A Sermon

I.N.I.

a sermon to be preached at Christ Episcopal Church, Accokeek, Maryland on 15 November 2015, that is, the 25th Sunday after Pentecost and the Third Sunday of End Time (Proper 28 [33]), and based on the Epistle for the day, Hebrews 10:11-25

Grace, mercy and peace be your in Chris Jesus, our Lord.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Most of us want to live fully-rounded lives in which we are surrounded by family and friends, able to work satisfying work, followed by resting comfortably as we relax and refresh ourselves with good, healthy food in safe and secure surroundings. I'd even say that most people in the world want the same sort of thing for themselves. While the definitions of "safe," "healthy," "relax," "satisfying," and "work" variy from one person to the next, it makes sense that everyone at least wants things in life to be okay, and would really like things to be better than okay.

And lots of people are willing to make great sacrifices so that they can enjoy that kind of life. Or so that their children can enjoy that "better than okay" kind of life. Maybe you or people in your family made great sacrifices so that others could go to college. Maybe you sacrificed a successful career in order to stay at home while your children were little. Maybe you can identify with refugees around the world who sacrifice everything but the clothes on their backs in order to get to a country where they'll be safe, secure, and free. People often give up a lot, sacrifice things, for a greater good, or to achieve something of value. Which brings us to today's Scriptures.

Our Old Testament ancestors, when they were doing their religion right, sacrificed a lot. It would be an instructive exercise to read slowly through the first 5 books of the Old Testament and write down how many and what kind of sacrifices are written about there. All kinds of domesticated livestock were to be offered up at various times for various reasons. There were also offerings of grain, and olive oil, and even salt. It was an ancient system that traces back at least to Genesis 4, where both Cain and Abel - the sons of Adam and Eve - offer to God some of the fruits of their agricultural labors. Much later -- and after many other sacrifices you can read about -- the Lord standardized the system in the laws given to the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt.

It is these latter sacrifices, the system of daily sacrifices and sin offerings and all the rest that were made first in the Tabernacle (during the Exodus and earliest years in the Promised Land), and then made in the Temple in Jerusalem (during the years the people of God were not in exile and the years the Temple was not destroyed) -- it is these sacrifices that the writer to the Hebrews is referring to at the beginning of today's Epistle: "Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices..." (Heb 10:11).

I have trouble imagining what that must have been like. The noise. The smells. The crowds. The blood. The confusion. I think I would have had difficulty obtaining a sense of worship there – maybe if I had grown up in that system it would have been comfortable, but I didn't. I would have gotten a sense of relief out of it ... after I had left. And that was really the point of the sacrificial system: to be an offer of forgiveness and relief and peace to the faithful, penitent person coming to God with an offering of the finest animal they had ... leaving it there at the altar to be killed and then burnt up, wholly consumed by the fire til nothing was left.

And the priests, we are told here in Hebrews, stood there day after day repeating the same sacrifices over and over again, sacrifices which -- we are also told in the rest of verse 11 -- "can never take away sins." That thought must have struck at least some of the priests and people, as if they said “Here we are again; making the same offering, the same sacrifice; maybe this time it will be enough, maybe this time the Lord will be satisfied, maybe this time my heart will come away at peace.” But, no, that wasn't to happen. The next day the priests were back on duty; the animals were lined up again; the knives were sharpened; the fires stoked; the prayers said and rituals performed; and the sacrifices started up again. If it wasn't that the Law commanded that they were to do these things, certainly many would have come to the conclusion that these sacrifices "can never take away sins."

And then into this world came Jesus.

Our Gospel reading from Mark 13 shows Him and some of the disciples at this same Temple. In Mark 12 He had been with them inside the Temple teaching, discussing, disputing. Then right before our lesson "He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury" the rich making an offering of large sums and the poor widow putting in her two small copper coins. After pointing that out to His disciples, they left the Temple complex.

As they walked out, one of the disciples -- we don't know which one, but he was showing his country roots -- marveled out loud like a tourist "Look Teacher! What large stones and what large buildings!" (Mark 13:1) If there had been an Internet back then, he would have had pictures on Facebook or Instagram or something as soon as he could get a connection. Jesus's response was both loving and understanding and unsettling all at once: "You see these big buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another...." (Mark 13:2)

The brighter disciples were set to thinking what that meant. No stones piled up meant no buildings. No buildings meant no Temple. No Temple meant no place to offer sacrifices. No sacrifices meant . . . well, what did it mean? It would have meant that the sacrificial system was coming to an stop, that either they were a dead end, or maybe that they'd finally be enough.

But God had a surprise. If the disciples had been really listening to Jesus, especially in the previous weeks and months, then they would perhaps have understood what the surprise was. Yes, the Temple was going to be destroyed and the endless sacrifices brought to an end (that was going to happen about 40 years later). But, no, it wasn't because those animal sacrifices burnt on the altar had finally been enough. Before the Temple destruction came to pass, the writer to the Hebrews explained what really happened. He wrote "but He [Jesus], having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God ... For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (Heb 10:12, 14). For the time being, the priests still stood day after day at the altar because their work was never-ending; while Jesus was sitting down at the right hand of God, His work done.

The endless sacrifices of animals were coming to an end because the one sacrifice of Jesus finally took away all sins for all time.

Which means that believers here in Accokeek and around the world can rejoice. God doesn't want us sacrificing animals day after day. God's justice isn't still waiting to be satisfied for the sins that you and I commit day after day. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if He got annoyed at the way we so often try to fall back on a sacrificial system as if it would do us some good.)

Maybe it's not the bloody animal sacrifices again. And it probably isn't the sacrifices that parents make so their children can go to college, or the sacrifices refugees make to escape persecution and death in their homelands. But I'm pretty sure all of us - at least from time to time - start to feel as if something else we do or say or give up will maybe somehow, even just a little, show the Lord how good we are, or how worthy we are, or how much we ought to get some blessing from Him. Our Scriptures for today tell us that that system of trying to please God just doesn't cut it. The priests stand there day after day, because that job was literally an endless one. Jesus was sitting down because His one sacrifice of Himself was over and done, good for all time and all people.

Now if you still want to DO something -- and out of your thankfulness and gratefulness to God for His forgiveness that now yours in the wake of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, you DO want to do something -- keep reading the lesson in Hebrews for guidance.

"Therefore" he writes in verse 19, as a result of what I just told you and growing out of the new life you have in Jesus, "Therefore ... since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God..." (Heb 10:19-21), because of all this, let's do some things in response. The normal Christian life, in other words, isn't one where we try to be good enough for God, worried about how and whether we measure up, scared of upsetting an angry old God in Heaven. That was all taken care of by the sacrificial death of the perfect Son of God on the cross. The normal Christian life is the life of forgiven children who have confidence to enter the holy place. And in that confidence, let us ... well, there are a few things listed here in Hebrews 10 that I want us to go through slowly enough to really hear them.

First, "let us draw near [to God] with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (10:22) Cleansed inside and out, fully believing in what God has done for us, our old evil consciences sanitized and made whole again, assured by faith that God really means what He said about forgiving us, let us draw near. He's still God. He's still king of the universe. He's still our perfect and eternal father. But we don't have any reason to draw back from Him. So let's you and me draw near. Let's come to Him. Let's come meet Him in the Sacrament. Let's hear what He has to say in His Word. Let's find God in all things, big and small. The earth is full of the glory of God, and finding Him in it is a treasure hunt, a joyful joy-bringing way to spend our time wherever we are.

Second, "let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful." (10:23) We regularly make confession of our faith using the words of the Creeds. And in those creeds we express our belief in things like the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body, things that we hope for, that we have a deep and sure expectation and desire that they will happen. Why in the world can we be so certain that something as outrageous as the resurrection of our bodies will actually happen? Because He -- that is, Jesus -- has promised us it'll happen. He then rose from the dead Himself, becoming what we call the firstfruits of the resurrection. That makes it certain. That makes it sure. That makes it absolutely bound to happen. So let's you and me hold tight to the confession of our hope. Let's talk about it amongst ourselves. Let's even share that hope with others.

Third, "let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds." (10:24) Here, maybe for some, things get a little trickier because this involves other people. I mean, I can draw near to God in a little prayer closet, and I can hold fast the confession of the hope in me without moving a muscle. But to start stimulating others to love and good deeds necessarily involves other people. And what if other people start stimulating me to love and good deeds! Well, this IS a communion of saints we're in si it's bound to happen. The real problem, however, is that we might set out stimulating people to do the stuff that we don't want to do ourselves off onto someone else by calling them 'good deeds'. Or we might try to stir up guilt in order to get someone to do these things rather than stirring up love. If our relationships are not the fruit of freedom, then they probably aren't the fruit of love. Yet we can point out to others opportunities to do good deeds when we see something that needs doing and that matches their talents. We can express our love of others by telling them how much we appreciate their gifts and talents. So let's do all we can to stimulate others to love and good deeds.

Fourth, let us "not forsake our own assembling together" (10:25a) This, well, this this morning it's kind of 'preaching to the choir,' isn't it? Because you're all here. And most of us are here most every week unless we're sick or out of town. We do assemble together. So perhaps we can take this as an admonition to find ways to get other people to assemble with us in order to "pray, praise, and give thanks." We can also view this as one of the ways in which we can carry out the third imperative to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Being together, especially for services of worship, to receive the Eucharist, to hear and learn God's Word ... these are deep ways in which we stimulate others to good works, to works done in and from love. So let's you and me not forsake assembling together.

Fifth, let us "encourage one another" (10:25b) This life of drawing near to God, of holding tightly to our confession of hope, of stimulating one another to love and good deeds, this new life in Christ will and does attract opposition. Speaking plainly, Satan doesn't want us to do any of this. So he throws up opposition and roadblocks, and tries everything he can to pull us off the path we are on. Not a one of us is immune. Which means that every one of us is in need of encouragement from time to time. So let's you and me prime ourselves to be in the habit of encouragement, especially of others in the family of faith.

These five imperatives can only make sense to us growing out of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus. If ever we are or were stuck in the old way, the pre-Jesus way, of doing things and if we are or were focused mostly on trying to sacrifice our way into God's good graces, well, we'd find that the old never-ending loop just wouldn't let us get to the point of living the Gospel life of these imperatives.

But remember this: Jesus "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time ... [and] by [that] one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (10:11,13). WE are sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. WE are washed clean by the pure water of Baptism. Because of God's gracious and loving acts, WE are able to draw near. WE can hold fast the confession of our hope for the resurrection. WE can stimulate each other to love and good deeds.

Our God is so good to us.

Amen

May the peace of God which passes all human understanding keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

S.D.G.