“A double-sided message”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Hebrews 2:1-10 (Forward, p. 23) CEV p. 1259
Today’s passage contains both a warning and a promise. We are told, at its very beginning, that ‘we must give our full attention to what we were told’. And why is that? ‘So we don’t drift away’, don’t drift away from what is our sure means of salvation, that is, Jesus Christ. The Greek expression here translated ‘drift away’ has several nuances. It can have the sense of paddling downstream and being careless enough or not diligent enough to miss the safe, designated place of landing and drifting downstream to ‘who knows what.’ We can certainly imagine what that might be. Likewise, it can have the sense of balloonists missing their proper landing zone and ending up entangled in a forest of trees, not a pleasant prospect, to be sure. Or, it can have the sense of allowing one’s ring—a wedding or engagement ring, perhaps, to slip off your finger and thus be lost. While the first images speak of lost safety and security, this one suggests a loss or straining of relationship, not a great prospect indeed.
So, what is this message, this means of salvation? Our author first mentions the ‘message spoken by the angels’, so what might this be? While never explicitly described as such in the actual giving of the Law in Exodus, it was widely held by commentators that the Law given at Sinai was delivered by angelic mediators. That Law, though it did not detail the means of salvation, certainly spelled out how the people of Israel were to live, and set out very specific and detailed penalties for its non-compliance.
That Law was certainly valid, our author tells us, but what we have here is even more valid, even greater, for it was given, not by angels, but by the Lord himself. Furthermore, He proved it to be true by its impacts on those who heard it, by the miracles and wonders that He wrought, and by His gift of the Holy Spirit. So, given the weight and importance of this latter message, it is all the more important, all the more incumbent that we do not neglect or ignore it or allow ourselves to drift away from it. Such is our author’s good warning.
But herein there is also a promise. This message of salvation was not given to the angels, but to us mortals, us humans. And what is crucial, and incredible, is that we will one day share in Christ’s authority, His power. All things will one day come under our feet and be subject to us—whatever that means. Furthermore, not only have we been saved through His death, we will one day share His glory.
So, then, heeding His word and safeguarding, holding on to His message and promise is all the more crucial, for much is at stake. This is certainly something much to ponder over this coming season of Lent. Amen.
Forward notes: “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (verse 1).
“My son just started driver’s education classes. No one is more nervous than a parent of a new driver. He’s much more aware of what to do than I am, because after thirty years of driving, I don’t always do it exactly as I was taught. When I was learning, we didn’t have the technology to warn us we were too close. Relearning with him has made me realize how far I can drift.
“The same rule applies to my spiritual practices, especially after the restrictions of the pandemic. I could listen to or read an online sermon, but I know I need to be with others in worship. I need to pray, listen, and pass the peace with others. If I depend on what I already know and have done by rote, I’ll drift away. The last thing I want is a spiritual accident.
Moving Forward: “What kind of spiritual driver’s education might be helpful for you? Seek out those opportunities to return to the basics.”