Bearing Righteousness and Peace
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 30:20
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· 33 views"Bearing Righteousness and Peace". Based on Hebrews 7:1-10. We need leaders who, like Melchizedek, are strong in faith, strong in righteousness and strong in peace. Moreover, we need families of faith to lead the way! This event has a video call.
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Opening prayer, dedication
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252 Sweet, Sweet Spirit
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493 It Is Well With My Soul
Word of God -
Hebrews 7:1-10 [Liturgist]
Message: “Bearing Righteousness and Peace”
We are all known for something now and something later, after we have passed away
And our true legacy is what we’ll be known for after God calls us home
For some, our names or nicknames reflect what we know for
We have likely all heard of William Shakespeare's’ Romeo and Juliet
“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
It speaks to the power, or lack thereof, of names.
A name cannot truly make you into something you are not
But a name sure can
Reinforce how people, including yourself see you
But, a name can’t make a short man tall
However, in our core text today, we see the significance of the name associated with Melchizedek
We have talked about Melchizedek quite a bit, but today I want to dig into his name more
As I was thinking about the meaning of names, I was realized that we are lazy
So many times names are giving because they “sound good”
Thankfully, we don’t ALWAYS live up to the meaning of the name we are given
Take “Kennedy” for example
The Irish root for that name means “misshapen head”
I Like the SOUND of that name,
but clearly most parents wouldn’t be labeling their child with the expectation that they would forever be known as “misshapen head”
It doesn’t even mean that the person truly has a irregular head shape
Perhaps for those named “Joy” it would be nice to assume that the parents either were filled with JOY or they wanted their child to be filled with JOY
So, what of this name “Melchizedek”?
His name has two main parts
“melekh”, which means “king”
followed by the Hebrew “tsedeq” which means “righteousness”.
His very name means that he is the “king of righteousness”
Now let’s re-read Hebrews 7:1(a) [through “God,]
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Let’s start with the word “Salem” (Shelem in Hebrew)
This is related to the Jewish greeting “Shalom” which means peace
For Americans, we say “How are you?” when we greet one another and “Have a nice day” when we leave.
For the Jews, the words are “shalom aleichem” (peace be to you) upon greeting and
“aleichem shalom” (to you, peace) when they say goodbye.
Truly, Shalom refers to a total sense of wellbeing that comes from God’s presence among His people
This man, the “king of righteousness” is also called
“king of Salem”
Oh, and “Salem” means “peace”
“Priest of the Most High God”
That’s OUR God!
That’s the one who met Abraham in Hebrews 7:1
Melchizedek is the first person to ever be identified as a priest in the Old Testament
Serving what was called in Genesis 14, “the God of the most high”,
This is from the story of Abraham defeating a group of kings to rescue his nephew Lot
Then Abraham gave 10% of the spoils from the conquest to Melchizedek (likely because he was a priest)
Melchizedek was righteous and even turned down the 10% offering
Asking for the people, not the money
The High priest Melchizedek was of pure heart, like Jesus
For such an important person it is interesting that the Bible doesn’t give his genealogy
Look back at Hebrews 7:3
3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
We don’t know if his name was given at birth or when his name might have been changed
I have come to the conclusion that God wants us to focus on the most important things
Don’t get lost in where Melchizedek came from
His parents and other relatives didn’t qualify him
Don’t even focus on his seminary education
No human training qualified him
Kids, this is true for you too
Never make fun of a person’s name
If others make fun of your name, pray for them to grow up to be more kind
Your given name does NOT make you into something
You are special because GOD made you in His image and He loves you very much
Two things stand out for Melchizedek
First, it was God who prepared, qualified and called Melchizedek to be high priest
Second, there was a legacy created in that Melchizedek will be a high priest forever
That is the very essence of legacy, right?
Something that lasts long after we have passed from our human frailties
This is a key point for us, so we’ll make it a “Takeaway”
Takeaways
Legacies Come from God
At least, “Good” legacies come from God
Melchizedek was revered not because of his family lineage, but because
First, God called him
Second, Melchizedek obeyed God in all humility
We must be imitators of Christ in order to be people of Righteousness and Peace (1 Cor 11:1)
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Paul imitated Christ and we are to imitate Him as well
That means we should all have the marks of righteousness, peace, humility, the whole package
You can’t help but to think of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, in Phil 2
2 components:
Righteousness
Peace
Peace and humility are cousins
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
We Believers must be “of one mind” or united in sympathy, affection, joy and love as we humbly serve God
We must be imitators of Christ in order to be people of Righteousness and Peace (1 Cor 11:1)
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Our lives will NOT be easy because of our faith
Instead, the promise is that if we want to fully enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ labor,
then we need to become One with Him in His crucifixion
as in Galatians 2:20 where
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This does not mean we physically get punished and hung on a cross
It means that Jesus did that for us that we might be freed from our sin-debt
We now are connected in a very real sense
It means that when someone verbally attacks God
Then we are being attacked
It means that our names, race or ethnicity don’t matter because we are children of God
So, if any race or ethnic group is attacked then we are all attacked
When you think of social standing and biblical importance even
We certainly read more about Abraham than Melchizedek
Yet Hebrews 7:6 reminds us that it was Abraham who paid tithes to Melchizedek
How is it that the superior, meaning Abraham, would pay tithes to the less Melchizedek?
How is it that the lesser, Melchizedek would bless the more prominent Abraham?
Simple, God’s standards are different than that of the world
Look again at Hebrews 7:8
8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.
God wants us to focus on the call He placed on Melchizedek to serve as high priest
For Melchizedek to be the example of righteousness and peace in leadership
Remember that Melchizedek has the role of high priest until the ultimate High Priest comes
We know that means Jesus who is our ultimate high priest
You’ll recall this reference from Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We will study this aspect more when we continue our study of Hebrews in a couple weeks
For now, it’s important that we come to an understanding on how to use this information in our daily lives
To put it simply, we “BEAR” or hold up the weight of what it means to be God’s children
“God’s Child” is the name we all must live up to
*The better we bear/carry God’s righteousness and peace through our lives
The better we honor our Risen Savior
The better our legacy will be
Because the best legacy of all is the legacy of Jesus Christ
That because of what Jesus did, we have the promise of everlasting life for all who Believe in Him
Amen!
Closing Hymn/Invitation:
#405 My Faith Has Found a Resting Place (1,2,3)
Pastoral Prayer/Benediction