Mike Cope 8-10-25

Let's pray together again.

Fill our hearts today, O God, with the boldness, the confidence that comes from Jesus, our high priest.

Will you draw us to you?

Fill us again with hope, the anchor for our souls? Open our eyes to see the people around us whom we might stir on to love and good deeds. And toward that end, O God, please pour through me now the gift of preaching that your ancient word may speak afresh to your people. In Jesus we pray and we all say Amen.

I know this is about the time that people get re situated and start visiting churches into the summer. Many of you have moved, you're looking for a church home. And I was just wondering if today in your wildest dreams you thought, let's go visit this church. And what I really hope is that some local rando will be preaching like the minister's still on his study break. And not only that, but that he's preaching on some obscure topic I don't care about and maybe has a cheesy roll your eyes.

Title I am the answer to your dreams, my friend.

I'm the local rando preaching on the Levitical priesthood. And the title of my sermon is what the heck? Melchizedek. So.

Welcome our real preacher who gave communion thoughts today and we'll do the benediction. Usually begins by saying he's one of the ministers here. And so I guess I could add that I'm one of the ministers of Maritai here. And I mention that today because some of us got to thinking this week and realized that there are 13 former full time ministers of Highland who are still here, others who were part time and were on staff and so on, but 13 full time ministers, nine of whom have served or are serving as elders. All of that to say to those who may be visiting, we're not a big recruiting church.

We want you to be where you will be fruitful and blessed.

But those of us who had the privilege of serving here, it's home. It's not just where our ministerial vocation was. These are our people. And so when we stepped out of those roles, we didn't step out of our family.

Well, I had the privilege of writing a curriculum on the Book of Hebrews that I think most of our adult classes are going to be using. So I was asked today to say a word about Hebrews that might launch these classes into the study.

Like forrest gump.

It says enough right there, doesn't it? Like Forrest Gump. One day I just started running.

I was a teenager and I've run and run and run. And run and I'm still running. And one day I'll run my last mile and I probably won't know that day that it was.

There have been days when running was more challenging, a few days when it was frightening. Like my very first day in Abilene, Texas, 1991. Our family moved here in waves.

So my nine year old son and I moved into the rental house, went to bed and I told him I was training for the Boston Marathon. I said, you know, I got to do a long run tomorrow, but I'll loop back every couple miles and if you need me, turn the light on, I'll know to come in.

So I went out for my morning run. Now in the back of my mind was an article I just read in Runner's World about a runner who had been eaten in Colorado, went out alone, mountain lion got him and they just found parts of the carcass. So that's rattling around because I've moved west.

So I went out for my morning run. Probably five in the morning, I got about a mile away from our rental house and heard the scream. Dreaming of big cats, I turned and ran, what is still to the day, my quickest mile on record, back to the house, not yet realizing that our rental house was right by the zoo. I did not know that.

Just big cats.

But more often than fear, the problem is fatigue. Now those of you who've done any kind of athletics, you understand that, you understand fatigue. You can't run one more lap, you can't do one more jumping exercise.

Some of you as young parents, you get that. You get, I just can't read one more page of one more book at bedtime. I can't get one more drink of water. I can't.

You teachers, I can't do one more professional development day.

I just can't.

But in running, it's that moment of fatigue.

It could be a little stitch in the side or cramp in the leg. It could be dehydration, just a bad day, exhaustion. It could be that beyond the hills were more hills. Or maybe better for Abilene. The words of Bob Seeger, that you just kept running against the wind.

But that's the image of Hebrews 12, 12, 12.

He says, Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and your weak knees.

Hebrews appears to be a sermon based on what he says at the end of the book. This is a word of exhortation. And in this sermon he's trying to encourage people who are weary to keep going.

Now, this morning, with this beautiful time of worship, it doesn't feel like weariness is here, but I know that there are crevices, and maybe you feel like you're in a crevice. And even over the long time of a church, there can be those moments when you think we're just not as strong as we were.

Most churches in the United States are feeling that to some degree because they're not as large as they were 30, 40 years ago. Others fear the weariness because of what seems like a yawning gap between what they expected and the reality of their lives of prayers that seem to just ping pong off of the wall and come down.

There's a weariness, a fatigue of thinking that by this time in your life you'd be done with sin, or that sin, maybe even some doubts have crept in as the time has gone on.

So perhaps you can identify with the preacher of Hebrews who's trying to revitalize people, to try to bring renewal. And partly I'm thinking of all of the ways that the preacher could have done it, the ways maybe we would choose today, ways that are more dramatic, ways that make everybody fun and laugh and so on. And there's nothing wrong with any of that. But. But his way takes the serious engagement of the people of God.

For example, given his high estimation of the Word of God, he thinks you need to go back again and again and again into the words of Scripture, not for little devotionals, but for deep, rich understanding of the Christian faith.

He thinks you need to remember that you're in a body of Christ and your job is to encourage one another daily. But above all, he thinks that to finish this race, you need to keep exploring the meaning and understanding of who Jesus is. We're running this race, and he describes Jesus in chapter 6 and verse 20 as the first runner, the forerunner. He's the pacer in this. He is the one who came and he endured.

He had fatigue, he had temptation, he had the stitches and the cramps and all of that, but he kept going. As he says in chapter 12, who for the joy before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It's going to take serious reengagement with the meaning of Jesus. And it's not just that he wants some Christology seminar. He. He wants hope and endurance, but his conviction is that this is a Christian faith. And so unabashedly, we say it is about following Jesus.

That's the meaning. So no wonder he launches the book with these beautiful Words. In chapter one, the very first long sentence in the Greek language comes out. In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, he spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. And with that, he's going to launch in this book this exploration of Jesus. He's the apostle, he's the Son, he's the forerunner, he's the pioneer. And on and on the language goes.

But there's one. But there's one understanding, one title for Jesus that he keeps. He keeps coming to, but he's not really ready to land on it yet. Look at these passages. He starts back in chapter two, he says, for this reason, he had to become like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God.

And then in chapter three, in the beginning, he says, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we confess our apostle and high priest. And then chapter four. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who's ascended into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

He wants to explore that, and he's going to. But these are almost like teasers for what's to come in that large middle section of Hebrews. We need a priest.

My friend Beth Jarvis at Milligan College told me about a chapel experience they had at their seminary last fall. They had four local ministers come and describe what it was like to go to the relief effort after Hurricane Helene came sweeping through North Carolina into eastern Tennessee.

They had gone, and one of the men spoke and said, I just needed to be there. I knew I couldn't really help. I'm not a first responder. I'm not a miner. I'm not any of those things.

I just went, and in the designated waiting area, I stood.

And then all of a sudden, a truck came barreling toward our group, and somebody jumped out screaming, is there a minister in the crowd?

I've got to tell you, as a lifelong minister, it's a dream that never comes through. Nobody ever says that we wait, we're available. But if they come, they're looking for. They want a doctor, an emergency worker. They want somebody with expertise.

You have this fantasy of, is there a minister in the house.

But it actually happened. Could have been, is there an accountant in here or third grade teacher or so on, but it was a minister. And he said, well, I am. So they rushed him into the truck, drove quickly to the plastic factory had been destroyed. They found a dead body and they didn't want to move the dead body until they had a minister.

Now, at one level that feels odd to me because I'm in the tradition priesthood of all believers. Anybody could have prayed. And yet I know that even in this tradition, there were times when I was the preacher here that somebody, they wanted me, could have had others, but they wanted him. They needed a minister.

Okay, Thank you so much. There just come those times when you, you need a minister, you need a priest, and Jesus believes that you need him. The Hebrews writer believes you need Jesus, the priest. But now there is a problem with this and that's what he's been waiting for. And some of you know what the problem is, because a priest comes from what tribe?

The tribe of Levi, descendants of Aaron. But Jesus is from what tribe? The tribe of Judah. Now, being from the tribe of Judah is wonderful. If you're going to be the son of God, the messianic Savior, the one who comes from David, that's all going to be wonderful.

However, it doesn't fit being a priest now because the preacher of Hebrews has such a high view of the Old Testament and believes that God spoke in the Old Testament. He needs to work through this. And his answer is what comes in the middle. Now I want to warn you the way he warned his people. He said in chapter five and verse 11, what I'm going to say is long and hard to understand.

He warns them like that. We're going from basic math to calculus.

We're making that move. We're going from Dogman and Captain Underpants to Shakespeare. Here, there, that one connected. I think as brilliant as the former books are, this is, this takes thinking. So he goes back to Psalm 110 and verse one.

By the way, at the end of chapter one, he's got a bunch of quotes to help make the point that, that God has enthroned Jesus. He's welcomed him back after his death, burial, resurrection, ascension. He's been welcomed back by God and all of creation welcomes him. And the very last verse is the verse from the Old Testament that is either quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more than any other. It's Psalm 110.

1. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put the enemies as a foot stol for your feet.

By the way, I read a whole dissertation by somebody who said Hebrews is about the word until, because there's a long time built into until, and there's a problem with it. If God is seated, Jesus, the Son of God at his right hand, then why is there time until the enemies are defeated?

Well, dear friends, that's this long until. That's the gap that Heather spoke about two weeks ago between what I believe and what I currently see.

That's Psalm110.1. But you know how most kids, if you're a teacher, you give them something to read and that's maybe what they read. No more, no less. But there's always one kid that reads more than you assigned.

Hebrews preacher is the kid that read more. He kept going in Psalm 110 and he got down to verse four that says, you are a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Now, he's not the only one. In the first century, there are a lot of Jewish writings trying to figure out the meaning of Melchizedek. But it goes back to this little cameo appearance in the book of Genesis by this strange character, Melchizedek. Look at our text. In Genesis 14, it interrupts a story where Abraham is gone, still called Abram at the time.

Abram goes to help his nephew Lot fight a battle. And then out of nowhere it says, then Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram, saying, blessed be Abram, by God most High, creator of heaven and earth, and praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

End of story, end of cameo appearance. He's off stage and back we go to the battle.

And then he's absent from the Old Testament except for this odd memory in Psalm 110 and verse 4, you were a priest in the order of Melchizedek. And as the preacher of Hebrews thinks through this, he says, okay, he's. He's not a Levitical priest.

He's another kind of priest. This is chapter seven by the way of Hebrews, where he's working through this. He's from Judah, not Levi. But Melchizedek wasn't from Levi. He's before Levi was ever born.

And not only that, but in many ways he was greater than Levi because he did the blessing. And usually it's the greater who blesses. And Abraham gave the gift, and usually it's the recipient of this relationship who gives the gift.

And so he says, this is not about his mother, his father, his credentials.

This is a different kind of order that this, this strange person. Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High. In fact, the only time the word priest appears in the book of Genesis, other than the priests of Egypt, it's about Melchizedek. So that gives him a place now to say, you see what I'm saying? Jesus is a priest, not the kind you had from Levi, but in some ways he's like them, because like those other priests that they have known, he's vulnerable.

He's not Superman. Bullets don't bounce off of him. He. He suffered, he experienced betrayal. He was tempted in every way, and he moved toward death and died.

In that sense, he's like these other human priests they knew. But there were other ways. You could tell this is a different kind of order of priests. For one thing, he doesn't have to atone for his own sins. Even though he was tempted in every way, he was without sin.

And all of those priests, they died.

But he will not die. He has died. But he was raised from the dead, ascended to God and was seated in the heavenly holy, Holy of holies. Now, here's the payoff in chapter seven. Look at this.

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he's able to save forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Echoing language from Leviticus 16, the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, where one person, one day a year goes behind the curtain bearing the blood to present and to intercede for the people.

The problem is all of the other people, they're way out here. They're waiting. But in this case, Jesus goes once for all time beyond that curtain to sit at the right hand of the throne of God. And he intercedes. He's the priest.

You, my friends, are not alone.

A stunning part of the work of Jesus continues. And in Hebrews, it's not just the death of Jesus that saves you or the resurrection of Jesus that saves you. It's Jesus who saves you. And Jesus is there right now. This is not just metaphor.

He really believes that in the Ascension, he goes and saves, sits in the presence of the Father and is constantly interceding those little worries of your heart right now. He knows and intercedes those mistakes you've. You've made. He knows, he intercedes. The continue struggling along the way, the tripping and the stitches and the cramps and the dehydration and all of that.

He knows. And he intercedes and he cheers you on. He cheers you on. He tells you you're not alone.

Now, these are dense chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10. But what I love is that there are bookends before and after chapter 4 and chapter 10, where he summarizes it for those of us who need some Cliff Notes. This is the AI version of what goes on in between. If you get lost in some of the Levitical priesthood arguments, though they are worthy to work through, he says, here's what I'm saying on both ends. He wants you to know that you have a great priest.

You have this high priest who, who passed through, who moved beyond death because his father raised him up, brought him to his right hand, seated him, and he is now interceding. He's there beyond the veil. Death cannot get him. And because of that, you can hold fast to your faith. And it's faith in Hebrews.

That's why Hebrews is 11, 11 is there. It's people who kept going even when they couldn't see. They kept running when they were fatigued.

Hold fast to the faith.

Both of them talk about drawing near. And they say, you've got confidence, you've got boldness to do this. The big word in Hebrews, that confidence. Not self confidence. Not I'm in the right kind of church, or I've mastered my field of biblical understanding.

But confidence, that's based on. On the work of the interceding Christ. You have confidence to draw near, to pray, to worship.

You may think you know stuff that disqualifies you, but God knows way more than you do. And the invitation is still there because Christ is interceding for you. Draw near. You're not alone.

And then he says, let us hold fast to the hope. He's already described hope as an anchor, not just some subjective feeling of hope, but the reality of Christ already being there, inviting us toward that great consummation. As the song Right Before I Got up indicated, when the race is done.

And then finally on the right, our beloved, you got to go to church on Wednesday night. Verse not neglecting the assembling together, as some are in the habit of doing, which ironically says about what we used to say, it meant just because when you get tired and weary, the easiest thing is just to pull away from the pack.

They may not doubt like you doubt. They may not struggle like you struggle. They may not have the stitches and the cramps and all of that and so better to just get aside and find some inner peace however you can.

And through the book, he keeps saying to them, no, no, no, come back to the herd. In fact, don't just slip in someplace. But when you get together, consider how you might stir one another on toward love and good deeds. Somebody's cheering as you run by. You thought you couldn't do it and there was somebody telling you you could.

Somebody was cheering from the sidelines. And in this case it's largely people who are either running with you or people who have already finished that beautiful scene of Hebrews 12. That we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The people, the grandparents in your life who may be gone. People of faith in your life who may be gone.

People in this church that I was blessed to Minister to in 1991 who've gone on, but who cheer us on to this day. They've done it, they finished, and now they invite you to keep on going.

It's a stunning image.

1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The black community needed a leader for their bus boycott, so they turned to a 26 year old minister.

Immediately the threats from the Klan began against this minister. He was thrown in jail, threatened with his life, and he let back out and thought of quitting. As he describes it, one night he was at his kitchen table and he got a call that said, we're tired of you and your mess, and if you aren't out of this town in three days, we're going to blow your brains out and blow up your house.

He thought of his wife, Coretta, his new daughter Yolanda.

And here's how he puts it. Permit me to read. I sat at that table thinking about that little girl and thinking about the fact that she could be taken away from me any minute. And I started thinking about a dedicated, devoted and loyal wife who was over there asleep. And I got to the point that I couldn't take it anymore.

I was weak. And I discovered then that religion had to become real to me. And I had to know God for myself. And I bowed down over that cup of coffee. I'll never forget it.

I prayed a prayer and I prayed out loud that night. I said, lord, I'm down here trying to do what's right. I think it's right. I think the cause that we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I'm weak now.

I'm faltering. I'm losing my courage. And it seemed at that moment that I Could hear an inner voice saying to me, Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for the truth.

And lo, I will be with you even until the end of the world. I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on he promised never to leave me Never to leave me alone no, never alone no, never alone he promised to never leave me Never to leave me alone let's pray.

We have moments, oh God, when we feel like we can mount up with wings like eagles.

Other moments when we feel like we can run and not grow weary. But then there are those days that yield to months, that fall to years where we just seek your help to walk and not faint. And we trust you for that, O God, because we are not alone. Today, we give you thanks for our great high priest, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us moment by moment, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Mike. Hebrews is such a complex and convoluted book, but you. You laid it open. You bared it open for us and bared our hearts as well. Hyland.

I'm thrilled that, like, six out of my top 10 favorite preachers actually go to my church. I am thrilled that you get to experience something powerful. Every July is the wisdom of the elders. Long ago to expose you to some really amazing voices. And I'm excited for the fall.

I'm excited for what comes next. We've been thinking and praying about this for some time, and I think you're going to be excited, too. So I want you to show up to those Bible classes and work through the text of Hebrews and struggle through the language and really think about what Christ means for you. Yesterday, today, and forever. Would you please stand for our benediction.

Highland. May you be Jesus to our city and may you be Jesus to our world. May Christ shine in your hearts as you go out today. Go in peace.