Why Jesus Wants You to Enjoy Chocolate Donuts, Blood Moons, Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Afternoon Naps, and Hip-Hop Music” Hebrews 1:2C 11 October 2015

“Why Jesus Wants You to Enjoy Chocolate Donuts, Blood Moons, Applewood-smoked Bacon, Afternoon Naps, and Hip-Hop Music” Hebrews 1:2c 11 October 2015

There’s a scene in the NBC sitcom The Office where Michael Scott, the boss of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company has a conversation with Toby Flenderson, the Human Resources rep at Dunder Mifflin. Now, in order to understand the scene, you have to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Michael and Toby. Michael can’t stand Toby. He hates Toby. Toby works in HR and he represents everything that Michael hates.

So Toby walks into the kitchen at Dunder Mifflin and it’s Michael’s birthday. And Michael is standing there drinking coffee and there is a box of donuts open on the counter. The conversation is as follows…

Toby: Who brought in donuts?

Michael: Somebody got donuts for my birthday.

Toby: Happy birthday!

Michael: [with disgust] You didn’t know it was my birthday.

Toby: I… guess I forgot.

Michael: Well, I guess I forgot to give you a donut [closes box].

Toby: Are you serious?

Michael: Mmm.

As Toby walks away, Michael re-opens the box.

Sadly, that’s how many Christians view Christianity, even how some people view God! Some people view God as this cosmic killjoy who slams the donut box closed on us. Is that how you view God? Is that your view of God?

That might be how you view God if you don’t see the connection between the following things: Chocolate donuts. Blood moons. Applewood-smoked Bacon. Afternoon naps. Hip-hop music. What do these things have in common? Let me tell you: Chocolate donuts, blood moons, applewood-smoked bacon, afternoon naps, and Hip-hop music all point to a very giving Creator. Chocolate donuts, blood moons, applewood- smoked bacon, afternoon naps, and Hip-hop music are what’s lurking behind Hebrews 1:2.

I told you last week that we might return to the end of verse 2 because there is so much theology oozing out of this verse, in particular, the phrase at the end of verse 2, “through whom also he created the world.”

That phrase tells us that there is a Creator and He is good. That phrase tells us that God is not stingy, but, rather, He is a creative and very giving God. That phrase, “through whom also he created the world” is telling us that God is no “cosmic killjoy” and that He invites us to enjoy Him and His creation. Part of what it means to be a human being made in the image of God is that we are called to enjoy donuts, and to enjoy coffee, and to enjoy the smell of bacon frying in a pan, and to enjoy naps, and to enjoy nail-biting finishes to football games, and to enjoy books that are so compelling that they are hard to put down, and to enjoy paintings, and to enjoy sunsets, and to enjoy grandkids, and the list just goes on and on.

Is that how you view God? Gracious. Giving. Sharing. I think so many Christians view God as a cosmic killjoy. Let me ask you: When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone and told them that Jesus loves them and He loves donuts, too? We should make a bumper sticker that says Follow Jesus…He has donuts!

Now, I am not making light of the call to discipleship. So please don’t misunderstand me, or as we like to say in staff meetings, don’t “mis-listen.” It is a costly endeavor to follow Jesus. You will be hated. You might be thrown in prison like some of the audience of the book of Hebrews. You might even be killed for following Jesus. So I am not making light of the fact that following Jesus will cost you everything, and maybe even your life.

But what I want to do today is to help recalibrate you because many of us live in this extreme. We know the call to discipleship, we know that we are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus and we know that that is not an easy thing. But some Christians hear the call of discipleship and they think that they have to be “spiritual” all the time. They think that they can’t enjoy anything in God’s creation. So they relegate their life to eating liver and drinking sauerkraut juice. And blowing their nose with sandpaper. And sleeping on a hardwood floor. And wearing wool.

Is that Christianity? Is that what Jesus expects of us? I hope not!

Now, you may not have gone to those extremes, but let me ask you: Do you see following Jesus as the most boring thing ever? Like you know you need to follow Jesus, but it seems like the other team has all of the fun? Is that Christianity? I hope not!

Do you ever feel guilty for having 2 donuts? Do you ever feel like it’s not “spiritual” to spend 3 hours watching a football game? Do you live with an underlying sense of shame and nagging guilt because you took delight in something that was not “spiritual?” Like God doesn’t want you to enjoy nice a piece of toasted sourdough bread covered in butter? Is that you? Is that how you view God and His creation?

If that’s you, and I think it’s all of us to some extent, then the phrase that we will look at today offers you some hope. Hebrews 1:2 is telling us that God created the world through His Son Jesus and that He wants us to enjoy Him as we enjoy all of these things. So lurking behind this phrase that we looked at last week is this command-

TASTE AND SEE (AND SMELL AND FEEL AND HEAR) THAT THE LORD IS GOOD.

God the Father created this world through His Son Jesus and He invites us to enjoy His creation through the five senses that He has given us. Please understand that God is not a cosmic killjoy! He creates. He shares. He gives.

LOOK AT VERSES 1-2… Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Now, why does the preacher of Hebrews mention God creating the world through His Son Jesus? Because, as we saw last week, God is a giving God, because He shares, because He is not stingy. God created this world in order to share the love that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God was loving His Son Jesus in eternity past through the Spirit, and He created this world so that we could get caught up in and enjoy that love.

But the preacher of Hebrews also knows that his audience was losing sight of Jesus as the Creator who blesses us with gifts, which we are then to use to bless others. These believers were being tempted to quit giving and to quit blessing others. They were being tempted to hoard their resources. For instance-

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

So the preacher of Hebrews is trying to recalibrate them with the Gospel and remind them that God will not forget all that they do for others and for God’s glory. And he also seeks to recalibrate them in chapter 13-

Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The Hebrews were being tempted to hoard their God-given resources and gifts. So the preacher of Hebrews paints a picture of Jesus as the Creator of this world in order to show them that:

1} God gave us food to fuel and empower us on mission. I wish we could spend more time on this. Bottom line: food enables us and gives us the energy so that we can go and serve others- which implies that you can’t eat only donuts and fast food all the time and effectively serve others.

2} The Triune God is a giving God who loves to share. We saw this last week. God loves to share and he calls us to share and give to others. Food is to be enjoyed and gifts are to be shared with others because this is how Jesus functions as Creator. Jesus created this world and called it good and He wants His people to enjoy His creation and share their God-given gifts with others- because this is how God works. It is in God’s nature to create and to share; to make and to give away.

The Triune God creates out of the overflow of His eternal love, and we were made to enjoy and respond to this love. We were made to get swept up in the love that exists between God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God created humanity so that we would swept away by His eternal love and glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Creation exists to bring God glory and to enable all of creation to enjoy God. So Jesus created this world primarily that His creation would glorify God. This is why everything in this universe exists: to glorify the Triune God.

God created this world to be an overflow of the love that existed within the Godhead. God created this world to be an overflow of the love that the Trinity enjoyed in eternity past. So that means then that our love for God- if it is to be an accurate reflection of Trinitarian love- our love for God must lead us to a deep, profound love for and appreciation of God’s creation. Our love for God should push out to love His creation.

So creation not only exists for God’s glory, but creation also exists for humanity’s good too. We were made as image-bearers of Gods, as complex human beings, to know and love God and glorify him, but also to take pleasure in all of creation by participating in it. We were made to be intimate with our spouses, and to have babies, and to enjoy creation, and share in all of God’s good gifts.

The preacher of Hebrews is telling us that creation is an expression of the Triune God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation is communication from God. And this Triune God loved so much that He decided to create a world through which He could express Himself and His fullness and His love. And it was not just any world that God created- He created a world full of blueberry muffins and blistering guitar solos and blended smoothies and black clothing.

And God created this world and filled it with human beings that He then gifted with certain gifts, talents, etc so that we would be a blessing to others.

As John Calvin said, “All the endowments which we possess are divine deposits entrusted to us for the very purpose of being distributed for the good of our neighbor.”

God blessed you and gifted you so that you could share that with others. And sometimes all of that comes together this way: you know how to make a mean apple pie and you use the gifts that God gave you and you make that apple pie and then you take that apple pie to someone else and give it to them and they get blessed and they eat and enjoy that apple pie with the taste buds that God gave them and then they give glory to God for you, the apple pie, and ultimately to God because He’s the one who made apples and put it into somebody’s head to create something called an apple pie.

That’s one small way that you can- TASTE AND SEE (AND SMELL AND FEEL AND HEAR) THAT THE LORD IS GOOD.

We are called to be gracious and giving like our Creator, like Jesus. He created this world and what did He call it? Good! God celebrated His creation. He called it good. And because God created us as image- bearers of God, we are called to this same thing: to create and then celebrate. As

Abraham Kuyper said, “As image-bearer of God, man possesses the possibility both to create something beautiful and to delight in it. … The world of sounds, the world of forms, the world of tints, and the world of poetic ideas, can have no other source than God; and it is our privilege as bearers of his image, to have a perception of this beautiful world, artistically to reproduce, and humanly to enjoy it.” (Calvinism, pp. 142,156-157)

We were made to create, to enjoy, to share, and to celebrate! We were made to make an exceptional batch of cookies and to not just to make them, but to delight in them! And to share them! We were made not just to paint an awe-inspiring painting, but to delight in it too! We were made to write poetry and then delight in it! We were made to make, to create, and to delight, and to celebrate! Why? Because this is what God does.

That means that the people of God should be marked by celebration! And this is why the people of God have always celebrated God- because celebration is important to God. We were made to celebrate, and to delight, and to enjoy God. We are a people who are called to celebrate! And we see God’s passion to see His people celebrate throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, Yahweh called the nation of Israel to celebrate God and His work in this world through various festivals, feasts, and Sabbaths:

* Passover * Feast of Unleavened Bread * Feast of Firstfruits * Feast of Weeks * Festival of Trumpets * Day of Atonement * Festival of Tabernacles * Feast of Harvest * New Moon Feast * Sabbath rest

What kind of God does that sound like? Feast after feast after feast after feast! What kind of God does that sound like? A God who likes to party! A God who likes to celebrate! A God who is not a cosmic killjoy! A God who is infinitely happy and He wants His people to enter into His happiness. All of these festivals and special days and Sabbaths prove that God wants His people to celebrate! God wants His people to celebrate His grace and mercy! God wants His people to enjoy Him. All of these festivals prove that Jesus loves to party! Jesus loves to celebrate! What was His first miracle? He turned water into wine! And it was good wine!

And all of these wonderful Old Testament celebrations were at one time God’s design. But now, they have all been fulfilled in Jesus. So by saying, “through whom also he created the world,” the author of Hebrews is acknowledging that the old covenant celebrations were indeed designed by God, created by God, for His people to remember Him and celebrate Him. But now all of these festivals and celebrations have been fulfilled in Jesus. They were all pointing to Jesus and have been fulfilled in Him.

But that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want us to celebrate Him and enjoy Him now. Far from it! Our celebrations and worship and enjoyment of God should be “off the chain” because Jesus has come! And that’s why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper! That’s why we celebrated the Lord’s Supper last week. And that’s why I always tell you before you eat the bread or drink the cup to “Celebrate the peace you have with God through Jesus Christ our lord.” Because we are a celebrating people!

And that’s why we celebrated baptisms today! We celebrated the fact that these people are in union with Jesus! So, in the new covenant, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptism, not all of those old covenant rituals, which is exactly what the audience of the book of Hebrews were being tempted and pressured to return to. They were being tempted to go back and celebrate old covenant rituals.

So the author of Hebrews is not saying that we don’t celebrate anymore under the new covenant. He is not saying that in the Old Testament they knew how to party but in the new covenant we are a bunch of stick in the muds! No! We celebrate God’s grace now just like they did under the old covenant. Only the forms are different now. We still celebrate the same Savior, the same gracious God, the same giving God. It just looks different in the way that it is administered now in the new covenant.

The Hebrews wanted to go back to those old rituals to celebrate grace, but the author of Hebrews is redirecting them at the very beginning of his letter. He is letting them know that God created everything in this world through Jesus, and we are called to celebrate and enjoy Jesus just like those under the old covenant, only the forms look different now.

But not only do we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptism, we also celebrate all of life, all of creation, because Jesus made it! All of creation was made to celebrate God and enjoy His blessings and then return thanksgiving to Him for His goodness. So creation is a gift, from God, to us, through which we can enjoy Him, our Creator.

Please let me say that again: Creation is a gift, from God, to us, through which we can enjoy Him, our Creator.

That means that when we delight in the elements of creation, when we take delight in a chocolate donut, it should provoke us and stir us and stimulate us to celebrate and enjoy God, our Creator. It means that when we delight in the elements of creation, when we take delight in a blood moon, a solar eclipse, it should provoke us and stir us and stimulate us to celebrate and enjoy God, our Creator. It means that when we delight in the elements of creation, when we take delight in smelling bacon cooking on the stove, it should provoke us and stir us and stimulate us to celebrate and enjoy God, our Creator. It means that when we delight in the elements of creation, when we take delight in a good nap on Sunday afternoon, it should provoke us and stir us and stimulate us to celebrate and enjoy God, our Creator. It means that when we delight in the elements of creation, when we take delight in a well-written hip-hop song with great beats and a catchy hook, it should provoke us and stir us and stimulate us to celebrate and enjoy God, our Creator.

That’s exactly what we mean when we say this in our mission statement: We exist to ignite a passion in every person to glorify and enjoy God everywhere and in everything.

This is why we exist as a church. Through all of our ministries, all our preaching, all of our meetings, etc through all that we do here, we want to ignite this passion, we want to ignite this fire in people to glorify and enjoy God. But we don’t limit that glorifying and enjoying just within these walls. We want to glorify and enjoy everywhere we go. And in everything we do. We want to ignite this passion in you to glorify and enjoy God even as you eat a donut. So you could say this: We exist to ignite a passion in every person to glorify and enjoy God everywhere and every time they eat a donut. That’s what we mean when we say, “everywhere and in everything.”

How cool is that? We exist to ignite a passion in you to glorify and enjoy every time you eat a donut! Or eta bacon. Or listen to Lecrae. Or stare at a blood moon. Or take a nap. We have to be the coolest church around! But it’s true. We want you to leave Grace every Sunday and say, “What a Savior! Isn’t God so good? He gave us Jesus! Let’s go eat some BBQ chicken to celebrate!”

That’s spiritual. That’s a very spiritual thing to do, Grace. To glorify and enjoy God as you enjoy BBQ chicken. And people think Jesus is boring! He is the one, He is the Creator who came up with these things called taste buds! He didn’t have to give us taste buds. And He didn’t have to make BBQ sauce taste so good. But He did. He is the one who came up with taste buds and He is the One who came up with the chicken… and He is the one who came up with BBQ sauce!

The preacher of the book of Hebrews was writing to a people who were being tempted to go back under the old covenant and avoid certain foods, unclean foods, and to obey all of the ceremonial laws. So by saying, “through whom also he created the world,” he is saying that God made this world and called it good. And even though certain animals and foods were off-limits under the old covenant, they were now considered “clean” in the new covenant. In other words, since Jesus took over the kitchen, BBQ pork was added to the menu. Amen?!

And this is exactly what Jesus told Peter in Acts 10. I firmly believe that in Acts 10 when Jesus appeared in a vision and told Peter to get up and kill and eat all that meat that was once off-limits and considered “unclean” under the old covenant, I firmly believe that Jesus handed Peter a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce.

I believe that! In fact, in Acts 10:10 it says that Peter “became hungry wanted something to eat.” The phrase “to eat” is one word in the Greek language: γεύσασθαι (geusasthai- pronounced: goo-sauce-thigh)

“Goo-sauce-thigh” sounds a lot like God is saying, “Go put some thick, gooey BBQ sauce on that chicken thigh.” Can I get an “Amen!” for making Scripture say that we should eat BBQ chicken? γεύσασθαι (Goo- sauce-thigh). What a beautiful word.

But the burning question that you should be thinking of right now, if you weren’t so preoccupied with BBQ chicken, is this: How do we glorify God as we enjoy His creation? How do we glorify God as we enjoy BBQ chicken? How do we not glorify the BBQ chicken over God?

The answer: We start with the gift and we trace it back to the Giver. You start with the BBQ chicken, and as you enjoy it, you trace it back to Jesus. John Piper said it this way:

So we can say that when we “look along” the heavens and not just “at” the heavens, they succeed in their aim of “declaring the glory of God.” That is, we see the glory of God, not just the glory of the heavens. We don’t just stand outside and analyze the natural world as a beam, but we let the beam fall on the eyes of our heart, so that we see the source of the beauty—the original Beauty, God himself. This is the essential key to unlocking the proper use of the physical world of sensation for spiritual purposes. All of God’s creation becomes a beam to be “looked along” or a sound to be “heard along” or a fragrance to be “smelled along” or a flavor to be “tasted along” or a touch to be “felt along.” All our senses become partners with the eyes of the heart in perceiving the glory of God through the physical world. (Alive to Wonder; Celebrating the Influence of C.S. Lewis, 40)

In other words- TASTE AND SEE (AND SMELL AND FEEL AND HEAR) THAT THE LORD IS GOOD.

Don’t just stop with that awesome BBQ chicken. Don’t just enjoy that bacon. Eat it. Enjoy it. But let it lead you back to its source: Jesus. As you enjoy that bacon, enjoy the God who made it. Enjoy the God who came up with the idea of a pig and then put the thought into the minds of human beings to cook that glorious meat. And give thanks that God gave you taste buds to enjoy the flavor of bacon. That’s how you glorify God as you enjoy bacon, or music, or art, or a massage, or as you smell that coffee as it’s brewing.

Yes, we can enjoy all of these created things. But as we enjoy them we are to travel up the “beams of light” to their source- the Sun, the Son of God. And this is as practical as it gets and why I devoted a whole sermon to this: because this is where we all live. We eat everyday. We see beautiful things everyday. We smell wonderful things everyday. We hear incredible music everyday. We feel the sweet embrace of a loved one everyday.

All day long we are bombarded with opportunities to enjoy God’s creation and then to trace that enjoyment all the way back to God and to then glorify and enjoy Him as our wonderful, giving, sharing, creative Creator. We have numerous opportunities daily to glorify and enjoy God through what we taste, see, smell, feel, and hear. This was God’s good design in creation. This was the way that God designed it.

Joe Rigney says, “If we extend this divine endorsement of sight and taste, then here we see God enthusiastically endorsing our joy and delight in all sensible pleasures (that is, pleasures we receive through our bodily senses, pleasures that we see, smell, taste, touch, hear), provided they are enjoyed within the boundaries established by the giver of every good gift. Perhaps God could have done it another way. He might have made an immaterial world populated purely by spiritual beings. Infinite wisdom preferred stomachs. And tongues. And every combination of sour, sweet, salty, and savory that the chefs on the Food Network can discover. Because that’s what they are doing: discovering all the ways that God chose to communicate his goodness, his sweetness, even his bitterness to human palates. My guess is that it will take awhile.

The creation of food, tongues, and the human digestive system is the product of infinite wisdom knitting the world together in a harmonious whole. The symphony of glory that sounds the triune being contains notes of corn salsa and Sour Patch Kids, of sweet tea and rye bread (the kind that fills the belly). The variety of tastes creates categories and gives us edible images of divine things. (The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts, p. 80-81.

God is not a cosmic killjoy. God gives us many things to enjoy in this life because God is good. Everything that God created is good. And that includes donuts. Just be careful how many you eat.

So leave today and go have lunch. And tell the waiter that you’re celebrating today. Tell the waiter that you’re celebrating the fact that the God loves you. Tell the waiter that you’re celebrating the fact He forgives you of your sins. Tell the waiter that you’re celebrating the fact and Jesus gave you taste buds to enjoy His creation. And then eat! Enjoy that tri-tip or that Double Double Cheeseburger form In-N-Out with grilled onions or that burrito from Chipotle. And get a re-fill on your Coke. And let your kids get desert. And then trace all of that back to God and thank Him that He’s so loving and giving and sharing and creative.

And if you feel real crazy… invite someone to lunch and offer to pay for it. Let’s pray…

“Why Jesus Wants You to Enjoy Chocolate Donuts, Blood Moons, Applewood-smoked Bacon, Afternoon Naps, and Hip-Hop Music” Hebrews 1:2c Sermon Study Questions

1. Have you ever thought of God as a cosmic killjoy? Have you ever had a nagging sense of guilt or shame for eating an extra slice of pizza? How do you strike the balance between the radical call to discipleship and enjoying a warm Krispy Kreme donut?

2. Do you view making dinner, writing poetry, reading a good book, etc as a creative moment that can glorify God? Discuss what Abraham Kuyper said:

“As image-bearer of God, man possesses the possibility both to create something beautiful and to delight in it. … The world of sounds, the world of forms, the world of tints, and the world of poetic ideas, can have no other source than God; and it is our privilege as bearers of his image, to have a perception of this beautiful world, artistically to reproduce, and humanly to enjoy it.” (Calvinism, pp. 142,156-157)

3. Discuss how our mission statement at Grace is geared toward helping others glorify and enjoy God as they enjoy His creation: We exist to ignite a passion in every person to glorify and enjoy God everywhere and in everything.

4. Read 1 Timothy 4:1-5. How are we to receive food? Read Ecclesiastes 2:24-25. Explain how you can enjoy God’s good gifts and not have it be idolatry. Discuss how John Piper explains this:

5. All day long we are bombarded with opportunities to enjoy God’s creation and then to trace that enjoyment all the way back to God and to then glorify and enjoy Him as our wonderful, giving, sharing, creative Creator. We have numerous opportunities daily to glorify and enjoy God through what we taste, see, smell, feel, and hear. This was God’s good design in creation. This was the way that God designed it. Discuss Joe Rigney’s thoughts:

“If we extend this divine endorsement of sight and taste, then here we see God enthusiastically endorsing our joy and delight in all sensible pleasures (that is, pleasures we receive through our bodily senses, pleasures that we see, smell, taste, touch, hear), provided they are enjoyed within the boundaries established by the giver of every good gift. Perhaps God could have done it another way. He might have made an immaterial world populated purely by spiritual beings. Infinite wisdom preferred stomachs. And tongues. And every combination of sour, sweet, salty, and savory that the chefs on the Food Network can discover. Because that’s what they are doing: discovering all the ways that God chose to communicate his goodness, his sweetness, even his bitterness to human palates. My guess is that it will take awhile.