The perfection of Jesus doesn't demand that you stand up straighter. It invites you to come close as you are. And so it's your lean. It's your struggle. It's your imperfections. It's your weakness that actually draws God's attention. In a culture where perfection feels like pressure, the perfection of Jesus feels like peace.
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The writer of Hebrews gives us a better foundation, one that doesn't depend on us holding it all together.
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The author of Hebrews is writing to a people that felt a growing disconnect between some of the things they believed and what they were living. They were under pressure. They were tired. So they're drifting back into some of their old habits, their old rituals, their old comforts, and they're trying to earn something that they've already been given.
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You do not have to earn your way into God's presence. You don't have to earn it. You have a great high priest, Jesus himself. He's already gone before you, and he's made a way that invites us to come close to God.
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Because Jesus is perfect, we can approach God without fear. Because he's perfect, we can approach God without fear.
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That's what freedom looks like. That when you finally stop trying to pull the weight by yourself, you allow God to do for you what you can't do. Okay, that's what Jesus's perfection does. And it's only because he's perfect that he's able to do this for us.
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You're not pulling the weight of your salvation up a hill. You're not trying to prove your worth to God. That's not what he asks of us. And so this is a strength that doesn't come from us. That's why it's grace.
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At some point, it seems like almost everyone goes through this season where you have to take a step back and realize that it's just not about me being enough. Jesus is enough. He's enough for me. And he's enough within me.
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We will spend our entire lives proving, proving, proving instead of living from this place of grace, instead of living from this place of confidence.
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When you, when you step outside of this lane of proving yourself, your presence has more peace. Your presence has more grace. Your presence around people has a different kind of confidence.
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The grace of God, the love of God casts out all fear. Fear tries to keep you standing at a distance. But the message of Hebrews is that you can come close and that there's no more barrier. You can pray before you've done anything right. You can come to God on your worst day. You can come to God on your best day. And your access isn't based on how good you do. It's not based on your performance.
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Because Jesus is perfect, we can be honest about our imperfections. We can, we can, we can talk about them. We can bring them up. We can be honest about them.
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Jesus doesn't just forgive our struggle. He understands it. How many of you know, like there's a difference between when, when someone just forgives you, but when you also feel like they understand you. Like there, there's a connection to that that feels so deep. It's, it's being known. It's being fully known. And Jesus has the ability to know you in ways that no one else maybe ever will.
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Jesus was able to face every temptation and win, which means that he is able to come alongside us with the things that we can't carry and give us the grace we need to be carried through it. He's able to show us how to win in every situation. He's able to give us the help that we need that no one else can because he did it. He is perfect.
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God is not shocked by your mistakes. He's not surprised by your weakness and he's not uncomfortable with your truth. His perfection doesn't expose us to shame. It creates the safest space in the world for us to be real about who we are.
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The cross was God's direct declaration that you can be honest with me. That I've already like seen it all. I know who you are and I still choose you. But honesty isn't just theological. It's deeply personal.
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God is never shocked by our sin, okay? He's not, he's not standing there with his, his arms folded, like, waiting to judge us when we mess up. He's not getting angry with us. He's waiting to see if we'll come to him in our honesty, so that he can help us, so that he can teach us, so that he can show us what we need to know. He just wants honesty, because that's where healing can begin.
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We hide those things, because we think that they mean that we're not good enough, as if they could push us away from God, or people won't want anything to do with us, or they won't accept us, or they won't respect us as much as they used to. But the irony is, these are the very things that draw God close to us, okay? Grace only works in the light. Healing only begins when you stop pretending. And so when you bring your worst parts to Jesus, he doesn't pull back. He leans in. He comes close. He meets you just as you are.
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God never cancels you. His grace covers you. He wants to heal you. He wants to bring lasting change into your life. And so God doesn't hold back when you're honest about what you're dealing with. This is when the most powerful things can sometimes happen in our life. The most powerful breakthroughs. It's the honesty that feels like a risk is actually a path to rest.
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Because Jesus is perfect, we can find all the grace that we need.
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You don't have to build your way to grace. You don't have to build your way to grace. You don't have to build your way to grace. The bridge has been built.
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Hebrews tells us exactly what we can expect. It says, you'll find mercy and grace to help you in your time of need. Isn't that encouraging? That that's what we find when we approach God from our need, from our weakness. That means that you'll find mercy for what you've done wrong. You'll find strength for what you're dealing with. And help you to get better. And that's exactly what you need. Because God knows.
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Jesus's grace doesn't promise that our days will be easy. It doesn't eliminate the storms of life. But it does promise to anchor you through them. You can approach God however you're feeling. If you're tired. If you're exhausted. If you're confused. If you're weary. God says, come to me. Come to me just as you are. And every single time, you'll find more of the grace that you so desperately need.
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When you look at this passage, the movement that you see is distance to access. You see fear to honesty. And you see striving to grace. That's the journey that Hebrews invites us into. It's a life where you don't have to prove yourself. It's a life where you don't have to hide your weakness. And you don't have to be stronger than you are.
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Sometimes we think of grace only in the context of a saving grace. Our salvation, right? It's the ultimate grace that we need for our souls. But grace isn't just for saving. It's also what empowers us to live this life of faith. To get through those storms. To get through the chaos.
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This is what grace does. Okay? It gets you to the point where when you get to the office, your presence is shifted. You're not this stressed out person that's going to let it out on somebody else. You're not going to, you know, just, just let it out on your family. It's an empowering grace to be a better person than you can be without it. To be more like Jesus. And it doesn't take away the noise. It changes how you move through it.
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If there's one thing I know that every single person in this room is going to encounter this week, it's, it's an opportunity to have more grace. Something is going to challenge your grace. And what are you going to do when it happens? Are you going to turn to God and say, God, I need your help? Or are you going to keep trying to get through it in your own strength, your own way?
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