This week’s theme is a heart of faithfulness.
We conclude our journey in Hebrews where Christ is envisioned as exalted to the right hand of God, laying the foundation for a response of true faithfulness.
- The Underdog’s Tale
- Greg Williams
One of the most famous story plots in history is the tale of the underdog. From the oldest story of the slave who turns out to be royalty, to the modern sports movie about the unlikely heroes who never let go of their dreams — we resonate with those on the bottom. A narrative about a child of privilege who simply goes on to be an adult of privilege would be less interesting than a grocery list.
There has to be loss, risk — a tightrope the underdog finally makes it across into the promised land. This story resonates with all of us no matter our background.
Hanna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, was one of these biblical underdogs. She suffered from barrenness, which was a great stigma in the ancient world. When she was finally blessed with a child she sang her famous prayer:
The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
1 Samuel 2:4-5 (ESV)
The underdog theme, the upside down-ness of God’s miraculous work runs throughout it. The weak become the strong; the barren are pregnant; the poor are brought from the back alleys to the head table.
Throughout redemptive history, this story appears again and again. God confounds our strata of who matters, who’s important, who’s powerful. The underdog becomes the superhero.
The same kind of song is picked up centuries later by another underdog:
… he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Luke 1:52-53 (ESV)
This is the Magnificat, the song Mary sings early in her pregnancy with Jesus. She’s an unwed teenage mom from a country backwater — she couldn’t be more of an underdog! And she becomes the most famous woman in history, and God uses her to confound the world.
And so we see that still at work in our lives. God uses the least likely** to break his kingdom into the world. How many times have we been thrown off by a child or a person with special needs and reminded of life’s fragility and beauty? How many times have we seen God speak through a person who seems to offer nothing else?
God, not only loves the underdog, but through the centuries he often plays his song of life through the least likely instruments — Are we listening?
I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.
**1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For [k]you see (consider) your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many [l]noble (well-born), are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the [m]base(insignificant; lowly)things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Hebrews 10:11-14, 15-18, 19-25
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being [d]sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is [e]remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness[f] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
Why did Jesus sit down?
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being [d]sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is [e] remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness[f] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
WHAT CAN WE TAKE AWAY?
Jesus, by His sacrifice, has removed the sin that was separating us from God
… so that we are now able to approach God’s throne with clear consciences.
Based on our new standing in Christ, the writer of the letter to Hebrews exhorts us (by extension) to do five things (five imperatives):
- draw near to God
- hold on to the faith that gives us hope
- consider how to provoke each other to love and good works
- get together as frequently as possible
- encourage each other
Lectionary Notes
Confident Living
Hebrews 10:11-25 NRSVUE
Today we will bring to conclusion our journey in Hebrews by visiting once again more proclamations by way of contrast of the far superior and effective mediation of Jesus as our high priest. But, in addition to touching on some of those running themes, this passage will then offer our five responses in light of all we have been learning through the book of Hebrews. But first, the author of Hebrews is going to offer a few more concluding and summative comments about Jesus being our high priest.
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:11-14 NRSVUE)
The author presents us with another contrast. This time of the Levitical priest “standing” and offering sacrifices “again and again” are compared to Jesus who is sitting “at the right hand of God” after offering a “single sacrifice for sins.” Those two contrasts emphasize how much greater and more effective Jesus is as our high priest and what he has accomplished compared to the former sacrificial system. The fact that the Levitical priests are “standing” and repeatedly offering sacrifices tells us that their sacrifices were not effective in atoning for sins. They could never sit down after completing their task because their task was never completed. They would just have to do it all over again, and again. The author is clear that their sacrifice “can never take away sin.” This also should make it abundantly clear then that none of our sacrifices will ever amount to atonement from our own efforts.
There is no sacrifice we can make to accomplish what we all so desperately need — reconciliation with God. However, Jesus has come as our high priest, who offers himself as the only perfect, “for all time” sacrifice. His sacrifice only needs to be offered once, and then Jesus’ work is finished. That’s why the author can speak of Jesus sitting “at the right hand of God.” He has completed the task that was effectual for our redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. The passage also lets us know that Jesus is now waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” Jesus has set in motion the complete and final victory over all sin, death, and evil. There is no other place we should look for such a salvation and deliverance.
The author then follows this up by quoting a well-known promise from Jeremiah 31:31-34 that helps us see that Jesus, with his single offering, has “perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” and he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:15-18 NRSVUE)
Notice that what has been accomplished in Jesus is not just some external ritual similar to what was taking place in Israel’s sacrificial system. No, Jesus has accomplished an inward change that will make all the difference. He has made a change at the level of our hearts and minds. Jesus has gotten to the root of the problem. Not only that, but Jesus has also secured an eternal forgiveness for sins. They will never be remembered again. What a wonderful promise to see fulfilled in Jesus’ work of reconciliation. That’s our present future in Christ: perfectly cleansed, purified, and set on a whole new basis of righteousness never to return to our fallen state. Our communion with the Father is restored and all the enmity and rebellion that once marked our sinful hearts and minds is forever forgiven and forgotten.
We are reminded this a new reality created in Jesus Christ. For those who have put their trust in Jesus and the new reality he has created for us, we will begin to live out the reality in ways that are fitting to the reality. And that is what the author will now address. Since Jesus has accomplished for us what no other “high priest” or “mediator” could ever do, we can now live according to that beautiful truth.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25 NRSVUE)
This section rightly begins with “Therefore” since the author is about to list five things we should do in light of the new reality Jesus has brought us into. Notice how the author sums up all that he has been saying about Jesus as a reason that we can “have confidence.” The author begins on a note of certainty, hope, and joy because of who Jesus is as our high priest. The word “confidence” in Greek carries the idea of a freedom in speech. It connotes outspoken speech and frankness which is open to public scrutiny. This confidence entails courage, boldness, and a fearless joy.
During the time of this writing, slaves would not exercise any freedom of speech that displayed such a confidence. In Roman society, that confidence would only belong to the “free” members of Rome. But when you know you belong to Jesus, who has overcome the world and whose enemies will eventually all become a footstool for his feet, the tongue is freed to speak boldly. You can speak boldly of the new reality that all must bow their knees. When you do not have the confidence to speak freely, you know at that point you’re not really free. But Jesus has set us free by his atoning work. He has set us free by bringing us into the very presence of the life of God. This is the ground for the confidence the author claims that “we have.”
The writer of Hebrews also brings to mind the “new and living way” that has now been opened.
- Christ’s way to the Father is “new” because only he opened it by his death.
- The sanctuary has been opened in a “living” way because his resurrection has made the way enduring.
This stands in contrast with the temporary, ineffectual rituals of the priests with animals who were killed and then remained dead.
In this confidence, grounded on the love of God, we are given five responses to make together. Note that the author’s exhortation is not only written in the first person, which expresses his personal interest in his readers, it is written inclusively, showing his solidarity with the reader in the faith. Here are five “let us” imperatives:
- Let us approach with a true heart.
Since Jesus has kept Jeremiah’s promise, we can trust his “true heart,” which he shares with us, and not fear drawing near to God. We are assured that our hearts have been “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” There is nothing keeping us from approaching the throne of God with Jesus as our high priest.
- Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope.
Notice the focus on speech. The confidence we are given in Christ frees our tongues to confess, or to agree with what is true. We are to “hold fast”, maintaining spiritual consistency, and never fear speaking up for what is true, even in the face of censoring persecution. When you know how the story ends, you never have to conform your speech to fit those who are spinning false narratives, no matter the consequences that may come by confessing such hope.
- Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.
Not only do we live in staggering confidence, but we aim to stir up that confidence in others. This is a confidence that not only speaks but also demonstrates that speech in “good deeds.” These are outward actions that will also point to the reality of the reconciliation accomplished in Christ.
- Let us not neglect meeting together.
This is another act of freedom born out of confidence. This is the only imperative that is a negative, or a command of what not to do. It illustrates the importance placed on face-to-face relationships habitually gathered together around the Word. We are meant to share with one another the good news accomplished in Jesus Christ, and we do this communally as a fitting witness of the communion of the Father and Son that we have been brought into by the Spirit.
- Let us encourage one another
This last one is what the author has been trying to do through the whole book of Hebrews. The author aims to encourage the readers to grow in their faith, hope, and love that has been mediated to us in Jesus Christ our perfect and effective high priest. They were to treat the future expectation of the approaching day of Christ’s return as a certainty. Especially when the world seems bent on stamping out the light and truth, we need the constant encouragement that can only be offered by other fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
With that, we have concluded our journey in Hebrews. The argument has been made for us to place our trust fully in the only high priest who has brought us reconciliation and redemption. This is a life lived in confidence. This is the triune life given to us by our Lord and Savior, our mediator, and high priest.
Call to action: Spend time with Father, Son, and Spirit this week talking about these five imperatives. Ask God to guide you to closer relationship with him and with other believers. Trust him and live in confidence.
From Barclay’s Commentary …
THE FINALITY OF CHRIST
Heb.10:11-18
Again, every priest stands every day engaged upon his service; he stands offering the same sacrifices over and over again, and they are sacrifices of such a kind that they can never take away sins. But he offered one single sacrifice for sin and then took his seat for ever at the right hand of God, and for the future he waits until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering and for all time he perfectly gave us that cleansing we need to enter into the presence of God. And to this the Holy Spirit is our witness, for after he has said: “This is the covenant I will make with them after these days, says the Lord. I will put my laws upon their hearts; and I will write them upon their minds,” he goes on to say: “And I will not remember any more their sins and their breaches of the law.” Now, where there is forgiveness of these things, a sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Once again the writer to the Hebrews is drawing a series of implicit contrasts between the sacrifice that Jesus offered and the animal sacrifices that the priests offer.
(i) He stresses the achievement of Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus was made once and is effective for ever; the animal sacrifices of the priests must be made over and over again, and even then they are not effective in any real way. Every day, so long as the Temple stood, the following sacrifices had to be carried out (Num.28:3-8). Every morning and every evening a male lamb of one year old, without spot and blemish, was offered as a burnt-offering. Along with it there was offered a meat-offering, which consisted of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of pure oil. There was also a drink-offering, which consisted of a quarter of a hin of wine. Added to that there was the daily meat-offering of the High Priest; it consisted of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, and baked in a flat pan; half was offered in the morning and half in the evening. In addition there was an offering of incense before these offerings in the morning and after them in the evening. There was a kind of priestly tread-mill of sacrifice. Moffatt speaks of “the levitical drudges” who, day in day out, kept offering these sacrifices. There was no end to this process and it left men still conscious of their sin and alienated from God.
In contrast, Jesus had made a sacrifice that neither could nor need be repeated.
(a) It could not be repeated. There is something unrepeatable about any great work. It is possible to repeat the popular tunes of the day ad infinitum; to a great extent one echoes another. But it is not possible to repeat the Fifth or the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven; no one else will ever write anything like them. It is possible to repeat the kind of poetry that is written in sentimental journals and on Christmas cards; but not to repeat the blank verse of Shakespeare’s plays or the hexametres of Homer’s Iliad. These things stand alone. Certain things can be repeated; but all works of genius have a certain unrepeatable quality. It is so with the sacrifice of Christ. It is sui generis; it is one of these masterpieces which can never be done again.
(b) It need not be repeated. For one thing, the sacrifice of Jesus perfectly shows the love of God In that life of service and in that death of love, there stands fully displayed the heart of God. Looking at Jesus, we can say: “That is what God is like.” For another thing, the life and death of Jesus was an act of perfect obedience and, therefore, the only perfect sacrifice. All scripture, at its deepest, declares that the only sacrifice God desires is obedience; and in the life and death of Jesus that is precisely the sacrifice that God received. Perfection cannot be improved upon. In Jesus there is at one and the same time the perfect revelation of God and the perfect offering of obedience. Therefore his sacrifice cannot and need not ever be made again. The priests must go on with their weary routine of animal sacrifice; but the sacrifice of Christ was made once and for all.
(ii) He stresses the exaltation of Jesus. It is with care that he picks his words. The priests stand offering sacrifice; Christ sits at the right hand of God. Theirs is the position of a servant; his is the position of a monarch. Jesus is the King come home, his task accomplished and his victory won. There is a wholeness about the life of Jesus that perhaps we ought to give more thought. His life is incomplete without his death; his death is incomplete without his resurrection; his resurrection is incomplete without his return to glory. It is the same Jesus who lived and died and rose again and is at the right hand of God. He is not simply a saint who lived a lovely life; not simply a martyr who died an heroic death; not simply a risen figure who returned to company with his friends. He is the Lord of glory. His life is like a panelled tapestry; to look at one panel is to see only a little bit of the story. The tapestry must be looked on as a whole before the full greatness is disclosed.
(iii) He stresses the final triumph of Jesus. He awaits the final subjugation of his enemies; in the end there must come a universe in which he is supreme. How that will come is not ours to know; but it may be that this final subjugation will consist not in the extinction of his enemies but in their submission to his love. It is not so much the power but the love of God which must conquer in the end.
Finally, as is his habit, the writer to the Hebrews clinches his argument with a quotation from scripture. Jeremiah, speaking of the new covenant which will not be imposed on a man from outside but which will be written on his heart, ends: “I will remember their sin no more” (Jer.31:34). Because of Jesus the barrier of sin is for ever taken away.
THE MEANING OF CHRIST FOR US
Heb.10:19-25
Since then, brothers, in virtue of what the blood of Jesus has done for us, we can confidently enter into the Holy Place by the new and living way which Jesus inaugurated for us through the veil — that is, through his flesh — and since we have a great High Priest who is over the house of God, let us approach the presence of God with a heart wherein the truth dwells and with the full conviction of faith, with our hearts so sprinkled that they are cleansed from all consciousness of evil and with our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the undeviating hope of our creed, for we can rely absolutely on him who made the promises; and let us put our minds to the task of spurring each other on in love and fine deeds. Let us not abandon our meeting together–as some habitually do — but let us encourage one another, and all the more so as we see the Day approaching.
The writer to the Hebrews now comes to the practical implication of all that he has been saying. From theology he turns to practical exhortation. He is one of the deepest theologians in the New Testament but all his theology is governed by the pastoral instinct. He does not think merely for the thrill of intellectual satisfaction but only that he may the more forcibly appeal to men to enter into the presence of God.
He begins by saying three things about Jesus.
(i) Jesus is the living way to the presence of God. We enter into the presence of God by means of the veil, that is, by the flesh of Jesus. That is a difficult thought, but what he means is this. Before the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle hung the veil to screen off the presence of God. For men to enter into that presence the veil would have to be torn apart. Jesus’ flesh is what veiled his godhead. Charles Wesley in his great hymn appealed to men:
“Veiled in flesh the godhead see.”
It was when the flesh of Christ was rent upon the Cross that men really saw God. All his life showed God; but it was on the Cross that God’s love really was revealed. As the rending of the Tabernacle veil opened the way to the presence of God, so the rending of the flesh of Christ revealed the full greatness of his love and opened up the way to him.
(ii) Jesus is the High Priest over God’s house in the heavens. As we have seen so often, the function of the priest was to build a bridge between man and God. This means that Jesus not only shows us the way to God but also when we get there introduces us to his very presence. A man might be able to direct an enquirer to Buckingham Palace and yet be very far from having the right to take him into the presence of the Queen; but Jesus can take us the whole way.
(iii) Jesus is the one person who can really cleanse. In the priestly ritual, the holy things were cleansed by being sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices. Again and again the High Priest bathed himself in the laver of clear water. But these things were ineffective to remove the real pollution of sin. Only Jesus can really cleanse a man. His is no external purification; by his presence and his Spirit he cleanses the inmost thoughts and desires of a man until he is really clean.
From this the writer to the Hebrews goes on to urge three things.
(i) Let us approach the presence of God. That is to say, let us never forget the duty of worship. It is given to every man to live in two worlds, this world of space and time, and the world of eternal things. Our danger is that to become so involved in this world that we forget the other. As the day begins, as the day ends and ever and again in the midst of its activities, we should turn aside, if only for a moment, and enter God’s presence. Every man carries with him his own secret shrine, but so many forget to enter it. As Matthew Arnold wrote:
“But each day brings its pretty dust
Our soon-choked souls to fill;
And we forget because we must,
And not because we will.”
(ii) Let us hold fast to our creed — That is to say, let us never lose our grip of what we believe. The cynical voices may try to take our faith away; the materialist and his arguments may try to make us forget God; the events of life may conspire to shake our faith. Stevenson said that he so believed in the ultimate decency of things that if he woke up in hell he would still believe in it; and we must have a grip on the faith that nothing can loosen.
(iii) Let us put our minds to the task of taking thought for others. That is to say, let us remember that we are Christians not only for our own sake but also for the sake of others. No man ever saved his soul who devoted his whole time and energy to saving it; but many a man has saved it by being so concerned for others that he forgot that he himself had a soul to save. It is easy to drift into a kind of selfish Christianity; but a selfish Christianity is a contradiction in terms.
But the writer to the Hebrews goes on to outline our duty to others in the most practical way. He sees that duty extending in three directions.
(i) We must spur each other to noble living. Best of all we can do that by setting the fine example. We can do it by reminding others of their traditions, their privileges, their responsibilities when they are likely to forget them. it has been said that a saint is someone in whom Christ stands revealed; we can seek ever to incite others to goodness by showing them Christ. We may remember how the dying soldier lad looked up at Florence Nightingale and murmured: “You’re Christ to me.”
(ii) We must worship together. There were some amongst those to whom the writer of the Hebrews was writing who had abandoned the habit of meeting together. It is still possible for a man to think that he is a Christian and yet abandon the habit of worshipping with God’s people in God’s house on God’s day. He may try to be what Moffatt called “a pious particle,” a Christian in isolation. Moffatt distinguishes three reasons which keep a man from worshipping with his fellow Christians.
(a) He may not go to church because of fear. He may be ashamed to be seen going to church. He may live or work among people who laugh at those who do so. He may have friends who have no use for that kind of thing and may fear their criticism and contempt. He may, therefore, try to be a secret disciple; but it has been well said that this is impossible because either “the discipleship kills the secrecy or the secrecy kills the discipleship.” It would be well if we remembered that, apart from anything else, to go to church is to demonstrate where our loyalty lies. Even if the sermon be poor and the worship tawdry, the church service still gives us the chance to show to men what side we are on.
(b) He may not go because of fastidiousness. He may shrink from contact with people who are “not like himself.” There are congregations which are as much clubs as they are churches. They may be in neighbourhoods where the social status has come down; and the members who have remained faithful to them would be as much embarrassed as delighted if the poor people in the area came flooding in. We must never forget that there is no such thing as a “common” man in the sight of God. It was for all men, not only for the respectable classes, that Christ died.
(c) He may not go because of conceit. He may believe that he does not need the Church or that he is intellectually beyond the standard of preaching there. Social snobbery is bad but spiritual and intellectual snobbery is worse. The wisest man is a fool in the sight of God; and the strongest man is weak in the moment of temptation. There is no man who can live the Christian life and neglect the fellowship of the Church. If any man feels that he can do so let him remember that he comes to Church not only to get but to give. If he thinks that the Church has faults, it is his duty to come in and help to mend them.
(iii) We must encourage one another. One of the highest of human duties is that of encouragement. There is a regulation of the Royal Navy which says: “No officer shall speak discouragingly to another officer in the discharge of his duties.” Eliphaz unwillingly paid Job a great tribute. As Moffatt translates it: “Your words have kept men on their feet” (Jb.4:4). Barrie somewhere wrote to Cynthia Asquith: “Your first instinct is always to telegraph to Jones the nice thing Brown said about him to Robinson. You have sown a lot of happiness that way.” It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals, to pour cold water on their enthusiasm, to discourage them. The world is full of discouragers; we have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.
Finally, the writer to the Hebrews says that our Christian duty to each other is all the more pressing because the time is short. The Day is approaching. He is thinking of the Second Coming of Christ when things as we know them will be ended. The early Church lived in that expectation. Whether or not we still do, we must realize that no man knows when the summons to rise and go will come to him also. In the time we have it is our duty to do all the good we can to all the people we can in all the ways we can.