Confidence

Introduction

There is great comfort in hearing from someone who has already been through things that you are at the start of. When I started at FHU, I was introduced to all my colleagues in my department. Little did I know what that meant or how little I might see some of them. We all worked at the same place but we all had our own schedules and responsibilities. I was ushered into my office told to let someone know if I needed something and left alone. No problem. I had plenty to do. Unpack boxes of books. Try to fashion a space that was mine. Put a few personal items. But then came the reality part. I also had to prepare for classes. Having prepared sermons and lessons, I knew something that was required but I didn’t know academia fully.

And in walked Jake Morris. I had met Jake already. He taught psychology and counseling courses. Jake is a fun loving guy. Never takes things too seriously but don’t let his joking fool you. He is quite insightful. Jake came into my office, sat down and began to ask me how things were going. Being transparent, I said I was settling in but nervous about starting. He laughed. Admitted he had been too and then said these words, “I’m your mentor.” I laughed not knowing if he were serious or not. “What does that mean?” I asked. “It means if you need anything you come to me first.” I thought this odd. I had been told to consult with my department chair for questions or the director of the counseling program. Both of whom I felt comfortable asking questions. But then Jake said something else that revealed more. Jake said he was going to help me learn shortcuts that would enhance my teaching while not resulting in being overloaded with work. Thus, began a wonderful connection that continues even though Jake is at another university.

There is something about having someone go through the experience and then sharing with you as you timidly approach the starting line. The Hebrew writer says this about Jesus. He experienced life in all its richness, fullness, and temptation and successfully navigated the process. He is the one who understands us and what we go through. He identifies with us and we can identify with him—if we choose.

High Priest

The role of the high priest was not only specialized, it demanded much. Daily priests would offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. Those daily offerings were overseen by the high priest. While he may not have been present he was to ensure that God’s will was followed not only in terms of the quality of the animal but with the integrity and holiness of the priests. Once per year, he would offer sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. He would be the intermediary between the people and God. He would first offer a sacrifice for his own sin and then offer sacrifices for the sin of the people. Then he would go behind the curtain that led to the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. This atonement for sins could only be carried out by the High Priest who was required to be holy and blameless in his life.

But then he never was blameless. The call to holiness in Leviticus 21 was a call to live a life that honored God but in verse 15, holiness is directly attributed to God not to the priest. God makes the High Priest holy. In his unholiness he serves. In his unholiness he sprinkles the blood of the animal on the mercy seat once a year. But he must first offer sacrifice for himself to deal with his own sin. He isn’t holy and blameless. He is declared holy by the Holy God. That is what allows him to do what he does.

The Hebrew writer says Jesus is different. He is a High Priest who is holy and blameless. Jesus went through life and successfully, totally, and in holiness completed this life without sin. He learned in his life experience what it means to be human. He was tempted in every way that we are—physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally—in every way and he said ‘no’ to all sin. He learned was it means to be fully human and to suffer in his humanity and still not give in to sin. He learned the joy of being obedient. Through his perfection we have eternal life if we choose to follow him.

How did you find your confidence in what you do? Usually through repetition we become more confident. The more we do something, the more we tend to translate experience into competency and with competency comes confidence. Talent matters, but with practice we become better. Competency breeds confidence. What about spiritual confidence? We treat our spiritual lives like the rest of life. Work harder you get better. But then the reality sets in—the harder we work at being good at living life the more we become aware of our weaknesses. We get better and then pride comes. We get better at one thing only to falter in another. We have a good day or two and then life hits us hard and we collapse. We discover that our faith is not consistent and that our emotions have a lot to do with how we think about ourselves and God.

In all of that, we discover that we are not perfect. We take things personally in a conversation and speak harshly in return. Our boss criticizes and we feel the tension and then avoid the boss or complain to co-workers. We pray for strength and then wonder what happened when the strength isn’t sufficient. We know ourselves to be weak and pretend that it isn’t true so others will still like us or at least not go yelling and screaming away from us. We fear that if people knew the truth about us that they would condemn us. Life gets hard and we falter and we wonder if it is all worth it to try to live for God.

Surely in all of that we can find ourselves. So what does the Hebrew writer offer? Jesus. Come to the throne of grace and receive mercy. Come to the one who been through what you have been through and still maintained his perfection. Don’t be intimidated. No one knows the fullness of temptation like Jesus. Why? Because he always said ‘no’. We fail. At some point we say ‘yes’ and then we don’t know the rest of the struggle and suffering. But Jesus does. We may know resisting on some level one time but not what it means to resist every time. Jesus does. He understands the pressure. He understands the feelings. He understands the tears. He understands the suffering. And because he understands his competency, his perfection is what allows us to come to near.

Here’s the beauty. What we receive is grace and mercy not judgment and condemnation. No words like “What’s wrong with you?” or “Can’t you get your life together?” Instead there are words of support, grace, mercy, love, forgiveness. Why? Because Jesus wants us to trust him. This is too hard. How can a loving God be that considerate? Quit thinking of God in human terms. You aren’t that considerate but he is. You don’t love that deeply but he does. Hold on to your faith. Hold on to your confession. Hold on to the God who invites you to receive mercy. Hold on to life. Quit living with doubt, fear, and death.

Where does confidence come from? Usually competency. But where does it come from when we fail? Spiritually, our confidence comes from Jesus’ absolute and total obedient perfection. We hold on to our brother’s hand and he brings us to the throne of grace and mercy to receive such in our time of need. The suffering that we experience is a reminder that our brother went through it all first and he beckons for you to trust him. He understands. He did not fail. He wants you to trust him. 5:7, just as Jesus reverently submitted to God so we, too, in the face of trials, suffering, failure, and sin submit to God and trust him to give what he says he will give—grace and mercy.

Follow Jesus

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