This Sunday we continue to look at the book of Hebrews and we look and see that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament. This same God made the “old way” or the old covenant and then made a better way through the new and living covenant – Jesus. God, our Father, knows the better way. How much like a father is that?! I don’t know what it is to be a father – I only get to watch from the outside. But I do know, like any parent, we tend to know what is better for our children because of experience and wisdom that they have not yet gained. It’s why dads and parents are somewhere even this moment telling their child not to do whatever dangerous activity they are partaking in. In our house that’s often in a strong encouragement to not kill their brother or to not try and scale some piece of furniture just to jump off. As we grow our parents encourage us in other ways to find the better way – to try harder in school, to make wise choices, to love, to be the good in a world shaken too often by evil.
Some of us may have a hard time accepting that. We think that we are already on course. That we already have the best way. That we have it all figured out. Perhaps you do. If so, you’ll know because you’ll feel the rest of God. The rest of us well, we’ll know too. We’ll know because we won’t be living into the peace and rest of God. We’ll be restless. We’ll be anxious. We’ll be worry-filled and wonder-less. We need to be willing to let go of our pride to accept God’s better way for us. We need our world changed, a paradigm shift, a change in mindset to set us free.
I’m a middle child. Some of you may have already guessed that. As the one in the middle I know what it is to be bossed around not only by parents but also by an older brother who “knows best.” I also, as the one in the middle, know what it is to have to help my younger brother. Really we’re all in the middle in one way or another. We have some areas where we need to be encouraged to follow the better way. We need an older sibling to hold our hand and show us the way. We need to look to Jesus so to show us how. Simultaneously, there are some things that we already have obtained. There are things we know because of experience, because we’ve followed Jesus and obtained what he had for us. We need to be willing to be the older sibling and show others, encouraging them on their way. The true thing to remember is that in this family of God that we are all a part of, we are all siblings. No one is an only child. No one is the true parent. We are to align ourselves with Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith, and then we can stay on course to get what our good, good Father has in store for us.