Who do you call?
Who do you call when you need help?
In 1984 this song made it to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
If there’s something strange
In your neighborhood
Who you gonna call?
(Ghostbusters)
If there’s something weird
And it don’t look good
Who you gonna call?
If you’re seeing things
Running through your head
Who can you call?
(Ghostbusters)
An invisible man
Sleepin’ in your bed
Ow, who you gonna call?
– Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr., 1984
I don’t know about you but if there is an invisible man sleepin’ in my bed, I’m probably going to call someone other than Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd!
No Way to Call
Back in my day, when I was growing up, whenever I ran into a situation where I needed help I didn’t call anyone. It’s not because I didn’t want to call someone for help. It wasn’t because I was that independent, even though I was. It was because no one had cell phones!
I distinctly remember one night, I’m driving home on the interstate as a teenager and I’m trying to get as far as I can on a tank of gas. And I did. Then engine started to sputter, and then… that was it. I was able to make it to the next exit and roll to a stop on the exit ramp.
My guess is that if my son, who turns 16 in just a few weeks!, if he were to run out of gas on the side of the road he would probably call me to come get him. He can do that because he has a cell phone! Back in my day, we didn’t have those. So I started walking.
I made it to a gas station. Asked the attendant for something to put gas in. Bought a dollar of gas, which… back in those days would get you a gallon of gas! Walked back to my old pick up truck. Did my best to pour the gas into the gas tank without getting gas all over me. Then I drove to the gas station to get more gas and return the container I had borrowed!
No One to Call
Times have changed but our desire for independence, our need for self reliance, hasn’t. We live in a DIY, Do-It-Yourself world. The only thing that has changed is that now, if we need help, our first call is to Google, or YouTube, or Social Media.
And if we really need help, sometimes it’s hard to know who to call.
And even if we did make that call, would they help us? Would they care enough to help us? Would they know how to to help us? Would they understand what we’re dealing with, what we’re going through? Would they have compassion for us or would they be filled with judgement toward us?
The truth is, at some point along the way we’ve been disappointed by the people we did call to help us. Sometimes it seems easier to just not even make the call.
There is Someone You Can Call
The good news is that there is One you can call on who understands your life more than you know and cares about you in more ways than you can imagine.
And I want to tell you about Him today.
Hebrews is a letter near the end of the New Testament. We don’t know who the author of this letter is but we do know this letter was written to Christians who were going through a difficult time and were walking away from faith.
Why were they walking away from faith?
They didn’t know who to call on when they needed help. And the overarching point of this letter is to let these first century Christians know that there is One who we can call on who understands our lives more than we know and cares about us in more ways than we can imagine.
The best part is that whatever we’re going through, not only can He help, He is willing and ready to help!
Listen to what the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 4.14-16:
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. – Hebrews 4.14
The Tent of Dwelling
If you’re unfamiliar with this idea of a high priest, the Hebrew writer is using imagery from Israel’s past to help these early Christians understand who Jesus is in the present.
These early Christians that he or she is writing to are Hebrews, they are Jewish, they are Israelites who knew their history as a people. How God had delivered them from Egypt after 430 years of captivity. How He led them with a cloud by day and a fire by night through the wilderness for 40 years into the Promised Land. And how he had given them instructions to build a Tabernacle, a huge tent, that they carried with them and set up every place where they set up camp to meet with God.
This Tabernacle was a Tent of Meeting, also known as the Tent of Dwelling. It was their place of worship, where they came together as a people and where they met with God. It was the place where the presence of God literally dwelt as the Spirit of God descended upon this tent every time they set up camp.
This tent had three main areas.
The main area was where the people gathered to offer sacrifices and worship.
Then there was the Holy Place where only the priest were allowed to enter.
Then there was the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was separated from the Holy Pace with a curtain, a veil. This is where the presence of God resided. This is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept which represented the presence of God among His people.
Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy place, and only once a year. The only time the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place was on the Day of Atonement, the day when he would make atonement for his sins and for the sins of the people.
Our High Priest
The High Priest was chosen by God from among the people as someone who understood their need and who, because of God’s compassion, was able to make atonement for their sin.
So the Hebrew writer, using this image from their history, says…
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.
Our High Priest is Jesus. A man from the town of Nazareth.
He was born of the virgin Mary and lived among us on planet earth for 33 years. He was completely human, like us in every way. Jesus was one of us. But He was also the Son of God. He was completely divine. Not only was He Jesus, the son of Mary. He is Jesus, the Son of God!
And here’s the Good News… Our High Priest has passed through the veil, through the curtain, and entered the Most Holy place, HEAVEN!, where the presence of God dwells! Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected on the third day. Then, 40 days later, he ascended to Heaven. Because Jesus, this man from Nazareth who is also the Son of God and our Savior, ascended to Heaven, we can HOLD FIRMLY to what we believe!
Jesus knows, Jesus understands, Jesus cares
The Hebrew writer continues…
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. – Hebrews 4.15
The Hebrew writer wants these early Christians who are going through a difficult time and falling away from faith to know they can hold firmly to what they believe BECAUSE Jesus ascended to Heaven and he understands our weakness!
Jesus knows what it’s like to be human. He understands our weakness. And because of that, he has compassion for us.
For many of us, when we go through something someone else has been through or is going through and we did it better, we’re often filled with judgement, not compassion, for them.
“I had to do what they did and I didn’t give up.”
“I had it worse than they did but I never did what they did (sinned).”
“Back in my day I had to walk uphill in the snow bare foot both ways but I didn’t complain, not once!”
Jesus went through everything we go through, every struggle, every difficulty, every temptation, everything… yet he didn’t sin. And having done that, he understands our weakness and he is filled with compassion, not judgement, for us.
Jesus knows, Jesus cares, Jesus understands. Because of that…
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. – Hebrews 4.16
I Need Thee Every Hour
In 1859, a young woman by the name of Annie Sherwood married Charles Hawks. By 1872, Annie was a mother of three kids. Her family belonged to the Hanson Place Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Annie writes, “One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning [in 1872]. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me — ‘I Need Thee Every Hour. . . .'”
You might recognize the words to this song…
I need thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine
can peace afford.
I need Thee every hour
Stay Thou nearby
Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh
I need Thee every hour
In joy or pain
Come quickly and abide
Or life is vain
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to thee.
Annie realized something that day in her home that some of us have come to know and others of us are still learning…
We weren’t created to be independent. Self-reliance isn’t the way we were made. This DIY world we live in was never the Divine intention for our lives.
We Receive Compassion
Whenever we need help there is Someone we can call who will help us. There is Someone we can call who cares. Jesus knows what we’re going through.
And Jesus understands our weakness. Jesus knows what it’s like to have a bad day. He understands what it feels like to be betrayed by friends. Jesus has experienced being let down by those he felt close to and loved. He’s been abandoned, forgotten, let down, and hurt.
Jesus knows what it feels like to be all alone. He knows what it’s like to have the whole world turn against you. He understands pain, loss, and grief. Jesus knows what it feels like to lose someone you love.
And he knows what it feels like to be stabbed in the back. He’s been there. Whatever you’re going through, he’s been there.
He’s been tempted and tried. He’s been beaten and bruised. He’s been spit at, whipped, tortured, and he’s even been killed.
He’s been through everything imaginable but He never sinned.
And you might think that looking at us, looking at how easily we sometimes give in to sin, how quickly we turn away from him and turn to our own devices, that he would be filled with judgement for us.
But He is not.
When He looks at you and me, Jesus is filled with love. Compassion.
In the presence of Jesus we receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it most.
Who you gonna call?
So who do you call when you need help?
May I suggest you call the same person Annie Hawks called on that day in her home?
Call on the name of Jesus.
How do you call on the name of Jesus? It’s actually an ancient spiritual practice called prayer. This is how we “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.”
We can come boldly, with confidence, because of Jesus. Because Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of God, is not just the Son of God, He is one of us. He lived on planet earth. He understands what we’re going through. Because of Jesus we can come to God in prayer in joy or pain and Jesus knows, He understands, and He will give us grace and mercy when we need it most.
The Power of Prayer
If there’s something strange
In your neighborhood
Who you gonna call?
The world around us will tell us we don’t need anyone. We can do it ourselves. We can figure it out.
But the truth is there is only ONE we can call on who understands exactly what we’re going through. There is only ONE who has the power to help us in our time of need. His name is Jesus.
And you can come to him, just as you are, in prayer.
If you need to say to Jesus, Lord, I need you. My circumstances are tough right now. What I’m going through is difficult right now. I don’t know where to turn right now. You can come to Jesus.
Jesus knows. He cares. He understands. And Jesus is full of compassion for you, for us.
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