On the Road Again

SUMMARY

In his sermon, Karl Ihfe continues the "Running for Your Life" series, delving into Hebrews chapters 3 and 4. He explores the theme of spiritual journey, comparing the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt to our journey of faith. Ihfe emphasizes the danger of drifting into rebellion, referencing Psalm 95 and the Israelites' disobedience in the wilderness.

The speaker stresses the importance of community and encouragement, noting how the Hebrew preacher alternates between "you" and "we" language to foster a sense of shared responsibility. Ihfe illustrates this point with personal anecdotes and a news story about a losing ultimate Frisbee team, highlighting the value of perseverance and mutual support.

Ihfe concludes by urging the congregation to "stay on the road" of faith, encouraging one another daily, and holding onto hope for the ultimate victory in Christ. He emphasizes that while we may face challenges, our focus should be on progress rather than perfection as we journey towards God's promised rest.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Well, if you have your Bible, invite you to turn over to Hebrews chapter three. We'll spend our time together there this morning. As you're making your way there, just want to remind us by where we are today. We're in our series called Running for your life. I know some of us, myself included, felt like you were running for your life this morning just to get here on time and in the right place with everything that you need.

In the first week, we talked about the weariness that so many of us are facing, that this young church was facing and trying to be faithful to the call that God had put on their life. And so we thought some together about the Hebrew preacher challenging us to hang in there, to hold on, to endure, to persevere. And he keeps drawing us back to the picture of Jesus and his willingness to endure on our behalf. In fact, that led right into week two where we think together about this beautiful grand story that God is telling and how Jesus is the culmination of all the promises that have been made to us and so to follow him, it's not just another religion or another idea, but it's actually life, the life that's truly life. And so last week we thought together about how a word is worth a thousand pictures, how the living word, Jesus himself is the one who shows us the way.

And we were created in God's image to be royalty, to rule with him back in Genesis 1 and 2. And yet because of the fall, not only with Adam and Eve, but so many, ourselves included, since then, how we have lost that sen. And yet Jesus was the one true human right. He was made just like us in every single way we're told. The Hebrew preacher says he was made fully human, that he might go through what we are going through, that he might face what we have faced, and yet without sin, come through on the other side as the one true human to show us how to live a truly human life.

Today we're going to pick up in chapter three and notice again how we have an Old Testament reference, right? The preacher has been referring us back again, time and time again to the story of God and how this is our story. It's a part of who we are. In fact, over the next 19 verses, end of chapter three, beginning of chapter four, he's going to refer to the same Psalm four different times. So it's clear he wants us to be paying attention to what he has to say and how he's going to say it.

Now, why would the Hebrew preacher take us there? Right? Remember, he's giving us a new lens through which we can view history in our story. Right. It's not.

It's not amnesia. We don't just forget about history and pretend like nothing ever happened. It's not atavism where we all idolize it. Right. Where we idolize it, I guess, is probably idolatz.

Is that a word? I don't know that that's a word, but we're gonna make it a word today. They idolize history. Oh, if we could just go back to that great time in history. Right.

Instead, he says, no, no, no. The point of history is to remind us of who it points to, of where we are headed. And that is in Christ, that new creation, that new life together. And so he tells us a story of God's people being on a journey. Because we, too, are on a journey, aren't we?

Opening of chapter three. He references Moses, and it calls to mind the story of God's people in the wilderness. These similar journeys that we're on, we’ve both been freed. The Israelites have been freed from slavery to Egypt. What we're told in chapter two is that Jesus has freed us from the slavery, of the fear of death.

And not only that, he is leading us. Right? Moses led the people out. Jesus has led us out of our captivity and our bondage, and we're headed somewhere. The Israelites were headed to the promised land, that place that was a sign, a symbol of God's presence with them, his blessing, that we too are headed toward a promised land where one day things will be as they were intended to be from the very beginning.

And Jesus is our forerunner. He's the one leading us there. But along the whole journey, there's this question that keeps coming up over and over again. Will we trust God? Will we trust God to lead us?

And in fact, that's where Psalm 95, those words that Beverly read for us just a moment ago, they point us to a choice that the Israelites made. So as the Holy Spirit says, verse seven of chapter three today, if you hear his voice and do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing, in the wilderness where your ancestors tested and tried, me, though for 40 years, they saw what I did. The preacher says that there was a rebellion going on in the wilderness, that even though they saw what God had done and was doing in their lives, they continued to rebel against him. And he warns them, don't rebel. Now, it's important for us to remember that this is a story of rebellion.

He's not Talking about people who, who struggle sometimes to have faith. He's not talking to people who sometimes have some bad habits that they have a really hard time getting over and getting through, working around or maybe who are struggling in some relationships. He's talking about rebellion, right? That story of the wilderness. The people were saying, you know what?

I've got an idea. Let, let's do this. Let's stone Moses and go back to Egypt. It'd be far better to go back into captivity than to stay out here in the wilderness and die, right? Thanks God, but no thanks.

We're going toa listen to the 10 spies and not the two. Not the two that said, yes, everything that God has promised is true and he will lead us there. We're going to listen to the 10 that said, yeah, everything that God said about the land is true, but there's no way that God could lead us there, right? So they rebelled, they turned their backs on God, they hardened their hearts, were told. So what he's trying to impress upon them is rebellion doesn't just happen.

We don't just drift into, like get up on the rebellion side of the bed this morning. It's not like we go from zero to rebellion in 60 seconds. It's this drift. Chapter two, right? He says we got to be careful to pay attention to what we're hearing so that we don't drift, right?

Rebellion happens through drift, through quenching the Holy Spirit through not paying attention to what God is doing in our lives and around us. It's just little decision after little decision after little decision. So the preacher warns them as any pastor would, because he loves his church. In fact, throughout the sermon, he's going to give five different warnings, right? In chapter two is this warning not to drift in chapters three and four.

Here it's this, don't rebel. In chapter six, it's don't turn your back on God. Chapter ten, don't deliberately keep on sinning when you know better. And then chapter 12, don't be foolish like Esau was, who traded his birthright for a meal, for a bowl of soup. This is a warning.

It's a reminder, right? Telling this story, rooting them back in. The story says you too are living a part of the story. You're on a journey. What they had was rebellion and unbelief.

What we have, he says, is faith. It's faithfulness. See to it, brothers, he says, see to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful and unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God but encourage one another daily as long as it's called today so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. For we have become partners in Christ if indeed we hold our first confidence firm until the end. He says we're on a journey church.

In chapter 11 he'll say we're like aliens and strangers longing for our homeland, longing to return back to the place that God had created in the very beginning. That's why some of us I call this sermon on the road again. Right, we have a road trip a road trip playlist. How many of you like to put together a playlist on your road trip? Music just has a way of helping us get down the road of focus in and on the drive.

We in the church have a playlist it with songs like Come Thou fount of every blessing right here I raise my Ebenezer hither By thy help I'm come and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Or maybe you know the song Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah Guide me, O great Redeemer Pilgrim through this barren land I am weak but you are mighty hold me with your powerful hand and when I tread the verge of Jordan bid my anxious fears subside Death of death and hell's destruction Land me safe on Canaan's side Just flows right off the tunue. For those of us who grew up singing these songs about a journey that God is leading us somewhere and we're doing it together. The preacher taps into that story and says, don't be like those who wandered away, who turned their backs on what God was doing in and through them. As chapter three, that challenge, he says, don't drift into rebellion.

Chapter four anticipates because we're going somewhere, right? It begins with this call back to a Sabbath rest, like we're heading to rest. The Israelites were heading to this land, a land that was be full of milk and honey, a place where they could rest, that we too on our journey are headed for rest. So he says, therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us just as they did.

But the message they heard was of no value to them because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. And a couple things of note here. As we finish up, notice how the Hebrew preacher keeps moving back and forth from you and they and them to we and us an hour. If you've been reading through the book of Hebrews. I hope you have.

Each week you'll notice this language is sown all the way through the sermon, that there are moments in time where he has to stop and give a warning and say, you need to stop. Don't go there. But then he'll say, but we. We have a life together. Chapter three, verse one.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. Or a little later, down in chapter three. See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction. We need to do this.

You need to do that. Watch out for them. They did not listen. We in chapter 10 culminates with this incredible passage of encouragement. He says, you are not the ones who don't shrink back.

He says, but we do not belong to those who shrink back. The preacher is reminding them this is a story, and it's not just a one on one journey. This is a community thing. We're all part of God's family if we together, hold on together. And along with that, we get this incredible sense of the value that the Hebrew preacher places on community, of being together.

Nobody left behind. We always go together. The preacher loves these images of athletes. One of them is running. If you've ever been a runner before, you've been trying to run a long distance, you know the best way to do that is to train with someone else, to have a partner, someone who will train with you.

Why? Because if I'm running alone, I'm more likely to what? To stop, to quit, to get tired, and just to say, maybe it's not worth it, but to have that person who stands beside you who says, keep going, keep it up. Don't give up, don't quit. I was preparing for 10k when I was living in Austin, and a good friend of mine at the time was training with me.

In fact, he said, hey, I'll run with you on race day. And I was really thankful because by the time he got to race day, I was pretty tired and it was humid and I wasn't sure I could make it. And so my friend James ran with me. In fact, as we were running, I'm getting down to about mile four out of six, that James is doing pretty well, and I'm struggling, and James is going, hang in there, Carl. Keep on.

Keep it up, keep it up. And I Said, okay, James, thanks, buddy. I'm going to keep it up. And at one point, he turns around and starts running backwards, and he's like, hey, Carl. And I'm running forward, and he's running backward.

And then the last breath I could possibly muster, I said, James, if you don't turn around, I'm gon to tackle you right here on the parking lot. He said, okay, okay. I don't need that kind of encouragement. Right. But why do we run together?

Because we know there's something powerful about when community rallies around one another and says, hang in there. I know it's hard. I know it's tough. I know it's challenging, but don't give up and don't give in. The Hebrew preacher continually says, encourage one another.

In fact, he says, encourage one another daily, every day. There are some of us in our community. We need that. We need every day to be reminded that we're not alone, that someone is with you. Right.

Some of our young parents need to know you're not alone. It feels overwhelming. Remember wondering, how did the hospital staff let us leave with this child? What is wrong with them? And they're going, oh, no, you got this.

And we're going, we don't got this. And the church says, no, no, no, you got this. And we got you. And we're going to be with you, and we're going to walk with you in this season. We don't just say that to our littlest ones.

We say that to our oldest ones. We got you. Because what's one of our great fears as we age is that people are going to forget us. Does anybody even remember me? And the church says, no, absolutely, we got you.

We are with you. You don't have to do this alone. In fact, in churches of Christ, you grew up hearing chapter 10 verse, right? Don't give up. Meeting together.

But we forget the verse right before that that says, we got to encourage one another. We keep meeting together because we need this. We need one another. The Hebrew preacher taps into that reality, says, we don't go alone, and nobody's left behind. We're all in this together because the power of encouragement helps keep us on the road.

Now, one of my favorite news segments. And we'll finish here. One of my favorite news sections is by a guy named Steve Hartman, who writes a series called on the Road. And I came across one from last summer that I thought was fantastic. Check it out.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi is often credited with the phrase, winning is in everything. It's the only thing, CBS’ Steve Hartman found a sports team that lives by a different standard on the road. Get your gear right. This team is getting ready for some exercise in futility. For try as they might, the Detroit Mechanics will almost certainly lose to the Madison Radicals.

Detroit. Come on, boys. The game is ultimate Frisbee. The goal to pass a disc down the field to score points. But you don't need to know how to play this sport to feel for this Mechanics team.

Over the last seven years, they have lost every single game. The longest losing streak in professional sports history, 77 straight, shattering the old record of 29 set in the 1940s by the Chicago Cardinals football team. Yeah, there's not a lot of respect you get from playing for the Mechanics. We're definitely the butt of a lot of jokes. Come on out.

Watch the team lose. Why are they still around? They're still around because team owner Brent Steep. All right. Refuses to give up white.

Brent is also the head coach. Here you go. Have you ever thought of firing yourself? Yes, multiple times, and I wish I could. Nobody wants to step up and do this job.

So we're on our way to Madison. Every weekend, May through July, Brent and his players, who all have other jobs, carpool across the country to lose at the hands of someone new. But as badly as the Mechanics want this streak to end, over the years, they've also come to a pretty profound realization that for every loss, there's a gameain. Yeah, you get a lot more patience. Teaches you a lot of resiliency.

Losing is just another opportunity to grow. The growth continued at this game last weekend, Detroit will extend their losing streak to 78 games. That's when we saw something remarkable. A celebration. This is what happens when you measure success not by winning, but by improving.

The Mechanics scored more points than any other game all season, and they were thrilled just to be one step closer to the victory that they know awaits. It'll be so nice. Tears will definitely come out. I think it's going to be wild. And I think I'm going to find out, isn't that the greatest thing we can do is give people something that they can look back fondly on and say, I did that.

They're going to be unstoppable. Really? That simple? Perhaps. I love where we are, but for now, they're okay.

Just being stoppable. Lead them to the promised land, baby. Steve Hartman on the Road in Madison, Wisconsin. Mechanics on 3. 1, 2, 3. Mechanics.

Some of us feel like we are on a streak of 77 losses. In a row now 78. We know the weight of that. I love how the story ends with. But you know what?

We scored more points than we ever have. I mean, isn't that victory going to be incredible? I mean, in a sense, isn't that our story? Like, I know when we look at the world around us, when we listen to the political rhetoric, when sometimes we see the behavior of how people treat one another, it just feels like a loss after a loss after a loss, and we want to just give up and give in. And then we say, yeah, but that's not our story.

We scored more points this week. Like, we're looking for progress, not perfection. That one day the perfect is coming. But between that day and this, we're going to keep pursuing. We're going to keep encouraging one another daily.

We're not going to give up meeting together, not because we get a golden star on our attendance sheet in heaven, but because we need this. We need each other, both, this young church in the time of the Hebrews, but also in our day to say we need one another to become the people that God has called us to be. So church today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart as you did back into rebellion, but instead would you pursue the one who can do what only he can do in the name of Christ, God, that's our prayer this week. That you would help us to stay on the road, you would help us to keep pursuing you together. That you would remind us to keep meeting together and to encourage one another daily, as long as we have it today.

Because we just never know, God, when that victory is going to come, when you will return and make all things new. But God, you've called us to be your church here in this place in Lubbock, Texas, to keep loving and sowing and spreading the gospel. God, would you help us to do that? Would you encourage us this day? Help us to follow you faithfully, to stay faithful to the gift, to hold on, to endure.

In the name of Jesus, we pray.