I’ve long wanted to fully explore Pokagon State Park in northern Indiana. A few weeks ago a friend was heading that way for a convention and offered to give me a ride. I was dropped off on a Wednesday with a tent, sleeping bag, cot, folding chair, and a box of unperishable food. And then I was left until Saturday afternoon. I chose to have a campsite without electricity. I can hardly call it primitive living. My tent was good. I had plenty of food. I had a cell phone and a charging brick. The campground has running water, showers, paved roads, and plenty of staff if I were to have a problem. And yet, I don’t know that I’ve ever been so removed from the modern world. I had no means of transportation. I could only go as far as my feet would carry me. No stores were nearby so I was limited to the food in my box and the clothes I had packed.
I hiked all the trails in the park and explored all its features. The pace of life is slow when you have to go at a walking pace. You pay closer attention to everything: the trees, the underbrush, the wildlife, and dirt, rocks, and all sorts of things. It was always clear to me just how much our lives rely on manufactured things and shaping the world to suit our comfort. I realized my preaching, and all of my theology, would be quite different if my life, and all our lives, were more closely rooted in the natural order of God’s creation.
It should go without saying that we have pushed comfort and convenience way too far. We are so far removed from the natural rhythms God created that there’s no wonder we’re a mess as a society. But that’s a point for a different sermon. When I was at Pokagon, despite being more subject to nature than I’m used to, it was still a civilized place. But it was close enough to uncivilized make me wonder what it would have been like to be a pioneer heading through northern Indiana a couple centuries ago: dirt paths and a few rutted roads, no bridges across rivers or swamps. No real communication. Large trees, no shelter, no escape from bugs, snakes, or any sort of wildlife. And all you’d have with you would be things like an axe, a shovel, a hammer, some splitting wedges and a gun with ball and powder; and in the prairies, maybe a plow.
It was a direct connection between individual human strength and nature. It was up to you to create everything from raw ingredients. Pioneer life was brutally tough. There’s little wonder many people died. I often wonder how many of them had second thoughts, especially as they died of injuries and disease, or as they watched their children and loved ones die. Would they have been better off if they’d stayed in civilization? And how many succeeded but looked back on times when they were at the point of failure, but by either luck or unexpected help, they managed to survive?
Our reading from Hebrews today brings up two qualities of Jesus that we do not have elsewhere in scripture. One is that Jesus is the pioneer of our salvation. The word pioneer shows up only twice in the whole Bible. Both of those times are in Hebrews and both of those times refer to Jesus. Hebrews wants us to see Jesus as the one who has gone out into the uncharted wilderness, where there are no roads, no amenities, and no civilization and has made a way for us. Jesus has done the hard work and braved the uncertainties on our behalf.
Therefore, as we move forward in life, we are in charted territory. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Our tasks of faith are easier because of what Jesus has done for us. To be sure, a life of faith still has its hardships and uncertainties, but it is not the brutally demanding work of a pioneer. Perhaps it is like my time at Pokagon State Park. The raw environment was all around, but there was running water, paths, and roads. Unexpected things still happen in faith. The first full day I was at Pokagon a raccoon made off with my whole big bag of trail mix. I did not have charitable feelings towards that masked bandit. But it was ultimately a trivial inconvenience. My food supply was not in jeopardy and my life was still perfectly secure.
Hebrews wants us to realize that as Jesus is the pioneer of our faith, the worst obstacles have been cleared and the ultimate danger has been conquered. The remaining problems and dangers can be managed.
The second thing that Hebrews wants us to know about Jesus is that he is the perfecter of our faith. Again, this concept of Jesus perfecting our faith is only found in Hebrews. Perfection here is not meant to convey moral flawlessness or complete blamelessness. Those qualities of Jesus’ perfection are found elsewhere in scripture. But here perfecter means something more like completeness. It is to perfect something.
If you’ve ever been part of a product’s development you know that it has many stages. The concept may be raised at a meeting of the board of directors, or by an engineering group. Perhaps a prototype will be created to see if the concept works. If the concept is proven to work the prototype will be more refined. Then perhaps a limited production run will be done. There may be test marketing among clients. Data is gathered about how the product performs. In each step the product is being perfected. Ultimately the product may go into full production and be widely sold. But the work of improvement will continue. The product is in an ongoing process of perfection.
This is the idea of perfection that is being applied to Jesus here. He is the pioneer of faith in that he breaks through the uncharted territory. But he does not leave it there. He goes on to perfect it.
So we inherit a faith that has been pioneered and perfected. It is not up to us to figure out the details or take care of loose ends.
Perhaps we can get at this idea by looking at it backwards. What would faith be like if God said to us, “You figure it out.” Or, “You work out the details. I don’t want to be bothered.” And then we’re left with all sorts of hardships and difficulties.
While it is true that a life of faith may feel like we’re living in uncharted territory, and we may wish we had a whole bunch more information about God’s will and what God wants from us, the ultimate truth is that it is all laid out for us. The basic principles of grace, faith, and love have been clearly shown.
Along with that comes two final things. Jesus is said to have perfected salvation through suffering. The idea of pain and suffering is a long-standing problem for all faiths and philosophies. If God is so great and loving, then why is there so much pain in the world? Why do people suffer unjustly? Why do bad things happen when it isn’t warranted? These are all valid questions. I’ve heard more than one person say they can’t believe in a God who allows so much bad stuff to happen.
Hebrews, and the Bible overall, doesn’t delve into the problem of pain all that much. We aren’t given enough to come to any definite conclusions. But what the Bible does make very clear is that God was willing to endure pain too. Hebrews tells us that our salvation is made perfect through Jesus’ suffering. We may not get an answer as to why there is pain. But we do know that God is no stranger to pain, and that God is not afraid of pain. In the weeks ahead we will see Hebrews more fully develop this idea of Jesus’ suffering making him more able to understand and forgive us, and us more fully able to trust Jesus.
But there is one more major thing from our text today. Hebrews 2:10 is the only verse in all of scripture that dares to make a statement about what it is fitting for God to do. Other writers in other parts of the Bible talk about what is proper conduct for John the Baptist, or for believers in general, or for a young minister, or for women in the church, …or men, slaves, children, etc. But only Hebrews says what is fitting for God to do.
And what is that? We’ve just been talking about it. Hebrews 2:10 says, “It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer and perfecter of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” So, what is fitting conduct for God? Hebrews answers – suffering.
That’s an idea that many books could be written about: It is fitting that God suffers. If ever there is a good answer to the problem of pain and suffering, there it is. God created the world and all of its dynamics. And so therefore it is fitting that God has not stayed immune to its sufferings. Such is the glory and love of God for us.
This is the stuff of Hebrews that makes it such an important part of the Bible. It brings up these things we wouldn’t think about otherwise. Next week we’ll step away from Hebrews because it’s the Independence Day weekend and we’ll talk about government. But then we’ll return to Hebrews and see these unique ideas of God continue to be brought to our lives.
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