August 31, 2025 Text: Hebrews 13:1-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

What is an imperative? Grammatically it is a command, something you have to do. Someone who cares for you may say, “Get to the doctor.” We tell our kids if they are flirting with danger, “Don’t touch that.” Even gentle commands can be imperatives, “Could you please pass the rolls.” God commands us to love our enemy and our neighbor and we know in our heart we should be doing it.
An imperative can also mean something that is necessary. It is imperative we get to the airport on time. It is imperative to brush our teeth. It is imperative the Chicago Bears get a few breaks this fall if we want to see them in the playoffs. With that last one, we aren’t even involved. Somebody else has to perform for the good result to happen.
Today in Hebrews 13 we have imperative overload. Maybe you don’t like to be told what to do, well hang on to your shorts. We have got some commands for us to follow and then others that are necessary for God to do. What sorts of things?
“WHAT’S IMPERATIVE FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING?”
Well, let’s get to it. God commands these things. Practice brotherly love. Show concern for our fellow Christians. Keep the marriage bed undefiled. That is intercourse in marriage good and holy. Intercourse outside of marriage in any context is breaking God’s design. Avoid coveting and love for the greenbacks. Focus on the eternal and not the temporal. Present worthy sacrifices of praise and confession. Whew. How you feeling so far? Can we go on?
We made it through some rough waters, let’s calm it down a bit. Christ has given us life. He has granted to us what we need to follow these imperatives. We have been given Christian life by Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. Listen to verses 8 and 12. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.” He strengthens us Christians for lives of good works with the promise of His presence. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (v. 5b). With that reminder in our brain, we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (v. 6). He sustains our lives of Christian faith through his chosen leaders. We prayerfully imitate the faith. Looking to them for guidance.
We are reminded of the unchanging nature of Christ. His obedience is consistent every day. Our nature as Christians should be the same. There’s an imperative! With the Holy Spirit’s help, we are “Christlike”, letting the world see Christ. Our words and actions should be a reflection of Christ’s grace and mercy, regardless of our circumstances.
We fully accept the teachings of Jesus and don’t give in to strange doctrines. People also want to return to the law; it is part of human nature. Instead of Christ-like they want to Moses-like. But even Moses understood a promise. A Savior was coming. Christ in the flesh who would give us full pardon from sin by God’s undeserved grace. Redemption does not come by keeping a list of rules but by Christ’s merits given to us in the Means of Grace.
What’s Imperative for Christian Living? Both imperatives. The commands to practice brotherly love, hospitality, holy marriage, eternal focus, remembering those in prison, using money properly and give worthy sacrifices of confession. We do this strengthened by the cross of Christ. He sustains our Christian living by His presence, His forgiving Means of Grace, and His faithful servants who bring them to us. It’s imperative He does all that for us.
Amen.

August 17, 2025 Text: Jeremiah 23:16-29

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Word of the Lord can be tough business. Few people in our world have known this better than Jeremiah. He tried to get out of this work by using his youth with the Lord. It didn’t work. The Lord even told him that people wouldn’t listen to him. Do you want that work?
It didn’t matter, the Lord wanted him. He called him into service. He used these words in the King James version of the Bible. “Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee.” (Jer. 1:17) The Pastors of our circuit know this is the verse that yours truly always uses at a Pastoral ordination or installation. The ESV translates it, “dress yourself for work.” I like that as well. At our house we say this it this way, “Put on your big boy pants,” “put on your big girl pants.” What does that mean? These sayings all point to the same thing, getting ready for a demanding task or challenge.
That is where we find Jeremiah this morning. He needs to speak God’s Word to a people who don’t want to hear it. He needs to “put on his big boy pants” or more appropriately . . .
“GIRD UP THY LOINS”
Jeremiah had competition. There were others who were proclaiming a different message, one that was far more appealing than the message the Lord gave Jeremiah to say. Like Pastor’s and evangelists of all times, many challenges were also happening in the world around him. The final days of Judah, Babylonians taking over, a faithful king killed and a new king who didn’t care for Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah would be the target of persecution.
The market was dictating the message. We all know how this works. Your computer feeds will feed you topics of interest to you. If you buy something, they will shower you with more like items. You follow a sports team, and they are sure to hit you up for tickets or apparel. The market in Jeremiah’s time were false prophets who filled the people with vain hopes. They “speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.” They even told the people, “no disaster shall come upon you.”
Nice, right? But not biblical. No one can tell you and me that nothing bad will happen to us. That is a misunderstanding of living in this world. It does not consider the words of the Lord in the Bible. It misses the boat on who God, or Yahweh is. Yahweh is not some local deity unaware of the lives of His people. Yahweh is at hand and relates personally to his people.
No one wants to hear about the possible destruction of their home or city. No one wants to hear that you need to repent and return to the Lord with broken and contrite hearts. It is a much easier sell to tell people that everything is going to be fine. It is a sell that is still going on today.
Jeremiah was in a tough business. That is why the Lord told him to “gird up thy loins.” This was not a challenge confined to his time. The walls were broken down long ago. The temptation has always been to give people what they want, rather than what they need. This has plagued God’s people and God’s prophets in all ages. We know we have something to say in this world, so why not give them what they want to hear?
If we do that, we reduce God to a deity made in our image. So many think of God as far away. God says in verse 23, “Am I a God at hand…and not a God afar off?” The Lord is near to us and has promised to be with us always.
Jeremiah knew God was near. He went into the fight with loins girded. He put on the big boy pants and shared the message. He said the Lord would rise up a Righteous branch, who would be a king and deal wisely. This righteous branch would be the ultimate prophet, the Word of God in human flesh. Like Jeremiah, he stood in the council of the Lord to see and hear his Word. He proclaimed the word faithfully. Like Jeremiah, he was opposed. He would not preach what the people wanted to hear, He preached what they needed to hear. He would contend with false prophets. There would be a storm that would reach a fever pitch on a Friday. Jesus would gird up thy loins and in obedience would take his life to the cross. He hung in our place. The rocks were broken in pieces. His gift of salvation is ours. We hear the message we need to hear. Though still sinful, Christ died and rose for us.
Are you ready to gird up thy loins and share this message? It can be a tough business. We have stood in the council of the Lord. We have seen and heard His Word, and that is the message we faithfully proclaim. It is a message not driven by the market, but driven by the Holy Spirit. Hear the words I love to share, “Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee.”
Amen.