Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10

Glasgow science centre –

Exhibits – simple but effective.

coil  of copper pipe – this way, hot water

another this way, interlocking with it, passing cold water

when put hand on touching both coils

plays tricks with your mind!

Know it’s extreme, can’t say whether hot or cold.

So much in life is like that – somewhere in the middle of two extremes.

Other week, talking with the children about intimacy – space between being too close or two far away.

Theologically, we speak about God’s transcendence – a God who is so high above us in every sense we struggle to even begin to grasp him. But we also talk about God’s immanence – his closeness to each and every one of us.

And today’s reading in Hebrews takes us into that kind of territory because we’re thinking about two things that seem to be in tension with one another – at least, at first glance. God’s holiness and God’s approachability.

And I think it’s fair to say that in Jesus’ day, Israel had a good handle on God’s holiness - but they knew very little about his approachability.

And when you read their history, you find yourself thinking maybe that’s not their fault! It seems to me there’s a progressive revelation of God’s character going on in the Old Testament, and maybe, in those early stages, the one thing he really had to get across to them was that he was a Holy and powerful God. Maybe that’s where he had to start.

Several times last week I drove past the house where I grew up in Northern Ireland, and in that house there was a sizeable cubby hole under the stairs – just right for playing in. But that cupboard also housed the gas meter, and a pipe that took the gas through into the kitchen.

And as kids we were warned on pain of death never to touch that pipe! We were told that if we touched that pipe the house would explode.

So needless to say, we always gave it a wide berth.

Until one day our cousins were in there, playing with us, and there was a lot mucking about and pushing and shoving and to my horror, my unknowing cousin reached out her hand to steady herself and grabbed the gas pipe.

And we stood there for what seemed like ages, waiting for the explosion. But it never came.

We hadn’t understood the complex truths that were bound up in that simple command not to touch the pipe. Truths like gas is a good thing. Gas is necessary for heating and cooking. Gas can also be very dangerous if it’s not treated with respect because it’s flammable. You could try and explain all that to a four year old. But it’s a lot quicker just to warn him to stay away from the pipe.

And when I think of Israel’s history with God, a holy God, it seems to me that something similar is going on.

That God is holy and pure is a wonderful truth about who God is. But in our fallen state, it’s impossible for us to engage with that kind of God without a sense of fear.

So in the scriptures, when God or one of his messengers appears, what do human beings do? We fall flat on our faces. We avert our eyes. We hide, and try not to be seen.  God’s holiness is a bit like too much light. Light is good and beautiful and necessary. But as creatures with limited capabilities, we can’t bear too much of it in our present state.

It wasn’t always like that with us and God. Think of Adam and Eve at the very beginning – walking with God in the garden in the cool of the day. But what’s the first thing they do when they eat the apple, and then hear God calling them? They hide.

They hide because it feels to them that their good and holy God, the one who created them and blessed them, is no longer approachable.

And of course, he didn’t change! They did; when they went their own sweet way.

And there’s the dichotomy – we were made to know God and enjoy fellowship with him, but in our fallen state our natural instinct will always be to fear him and try and keep him at a safe distance.

And you’ve heard me say it before, but even the architecture of Israel’s Temple, sitting proudly in the heart of Jerusalem, reflected that state of affairs. It was built in a succession  of layers designed to keep people at a distance.

First the gentiles were screened out. Then the women, Then the men, Then the priests. Til only the high priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies, and that once a year on the day of Atonement; and believe it or not, they used to tie a rope around him  in case something happened and they needed to drag him out without someone else entering the sacred space.

All of this does not speak of a God who is approachable.

And for the avoidance of doubt, let me say it again, it’s not God who changed. It’s we who changed. He is still our loving Father. But our falleness created a distance between us that wasn’t there at the beginning, and was never meant to be there.

And that’s why the message in today’s section of Hebrews is so welcome because the writer is telling us that in Christ, that distance has been overcome, and once again we can approach our heavenly Father with confidence.

The writer of Hebrews is telling us that God is both with us and for us.

And the picture he paints is that of Jesus as High Priest, going into the Holy of Holies, in heaven itself. And offering not the blood of any animal, but his own blood, his own self, by way of atonement.  He presents his own sinless life as a perfect offering, once for all, on the cross.

And do you remember what happened in the moments after he died? Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us that the huge temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, opening the Holy of Holies up to everyone. The separation, the distance, the unhealthy fear of God that makes us want to hide from him, all dealt with by Christ on the cross.

Because of him, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, not because of anything we’ve done but because we’ve come to trust in what he has done.

And there we find both forgiveness and understanding, because our God, uniquely, knows what it is to walk in our shoes. Our God has known weakness, loss, agony, pressure and temptation. And that means he doesn’t look on our situations dispassionately, but with genuine empathy.

In Christ, we are blessed with a fuller picture of our God than Israel had – we realise that in him, God is still holy, but also approachable. And as I thought about that this week, I remembered John’s glorious vision of Christ that we read in Revelation chapter 1:

¹⁴His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid.

The Lord of the universe, in all his glory, places his hand upon us and says ‘do not be afraid’. God holy. God, also, approachable. God with us, and God for us.

Let me say this in closing before I end with a story.

How you think about God really matters, because the God you worship influences the kind of person you become.

If your God’s harsh and judgmental – that’s what you’ll become

If your God’s a libertine – that’s what you’ll become.

If your God doesn’t care about people, neither will you.

If your God’s noncommittal, that’s what you’ll end up being.

And if your God’s understanding, compassionate and forgiving, that’s the kind of person you’ll become, by his grace.

Our image of God really matters, and the place we need to be getting our understanding of God is from the whole story of the Scriptures – from Genesis to Revelation. Not from culture; not from the self-help section at Waterstones; and not even from the hand-me-down beliefs of our parents or our home church; because they may not be as full and rounded as they might be.

Here’s a question to shed some light on that. As you sit here today, does your image of God make you want to get closer to him, or does it make you want to keep your distance from him? Does prayer – consciously coming into God’s presence – warm your heart or just leave you cold? It’s worth spending some time thinking that through because your answers to those questions say a lot about your image of God. And the truth is, some images are better than others.

Every couple of months I go to see a Spiritual Director down near Stonehaven and she helps me reflect on my life and work and relationship with God. Her name’s Judith, but at home we just call her Spiritual Wifey!

I’d been talking about gardening and my ongoing battle with the vegetable patch, and playing with that theme she asked me to imagine that my life was a garden, and to walk through it with God. What would God see, she asked me.

I thought about that for a long time. I saw dead stuff needing pulled up, I said. Some areas that were wholly neglected. Some new growth, which was great, but which probably wasn’t getting the attention it needed. When pushed, I admitted that I felt that the state of my garden reflected badly on me.

Then she asked me where God was, as I surveyed the garden.

And my answer, which I’m ashamed of, is that he was somewhere behind me, looking over my shoulder, being silently critical.

And that’s where she stopped me and asked me if that impression of God was real. I certainly felt that it was real in that moment. But just because you feel it, it doesn’t make it true. Was that kind of attitude or disposition really consonant with what I know of God’s character?

I knew in my head that the right answer was ‘no’– but my heart was telling me the opposite. And so  she asked me to reflect on how things would be if it were Ross tending the garden of his life, and me walking through it with him. How would I be with Ross?

I’d probably walk alongside him, or ahead of him, I said – celebrating new growth, giving advice about things that could be done. I’d be realistic and I’d try not to blame. I’d be aware of the scale of the task but reassure him about it and offer whatever help was needed. I would want to see him happy and fulfilled in what he was doing.

Is that not how a good Father would help his son? she asked.

I had to agree that it was.

So how would God be looking at me? she asked. And I already knew the answer.

The writer of Hebrews is helping us with our image of God this morning. He’s reminding us that we have a high priest who is with us and for us. A God who is both holy and approachable;

and from Genesis to Revelation that God bids us come.

1    “Come, all you who are thirsty,

    come to the waters;

    and you who have no money,

    come, buy and eat!

    Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without cost.

2    Why spend money on what is not bread,

    and your labour on what does not satisfy?

    Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

    and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3    Give ear and come to me;

    hear me, that your soul may live

says the Lord.

So may we come to him today with our hunger, with our weakness,

with our gratitude and our joy,

and remember what these elements have been telling the world

for nearly two millennia.

That in Christ, the way to the Father is open,

and he waits for us to come to him

with open arms.