ROSLIN-THOMASBURG PASTORAL CHARGE
November 1, 2015: Twenty-sixth after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday
Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34
Hebrews 11:11, 12 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. NLT
Prayer: Creator of all that is, work in us and trough us that we might understand where your whispers want to lead us as we consider your message found in Hebrews 11. Amen
Growing up, I had a love-hate relationship with sports. I loved playing them but I hated my inability to play them well. One of the sports I really liked to play was baseball. Whether at school, in a vacant lot or on our side street or even on a ball diamond, whether a pick-up game or as part of a league, I was almost always willing to join in.
I guess my greatest weakness in baseball was inconsistency. Sometimes I played really well and sometimes I played very badly. And as it turned out, I seemed to play the worst when my team needed me to play my best. However, I did have my moments.
I am sure you have all seen sportscasts which featured a player making one of those incredible catches where they hurl themselves, with glove outstretched, either to the ground or into a wall. Well, I had some of those same moves but unlike the reaction of the fans in those clips, most often my teammates’ reactions were far less enthusiastic. Mind you, their response probably would have been very different if my ball park gymnastics had been intentional and located somewhere near where the ball was heading.
For many of us, the message of the passage we just read is not something we get enthused about either.
Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians, not gentile ones. We do not understand the imagery the writer is using, that of the High Priest and sacrifices, because we are gentiles and we are 2000 years removed from temple worship.
As Christians we carry with us the assumption that Jesus completes the Law given to Moses and so there is no need to bother ourselves trying to understand the sacrificial system. Going through a theological education taught me that I didn’t need to know Greek and Hebrew to study the Bible but those tools gave me such a deeper understanding. In the same way, getting a handle on the sacrificial system can really open our understanding of the both the Letter to the Hebrews and our Christian faith.
For many of us, when we hear of blood sacrifices, our minds default to seeing death, blood and gore. To us, any form of worship that involves the slaying of animals seems far more like a horror movie, in the same way that younger people connect organ music to horror films, not the divine. They were not introduced to organ music through church services and we were not introduced to blood sacrifices in the context of worship. What we see is repulsive, but the Hebrews saw blood sacrifices as life giving, not life taking. It’s a matter of perspective.
Let’s say we are at the final game of the 2015 World Series. It’s the third inning. The pitch is thrown; the batter swings and hits the ball. The short-stop catches the ball after it hits the ground and throws to first before the batter can reach it. The batter is out. The batter is disappointed, the players and fans are disappointed and the possibility of a run is dead.
Now, it’s the bottom of the ninth inning. The score is tied. There is one out. A runner is on first and another on third. The batter comes to the plate and the third base coach seems to suddenly develop a very serious aliment. He starts tapping and rubbing his arms, his head and the brim of his cap and then just as suddenly stops. The pitcher determines the medical emergency is past and throws. The batter does as he was instructed and does it perfectly. The bunt forces the play to first base and the batter is out. The fans cheer, the players are jubilant, the game is over. They have won. Because the batter had sacrificed himself, his team mate on third made it across home plate. Forever and eternity, that team will be known as the 2015 world champions. They can play terribly next year. They can all die on the way back to their home city. It makes no difference. They can now rest knowing they are winners.
The Children of Israel had entered a covenant relationship with God that was conditional. God will be their God so long as they conduct themselves accordingly. When they, as a nation brake even so much as one of God’s rules, God’s contract is broken with the nation. When they, as individuals, brake so much as one of God’s rules, God’s personal covenant with them is broken. Offering a sacrifice isn’t to appease the wrath of an angry god. It isn’t punishment for their crime. In fact, it is the only way to avoid the punishment that is deserved. It is the prescribed method of restoring that covenant, that relationship with God. Why, because the consequences of sin is death and because life is in the blood. When a sacrifice is made, life is restored, not taken. The shedding of blood removes guilt – the reality of doing wrong – and shame – the realization of doing wrong. But this only applies to sins committed before the sacrifice. Another sin requires another sacrifice.
The writer of Hebrews argues in Chapter 11 that Christ in his role as High Priest entered, not an earthly sanctuary made by the hands of human beings but rather a heavenly sanctuary made by God. Christ offered his own blood, not the blood of animals and thus Christ obtained for us a restored relationship with God that is far from temporary. Forever and eternally, the game is won.
Baseball is the only professional sport that I know of that is so concerned with the cardio-vascular condition of its fans that it schedules a break from the intense action on the playing field. At the end of the seventh inning fans are given an opportunity to stretch and perhaps yawn.
As human beings, we need to have a sense of safety, security and significance in order to be emotionally healthy. What Christ accomplished and the cost of doing so, tells us that in God’s eyes we are very important, guarantees us that no matter what we face in our lives here on earth, we are safe in God’s arms and that we do not have to wonder what will happen to us when this life is over. Although we are not worthy, although we all sin, that is turn our backs to God and do what we want, although all our human struggling to be good enough will fall far short, when this life comes to an end, we will be found in the presence of God. Because we are safe, secure and significant, we can live our lives without fear, we can love without fear and we can give without fear. Gone is our guilt and shame. Gone are all the barriers we place between ourselves and God. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are winners forever.