Sermon Text: Hebrews 13:1-6
Date: September 28, 2025
Event: Proper 21, Year C
Hebrews 13:1-6 (EHV)
Continue to show brotherly love. 2Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it. 3Remember those in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated, as if you yourselves were also suffering bodily.
4Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. 5Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God has said:
I will never leave you,
and I will never forsake you.
6So then we say with confidence:
The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?
God Lifts You Up
Have you ever had a coworker who seemed to make everyone around him better, or at least look better, at their job? Have you ever had a friend who always just elevated the group, came up with the best ideas for things to do or brought hightened levity or sincerity to any conversation? Do you have a family member who particularly skilled at navigating and bringing peace to inter-family strife and conflict? They can elevate the entire family dynamic.
Perhaps you’ve known and experienced all of those; perhaps none. Perhaps you fill that role in your job, or friend group, or family. Whatever your experience has been, having someone like that who lifts up a group is a blessing to everyone involved, and everyone benefits. But if you find those sorts of gifts and blessings lacking in a given group, perhaps you work to equip yourself with some of those skills—expanding what you know through professional development or gaining tools by studying conflict resolution.
That kind of growth can be good, but there are ways in which that can get out of hand and go south. You, as an employee, should not have to learn how to do your boss’s job (or your boss’s boss’s job) in order to bring competency to the workplace; that should be on those it has been entrusted to. How sad it is if a young child feels the need to do whatever she can to ensure there is food on the table because, for whatever reasons, the adults in her life are failing her. Certain tasks have been delegated to certain people, and those people should be faithful to those responsibilities for the good of all involved.
What happens if they’re not? Or if they’re perceived not to be doing what they should? Chaos can ensue. Imagine, for instance, if no one here this morning trusted that the pastor would have a sermon to share, so everyone not only worked up a message to deliver but then actively fought over each other to get into the pulpit to follow through. What a mess of a service we would have! And it would be primarily centered on the reality that preparing a sermon is not your job or your calling, and the responsibility of it should not fall on you.
But sometimes, we try to take on things that we shouldn’t or can’t. We try to lift ourselves and others up, and it can lead to trouble. It’s problematic if you put yourself in the position of doing things that are your boss’s, your parents’, or your pastor’s responsibility, but those problems are magnified when we start taking on what is uniquely God’s responsibility.
God has promised to bless you and take care of you. Last week, we heard how the material blessings we receive from God—in whatever measure—are truly blessings from him and should be used and enjoyed to his glory. We were also reminded that the best way we can use them is to wisely and shrewdly share the gospel of sins forgiven in Jesus with others.
And that is the goal of both how we use our material blessings and how we live our entire lives. In our Second Reading this morning, the writer to the Hebrews gives us a rapid-fire rundown of what the life of a Christian does and should look like: Continue to show brotherly love. Do not fail to show love to strangers, for by doing this some have welcomed angels without realizing it. Remember those in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated, as if you yourselves were also suffering bodily. Marriage is to be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.
Why do we want to live like that? Because Jesus has forgiven our sins. For all the many times that you and I have failed to be loving to those we know or to strangers; for the times we have failed to show kindness to those mistreated or downstrodden; for the times that we have misused and abused God’s gifts of sex and marriage; for the times that we have been greedy, selfish, and discontent with what we have—all of those sins are forgiven. And while different parts of that list will resonate with each of us more strongly, we can find places where we haven’t lived as we should here.
But all of those things have something in common: they are trying to exalt ourselves to something different from what God has lifted us to. If I survey the blessings that God has given me and decide, “Nope, that’s not good enough. I want something more, something different,” and don’t care what I have to do to make it happen, that will bring trouble. That’s not to say that self-improvement is bad or that pursuing a new career path or educational avenue is wrong. But if that discontent leads me to sin—to greed, to coveting, to lust, or anything else—that’s where things just fall apart.
Because in those moments, we take on the responsibility God has reserved for himself. The atrocious notion that “God helps those who help themselves” is so tempting. God might use my ambition or my hard work to bring blessings into my life, certainly, but we ought not think that my sin is justified or commendable if we think we will reap material gain from it, or that God would actually want us to do such a thing.
That was the problem the rich man in Jesus’ parable in our Gospel had. He exalted himself over everything else, especially someone like the poor beggar, Lazarus. But what good did it do him at his death? Nothing. His money did earn him favor with God, nor did it buy his way out of the punishment for his sins in hell. He wasn’t in hell because he was rich, but because he viewed earthly riches as a complete replacement for spiritual blessings—a mistake that is all too easy for us to commit today as well.
Where do we look to raise ourselves up in this life and ignore eternity? Where do we look to raise ourselves up at all costs, disregarding what God says is right and wrong? Where do we make our will or desires a replacement for God? In all of these things, there is idolatry, because I am worshiping myself as my god. Obviosuly we don’t want to be doing any of that.
So what is the solution? The writer to the Hebrews points us to it: let God do the work that he has reserved for himself, because in him we have the certainty of blessings and for things to be worked out for our eternal good. Quoting from the Old Testament, the writer sums it up this way: Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God has said: I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you. So then we say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?
So what is our takeaway here? God’s love for us means that he always has our best interests in mind. No matter what happens here, he will be by our side protecting, guiding, and working all things for our eternal good. The world can never separate us from God, nor can it ever offer an alternative to God’s loving care that will be worthwhile in the long run—the eternal run. You don’t need to exalt yourself over others or look to others to raise you higher. No, God lifts you up.
And God’s exaltation might not be peace and comfort here in this life. By his own promise, God’s exaltating you will probably involve bearing crosses and difficulties in this life. But that’s only because God continually has the ultimate good in mind—eternal life. So whatever happens to us here (what we would call good or bad), whatever we have to our name here (what we might call a lot or not enough), whatever sense of fulfillment or joy or happiness we have right now—if any—is all pointing ahead to the time where we will be perfectly provided for, perfectly lifted up, and perfectly protected from any harm that could come to us. Everything God does for you is in service of preparing you for eternal life, keeping my focus on my Savior who is my true, lasting, and eternal treasure.
That all is easy to say and much harder to live. How do we navigate this world that not only has crosses and other difficulties but also a constant barrage of temptations promising us the easier, the better, and the more comfortable, all of which threaten to pull our focus off of eternity and to instead zero in on this life alone? Again, I think we can look to Jesus’ teaching in our Gospel and the words provided to Abraham in that story: “They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29).
God promises in his Word help to bring us peace with what is happening around us and also help to guide us toward God-pleasing decisions when we look to make changes. When we have his love, forgiveness and the certainty of eternal life in heaven in clear view, we will also have the true way that God lifts us up in view. You are his own, dearly loved child and he will being you home to himself when your time comes. Being heirs of heaven provides far greater blessings than all the money in the world or any sin-guided motivation for self-exaltation could possibly provide. Let us look forward to that day and, while we are still here, enjoy and appreciate the ways that God has chosen to exalt us even today.
God bless your walk toward peace and contentment. May it always be focused on Jesus’ eternal love and forgiveness, which means eternal life! Amen.
