How has the journey through Hebrews been?

What has stood out to you?

In these last two chapters of Hebrews, we see many specific sins that “so easily entangle.”

That beautiful word picture of throwing off everything that might slow us down or trip us up comes from the first few verses of chapter 12, and the rest of 12 and 13 go at sort of a breakneck speed to list all kinds of things that we might need to throw off.

Today, we’re looking at 12:15, and combining it with Ephesians 4:31 and 32. Bitterness is the thing we are to throw off. “See to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

After the carefully developed arguments in the first 11 chapters, full of rhetorical flourish and precise reasoning, these simple lists of things to not do are a little surprising.

It seems that the author is quickly reminding these people of things that they have been told before. There’s no need for carefully explaining; it’s just time for a simple reminder of things that have been talked about before.

At first that bugged me a little bit, because I would have liked a little bit more to go on, a little bit more to talk about than a simple sentence about not letting a bitter root grow up.

But, I realized that maybe this fits us pretty well. Maybe today is a day for a simple reminder of things we’ve talked about before, a day for examining our lives for things we know cause problems, but we’ve let grow up anyway.

Bitterness is a powerful emotion that can grow very strong, while still remaining hidden in our lives.

Bitterness comes when we let pain and hurt fester until it grows roots in our soul and takes over, blocking out the other fruit that wants to grow.

Hebrews 12:15 is just one sentence, but the phrase “bitter root” speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

This week we’ve been building a little fence around our garden.

Most of it was between our garden and the grass, which was easy enough to build. It wasn’t hard to dig the holes for the posts and get them set into place.

But on each end, I had to get a post in next to the barbwire fence that is between our yard and our neighbor’s. And all along that barbwire fence, blackberry bushes grow.

Just a couple of months ago, when we first started preparing the garden in the spring, those blackberry bushes were nicely contained on the other side of the barbwire. Last fall, Elaine had cut off all the straggly vines that had come on our side of the fence, and it still looked good just weeks ago.

But you know what blackberries are like. Those scraggly vines she cut last fall had done their work. Every time they touch the ground, they send out roots. So even when you cut all the visible vines, those roots have stretched their reach over the barbwire now.

When I went to set the posts next to the fence, I had two feet of blackberries to cut through on our side of the barbwire.

My arms still have a few scratches to prove it.

Each one of those roots had exploded with prickly vines. And each of those vines was spreading the net even farther, touching the ground to start even more root systems, extending the reach of these blackberries almost while you watch.

You can cut and cut the blackberry vines–and we will!–but those roots have a foothold in our yard now, and they will keep growing and spreading their scratchy, prickly vines in incredibly prolific fashion.

I thought of this verse in Hebrews as I was reclaiming our yard from this sprawling blackberry bush.

We have points in our lives like a few months ago in our yard…points in our lives where on the surface, things look ok. But beneath the surface, a bitter root has taken hold.

Just a little bit of time goes by, and almost before we know it, prickly vines have shot out of that bitter root and overtaken us.

We catch ourselves replaying in our minds over and over again the hurtful words our boss said to us, and plotting our revenge. We lay in bed categorizing lists of our spouse’s offenses. We brood over perceived slights and insults from friends, and we cry over wrongs that have been done to us.

Those hurts, if we don’t do something with them, touch ground in our heart and start a new root system, waiting to explode.

If any of you have found a way to get through life without experiencing hurt, than I hope you will write a book about it and make millions as the rest of us buy it.

The sad reality is that life on this planet, living as broken people among broken people, means we will get hurt, over and over again.

Some of those hurts are small enough to brush off, and don’t take root at all. But some cause enough pain to establish a foothold. Then it can get easier and easier for hurts to add up and build up, rather than getting brushed off. The root of bitterness has taken hold.

I think bitterness is a lot easier to see in others than it is in ourselves. We often need to ask God or good friends to point out where we are holding on to past hurts and letting them root into our soul, choking out other fruit.

The bible is pretty clear about the best “pesticide” for destroying the root of bitterness.

One of the places it’s found is in Ephesians, the passage that we read earlier.

“Get rid of all bitterness…and be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Releasing the debt others owe you for the hurt they have done to you is the antidote to bitterness. Revenge or hurting back is only a short term clipping of the vines. It looks better for awhile, but the roots just send up more vines.

Forgiveness is what goes deep, and kills the root of bitterness. God’s forgiveness of us in Christ is an example and inspiration for us to forgive others…but more than that, the power of God’s Holy Spirit in us actually enables us to find strength to forgive, to release, to let go of the debt others have to us because of their actions.

What past hurts do you have that still have power to hurt you?

What wounds are you brooding over, where is bitterness creeping in, where is your brain making you think that by holding on to your anger and pain, you are getting back at that person who hurt you?

Forgiveness, not punishment or vengeance, is the way to release yourself from being continually hurt. Forgiveness releases you from the powerful brooding that can lead to a life of bitterness.

How can that be? How can letting someone off the hook for the wrong they did to me be good for me? The sad truth is, justice does not always come in this life. It’s not a perfect world. People do evil to others, and they sometimes get away with it. If we cannot rest until the person who did us wrong is made to pay for what they have done, then our rest and happiness is not in our control. It is completely in the control of the one who did us wrong.

The hard work of forgiveness allows us to release the need to make someone pay and not be consumed by the hurt in our lives. The hard work of forgiveness, I believe, works best as we experience God’s forgiveness of us through Jesus Christ.

All I’m really doing today is reminding us of things we have heard before.

But I believe that Jesus is present. I believe that he can help us examine our lives, and point out the places where the roots have gained a foothold, where bitterness is consuming us.

In our open worship today, will you take time to take a close look at your heart? Maybe it’s time to sort of walk the fence line, going over those boundary places where you think you’ve got things under control.

Do some people or experiences come to mind? Is there something or someone that you think you’ve dealt with in the past, but now when you think about it, those blackberry vines have taken over quite a bit of ground from the last time you took a look?

As those things come to mind, speak them in prayer to Jesus. Thank God that he forgave you, and ask him to give his Holy Spirit to help you forgive the one who has wronged you. Ask for the power of forgiveness to release the hurt that is festering, and destroy the root of bitterness that can hurt you and hurt our community.

One last thing before our time of open worship.

You may have significant things come up today, that aren’t easy for you to deal with, that feel to overwhelming for a simple prayer in the quiet of a service.

Our prayer room is always open with people who will pray with you. If you would like to pray at the altar, there are always people ready and willing to pray with you here.

I also want to encourage you to speak to a friend you trust, or to speak to one of our pastors if the root you’ve uncovered is too big to handle on your own. We want to help each other get the help that we need.