Hebrews summons us into the world of God’s promise to Abraham— a promise to bring all humanity into the sacred space of his kingdom. It announces the fulfillment of God’s will to incorporate all the cosmos into the sphere of his own holiness. As a people on a pilgrimage into God’s kingdom, we are called to invest our lives, including our work lives, in the cosmos whose architect and builder is God. The book of Hebrews exhorts us to be content with what God provides and to work for peace (shalom) and holiness for all. We are to gladly suffer the loss of honor and possessions for the joy that lies ahead of us. In this journey, we are supplied, emboldened, and encouraged by God’s Son, the true priest whose self-sacrifice opens a way for the world to be purified and restored to what God intended from the beginning. Even in the midst of our suffering, thanksgiving is our basic attitude and wellspring of perseverance. Christ calls us to make the values of his kingdom known within the economic, social, and political structures of a fallen world.

This requires escaping the trap of living for money. What we do, and what we refrain from doing, are both predicated on these values. We have one work, whatever our occupation, and one ambition—to “do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever” (Heb. 13:21).