Sermon Text: Hebrews 13:1-17
Title: “Seek the City that is to Come.”
I. Often
times we set our eyes on the city we live in today.
II. We
should be setting our eyes on the City that is to come.
BY SETTING
YOUR EYES ON THE CROSS
YOU’VE SET
YOUR EYES ON THE CITY THAT IS TO COME –
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our
Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The sermon text for this Sunday, is
taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 13 beginning at verse 1. I would read again a portion of these verses…
12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to
sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him
outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no
lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us
continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips
that acknowledge his name
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I.
Today
we have the tale of two cities. No, I am
not going to be talking about the story, The Tale of Two Cities by
Charles Dickens. This tale is much more
important, with eternal implications.
On
the one hand we have the City of Darkness, a city
that knows only evil. Here in this city
it is dangerous to walk alone. Murder, rape,
betrayal, robbery, all of these and much more are an everyday norm in this
city. It’s dirty and filthy and looks
like no one has ever bothered to clean it up at all. Trash blows down the streets and inky black
smoke fills the air making it hard to even breathe. Here you can be sure to hear gossip on every
street corner. Liars and schemers
abound. And here in this city there is
no sun, only darkness.
On
the other hand there is the City of Light, a city
that knows only good. Here in this city
it is safe to walk alone. Kindness,
love, happiness, honesty, all of these and much more are an everyday norm in
this city. It’s clean and sparkling and
looks like it has never seen dirt.
Beautiful music fills the air and the smell of freshness blows down the
street making it easy to breathe. Here
you can be sure to hear praise on every street corner. Angels and saints abound. And here in this City there is the Son of God
for light and there is no darkness.
Which
of these cities would you chose to live in?
Which of these cities captures your imagination? Which of these cities tickles your
fancy? Which would you choose the first
city, the City of Darkness, or the
second city, the City of Light?
Would
you be surprised if I told you the city you love the most is the first one – the
City of Darkness? Would it shock you if I told you that here – in
this city where evil drips from everything – here you feel most at home?
Just ask some of the inhabitants – they’ll
tell you.
“In that rickety old house across
the street lives Adam and Eve, they are long time members of this community, in
fact, the oldest residents. They will
tell you of a time when they actually lived in the City of Light. They were able to walk and talk with God and
had the run of the place. They had every
delicious fruit imaginable to eat. The
only rule was to not eat from a certain Tree in the middle of the Garden. They gave up the City of Light for that
one Tree and took up residence here, in the City of Darkness.
“Next door you will find Noah. He – like everyone else here – inherited the
sin of his ancestors and now, like all, must live in the City of Darkness. He found favor with God, but after God saved
him and his family, Noah got drunk.
“Down the street is Abraham. He too found favor with God. And after God had promised him a son, he and
his wife thought she was too old to have a baby, so they sent him off with her
younger servant. And she did have a
baby, but it wasn’t the baby God had promised.
“On the other side of those railroad
tracks lives David. He was just a poor
shepherd from Bethlehem, but God
made him king of his people, and David had everything a person could want,
money, fame, a beautiful wife. In fact,
they say he was a man after God’s own heart.
You know what happened to him? He
wanted another woman, so he had the husband killed and then took the woman to
be his own.
“Across town there is man who lives
in a shack. His name is Paul. He once was a teacher of the Law, a higher up
in the religion of God, a Pharisee. He
above all should have known the Scriptures better than most and should have
seen the signs of the coming Messiah.
But he didn’t. Instead, he
persecuted those who did, ran them off into jail and even had some of them
killed. What a shame.
“These are just some of the people
you will run into here in the City of Darkness. You know what? I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Pastor Smith – but down here we kinda
keep the pastor part out of it. Now here
we are – a nice little hovel right near the exit of this alley. Yup nice and run down – built by your own
sins. Don’t let the rats scare you –
they’re pretty harmless. If you have any
questions –well you see that dirty, old, filthy tin shed down there at the end
of the alley – you see that? That’s my little place here in the City of Darkness. You come get me if you need any help. Have a nice day.”
We can hope for nothing better than
this – and will probably get worse than we can imagine. This is the place where there is weeping and
gnashing of teeth. Here on these streets
where we find ourselves in our sin, is the moaning and groaning of a world
separated from God. Here is our
eternity.
II.
But you know what? There is more to the story isn’t there? There was a Man sent by God to live among the
people of the City of Darkness. Although He had no evil in Him – He lived
among those who were. He was the only
Light in the City of Darkness. And His Light burned bright - bright as the
sun, and the darkness was not able to overcome it. He lived a life that was contrary to the ones
lived by the people of the City of Darkness. He loved His neighbor as Himself and He loved
God with all of His heart, soul and mind.
In fact, He loved neighbor and God perfectly. So much so, that He died on a cross on that
hill over there, not because of His sin, for he had no sin, but for the sins of
the City of Darkness.
It was three days later that He was
raised from the grave. And He told His followers,
“Believe in Me and you no longer have to live in the City of Darkness, you can
come back to the City of Light that your
neighbor’s Adam and Eve once knew and live connected to God forever!”
They asked Him how this was
possible, and Jesus replied, “It’s really rather simple I died in your place to
forgive your sin. And because you
believed in Me you now get to join Me at the great Banquet in Heaven. Come join the feast in the City of Light
forever.” Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all
understanding will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+Soli Deo
Gloria +
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