He Came To Be Our Brother
God's Word from Hebrews 2:10-18 reassures us that the Christ-child was born in order to guarantee for us a close relationship with God. It all starts with the fact that "He Came To Be Our Brother." December 27, 2009.
Our life is shaped by relationships. We began life with a relationship with our parents, at first quite dependent, and as we matured, more and more independent of them. If there were siblings in the family, we had a relationship with each of them. As we grew older, we also had relationships with classmates and teammates. If you had a typical college experience, you likely also had roommates, and you learned the pluses and minuses of those relationships. Then there are work relationships, which can be strictly professional, or rather casual, depending on the situation. Getting along with people at work certainly makes a job more enjoyable. Christians also develop relationships with people at their church. Our “Getting Together” team is working hard to foster those connections through Grace Groups and stands ready to support the groups that already exist like our sports teams, the choir, and organization for seniors. Strong relationships with fellow members broaden a person’s spiritual support system and provide a venue so that no one slips through the cracks.
There is, however, one relationship that surpasses them all. In fact, without it we would die – forever. I’m talking about our relationship with God. I have seen people from abusive family systems actually grow, mature, and prosper. There are people who never had any close friends in school and yet do quite well for themselves. There are people who can’t stand their boss but still make a go of it at work. There are even people who enjoy their church membership without ever making any close friendships with fellow members. But no one will go to heaven without a close relationship with God.
That’s what makes this Sunday after Christmas and the second lesson today from the letter to the Hebrews in chapter two so reassuring. On this day we return to the manger scene to solidify in our hearts why it all happened in the first place. The Christ-child was born in order to guarantee for us a close relationship with God. It all starts with the fact that He Came To Be Our Brother.
Our real brother
If you are shopping in a department store and want to get to the next floor, you have to find the escalator. If you want to get up to the balcony so that the organist can show you how the different pipes produces different sounds, you have to find the balcony steps. If you plan to attend the new series of Bible classes next Sunday, you have to find the door to the Grace Center. That’s how you gain access to a place.
But what about gaining access to a person? In order to build a relationship with another person, most people use common sense. There are also books and seminars that give suggestions about asking questions, active listening, being alert to body language, spending time together, finding common interests, and being open and honest.
But, if more than anything else in the whole wide world we need a close relationship with God, how is that going to happen? It’s not like we can just send God a tweet or hook up with him on Facebook or Linked-in. It’s not like you can come into the sacristy back here and find an escalator to heaven. In fact, what would you think if I told you that you could open those doors over there, and inside you would be standing right in front of the holy God? I’m guessing that you’d be a little nervous.
Scripture records a variety of ways in which God made his presence known to people. Most of those instances have to do with glimpses of God’s awesome power and remind us how unapproachable God is. Noah told his neighbors that there really is a God who is watching their careless and sinful behavior. They pooh-poohed Noah’s encouragement about getting a right relationship with God and doubled over in laughter when they saw him hauling timber to build a four hundred fifty foot barge. But they weren’t laughing when God caused water to explode out of the heavens and earth. You think a few thousand drowning with the Titanic was a disaster. Imagine the millions, maybe even billions, who drowned in that global flood! How in all the world are we going to get a close relationship with a God who can do that? Yet, that is what we need more than anything else.
Throughout history humans have built huge monuments and temples to try and get close to God. People have tried sacrifices, offerings, chants, and meditation in order to get in with God. But none of that works. There is only one way for humans to get a relationship with God, and that is for God to come to us. And he did. He came to be our brother, a real brother, not a fake or pretend brother, not a ghost. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers [and sisters]. I can’t impress on you enough how important this is. Having a close relationship with God is more important than money, than clothes, than food, than relationships with spouse, children, friends, and co-workers. It is the only thing that will keep us out of hell. The real miracle of Christmas is not that a virgin could become pregnant and give birth to a child but that God came to be our brother so that we could have a close relationship with him.
Our better brother
Imagine if our relationships with people depended on having a perfect brother. In other words, what if you planned to be married, but your fiancé called it off because your brother was rude? What if a job interview concluded with the words, “It looks like you are highly qualified and would be a good fit the job, but we found out that your brother is lazy so we aren’t going to hire you”? What if you had to have a brother as an active church member before you could join that church? If relationships depended on brothers, we’d be in trouble because brothers are not perfect, and some people don’t have any.
Getting a close relationship with God does depend on a brother, but no earthly brother will do. We need a better brother. You see, God has perfect standards that have to be met before we can get close to him. He taught that truth to the Israelites with a visual aid. He said, “There is an inner room in the temple at Jerusalem that is going to symbolize my presence. But you can’t go in that room and get close to me. Only the high priest can do that and only once a year, and even he will have to bring the blood of a sacrifice because he’s not perfect either.”
The Israelites couldn’t match up to God’s standards. Neither can we. No one can. Not even the best human brother or sister or father or mother can help us get in with God. We needed someone who is perfect to bring us into God’s presence. We’ve got that someone – our brother, Jesus. He’s not just any brother. He was and is perfect. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way– except without sin – in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. There’s an added bonus. Our brother is better than any other because he understands us. There will be days when we feel like we are going to get kicked out of God’s family because when tested we often fail. But our brother withstood every test and gives us his test results. Because he himself suffered when he was tested, he is able to help those who are being tested. He’s a better brother than any other because he is perfect and has given us his perfection as a blanket of protection.
Our extraordinary brother
Who here would want a relationship with the devil? I’m glad no one raised a hand. Who here has had ties to the devil? We all should have raised our hands because when we were born, we were caught in the devil’s clutches. Satan just loves to tie us up in sin, haul us into God’s courtroom, and shout all kinds of accusations. “They have broken your commands, God. Go get ‘em!” Who will bail us out? Who will release us? God set the bail price too high. He said, “You sinners have to pay for all eternity with your blood.” No human could help us – father or mother or sister or brother.
But our brother, Jesus, did. He made the payment and bailed us out. In bringing many people to glory, it was fitting that God … should make the author of ... salvation reach the goal through suffering ... so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death ... for this reason he had to be made like his brothers ... that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. After all, it wasn’t the angels he came to help. They were messengers of God and played a big role in the Christmas story, but they didn’t need rescue. We did. To get us in with God, someone had to die. Jesus came to be our brother and died for us! What an extraordinary brother!
It is statistically provable that children from healthy, in-tact families fare better in school than children from abusive or broken homes. There are exceptions, but ask any teacher if a healthy family relationship is important, and he or she will tell you that family relationships are essential for the emotional and psychological development of any child. It is statistically provable that a marriage in which each spouse has a personal relationship with Jesus will be able to handle the bumps along the path of marriage better than a couple that does not and will have a less likely chance of divorce. It is statistically provable that a new church member who develops connections with fellow members is more likely to remain active in that church than a new member who does not. But what happens if those relationships go away? A young woman who had been a Jehovah’s Witness studied Scripture with us and joined our church. As she expected, her family disowned her. But ask her how she copes without family support, and she will tell you, “I have a real, better, and extraordinary brother, Jesus Christ.” What if you lost the relationships you enjoy? How would you cope? I pray that you would say what the young woman said, “I have a real, better, and extraordinary brother. He is Christ the Lord. He is Christ, my Lord!” Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on December 27, 2009
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