Pursue peace with all men...

Hebrews 12:14-29 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; ¹⁶ that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

¹⁸ For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹ and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” ²¹ And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

The Unshaken Kingdom

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.

The writer of Hebrews ends today’s text saying: Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.  In Romans 12:1-2 it says:  I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.    What would it look like if we offered God and acceptable service with reverence and awe?     How do we present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice?    Paul says that doing that and not being conformed to the world but being transformed by the renewing of our mind, proves the will of God. It is good, acceptable and perfect.  Today’s text begins with some of what we must do to offer God our acceptable service. It says:  Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.   To say that we are to pursue peace with all men suggests that often peace will not be easy to find. Going back to Romans 12, where Paul speaks of being a living sacrifice, in verse18 he says:  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.    In verses 14-17, he describes in part how we do that:   Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.    To pursue peace, to be at peace with all men requires that we bless and not curse even those who persecute us. Paul says we are to be of the same mind toward one another. We need to have compassion, understanding and empathy. Paul says we should respect what is right in the sight of all men. This is where many today have a difficult time. They interchange the word respect with the word accept. We are to have compassion and empathy for people. We are to respect them. But the Hebrews text says:     Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.   If we do not also pursue sanctification, holiness and righteousness, no one will see the Lord. We are not to embrace the immorality and godlessness of instant gratification, conforming to the way of the world. Respect and accept are not the same. Neither are compassion and condoning, nor love and tolerance. Paul says in Romans 12:9:  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.   True love, love without hypocrisy does not accept or tolerate what is evil. True love wants only what is best for others. It abhors evil. It pursues holiness and righteousness along with peace. True love respects all people, but does not accept or tolerate immorality or godlessness. Much of what the world calls hypocrisy is actually love. Much of what the world calls love is truly hypocrisy. The world’s love accepts and tolerates less than the best for people. What would it look like if we offered God an acceptable service with reverence and awe?  It would look like Jesus, who for the sake of all people, because of love, gave His life to redeem us from sin. Jesus didn’t tolerate or embrace sin. He died for it. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”   True love wants the best. It wants abundant life for everyone. It does not embrace the lies of the thief or conform to the ways or the whims of the world.  

God hates sin and sin is what He stands in judgment against. God loves the people He created. In fact:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)   God’s judgment against sin is not unjust. He made a way for each person to be judged apart from sin, through Christ. Hebrews 9:27 says:  It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.  True love, in the person of Jesus Christ took the judgment of our sin upon Himself. Each person can choose whether they will stand before God on their own or in Christ.  In today’s text it compares the judgments that we can choose between.       They could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.       For ourselves and others to experience and know judgment through grace, we must:   Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit help me to love as You love, in truth without hypocrisy. Help me to respect and have compassion and empathy for all people, while like You I abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. May I never tolerate less than what You desire for Your people, an abundant life, righteousness and holiness. May I live to look like Jesus so that they might know He died for them.   Amen.