Lessons to Remember
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | August 31, 2025
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Read Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 (NIV)
Our New Testament lesson this morning comes from the Book of Hebrews. As you may have heard me say in the past, this is the book of the Bible that provides incontrovertible evidence for why it is the man who was meant to make the coffee... he brews.
All kidding aside, this text provides us with several LESSONS TO REMEMBER. Most of these lessons will seem rather straightforward, but I think we would do well to review them anyhow.
The first LESSON TO REMEMBER is found in the first verse of our text which reads, “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.” Or as it reads in the Message Paraphrase, “Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love.”
And as you may recall from the sermon last week and sermons over the weeks before that... we do not have to have the same opinion on a subject in order to love one another. We do not have to come from the same racial-ethnic or socio-economic background in order to love one another. We do not even have to share the same cultural, religious or political views and values in order to love one another.
And as you may also recall from last week’s sermon, those words, “love one another” appear multiple times throughout the Scriptures. I will spare you from listening to the litany of verses again...
And while it would seem to almost go without saying that this is a fairly important LESSON TO REMEMBER... I’m going to say it again just to be safe, we need to love one another.
Now, the next LESSON TO REMEMBER is found in verse 2 where we read, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (13:2).
So, not only do we have to love another, we have to show kindness and hospitality to one another, including strangers. Sadly, however, we are living in a day and time when we are on high alert when it comes to strangers. We even teach our children to be on the lookout for “Stranger Danger,” and we carry that thought with us in our own day-to-day encounters with people we don’t know.
And yet, the Scriptures tell us to we are to show hospitality to strangers…
So, let me just say this about that. We can be kind and compassionate without being reckless and putting ourselves in harm’s way. We can extend hospitality to the strangers we meet while still being careful to exercise good judgment and keep ourselves safe.
That means when a stranger walks through the doors of the church, we should welcome them with the love of Christ, first and foremost…
When we stand next to a stranger in line at the post office, bank, or grocery store, we can greet them with the love of Jesus and find ways to extend kindness and compassion. After all, that is what Jesus said we should do.
Hopefully, you remember the story of Jesus talking to the disciples about the day when the Son of Man would come in His glory, He said that He will separate the sheep and the goats and say to His sheep:
And Jesus went on to explain that when the people asked the king when they had done all that, the King said to them, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Matthew 25:34 – 35).
In other words, when we show kindness and compassion to that stranger, we may actually be entertaining the Lord without realizing it.
So, the LESSON TO REMEMBER is to be kind to strangers... we never know who we may be encountering.
The text in Hebrews then goes on to encourage us to remember those who have been imprisoned and those who have been victims of abuse as if it were us who was suffering... or as verse 3 reads in the Message, “Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. “
Perhaps you may be wondering why the text would lump prisoners in with victims of abuse… inquiring minds really do want to know…
Well, in biblical times, many of those who were imprisoned were not necessarily “criminals” as some people would have us think of them. Many were imprisoned because of their religious beliefs or even for their inability to pay exorbitant debts or taxes... or even as we are seeing play out on a regular basis now, people being imprisoned for seemingly no other reason than their presumed cultural background or immigration status.
And so, it might be a little easier to empathize with people who fall into that category rather than hardened criminals like thieves, murders, or rapists.
But the fact of the matter is that the text does not differentiate and say that we should remember only those who were imprisoned for “soft or lesser” crimes.
Which then takes us back to the question of why should we remember both the criminal along with the victims?
Because they both need our love.
Remember, in Jesus’ teaching on the sheep and the goats, He said, “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:36).
It can be hard to wrap our minds around the fact that Jesus expects us to show love and compassion to the people who are in prison as well as those who are victims and who may be sick and in need of care.
It may be one of the more challenging LESSONS TO REMEMBER but we are all sinners in need of a Savior. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Our sins may not have been of a criminal nature that resulted in physical imprisonment, but that does not negate what Paul wrote in Romans 6 (23), “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is only because of God’s grace that we have been set free from the punishment that ALL of our sins deserve.
Now looking at the next verse of the text, we read, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (13:4).
The LESSON TO REMEMBER here is to honor the vows and commitments we make, specifically as it relates to spouses… However, this lesson can be expanded even further. Because as we think about the covenant of marriage, it really reflects the covenant that God has made with us... with Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride.
So, when the text reminds us to honor marriage, it would seem to go much deeper than just the vows we exchange during a wedding ceremony. We must, first and foremost, honor the commitment we make to Christ.
And in the same way that the text encourages us to keep our marriages pure – free from adultery and sexual immorality – our relationship to Christ should remain pure as well, free from all sin, and especially idolatry.
And as hard as that may seem for us to do, remember that we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength (see Philippians 4:13).
And that leads us to the LESSON TO REMEMBER found in the next verses of our text which encourage us that God is our only reliable source... for EVERYTHING… it is not money or material wealth or any other thing that can easily become an idol... God, and God alone, is our Provider and our Protector
Verses 5 and 6 of the text in the Message Paraphrase read:
God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
All anyone has to do is turn on the TV or look at the Internet on your phone or laptop or tablet to get a sense for just how much confidence and dependence society has placed on having money and material goods rather than having a relationship with God.
But we must not lose sight of what Paul wrote in his letter to his young protégé, Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).
Our faith and trust should never be placed in money or material things... on the contrary, our confidence should come from the promise found in the text... that God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us.
We are quite likely to lose money in the financial markets… particularly when we look at the way things are going with the economy these days… and material things are designed to depreciate… it’s called planned obsolescence.
But God has promised to be with us ALWAYS which is a promise worth remembering today and every day.
The text goes on to encourage us that there are more LESSONS TO REMEMBER based on the examples we can take from the spiritual leaders who live as true role models of faith. It is in verse 7 that we read, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
Let’s take just a moment to reflect on a couple of questions:
Who are the people that have been inspirational to us and have helped us on our faith journey? Who are the spiritual leaders… those with titles as well as those without… that have been living examples of Christ’s love and compassion and devotion in our lives?
There are many people who come to mind for me, but there are two in particular who are at the top of my list.
The first is my grandmother, my dad’s mom, Ella Mae Ferguson Blount. She was the poster child for what it means to be a “Willing Worker” in the church. She dedicated her life to the church, telling us often that God had been so good, it was her reasonable service to give back to Him for all He had done.
She often said, “You can serve without loving, but you cannot love without serving.” I do my best to live by that motto to this day.
The second person that comes to mind is my grandfather, my mom’s dad, Walter Beck Holland. He was the one who took me to church and showed me the ropes, so to speak, from a very young age. He encouraged me to serve in the church wherever I could, first as a Deacon, then as an Elder and even as a Sunday school teacher.
Although both of them passed away before I became the pastor at Ledgewood, the lessons in faith, leadership and service that both of them taught me have made me who I am today.
My grandparents endured many challenges throughout their lives. My Grandma, Ella Mae, spent 40 years working for Selective Service, starting in 1932 before the Second World War.
Looking through old letters she kept, I learned that my grandmother had to face more than her fair share of discrimination, yet she persevered; receiving promotions that she rightfully deserved but had to fight twice as hard as others in the agency to achieve.
My Pops, Walter, served in the United States Army, where his strong organizational and communication skills were utilized in the office… because his commanding officers quickly realized he was much more valuable to them inside than he would have been out on the battlefield... disproving one of the prevailing myths of his day that persons of color did not have the levels of intelligence that were equal to others.
I thank God for having such amazing role models of faith in my life.
Their perseverance in the face of hardships and trials demonstrates how to apply the next LESSON TO REMEMBER which is based on the next verse of our text… and that is to remember that no matter how crazy life becomes and no matter how bad things may get, Jesus does not and will not change. “[He] is the same yesterday, today and forever” (13:8).
And that is certainly an encouraging word for us today as we find ourselves living in some very uncertain times… feeling like we have way more questions than we have answers.
Concerns about what will happen next can fill us with worry and dread... but we have the confident assurance that God is still in control and Jesus has not changed... even in the wake of yet another mass shooting or because of economic downturns, political unrest, domestic terrorism, foreign wars or anything else that threatens to overwhelm our lives.
Stock markets fluctuate, jobs come and go, health crises ebb and flow, politicians get voted in and out of office, but thanks be to God, Jesus Christ is the same… yesterday, today and forever!
And that takes us to the next LESSON TO REMEMBER which is to always give praise to God… who, as James reminds us, is “the giver of every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17).
Our text says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (13:15).
Our praise ought to be the “fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” In other words, we should not be ashamed to give God the praise for every good and perfect gift we have been given… for each and every blessing that has come our way. And regardless of what things may look like or what people may try to tell us to the contrary, there is ALWAYS a reason to praise God.
Some of you may remember me sharing the top 10 things that a former colleague of mine, Dr. Valentino Lassiter, said we ought to be thankful for. But just in case you missed it, or if you need a refresher, I am going to give you the list again.
If you have pen and paper handy, get ready to write:
- He woke us up this morning.
- He woke us up this morning.
- He woke us up this morning.
- He woke us up this morning.
- He woke us up this morning…
And that brings us back to where we started, because the last verse of the text is simply more encouragement for us to do good and share with others.
I particularly like how this verse reads in the Message Paraphrase:
Our acts of worship and our sacrifice of praise are lived out each time we extend a helping hand to someone else, each time we practice random acts of kindness.Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets (13:16).
Every can of food we donate to the food bin or article of clothing we place in the St. Pauly shed is an act of worship. Each errand we run for a neighbor or family member is a sacrifice of praise. Everything that we do to bless someone else as we have been blessed is truly an act of worship and a sacrifice of praise.
We should worship God each and every day because He has never stopped giving us reasons to praise Him.
Now, when all is said and done, the LESSONS TO REMEMBER that come from our text take us back to what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew (22:37-39). When one of the Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment of all was:
Yes, my friends, it all comes back to what I have said and will continue to say... which is that Jesus has commanded us to love…Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”’
To love God and the people of God… it is as simple as that.
I got confirmation just yesterday that I need to keep preaching this message because the verse of the day in my Bible app was John 13:34 when Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
I am going to just leave it right there because what it all boils down to at the end of the day is this... Love truly is the word of God, for the people of God... Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Hymn of Discipleship: Now Thank We All Our God #715.
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