November 28 – Hebrews 13:1-6. Love One Another.

November 28 – Hebrews 13:1-6. Love One Another.

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 


Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 
         “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  


So we say with confidence, 
         “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” 

The last chapter of Hebrews is filled with the author’s closing words.  It seems he has a lot to say before he goes.  Those for whom the letter was intended are in danger of turning away from a relationship with God found in Jesus Christ and moving back to something that they can control – a sacrificial system whereby they simply take an animal to the temple and call it good.  They don’t want to work on their relationship, it might just be too much trouble.

He has moved back and forth from encouragement to harsh words. In the end, he just wants them to remember what God has called them to do.

Love each other. Take care of each other. Take care of those who need you.  Be content. Trust God.

These are things we still need to do today for the world to see that Christianity is a good thing.  They don’t need to hear us delivering morality lectures and see us living lives with hidden ugliness.  They see through all of that.  The look to find chinks in our armor when we set ourselves up as the holder of all morality.  We’re human. They will find it every single time.

What the world needs to see is that we love … unconditionally.  No matter who a person is, what they look like, how they live, who they love, who they vote for or whether they hold down a job.  We are called to love them with no strings attached.

Those who need us to care for them need that and that alone.  They don’t need lectures about how they should live or reminders of the things they screwed up that got them to this place.  They need us to care for them.

Keep on loving one another.