Sermon
Today we continue the conversation with the author of Hebrews, whose primary message is that Jesus is our high priest. Since we don't live in an environment with high priests in our culture, we have to do a little work to determine what this letter in the New Testament means for us.
Theologian N.T. Wright reminds us that modern day Christians need to be well versed in the Old Testament in order to understand the New Testament. When Christians forget to pay attention to the Old Testament because Christianity is about Jesus and the texts in the New Testament, we are making a giant leap from the ancient world to our current lives without the whole story. As a chaplain I carried around a smaller book of the New Testament and Psalms. People in the hospital don't often request anything from Joel or Amos for example. It's easy to get lulled into thinking that as a Christian the New Testament is the only scripture we really need.
In this letter for example, without high priests in our current life, how do we know what the writer of this letter to the Hebrews was referring to? By examples we find from the Old Testament. In the last few weeks we have discussed the things that a high priest did. Today the scripture reminds us that Jesus as our high priest is for all time, as he is no longer a prisoner of death like the high priests who outlived their service in office. Forever, that's the advantage. And perfect, complete, holy – we will never find fault with Jesus our high priest. This perfection and forever status of Jesus our high priest means that the functions of a high priest will never stop and, a high priest will no longer be able to be judged by human standards. There won't be corruption for example, or secret bad behavior, or any other human failings that might have beset the high priests of the day.
Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
Jesus is always available to make intercession for anyone who approaches God through Christ.
Early in my experiences with prayer, and group prayer, I was to the point where I had figured out that when I needed to pray in a group, the meat of my prayer could be whatever was on my mind. But if you've ever noticed, when someone ends a group prayer they always say, “in Christ's name we pray.” Or “in Jesus' name we pray.” People tend to fade away at the end of a prayer, or mumble, or speak so quickly it's hard to catch what's said. Since I don't hear well I often didn't hear when they got to the amen, so I was always the last one to lift my head. I was always wondering what that “tag line” was that people put on the end of their prayers. I kept asking myself, “what is that, at the end there?” I thought that if I could just catch that, like a warning that “amen” was coming up, I wouldn't be embarrassed by seeming to not be finished praying after everyone lifted their heads.
“In Jesus' name we pray.” “In the name of your Son, we pray.” “In the name of the One who was resurrected this day, we pray” on Easter.
Well, why would we mumble that? Say it loud, say it proud! In Christ's name we pray. It's the whole reason we are bold enough to pray all the words that came before it, the prayer itself, because of Christ, because we are followers of Jesus. Martin Luther, who we will celebrate next week for Reformation Sunday, was known to often exclaim “I am baptized!” when full of doubt or frustration, as if he could shout down all the evil afflicting him in the moment, by claiming Jesus' hold on him. “I am baptized!” “Get behind me Satan!” “In Christ's name, we pray.”
Jesus rebuking evil. Martin Luther using the Christ in him to rebuke the dark forces in his life. You and me, reminding ourselves that our authority to approach God in prayer comes from Christ.
Jesus is always able to intercede on our behalf. Intercede comes from a word that means to come between. Jesus came between God and humanity. He stood in that gap between humans and God. When we are commanded to pray without ceasing, we are called to stand in that gap, in Jesus' name, and pray for others. We stand in the gap between access to resources for a full life, and the poor, the marginalized, those seen as less than. Intercessory prayer is a powerful way to stand in the gap. To intercede just means to do something for someone else. Intercessory prayer then is to pray on someone else's behalf. Sometimes we do this instead of the other person when the person cannot pray for their needs themselves. Maybe they are incapacitated by illness. Maybe someone who needs prayers is far away so we pray for them where we are, along with them in a way, from afar. I had a friend who was in the midst of despair once. We were praying in a group, and he gave me a prayer to read instead of him, because he just couldn't muster his voice. It was a prayer from our book of common worship, originally written in the late 19th century (Teresa of Lisieux (1873–1897)). It reads,
Just for today, what does it matter, O Lord, if the future is dark?
To pray now for tomorrow I am not able.
Keep my heart only for today, grant me your light—just for today. Amen.
I didn't have to invent the prayer myself in order to intercede for him. The Taize services that the Mercy Center in Burlingame used to host were 90% intercessory prayer. All of the chants set to melodies are prayers. When we offer prayers during our service, we are offering intercessory prayer. Prayers of the People is generally one of the most sacred portions of any worship in community. We give voice with humility and vulnerability, in the midst of a Christ community, to our faith, our hopes, and our trust in God.
Prayer is not the only way that we intercede for others. When we feed others, when we invite people to church, when we write letters to power holders on behalf of others, when we work in jobs that assist people with life needs, when we participate in a Pride parade, or a march, or make donations. Christian intercession comes from a heart trusting in the power of Jesus' intercession on our behalf. Christian intercession is always for someone else, and it is always for good. Christian intercession is an act of faith which means that we are often changed as well.
Whenever we bring people Christ – I'm not necessarily talking about bringing people to Christ – I'm talking about being the Christ in someone's life, bringing people Christ like we would bring someone a blanket or a pair of socks or a bowl of soup – then we are truly interceding as Christ calls us to do.
Let us pray,