Remember

Scripture — Hebrews 13:1-8 (NRSV)

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Devotion

Once again—as when I last wrote to you two weeks ago—it turns out that I’m revisiting passages I talked about with you in 2022; today Hebrews 13, tomorrow Luke 14. (Why 2022? The question may have occurred to you if you are not in a church that uses the lectionary. The Revised Common Lectionary, which my denomination uses, runs on a three-year cycle.)

Hebrews 13 is very much in the “now what?” section of Hebrews. The first twelve chapters of Hebrews are quite theological, looking at who Jesus Christ is and what he does, especially in relationship to the Jewish sacrificial system. In Hebrews 13:1, the tone abruptly changes, and what we get instead—though not without a little theological commentary from time to time—is a work of practical ethics. (Hebrews wasn’t written by Paul, but Paul also uses this same rhetorical switcheroo between speculative theology and everyday ethics from time to time—most memorably in Romans 12:1).

Three years ago, I was most interested in the theological commentary that comes along with this practical list: the statement that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This time, I’m most interested in the list.

It goes like this, if you take the various theological asides out:

• Let mutual love continue.
• Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.
• Remember those who are in prison.
• Let marriage be held in honor by all.
• Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.
• Remember your leaders. . .consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

This is only the beginning of the list, of course. Here’s how it continues in Hebrews 13:9-19:

• Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.
• Continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God.
• Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have.
• Obey your leaders and submit to them.
• Pray for us.

When I was younger, and especially when I was in seminary, people often said, “Don’t look at the Bible as a list of to-dos.” And they had a point; I remember a fair number of sermons from my childhood that would give you three points to help you in the Monday workplace, two tips for witnessing to your coworkers, five guides to a good marriage, etc. The Bible, above all, is a narrative, telling a tale that begins in a garden and ends in a city, making us part of the story of salvation.

But the Bible also has a lot of genres in it: history, poetry, worship materials, letters, and the like. And some of those genres actually include to-do lists. The whole book of Proverbs, for instance, is pretty much one long to-do list on living an ethical life. And this happens in the epistles, too. It’s perfectly OK to actually take these lists as a guide to Christian living and to do what they say.

And what they say—as is certainly true of Hebrews 13—is often both simpler and harder than we’d like. This list isn’t long. It doesn’t use hard words. It just asks us to do hard deeds. Continually praise God? Be content with what we have? Share? Imitate the saints? Remember prisoners?

Gee, Jesus, can’t I just go witness to my coworkers instead?

(And Jesus whispers softly in your ear: Oh, child, if you do everything on this list, you will.)

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Hospitality (Hebrews 13:1–3).