What is Real?

On March 17th Pastor Todd gave a sermon that's worthwhile revisiting  titled "WHAT IS REAL?" . Bottom-line, we live in a complicated world of both actual and perceived realities. Sometimes we fear things we shouldn't and don't fear things that we probably should. A good illustration for us is the proverbial "monsters under the bed". Remember as a kid when you had to shut the light switch off in your bedroom and then race through the dark to the safety of our sheets to prevent some unknown creature from grabbing you by the ankle and dragging you under the bed? (it's a great analogy for me because I have surprisingly vivid memories of this ritual :)  As adults, our "monsters" shift a bit from under the bed to under the hood, or the job, or retirement savings, or the daughters boyfriend, or what we saw on Fox News, etc. etc. So what's real and what's just our perception? How about "DON'T KNOW, CAN'T KNOW" for a reality check??! Thank God we have someone that DOES know!

 

The Book of Hebrews provides an overview of the difficulties of the early Christian church (and a roadmap for today's Christian to discern what is real for us). Judaism was not second-rate or easy for its followers. Divinely designed, it was the best religion of the time, expressing true worship and devotion to God. The commandments, the rituals and the prophets described God's promises and revealed the way to forgiveness and salvation. But then Christ came, fulfilling the law and the prophets, conquering sin, shattering all barriers to God and freely providing eternal life. This message was difficult for Jews to accept. Although they had sought the messiah for centuries, they were entrenched in thinking and worshiping in traditional forms. Following Jesus seemed to repudiate their marvelous heritage and their profound scriptures. Most rejected the gospel of Jesus as "heresy". Those who did accept Jesus as the messiah often found themselves slipping back into familiar routines, trying to live a hybrid faith. In other words, their perception of WHAT IS REAL was being severely tested.

 

"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away" (Hebrews 2:1). Todd reminded us that in our faith journey, we're either growing or shrinking - there is no middle ground for us to settle into. Put another way, we either focus on Jesus or on our monsters, not both. For the Jews, atonement for sins was this continuous ritual process involving sacrifice of animals that became their reality. Our reality is His incredible grace and the freedom it brings! "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming - not the realities themselves" (Hewbrews 10:1). "They (the Jews) serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven" (Hebrews 8:5). In other words, your wildest dreams can't imagine the glory of what awaits you! For us, the "law" becomes not what we do and how we do it, but who we are every day, until called to that glory.

 

So here's the message of Todd's sermon in a nutshell - we need to focus our hearts on Jesus and trust the process. Monsters are gonna come knocking on your door, that's just part of the human experience. The worlds perceptions and realities are different than ours however. "Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side-by-side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded" (Hebrews 10:33-35). Much of our anxiety is self-induced. You'll find that your perceptions and realities change as you focus increasingly on Jesus.

 

God Bless!