Good Morning!
Hebrews 13:12; “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to
sanctify the people through his own blood.”
Have you ever felt like you were on the
outside looking in? You know, when there is a group, or a crowd and you don’t
fit in. It might be unintentional, like when a group of golfers begin to talk
about golf, and you don’t golf or when a group of farmers talk “farming,” and
you don’t farm. You stand there and listen but if they talk “birdie, eagle and
handicap,” what do you say?
Maybe
you think it is just about the alphabet when it is “FSA, CSP, CRP, PP,” do you
just say “XYZ”?
Sometimes the exclusion is intentional;
there is a “members only” effect. If you don’t have a membership, you just
can’t be part. This can be a country club or a dance club or any other form of
club. The thing about these clubs is that you can usually join if you pay the
dues to belong. You aren’t really excluded; you just choose not to be part of
it. Some groups are exclusive because they don’t want you to be a member. They
have something that you don’t, and they don’t want you to have it. It used to
take the form of slavery or voting rights. In many ways it still does.
We are often on the outside looking in. Sin
puts us there. Our verse refers to the fact that criminals were executed
outside of the city walls. This was to be a statement to those who were enemies
and to keep the city clean and to move the criminals away, sort of “out of
sight out of mind” idea. Those that the city deemed “unworthy” were kept
outside the gate. People with contagious diseases, or mental illness, or who
were guilty of other crimes were often left outside the gate. Because of our
sin, that is where we were.
Yet Jesus came to us. He came to us when we
were outside the gate, when we were steeped in sin and unworthy of entering
into the city. By coming outside the gate and taking our punishment, we can now
go into the city and enjoy all the benefits of living inside. We have the
safety of the walls, the companionship of the neighbors and the fresh water to
drink and food to eat. It is where we are safe. This city is God’s kingdom. We
can live here forever. The devil will try to draw you outside and convince you
that you do not deserve the city, but you should stay outside.
Yet Jesus keeps coming back to us, even
when we are outside the gates to retrieve us and bring us back inside of the
gate where we are safe. We can live in peace inside the gate; we have rest
inside the gate; we have love inside the gate. Trust in Jesus, no matter if you
feel like you are outside the gate; he will bring you back- trust in Him.
Dearest Father, you sent Jesus to bring us
inside your holy house, into your family. Give us the strength to trust in you
and to keep our faith alive knowing that all things work to the good for those
whom you love. Give those who feel outside the gate the comfort of knowing that
you draw them in. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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