Serve the Harvest

What an incredible book this is — the book of Hebrews.

God has spoken to us by His Son. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Greater than the angels. Greater than Moses. A priest forever. Able to save completely. By a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

We have been looking through this book for the last nine weeks. This is the last week of the series.

To the original readers, the message meant they did not have to go back to the old system. For us, it means we do not have to finish what Jesus has already finished.

Jesus is better — forever.

Nine weeks in this letter and we've heard so much. Last week we saw that the priests of the old system stood because the work was never done. Jesus sat down because it is. Just like the old priest system, the systems we build cannot do what He has already done. The work is finished.

If the Work Is Finished, Why Keep Writing?

With all that said, here is the question…

If Jesus sat down and the work is finished, why does the letter not end there?

The offering is complete. The sins are remembered no more. The way is open. So why keep writing?

Because a finished offering produces a people. The closing chapters turn from what Christ has done to the life that flows from it. Draw near. Hold fast. Serve the harvest. Run with endurance. That's the message for the original readers and for us too.

The original readers were under pressure to drift. We are under pressure to turn effort into another system. The letter will not let us stop at the seated priest. The fruit is already there and we serve what He has freely and already given.

Hebrews 10:19–23

The old contrast is vivid for the original readers. Once a year the high priest entered behind the curtain with blood, and left again. The work was never finished. They knew well the weight of that repeated entrance.

Jesus entered once, through His own flesh, and sat down.

For them, that meant the old system could not finish what He had already finished. For us as 21st-century Christians in the United States, the same Word speaks.

We are not tempted by the Levitical priesthood, but we are tempted by our own systems — health, money, status, our worship style, our traditions, even our own settled interpretation of what something in the Bible might mean.

Draw near. Hold unswervingly. Both commands rest on His faithfulness, not ours. He who promised is faithful. And that is why we can come. That is why we can hold.

Draw Near and Hold

Faith in times of discouragement does not begin with our resolve.

It begins with the open way. The heart that draws near is not performing for access. It is using the access already given. The confession we hold is not fragile because our grip is strong. It is secure because He who promised is faithful. It's really about confidence in the faithfulness of Jesus.

This confidence is personal. It lives in the individual heart that knows the priest has already sat down. It is the quiet assurance that the record is already clean, the way is already open, and the work is already finished.

Picture the person who has had a hard week, who feels the weight of failure or fatigue, and still comes. Not because the week was clean enough. Because the way is open.

And that personal confidence is what frees us to turn toward one another. What comes next is mutual encouragement — the call to know one another and serve the harvest together.

Hebrews 10:24–25

Consider. That word is central. Christian encouragement requires intentional knowledge of other Christians in the body of Christ. Candidly and obviously, you cannot meaningfully spur on people you do not know.

For the original readers, meeting together was the place where that knowledge happened under pressure. For us today, the same call stands.

Meeting together is the ground where names, stories, and burdens become visible. From that knowing, we serve the fruit.

The writer is echoing the love Jesus already gave in John 13:34–35 (where He said "to love one another as I have loved you"), and the sharpening of Proverbs 27:17 (where it says "as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another").

Consideration is the work that makes love and sharpening specific.

Hebrews 13:1, 16

Loving one another looks practical. About a year ago when we were going through the words of Jesus and His command "to love one another as I have loved you," I presented five practical ways to do just that, I'd like to share them again now:

• Assume the best — give the benefit of the doubt when someone is late or short, instead of filling in the worst story.
• Forgive quickly — release the small offense before it becomes a wall. Ever held a grudge? Ever held a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ, the one we're called to love like Jesus loved us?
• Pray earnestly — actually bring one another's names and needs before the Lord through the week.
• Help willingly — step toward a need without waiting to be asked twice.
• Share life — open a table, a conversation, a burden. Simply share life together.

These are not abstract virtues. They are how the fruit gets served in a real church.

In terms of sharing as mentioned in this verse, we are seeking to share what the Lord has blessed us with in practical terms — the free weekly food market, and opening this building to Christians every single day of the week.

That is love and sharing made visible and practical.

Spur One Another On

This is where Built to Serve belongs. It is a way to love people. It is not a checklist of projects. It is not a measure of spiritual worth. The harvest is God's. The fruit is love. We do not serve to convince God to keep loving us. We serve from the security of knowing we are already accepted in Christ.

That work is often tedious though. It takes time and commitment to one another. It is all-encompassing and includes the physical as well.

Making the assembly family-friendly by building a cry room. Getting the message out through visual signage and marketing. Administering the legal and financial aspects of the church. Maintaining and paying for the building. Working with kingdom partners who use our space. None of these finish the offering. They are part of how we know one another and spur one another on.

After all, Hebrews calls us to spur one another on to serve the mission — the one we are Built to Serve.

To assume the best, to forgive quickly, to pray earnestly, to help willingly and to share life.

The Honest Part: Showing Up

A couple honest things I'd like to share in the spirit of spurring us on…

Here is the first honest thing. It saddens me that people do not come to church each Sunday morning. It saddens me that we do not all participate in the weekly Bible study on Wednesday nights or the outreach on Saturday mornings. Should we spur one another on in these areas? Can we be honest about that as a body?

Attendance alone does not prove faithfulness. There are real obstacles — work, health, family, discouragement. And still, imagine this room (and someday that room over there) full on Sunday morning. Imagine the Wednesday study full of people opening the Word together. Imagine Saturday morning with our entire body present serving the community.

Not as a performance, but as a people who have drawn near and are free to serve the harvest together. That is what our mission could feel like if we all showed up.

The Honest Part: Knowing One Another

And, here's the second honest thing. It is hard when some of us do not know each other's names, or what is going on in our lives — the wins and the losses. Can we spur one another on there? Is our attention divided? Is our vision clear? Do we have a gap in our theological understanding of what it means to be a people who serve the harvest?

This is personal and shared. Leadership carries a responsibility to nurture connection — to create the space, to model the knowing, to make the ordinary work of learning names and stories possible. And each of us carries the same call.

There is a theme song from the old television show Cheers that repeats the phrase, "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came." Anyone know that song? The opening to that classic TV show?

That is a picture of what the church can be. Meeting together is the ground. Knowing one another is the work. Spurring one another on is the call.

We can be honest about the gaps without turning the honesty into another system. The harvest is still God's. The fruit is still love. The question is whether we will serve it.

Hebrews 12:1–2

The cloud of witnesses in chapter 11 lived by faith before the promise was fully seen. Abel offered a better sacrifice. Enoch walked with God. Noah built the ark. Abraham left his country. Sarah received strength to conceive. Moses chose mistreatment with the people of God. Rahab welcomed the spies. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets — they lived by faith before the promise was fully seen. Their stories connect directly to the race in chapter 12.

We run surrounded by them, but we look to Jesus.

For the original readers, those witnesses were proof that faith endures. For us today, the same cloud still surrounds the race. The seated priest is the same One Psalm 110 already named. The cross He endured is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. He finished the course. We run looking to Him.

Run with Endurance

Lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely.

Run with endurance, looking to Jesus. He endured the cross, despised the shame, and sat down. Chapter 11 supplies the witnesses who lived by faith. Chapter 13 supplies the ordinary shape of the race.

Built to Serve is not a project inventory. It is patient, long-term love. The cry room, the signage, the books, the building, the partnerships — these require the same endurance the writer calls us to. They inspire us to serve the mission we are Built to Serve, not as a measure of worth, but as the fruit of the offering already given.

We serve while we keep looking to the One who has already finished the course and sat down.

The heartbeat of that love is simple and practical: assume the best, forgive quickly, pray earnestly, help willingly, share life. That is how we run with endurance together.

The Call

Jesus is better than the angels, better than Moses, better than every system we build, and better than every offering we try to finish.

He sat down. So we draw near, hold fast, and serve the harvest.

Draw near with a true heart. Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering and serve the harvest. This week, ask one person why they come, and listen. Learn one name and one story. Serve the mission we are Built to Serve from the security of already being accepted.

Run with endurance, the fruit is love, Jesus is better — forever.

Closing Prayer

Father, we come to You in grace. Forgive us where we have tried to finish what Your Son has already finished, and where we have neglected to know and serve one another. Thank You that the way is open and the work is done. Help us draw near and hold fast. Make us a people who assume the best, forgive quickly, pray earnestly, help willingly, and share life — even in the ordinary and tedious work of serving. Keep our eyes on Jesus as we run with endurance. In His name, Amen.