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08.11.2009_Hebrews 10:11–25
| 08.11.2009, 20:02 | |
| Rev. Tatiana Cantarella Psalm 146; 1 Kings 11:1–6; Exodus 33:11–14 Hebrews 10:11–25 We all know a saying: "Repetition is a good teacher”. A good teacher knows that most important truths need to be repeated time and again, and spiritual truths are no exception. But repetition holds a danger as well. Our heart and mind hearing something repeatedly tends to get into an attitude "I’ve been through that before, I know it all”. Hebrews seems to recognize both the advantage and the danger of repetition. When we read our text today we initially feel that the author is just repeating again what was said in chapter 9 and before. And we tend to be inattentive. But when we look closer we see that while reminding us again about this one ultimate sacrifice of Christ, the author moves the stress from what Christ has done for us to the effects and meaning of it on our life. If we decided to interview people on the street of what they consider their main problem we would hear variety of answers. Some will say that their greatest problem is the lack of money; others, that their health is no longer as good; others, that they cannot find true love; some have serious family problems; others cannot get rid of their bad habits. Someone might even say "I’m just fine. And if anyone has some greatest problem, it’s not me”. However, if we asked that same question to Jesus or to Paul or anyone in Scriptures we would get a very different answer: the greatest human problem is sin. It is sin that presents that universal problem under which we all live; anything else is just a consequence. Whether we like to admit it or not, being human now means being sinful. We all suffer from the invisible but very deep cankers of sin that penetrate our very heart. Many years ago Jeremiah wrote: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (17:9). But you won’t find many who would admit: "my greatest problem is my sinfulness, I belong to humanity that has wondered far away from God; my greatest problem is that sin draws me more than God”. We don’t hear that often. Every day when we turn on our TVs we hear about global problems: economical crisis, war, famine, terrorism. But we never hear about the true human problem – sin that destroys our world, sin that eats us from the inside like cancer. We don’t need to have a PhD to understand that many things are wrong in this world and our lives are far from what they should be. But on the other hand, most of the people still don’t understand from what quarter the wind blows. We look for a problem somewhere outside of ourselves; we ignore the fact that our greatest enemy is within us. And what’s even worse, no one could ever solve this problem of sin. Jeremiah records God saying: "Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me." That’s why Hebrews remind us of what God decided to do for humans who didn’t even realize what their real problem was. Before God could restore us He had to help us to see that we need restoration. And how did God decide to do that? Through that vast system of sacrifices we find in the Old Testament. Each animal that was sacrificed was not a solution for a problem but a reminded of the human tragedy of sin and that sin bears deadly consequences. As Paul said, "the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Sin means death and shedding of the blood whether our own or someone else’s. That’s why sacrificial system was always a reminder that sin is a deadly cancer. Sacrifices and Old Testament laws were like a mirror that showed how filthy human face got when we tried to live independently from God. And although some people thing that they are righteous because they sacrifice and keep the rules, can you cleanse your face with the same mirror that shows how filthy it is? Neither sacrifices nor rules have any mercy or grace for even one mistake. They simply demonstrate to people the reality of their problem of sin. And the second thing that sacrificial system demonstrated was the distance that separated men from God. In the Old Testament God symbolically dwelled in the Holy of holiest. That room was separated from the rest of the temple with a curtain. Only the high priest could enter there and only once a year. Others were outside and removed from it. The curtain and the distance between God and people was a reminded that sin separated from God. We won’t fully understand what all that means until we remember that humans were created to walk side by side with God and to enjoy eternally His presence. But because of sin humans could only worship God from afar and only through a mediator. Sin brought deadly consequences and means separation from God. It was this truth that sacrificial system revealed. As if God was saying through it: "We no longer can walk side by side in the garden of Eden, because you are marred by sin; you no longer can come to me unhindered. You need a priest and you need sacrifices”. But sacrifices had a short effect. They were not designed to solve human problem. They just refreshed human awareness of sin and separation from God. They only pointed out that humans need to return to God and seek forgiveness. And the Good New of our reading today is that Christ having become a sacrifice for us and the High Priest, once and for us solved the problem of sin, having accomplished God’s purposes through "the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. Hebrews 10:11-14 says: "day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy”. That means that with His death Christ made those who believe in Him whole, perfectly suitable for relationships with God, having cleansed us from sin and opened "a new and life giving way” to God. He solved the problem of sin and bridged the distance between God and humans. We no longer need to worship Him from afar. We no longer need human priests who would bring sacrifices for us. The perfect sacrifice that cleanses us has already been offered. God forgave us. We are cleansed and that’s the Good News! God did not give up on us, didn’t allow sin to overpower us. He gave us victory over sin in Christ. We no longer separated from Him. We again can walk side by side with Him every day of our lives. And the day will come when we will see Him face to face. "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:19-25) Here are the results of what Christ has done for us! He solved our greatest and unsolvable problem – that of sin that was killing us and kept us away from God. What now? Now we are called to draw near to God with a sincere heart – to draw near to Him with a truly consecrated heart that yearns for Him. Faith begins in the heart and then penetrates all our being, thoughts and behavior. Yes, Christ died for us and solved the problem of sin, overcame the distance between us and God, made a way for us to return to God and to be in relationship with Him. But as we look into our heart what yearning do we find there? Are we responding to God’s call to draw near to him with a consecrated heart or we find desires and longing that push away God’s voice and love for Him? Where do we apply all our strength? What do we seek? Do I draw near to God like Moses who as we heard today spoke with God "face to face”, praying "teach me Your ways that I may know You and gain favor in Your eyes”. Or we are like Solomon whose heart was divided in yearning for other God and romantic love? Let us draw to Him with a sincere heart. Let us draw to him with assurance of faith, fullness of faith. In Jesus Christ we are given an incredible assurance of salvation and future. However, assurance is hard to maintain in this world full of uncertainty on all levels. The washing machine breaks. You fix it, it breaks again or the fridge or some other problem undermines your already flimsy budget for the month. People too disappoint. A friend hurts you with an unguarded remark. A spouse fails to do that errand that you had been assured would get done "today”. The boss doesn’t come through with the raise. And to make it worse, we cannot even depend fully on ourselves. The "new year’s resolution” has become a cliché joke because no one expects anyone really to follow through. In spiritual life we are still disrupted by temptation, and bad habits still rob us of true life in the Spirit. We constantly face crisis of faith. It’s so hard to live with assurance that Christ destroyed the power and consequences of sin when we time and again fall and sin in word, in thought and deed. That is why we are called to constantly draw near to God with assurance of faith since our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water – Christ has done it: cleansed, forgave and left our sin behind. And we are called to come even in our failure fixing our eyes to the One who’s done it for us. What Christ has done on the cross then continues to be effective here and now, so that not even our failures, that we confess and repent of, can separate us from God. Jesus continues to intercede for us. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Not only Jesus continues to intercede for us and to strengthen us with His Spirit in our yearning to live a life pleasing to him, but he call us to "encourage”, "to motivate”, "to spur” other another towards love and good deeds. That’s why Hebrews warns us not to "give up meeting together” as some are doing. There is a danger waiting for those who think that they can be Christians on their own, just through their individual relationships with God and personal prayer today as for first Christians. In those days some stayed away from common meeting most likely in order not to draw attention of their enemies to their belonging to Church, to avoid confrontation. But by doing so they put their faith in greater danger. Hebrews’ author is convinces no Christian will be able to resist uncertainty, temptation and failure on their own, they need a community. In our days people stay away from church gatherings for all kinds of reasons: from persecution to trivial laziness. I once saw a picture of a sign in from of one church that said: "Still in bed on Sunday morning? Shouting "Oh, God!”? That still doesn’t make you a Christian”. ☺ And the point is not for everyone to attend every event at the church, neither in how many hours you’ve sat there but whether the purpose of those gatherings is being accomplished in your life: mutual encouragement, spurring towards love and good deeds and at times correction. We need to come together, not because it’s a law that a Christian should follow but in order to remind each other that Christ has dealt with our greatest problem and it is wiser to be where He is. We need to meet together so that when one of us looses assurance of really having been forgiven, others can remind them to look back to that dark Friday in Jerusalem which brought light. Then we can thank God together for what was done for us fully and eternally. The time Jesus spoke most strikingly about the "new covenant” through which sins would be forgiven by the shedding of His blood was of course at the final meal he shared with his disciple, the "last supper” which he commanded his followers to repeat "in remembrance of Me”. The Lord’s Supper became one of such opportunities to remind each other and to thank God for being alive through what Christ has done for us, for new chance to walk side by side with God despite our failures. That’s why one of the names for Lord’s Supper is Eucharist which means "giving thanks”. Only together we can respond properly to what God has given us in Christ; to respond with thanks and commitment. As God has given us the best He had, we need to offer Him the best we have. We need to come to Him and live every day in His presence. We need to draw near to Him day after day, week after week and to bring him our sincere worship. God paid a high price for us forgiveness, dealt with our problem of sin but His promise in us will be truly only if we belong to Him eternally. Christ opened the way for us to the Father and therefore; let us draw near to God, love Him with all of our heart. Let us serve Him with all of our strength and worship Him with all of our soul. Let us live for Him who died for us. Let us tell the world and remind each other time and again that while sin is real and strong, we know the God who holds the victory. | |
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