Good morning. You may know that this is special Sunday on the church calendar. This morning here and literally all around the world, churches and pulpits are being lined with associate pastors getting ready to preach their periodic sermons…

We’ve been in a series for the last several weeks about voices. We’ve been hearing from the voices of Isaiah the prophet, John the Baptist, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Last week we heard from the voices of the shepherds, who experienced the Glory of God. This morning, we add God the Father’s voice to the mix.

When my wife Monica was in middle school (and by the way, she gave me permission to tell this story), she became interested in being on the track team. Her reason for joining the team was a bit unconventional. At her school, out of all the sports teams, the track team had the best-looking sweatsuit warmups.

She and her friend wanted to be in the school annual in those sweats, so Monica became a shotputter. Her claim to fame was that at the first meet, there were 4 girls. Monica came in 3rd and her friend came in 4th. Before too long, pictures were taken for the annual, and that was the end of her track career. It’s one thing to start something and another to finish.

In the text we are going to read today, we will see the picture of a God who, when it comes to making himself known, can start… and finish.

Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4

The setting for our reading today is important. While there is a lot we don’t know about the background of the book of Hebrews, we do know that it was written in the later part of the first century to a group of Christians who were under quite a bit of pressure.

Many were growing frustrated. They had expected that Christ would return in their lifetime. They had been facing persecution. Some may have begun to leave their "churches." It was a discouraging time. And so the writer of Hebrews writes to encourage them not to drift away from Jesus Christ.

So let's take a look at our text.

God has spoken long ago in many and various ways. Literally, the text says, God has spoken in “former fragments and former fashions.”

Here the author of Hebrews launches into a key theme that will carry thoughout the rest of the book. God has spoken in a variety of ways—and several of those are listed in the book. And in comparison with what God has done in Jesus, these former ways are “ fragments.”

And that’s a striking word when you consider some of the ways God had spoken:

Through Moses- who was used to lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, received the 10 commandments, and was found to be glowing because he spoke with God face to face. Much of the Old Testament was attributed to Moses— It doesn’t get much better than Moses.

Through the priests—who mediated between the people and God. The priests were the only people who could touch the tabernacle, the dwelling place for God;

And later when the Temple was built, only the priests were allowed in the most holy places in the presence of God... It doesn’t get much better than the priests.

Through the angels, who were believed to be the mediators of the Old Testament law – angels living in the presence of God, constantly worshipping God and carrying out the work of God. It doesn’t get much better than the angels.

And yet in comparison with what God did in Jesus Christ, what had been communicated through Moses, the priests, the angels, and others amounts to “fragments.”

In our day, too, there a lot of voices claiming to have answers to life’s biggest questions. I took a quick tour through Amazon, and here are some of the things I found…

• Books on how to discover your hidden strengths
• Books by FBI agents on how to understand people
• There are books by rap artists, encouraging us to fear nothing
• Books showing us how to live with glamour, like The Gospel according to Coco Chanel,
• Books on how to “win” important friends

I even saw a book about how to think without thinking. But let me carry the comparison a little farther:

• I’ve learned a great deal about ministry from books by Eugene Peterson.
• I’ve learned a lot about Sabbath through Marva Dawn.
• I’ve learned new ways to experience the presence of God by Richard Foster.
• I’ve learned all kinds of things about God & living the Christian life by C.S. Lewis. It doesn’t get much better than C.S. Lewis, right?

But as helpful as these are, our text today would call them fragments.

Theologian Karl Barth wrote , "God may speak to us through Russian Communism, through a flute concerto, through a blossoming shrub or through a dead dog. We shall do well to listen to him if he really does so." [ CD I/1, 60]).

But, he goes on to say God speaks most clearly through Jesus Christ as attested to in Scripture. (that’s my paraphrase)

And the text continues…

In these last days he has spoken to us through a Son who is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.

We have a lot of children with us today… I want to ask the children a question---cause I know you all have been paying close attention. Would you raise your hand if you like doing crafts? Raise them if you’ve done Christmas crafts this year?

Well, I kind of like crafts, but I’m not always very good at them. One year our family decided to do a craft to give to people—we made soap. You take oil and beexwax and you heat them, and you mix them with lye, … sometimes things that smell nice and add color… And pour them in a mold.

This is a soap mold. I have another here, too. This one has sports pictures on it. You pour the liquid into several of these molds, and they cure, and they look just like the other…. in theory. Except that our soap didn’t cure very well. Some of it did, but not all of it. So our soap ended up a little gloppy. My wife says it looked a little like partially chewed food.

Unlike our soap-making fiasco, the Romans were good at using molds for making coins. Our text says that Jesus was the exact imprint of God’s very being. And the word used for imprint comes out of the world of coin making.

Now in our day, it is not too difficult to copy a shape or an image. We use photocopiers or scanners. Or at least, printing presses. We manufacture machines using standardized and interchangeable parts. Factories turn out exact copies of a Ford Taurus by the thousands. We build homes out of commonly dimensioned 2x4s. Our world is so familiar with copies, we have whole codes of laws to protect against illegal copies.

But in Jesus day, Art, construction, the copying of text, all was done by hand. So the way a mold could produce a common shape or character was quite an achievement. And Jesus was the exact embodiment of the qualities and character of God.

If you want to know about wisdom, think about Jesus’ teachings… “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s.”

If you want to know about the tenderness of God, think about how Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, who, moments later he would bring back from the dead.

If you want to know about the compassion of God, think about Jesus’ willingness to suffer even to the point of death for the sake of those people he loved... even a people who would deny and betray him.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and fragmented ways, but now he has spoken to us by a Son…the exact imprint of God’s very being.

God started communicating through Moses, the priests, the angels, and others, but he finished the job in Jesus.

What does this mean for us today?

Let me offer two thoughts.

First, Let’s not accept anything less than Jesus. It is so easy to become satisfied with second best. There are a lot of influences in our lives. Books, TV, radio, friends, neighbors.

For about six months I worked as a laborer on a construction crew pouring concrete. There were times when a few of us laborers were left with a task, maybe building a tricky concrete form or something, that required a bit more experience than any of us had. And So we’d reach a point when we didn’t really know what to do next.

Invariably one of us laborers would say… “let’s do it this way.” But the rest of us looked at each other and paused…. What we really needed to know was what the boss wanted… what the boss thought. I didn’t care a whole lot what the others thought. They were as confused as I was.

There are a lot of influences in our lives. The one that really counts is Jesus.

That’s the first point. Here’s the second. We can trust Jesus.

While writing this message, I couldn’t help but overhear a woman speaking with a friend about her failing marriage. I read about a parent whose child was struggling.. I had conversations with friends who were out of work. The world can be a dark place.

It was dark when the book of Hebrews was written. And the text today would say to each of us, Jesus is the way. Trust him.

Jesus is the exact imprint of God. While it may not get a whole lot better than C.S. Lewis, it really doesn’t get better than Jesus.

While I was doing youth ministry, one of the most critical moments of the year was at our end of the year “banquet” where we gathered around and prayed for our graduating seniors. And if there was anything I hoped they would remember as they prepared for College, or entered the work force, it is today’s message. Jesus can be trusted. Trust him.

As we prepare to turn over the page on the calendar to 2010, we might think about the ways God has been with us in the past. Or maybe the challenges we face in the days ahead. And the question is the same. Can we trust him with these things?

The Book of Hebrews was written to a people facing real trouble that affected their everyday lives. And the message contained in our text today was meant to have real impact on their real lives in very real situations. Jesus can be trusted.

We can learn a lot by what was said through Moses, the priests, the prophets.. But God said it best in Jesus. God is able to start and finish.