Duties of a Christian Community

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 13:1-6
• Sermon
• Prayer of Closing

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Sermon Title: Duties of a Christian Community

Scripture: Hebrews 13:1-6

I. Introduction: Brotherly Love as the Foundation of Chapter 13

A. Hebrews 13:1 — "Let brotherly love continue"

1. The Greek word is philadelphia — brotherly/sisterly love
2. This verse is an introduction to the whole chapter; love for one another is its heart and soul
3. The call is to continue — don't stop, don't give up

B. Relationship to what precedes

1. Chapter 12 addressed the context and character of the Christian life (Mount Zion, running the race, the discipline of the Lord)
2. The end of chapter 12 called to worship of God (love for God); chapter 13 now turns to love for neighbor
3. Matthew Henry: "The design of Christ in giving himself for us is that he may purchase to himself a peculiar people, a people zealous for good works"

C. The new commandment — John 13:34-35

1. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another"
2. Three times in two verses the call is to love one another
3. The extent of the love: as Christ loved, washing feet — a picture of his sacrificial love at the cross
4. The witness of the love: "by this all people will know that you are my disciples"
5. Love for one another is a declaration to the watching world of the love received from Christ

II. A Hospitable Community — Hebrews 13:2-3

A. The call to show hospitality (Hebrews 13:2)

1. Christian hospitality: the intentional, loving act of welcoming others — especially strangers — into one's life and home, reflecting God's grace rather than seeking to impress
2. Hospitality is more than opening a door; it is opening one's life to welcome and get to know a stranger
3. "Do not neglect" — it is easy to not be hospitable; it requires work and sacrifice
4. Chiefly in view: hospitality to fellow believers, especially important in the first century when travel was difficult and Christians faced social stigma

B. "For thereby some have entertained angels unawares"

1. Connects to Abraham and Sarah welcoming the three visitors — Genesis 18
2. Connects to Lot welcoming two strangers in the city square — Genesis 19
3. Both were richly rewarded for their hospitality; though reward should not be our motive, there is blessing in welcoming strangers
4. Rick Phillips: "There may be more to the people we meet than meets the eye"

C. The call to sympathy for those in hardship (Hebrews 13:3)

1. "Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them"
2. In the first century, believers were frequently imprisoned for their faith (cf. the book of Acts)
3. Those in prison are easily forgotten — behind walls and gates, out of sight
4. The call is to sympathetic solidarity: consider their condition and how you can relate to them
5. "Those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body" — believers know trials and suffering; we can relate to hardship
6. Broader application — Matthew 25:35-40: "As you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to me" — Jesus names hunger, thirst, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned; the writer of Hebrews likely has these words in mind

III. A Holy Community — Hebrews 13:4-6

A. Holiness and love stand together

1. Rick Phillips: "The church is called to love, but also to purity and freedom from sinful corruption. Love is not the only virtue, but it stands together with the holiness that is of God, who said, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'"
2. Francis Schaeffer: "The Christian really has a double task. He has to practice both God's holiness and God's love — not his love without his holiness, that is only compromise"

B. The duty regarding marriage (Hebrews 13:4)

1. Sexual sin is pervasive and powerful throughout Scripture; it appears in nearly every New Testament list of egregious sins
2. Paul in Galatians 5 goes so far as to say the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God
3. The writer applies the seventh commandment — do not commit adultery — in its broad application to all sexual sin
4. The positive aspect comes first: "Let marriage be held in honor by all" — the church holds up marriage as honorable, good, and a gift from God
5. The negative follows: "Let the marriage bed be undefiled" — guard the purity of marriage
6. The warning: "For God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous" — referring to the unrepentant; praise God that grace is available for those who repent and turn from sexual sin
7. Paul rebukes the Corinthian church for failing to deal with gross sexual sin — 1 Corinthians 5

C. The duty regarding money and contentment (Hebrews 13:5-6)

1. "Keep your life free from love of money" — money itself is not the problem; the love of money is
2. Money as an idol, as an unchecked affection of the heart, is the problem
3. Paul in 1 Timothy 6: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil"
4. Contentment is tied to trust in the Lord and his providence
5. Two Old Testament promises are cited to ground contentment:
   • "I will never leave you nor forsake you" — likely Joshua 1:5
   • "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" — Psalm 118:6
6. Discontentment is connected to a lack of trust in the Lord's providence and fatherly kindness
7. The community has a duty to encourage one another in contentment, reminding each other of what the Lord is like

IV. Summary

A. Both the Christian individually and the Christian community must be marked by love — lived-out, concrete, practical love for one another

B. There should be a habitus (habit, settled disposition) of love found among believers

C. Related calls to community life throughout Hebrews:

1. Hebrews 3:13 — "Exhort one another every day, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin"
2. Hebrews 10:25 — "Do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near"

D. The writer closes the letter with this call: Christians loving one another with brotherly affection — Romans 12:10