CMLC 2024-11-24 Sermon (Traditional)

Howdy. Do not be weary. That's it, right? That's the message of Hebrews 12. Do not be weary.

It's really that easy. Just straightforward. Here's your message. Don't be weary. Oh, you're tired? Oh, you're weary? Don't be.

All right. Good job. This message, it just seems like it's one of those things. You know how sometimes people, there's always that one person that always says things.

It's like kind of obvious. You're like, man, I'm hungry. Well, you should probably eat something. Good job. Oh, man, I'm really tired. Well, you should probably sleep more.

Thank you. I'm really glad that you managed to get that across. But what's always funny to me is how this fits into the larger picture of what we end up seeing both in the book of Hebrews, but also in our life.

See, we've been looking at the book of Hebrews and today's our last Sunday that we'll be focusing on it. And we see in it the idea that Jesus is above all.

Jesus is above the former laws that they were expected to follow. Jesus is above the previous spiritual messengers that people were expecting.

Jesus is above the former role models and leaders, the heroes of old. So what? Jesus is the best. Hey, that's great. Why does that matter so much?

See, the thing is, is that frankly, we in our world, we're tired. And frankly, it's sometimes hard to stay strong in this world, being not just dealing with things that everybody else would, but trying to do so.

So following after God, when it seems like we're always supposed to love our neighbor and care about what God thinks and everything we say and do, and frankly, it's exhausting sometimes.

But whenever I think about being exhausted, my mind always goes back to backpacking. See, whenever you're backpacking and you're walking along, you may be going five to 10 miles with 80 pounds or so on your back.

And you're exhausted and you're tired and somebody behind you says, are we there yet? And you've only gone a quarter of a mile.

And you're wondering how in the world do I let them know we're not quite there yet.

And I remember one of these trips where there was a young lady with the group that we were with who decided after the first three miles that she wasn't going any further.

And I remember coming back to camp after we had had to take her back out while everybody else went on the trail and realized that she ended up missing out on the entire journey because she wasn't willing to keep going forward.

How often is that the fear that we might have based on Hebrews of what if we end up missing out because we're not willing to persevere?

Because just like with backpacking is that it's not just the journey that you're there, not just the destination you're looking to get to, but it's also the journey that you go along as you get there.

And why it is that that journey ends up meaning so much to us and to why we're even there in the first place.

But you see, when we think about how not to be weary, we might want to start off with what is next? How is it that we get to that next step?

How is it that we get to the next place we need to go?

See, it turns out in Hebrews 11, there were some examples of people and what they had to do as they were weary and tired and what they went through.

One of them was Abel.

Abel was the one who was killed by his brother because Abel had the better sacrifice than his brother did.

The thing is, is that Abel had to do what the right thing was just because it was the right thing to do.

Even though there were consequences to be had.

Could you imagine what it would be like that you and your brother are sitting there with each other and you're over there taking this lamb,

taking an animal that you have raised and instead of just waiting for the time when you're going to eat it yourself,

is that instead you're killing your animal in order to sacrifice to God.

And what do you end up seeing your brother do?

He grabs a bunch of corn and a bunch of wheat and throws it on a stone and sets it on fire and somehow thinks that that's good enough.

How much gall, how much impudence does it take for somebody to think that if they just burn a bunch of plants that somehow that is a sacrifice on to God?

And there was Abel still doing what he knew he was supposed to do.

Could you imagine what it was like though knowing how angry his brother was and then only to find out that he would lose his life because of it?

The thing is, is that in our world today, people put the least amount of effort into their spiritual lives.

How often is it that we are just looking for any single thing, how we can be convinced to somehow put our spirituality as a priority?

Well, maybe I'll do that if you can market it correctly to me.

Maybe I'll do that if you can try to minimize how difficult it might be.

Maybe if you just, if you can figure out my schedule, put it around it and then maybe I'll come.

I don't really want to commit. I'll let you know the day before.

How often is it that even in our everyday life, we think that spiritual life is what takes the least amount of effort as we pray in our bed and we cry out when the car in front of us slams on their brakes?

Putting more into it, it matters.

But then we end up spending so much time with the people around us that don't really care.

So much time around the people where if we want to talk about our spiritual life and what we've sacrificed for it,

and we realize that it falls on deaf ears or maybe even getting an eye roll when they wonder why you didn't want to just bother going to hang out at the game rather than coming early to go to church.

And with that, we also then realize what it means to make that extra effort.

There was this opportunity that we were standing there by Lake Tahoe and we were looking out over it and we saw Mount Tlac.

And if you were to go up Mount Tlac and you were to stand on top of it and look out,

then you would be able to see the best view out of all that area to see of Tahoe.

But you see, it took an extra hour just to get up that hike.

And this was after we'd already been going for five hours.

The thing is, is that if you didn't end up taking on that extra effort though, you wouldn't even get to see what was right in front of you.

So we pushed and we went and we got to the top and there were these cute little squirrels running around and everybody had a great time with it.

But the thing is, is that it took that effort to get up there, even though nobody else really wanted to try in the first place.

How often is it that we're guilty of putting the least effort into our faith when just adding that bit more ends up making it so much more worth it?

But you see, sometimes no one really wants to go with you on that trip.

Sometimes you're going to discover that you're going to be on it all by yourself and you're not sure why.

The thing is, is that we end up seeing that with Abraham.

Abraham had to leave his family and go into a land that he'd never been to.

And you've got to understand, this is at a time where you can't get onto TripAdvisor or Viator or some sort of Google map to see where it is that you're trying to go.

You're going to a place where you have no idea what's waiting for you.

But he knows he's supposed to go.

And so what does it take to end up packing up everything and going forward when you're not sure what the end might be?

But that's the thing about faith, is that when you know that where you're going matters and that it's for a reason that matters,

then it makes it worth it.

And you realize you can't stay where you were before.

You can't keep doing the thing that you were before because you know that your future, your destiny lies over there.

And it ends up being exhausting and it ends up getting frustrating.

But if you don't push, you realize that everything that you had tried to do would be worthless otherwise.

It's like whenever you know that you've got to keep going at least another two hours in order to get to the clearing that you're trying to hike to.

And you've got all the people that are behind you saying, look, here's some flat ground.

Look, this would be a great place to stop.

But you know that if you don't get there, the next day, you're going to end up losing as all the distance that you needed to make.

And so you have to keep saying, we have to keep going.

And it's all you can do just to keep your own focus because nobody else seems to get it.

The thing is, is that fighting and pushing in this spiritual life that we have is exhausting.

Because we are meant to keep asking questions that other people don't ask.

Is this choice at my job moral and ethical?

Well, nobody else is asking that.

I know, but I'm supposed to.

This person deserves to be hurt and punished.

But I know I'm not supposed to because there is mercy and grace.

So what? They deserve it. I know.

But I'm supposed to show them mercy.

I'm supposed to be better.

This could genuinely make me so much more profit.

Yeah, but you know that that's not what God has in store for you.

Yeah, but I'd really like that vacation to Tahoe.

Because last time I went, I was backpacking and I'd really like a cabin this time.

But you also know that that's not going to bring you the joy of knowing what God has called you to.

How often is it that we have to make that next step by faith, thinking that nobody else will understand why we've done it?

But sometimes the choice is not even ours to make.

Sometimes it's made for us.

I keep feeling that way whenever I hear and see the story of Sarah.

How it is that she wanted so much to be able to have a child of her own.

And then she and her husband, Abraham, that they just kept thinking and feeling that God had promised this.

But year after year and decade after decade, there's no fulfillment.

The future that they thought was in front of them and somehow it's just never come to fruition.

And it's not something that she would have chosen.

The thing is, is that sometimes we realize that God ends up determining our path.

And even if we wanted to go some other direction, the struggle is real.

And sometimes it's easy to fall off the path.

And one of the things that was hard is what would it have been like for Sarah to feel in that context,

a world where women were measured by that, to feel that she hadn't lived up to her expectations for her husband.

That she felt that she had to give him another woman to somehow feel that she could fulfill the promise that was supposed to be for him.

The hurt, the torment, because that was not what God wanted for them.

But sometimes we think that we're trying to go down a path to try to get to where we're supposed to go.

And we realize that we've lost sight of what God actually wanted for us.

We go down paths that are not what it is that he wanted.

That does happen.

But the thing is, is that God does not end up helping us persevere because we've gotten it all right.

God's purpose is God's power is still there to help us persevere.

Even for the times whenever we know that we have stumbled, whenever we know that we've made the mistake,

whenever you know that you've been on the trail and all of a sudden you realize that the path you're going down does not match where you know you're supposed to be on the map.

And you finally realize that you're two miles off course.

And you know that you can't just do anything except go backward two miles and start again where you got off course.

How hard is it when you realize out of sheer exhaustion that you just have to go back?

Because I've known those times whenever you just want to stop and cry and sometimes the sheer adrenaline doesn't keep you going.

On this path, we don't always get a say in it, but we're also not meant to go it alone.

Because in reality, all of these things are meant to keep us learning and growing to follow after God because discipline comes through trials.

The trials are not because we've somehow lost God's love or his mercy.

The trials are because God is trying to give us more love and mercy.

He wants us to learn. He wants us to grow. But more than anything, he wants us to see him.

How often did the people end up missing out on that?

And God had to put a roadblock in order to get their attention.

How Moses ended up going off and deciding that I know what God wants and he ends up killing somebody to try to start his path.

And he ends up having to walk away for decades from his destiny.

Only to then finally get back to Egypt, bring the people out.

But when he loses sight of what God has called them to and strikes a rock instead of speaking to it,

and he's not allowed to go into the land that he'd expected.

Because if he did, the rest of the people wouldn't be able to get the message.

Or the times whenever the judges time and time again are supposed to reorient the people.

They were flawed too.

But over and over again, the people keep losing sight and God has to keep allowing the other nations that are around

to make their life difficult so that they'll finally be brought back to him.

Or the times whenever the kings kept having their own goals, their own purposes,

and they keep forgetting that God is in control.

Because how often is it that our goals and our purposes keep taking precedence over what we know God wants us to hear?

The thing is, is that we're supposed to obey even when it's difficult.

It's not just for the times whenever it seems like it makes sense.

It's not just for the times whenever we feel the strength of God and we know that we can make it another day.

It's not just for the times whenever we know what's right in front of us that we know we can almost get there.

But it's for the times whenever we can't see it.

And the times when we can't feel it.

And the times whenever we don't know how we're supposed to keep going.

And then we do.

Because that's the thing about this is that when it says, do not be weary.

It's not telling you that because you're alone.

It's not telling you that because you're supposed to somehow find the strength yourself.

It's there because you're not supposed to do it alone.

And it's not just because of the fact that you know God has laid this out in front of you and that you're meant to keep going.

And it's also supposed to be because we're supposed to keep pushing each other further.

Because that's one of the things that we would do as a guide with all the people behind us is to say,

I think it's just another mile or two.

Even when sometimes you know it's five.

But also that you know, we just got to get a little further.

We're doing it.

We're making it.

Do you know how strong you're going?

Do you know how well you're doing?

Because sometimes we need that from each other.

Because that's the only way we can actually believe we can.

But we also know that we're meant to also help each other to fight against the bitterness.

Because when we're weary and all we pay attention to is feeling weary.

You think about your legs burning.

You think about your back hurting.

You think about your stomach grumbling.

You think about the sadness in your heart.

The struggles in your mind.

And the desire to just get somewhere.

And that's where we find ourselves.

Because sometimes we need each other to remind us how far we've gone.

Or sometimes we need each other just to be there that we can lean on one another.

Whenever the pack is too heavy and we need somebody just to lighten it for a little while.

Or whenever we know that we've sprained our ankle and we're not sure how to keep going otherwise.

But that's the thing with it.

Is then we discover that it's been worth it.

Because we sit down to dinner after the hike.

And we understand why you had to push through.

And we understand why it was so hard.

The thing is, is that when it says do not grow weary.

It's because sometimes the weariness only comes from ourselves.

But with God, the journey, even when it's weirsome.

The journey is still worth it.

Because of everything God is doing in you.

So I'm not sure where it is that you're feeling weary today.

And I don't know what it is that God is trying to teach you through it.

But I do know that God is not done with you.

And I do know that somehow this life is meant for a purpose.

And it's meant for his goals and not ours.

So wherever you might be, do not be weary.

Because I promise you, you're not alone.

Thanks be to God.