From Today's Epistle...

Reading: Hebrews 3:12-19

¹² See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵ As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."

¹⁶ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Reflection

Today. What are the words for today? Hardness of heart? Deceitfulness of sin? Community responsibility? Judgement?

I was recently reminded of a quote made during the War of Independence by Benjamin Franklin who said, “If we don’t hang together, we most assuredly will all hang separately.” This little passage from Hebrews reminds me of the importance of the community. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of bondage to the promised land. For forty years he had to deal with a group of people that should have been the most joyful on their journey for they had seen the magnificent hand of God at work. But they grumbled and groaned. They not only angered Moses so that he broke the stone tablets on which God had written his commandments, but they angered God for forty years! The whole lot of them lost the opportunity to cross over Jordan.

While we each have responsibility for our own relationship with God, it is clear from this passage that we have a responsibility for our fellow traveler. It is a commitment for today. That also means tomorrow, for tomorrow will most assuredly become today.

During the Rite of Baptism, the gathered Christians are asked this question: “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” This is such a great and serious responsibility. It implies that the newborn Christians need nourishing till they attain their full stature in Christ. But we know that full grown individuals do not cease requiring nourishment when they are full grown. So we continue to support each other! This should not be considered an onerous burden but a joyful opportunity.

The writer of Hebrews urges us readers to encourage, to give courage, to each other to guard the heart against the deceitfulness of sin. Each is encouraged to be firm and persevere to the end. Today, we who are strong must gladly encourage the weak. For as sure as tomorrow turns into today, there will be that Today when we are the weak ones needing the strong encouragement of our brothers and sisters to prevent our heart from hardening and rebelling. We have a fundamental commitment as the body of Christ to help and nourish each other. Just as a hand that's cut off from the body can not survive, a weak Christian who is not nurtured may not survive. If we do not all hang together, we may hang separately.

Living God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ prayed for Peter that his faith should not fail and commanded him to strengthen the brothers, Grant us today the strength to guard against hardness of heart and the will to encourage the weak so that we may all hold firm our faith in Christ till the end to the glory of God. Amen

-RER