that plain. Love your neighbor. Forgive those who sin against you. Care for the less fortunate. Give generously to those in need. Trusting in God to take care of you so you can take care of others. Believing in His promises of eternal life through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Those are the things that truly matter. Not what color the carpet in the church is or whether you light the right candle or the left first.

Our identity as Christians is not to be centered on these frivolous things, but on the faith in God’s promises through Christ and how we are to live out that faith in our day to day lives. That is what really matters. That's who we are truly meant to be. Adults in the faith, not children. Mature, not frivolous and foolish.