Prepare for Christmas: The Thirtheenth Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Friday, December 14, 2018

We have much to say to you about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still and infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14

This is not a Scripture I often choose to speak to someone, but since it falls right here in the middle of this wonderful part explaining more and more to us about the importance of who the Christmas baby is, I can’t just pass it by. Why would I skip this when writing to good Christians in a good church? Because the Scripture is practically shouting to us to grow up and that is a difficult message to bring! The Bible tells us to know the word and to hide it in our hearts (to memorize it), to study so we’ll know the truth (not just reading along with the pastor on Sunday morning, but digging in on our own), and to identify sin and deal with it in private confession.

God is clearly saying milk is for babies. Be adults! Live on a diet of steak! The Bible is filled with incredible truth about the incredible God we serve – about who he is as creator, as redeemer, as giver of power and comfort. He wants us not to just worship the baby Jesus but to know and to worship our Triune God. And we will never be able to do that until we get into his word in a serious way, dig deeply for ourselves to find the treasures he has stored for us there.

He says in verse 11 we are “slow to learn,” and I often reply sadly, “I am indeed a slow learner.”

Prayer: Father, as we neglect your word, help us to realize that we are neglecting you, starving ourselves and stunting our growth. Forgive us for our negligence. Help us to grow up in our understanding of you through your word! Amen

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Twelfth Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Thursday, December 13, 2018

No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son. . . . You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:4-6

The priesthood in the traditions of the Hebrew people was built on the call of Aaron to be the first high priest when God had given the law and set up the structure for teaching, judging, and worship for his people. And Aaron was to occupy that position for his lifetime, serving as the spiritual guide for the nation, until another was chosen to take his place – also for a lifetime.

And now we meet again a high priest – Melchizedek, and God himself speaks of his Son as being of the order of the Old Testament priest who we met back in Genesis 14 (the place where I believe we witness a theophany). And remember when Melchizedek appeared in Psalm 110? God said that Jesus would be a priest – not like Aaron for a lifetime but like Melchizedek – a priest forever! This is the Scripture that causes me to believe that what we witnessed in Genesis 14 was a theophany.

In the Scripture above, we see the eternal, called-forever high priest – Jesus! He did not come for his own glory but for his Father’s. He did not come because he wanted “the job” but because he was called. The Christmas infant grew up to be a man, a teacher, a suffering servant, our risen Lord and King. He is the only one whom God ever allowed to be both a priest and a king!

We have pastors here on earth, and we hope they are ‘the called of God.” But, like Aaron, they are called for a lifetime, and at their deaths, another will take their places. Not so with Jesus. There is no other to take his place. He is, was, and always will be our high priest. The one who knows us best, understands our needs, fears, and dreams, who waits for us to call on him, and who loves us enough to die for us is our priest forever!

Prayer: Father, the deep need in our lives is to be understood. We express ourselves poorly; we make mistakes; we struggle to be accepted. We feel alone. Remind us that our high priest is none other than Jesus Christ. Remind us to turn to the only one who truly know us. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Eleventh Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we possess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-15

These two verses should be as comforting to us as any in the Bible, yet we seldom hear them mentioned, and I don’t believe I have ever heard a sermon based on verse 15.

Though I am not a counselor, I make myself available as a listening ear when people tell me they just “need someone to talk to.” And how do they often begin our conversation? Like this: “I don’t know anyone who really understands me, really knows what I am going through, or cares about how I hurt.”

I seldom stop them there. I just let them talk. But when I have listened to all their agony, all their feeling of being rejected or misunderstood, or unloved, I read Hebrews 4:15 to them. Who better to listen than someone who has been tempted to do all the bad things we have done, but resisted the temptation and didn’t do those things? Who better to talk to than someone who can sympathize with what we are saying because he has been there? Our high priest is not one of a cloister who does not come in contact with the ugliness of the world that we face daily. He has heard the cursing in the streets. He has seen man’s inhumanity to man. He has been enticed by his adversary the devil who tried to get him to do all the bad things that God abhors! Yet he did not give in, even when he sweated blood as he dreaded the cross that was before him. He knows how hard it is to resist, but he also knows it is possible to succeed in resisting. We have a great high priest who not only tells us what is right but also empathizes with our struggle to do what we know is right.

I can almost hear him, sometimes, when I tell him something I want to do that I know is not right. Speaking in the vernacular of our time, he’d probably say something like, “Been there! I know how you’re struggling, but remember my challenge. Just ‘Hold on to the faith you possess.’ And Remember, I am right there with you.”

Our high priest doesn’t wear a fancy robe or speak in lofty language. We don’t have to make an appointment to see him. When he diagnoses our problem, we will understand what he is saying. He knows sin, and he successfully stood firm against it during his whole life. He’s right there in the midst of our marital struggles, our bruised relationships, or our desires to do things that we see others doing that we know are wrong. He understands our mundane sins like overeating or gossiping or being in a bad mood or being irritated by someone who talks too much or seems to be nosy! Common ordinary things of our lives that we face and try to avoid calling them sin, Jesus understands! But understanding doesn’t mean he overlooks them! Someone has to pay for all the evil of the world, and in his understanding our weakness, he took our place, allowing our ugly sins and our sin nature to be nailed with him to the cross, replacing all the evil with a heart-felt desire to please God.

That’s our high priest! He is the one about whom the whole Bible is written as God reveals himself to us. He is the Melchizedek we met in Genesis and the one we find here in Hebrews who, when he sees us tempted to sin said to himself, “Hold firmly to the faith.”

Prayer: Father, thank you for reminding us that you know us as no one else does. Forgive us when we cry that no one understands. Remind us that you not only understand but empathize and forgive. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Tenth Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your heart. . . . There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:7, 9-10

When I was very young, I memorized a little verse that comes to my mind now:               

Said the robin to the sparrow, “I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.”
Said the sparrow to the robin, “Surely it must be
That they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.”

As I remember these words, prompted by my reading of the Scripture in Hebrews, I feel almost compelled to move for one day from what I have been trying to write about our Great High Priest, to a time of just listening to God as he seems to be prompting us to pause, and just enjoy him. Do we harden our hearts? Do we get so busy with life and work and activity that we can’t hear God speaking to us? Are we so committed to busy-ness that even his shouts become lost in the din of our activities?

I know that my own answer to these questions has to be a resounding, “Yes!” Right now as I am hurrying to finish this devotional, I skipped right over these verses, looking further down the page to find more about Jesus. But the Lord nudged me back to see if I had skipped something important. And I had!

So I stopped, read, and confessed to him that I’m trying so hard to get through – even writing about him – that I had stopped listening. I realized afresh how easy it is to miss important things if I set my goals and rush through any passage of Scripture.

I’m trying hard to learn to listen to God. What he is saying to you may not be what he is saying to me. We’re at different places in our spiritual journey, so what we hear along that road is planned just for us individually. So today, I am not going to tell you all I’m hearing, but I do want to challenge you to do something just for yourself.

Stop where you are. Tell him you don’t want to be one of those who never “enters into rest.” (v 5) Tell him that you want to be part of the “some” (v 6) who will know the joy of just quietly resting with God. Then begin today to set a time – 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes if you think you can be still that long – just to enter into rest with God. That’s what I’m doing every morning. I’m not there yet, but I’m learning.

Prayer: Father, we have missed so much in not being still and enjoying you. Help us learn to be still and listen. We are hearing your plea that we come to you. Remind us that you call because you desire our company – desire to spend time with us. Give us please, the desire to spend time with you. Amen

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Ninth Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Monday, December 10, 2018

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

Some years ago, I was taking some kind of course for understanding childhood development, and a little segment from a film stuck in my brain. The film depicted a toddler, still too young to have cohesive thoughts, too young to ask questions, too young to process information in a language he could use orally. The child was playing intently with something on a table, when a cardboard figure was quietly placed before him of an adult person, whose head had hair like a woman but no facial features – no mouth, nose or eyes. The child glanced without interest at the figure and continued to try to put something together on the table, apparently ignoring the figure standing before him as though it were not there. Then the psychologist studying the child’s reactions, carefully replace the shape with an identical one to which he had added the face of the child’s mother. Immediately, the child smiled, ignored the trinkets he’d been playing with, and reached out toward the cardboard figure bearing his mother’s face.

I was amazed. As a mother, the film was lovely to watch, and I remembered how my own infants had almost immediately smiled when I found them standing at the rail of their cribs. Sometimes they were trying to figure out how to get over the bars and out of the crib, maybe even having thrown one leg over the bed rail, while not knowing yet how to get the other leg to follow. Though they were unable to complete the monumental task of getting out of the crib, and still unable to speak my name or call me for help, when I appeared, they instinctively related to the form they saw, knew I related to them, and expected me to give the help they needed.

I think of that when I read this Scripture. I try to “turn my eyes upon Jesus, look into his wonderful face” just as we sing and as I’ve learned from his Word, and I remember he can relate to me! He knows me. He understands me. He recognizes my struggles. He hears my unspoken cry for help and remembers I am frail! Jesus, my great high priest knows who I am, and he waits for me to recognize him and to allow him to help me as I struggle.

He’s not some distant God who says, “I’ve made you; now figure out life on your own.” No, he too struggled as he was growing up. He felt alone in a dark garden as he prayed while his friends slept nearby. My struggles are small compared to his, but he relates to them because he has been where I am, struggling with temptation!

I like to think of boldly (not arrogantly, but unafraid) approaching God’s wonderful throne of grace with joy, and I imagine his saying, “I’m glad you’re here. I miss you when you get too busy to come. Sit here. Come. Let’s talk!”

Prayer: Father, we are struck with awe! How can it be that the Greatest of the Great allows us to come with the trivia of our lives? Thank you for our high priest, born in such a lowly place, enduring so much so we could know you – could come to you to talk! Thank you. Thank you. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Eighth Day of Advent

Second Sunday of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Sunday, December 9, 2018

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way. . .that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. . . . Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:17-18

The Old Testament clearly teaches that sin separates creation (us) from God, and the law required the blood of a perfect lamb to be shed to atone for sin. The above Scripture says Jesus had to be like us in every way so he could demonstrate that he understands our state of being, could relate to sin though he never sinned, and could remain a perfect human to atone for an imperfect race. All this was necessary both for him to accomplish his earthly task and for us to even begin to understand!

And it’s also amazing that he didn’t just atone for our sins but at the same time dealt with our sin nature. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, all the bad things we have done, said, or thought have been wiped away, but there’s more! Even the desire to sin and the ability to resist that desire Jesus has now died for! The law-required “wages” have been paid.

And how comforting the last of this passage should be for us! I remember as a young person thinking about Jesus as a super-human being who was immune to the things I struggled with. I was oh, so wrong! Here we read the comforting words of the Scripture that assure us Jesus was tempted just as we are, and his temptations did not end at the desert where he went soon after his baptism. The temptations continued all the way to the cross. Read the gospels carefully and find the times that he suffered temptation. These show that he understood how we also are tempted.

Go with him to Gethsemane, and hear him pray, “Father, is there any other way? Yet not what I want but what you want.” Read that his temptation was so great that he sweated blood as he resisted. Listen as he refuses during an agony we cannot imagine the drugged wine that would have eased his physical pain on the cross. Sing one of the old hymns that tell us, “He could have called ten thousand angels. . . ,” but instead he resisted the temptation so that you and I could be forgiven for our own individual sins through his awesome sacrifice.

“How could he love us so? How could he love us so? How could our Savior to Calvary go? How could he love us so?” we sing. He refused to give in to his temptations to reject the cross and the suffering, and his refusal to give in made it possible for him to become our “merciful and faithful high priest in service to God.” He had “to be made like us.” It was absolutely necessary!

Prayer: Father, the next time we are tempted to have our own way, to yield to some sin’s momentary pleasure, remind us of Jesus and his faithfulness to you. Remind us of our opportunity to be “in service to you.” Remind us that you understand us, forgive us, atoned for us. Keep us from sin. He became like us. Now make us like him. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com

Prepare for Christmas: The Seventh Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

We seldom mention the devil any more – and if we do, it’s not as though he were an active, powerful being but as some mystical presence of evil. But here, the Scripture presents him as very powerful, one whom Christ has come to destroy. Ephesians 5 clearly teaches us that we are struggling against dark, spiritual forces – Satan and his henchmen – and that we should be prepared to meet those forces well clad for battle!

Notice that this Scripture calls Satan by the name familiar to us – the devil – saying he [Satan] holds the power of death. At first thought we might want to argue this point. Isn’t God the one who holds the power of life and death? Isn’t he the one of whom pastors speak when they pray at funerals, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)?

So, if this is true, how can the devil have “the power of death?” The writer of Hebrews is talking about fear of death, about being afraid to give someone up to death or of dying ourselves. That becomes clear when he says this fear causes us to be in bondage. And he’s right! We are. We use euphemisms: someone has “passed on,” or “departed,” or “left us.” Why don’t we just say, “He died?” That is what happened, you know. The life of the person we loved is no longer evident or resident in the loved one’s body, and it hurts too much to say what has happened.

Well, the power of the devil that Hebrews talks about is not the power to kill us but the power to cause us to “fear death.” Who originated the word, “die?” Go read Genesis 3, and see how Satan taught Eve a new word! Just as Satan has the power to cause us to fear, Jesus has the greater power to cause us to be free from fear, especially the fear of dying.

I had a wonderful friend in Florida who had multiple sclerosis, a very debilitating disease that had slowly taken all the strength from every muscle of her body. She had been an avid swimmer, a hearty Swedish woman who hiked through snow, laughed often, whose strong lungs gave her a powerful voice. Now nothing worked but a few muscles in her face. She loved the Lord, so she had no need to fear. Just before she died, I saw some apprehension in her face, and I knelt by her bed and reminded her that before long she would run again, hike again, and sing joyfully in the presence of Jesus. I reminded her she’d soon be in the presence of the one who came to free us from “slavery to the fear of death.”

Jennifer LaMountain sings a wonderful song I love, and part of it is this: “No more fear, no more pain, no more tears, never crying again. Praises to the great I AM. We will walk in the light of the Risen Lamb.” That’s what this verse in Hebrews is all about. Jesus came to destroy the one who holds the power to cause us to fear death. His [Jesus’] greater power will move us through that incredible time called death to the eternal moment when we never face fear of death again.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the power of Jesus Christ to overcome Satan and his diabolic plan to keep us afraid of many things, and especially afraid of that wonderful time when we move from earth to you – there to be with you forever. Forgive us for allowing him to frighten us, and help us to remember your promise to be with us, even to the end. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com