“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.