MPC 21st January 2007.January 21 - Hebrews 10:1-18 "Summer Studies 4: A Biblical Theology of Sacrifice"
Phil Campbell MPC 21st January 2007.
I was looking around down at Brookside the other day when I spotted a great new product. Well… I don't know that it's great… because I haven't tried it yet. But it's a product with a great pedigree. With a thousand and one uses. In a neat new pack.
It's the WD-40 pen. And really, it just proves there's nothing WD-40 can't do. It can start your car if you've got a wet ignition. It can lubricate your rusty hinges. In fact, I knew an old farmer who sprayed it on his knees because he said it fixed his arthritis.
But here's something you probably didn't know. And that is, WD-40 in it's handy pen pack is perfect for cleaning hard to remove stains. Like for example, crayon marks on your walls. A dab with the pen. A wipe with a soft cloth. And it's gone. Or for cleaning off annoying stickers. A quick dab. And off it comes. Complete with sticky gunk.
Now I'm not being paid for this commercial. And I can't actually guarantee that it works. But from looking at the pack down at Drakes Supermarket which used to be IGA which used to be Action which before that was Franklins, the WD-40 pen looks very promising indeed. If you've got some tricky cleaning to do.
One thing it doesn't promise to clean though, is a guilty conscience. Which is far harder. Shakespeare's Lady McBeth is a famous example. Haunted by guilt for her part in killing the king. Sleepwalking as she wrings her hand, trying to get rid of the bloodstains. Which no-one can see but her. The stains she wants to get rid of are on her conscience. Not on her hands. And there's nothing she can do to remove them. Not even a WD-40 pen.
Well, I wonder how it is with your conscience? And I wonder if you've ever thought through what the bible says about how to be clean… before God.
We're nearly at the end of our series called Summer Studies. Where we're asking the question how does the bible really work? We're learning a method called Biblical Theology. That approached the Old Testament… as a long unwinding story that leads us to Jesus. And we've seen already some interesting issues. All of which in the end come down to this same issue. How do you approach God? On his terms? Clean?
We've looked at a Biblical Theology of the temple. God's place. And asked the question, why don't we have temples today?
And a Biblical Theology of priesthood. Where we've asked why don't we have a priesthood today? And this morning, a biblical theology of sacrifice. Which will leave us with a similar question.
Because it's perplexing. There are actually some things when you open your bible that it seems like at that point the bible is telling you to do. That we Christians don't ever do at all. And in fact, should never do. Like the regulations spelled out in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The third book of the bible. And so we need to get a handle on how you're meant to read and understand the bible. Particularly, this morning, when it comes to the issue of cleaning up the stains of sin.
If you've got a bible open, you'll see back across the page that Exodus ends with the setting up of the tabernacle. Israel's portable tent temple. And then on to Leviticus. Instructions for the temple workers. On the sin offerings and sacrifices that are required by a holy God. Leviticus 1. Verse 1 to 5:
The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. He said, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of meeting.'"
Do you notice there, when you want to make atonement, when you want to somehow make up for your sins, then you've got to bring your offering to the tabernacle; an animal from your herds. And make sure when you do it's a male without defect. When you bring your offering, lay your hand on its head. And then you kill it, as a sacrifice; and God accepts it; and your sacrifice takes the punishment due to you.
And the rest of Leviticus goes on in a similar way. In almost infinite detail. If you can't afford a bull, bring a lamb. If you can't afford a lamb, bring a pair of pigeons. If you've sinned this way, bring this. If you've sinned that way, bring that. Page after page. Very messy instructions, on how to clean up the stains of your sin.
And if you pause for a moment and imagine yourself as an Israelite three thousand years ago, I'm sure you'd get the point. I mean, your prize bull calf that's been jumping around the paddock, that you've hand reared; you tie the rope round its neck and you lead it to the temple; and as you think about your sinfulness, as you think about the times you've failed to honour your God, as you think about your troubled conscience… you lay your hands on its head. And symbolically transfer the guilt. And then kill it. And it's over. It's a powerful image.
So again, the question is, why aren't we doing the same thing today? I mean, look around. There's no blood on the floor. There are no meat hooks. There are no lamb shanks or sides of beef. Except when we're having a barbecue, church is a meat free zone.
And yet for Israel, sacrificing animals was what church was all about. And at the temple, day after day after day, that's what happened. And it happened because God told them to. In precise detail. Over, and over and over again.
Well, if you've been here the last few weeks you might be getting used to the thought that it's a bad idea to try to take slices out of the Old Testament and apply them directly to us… before you move along the timeline and trace out what happens next.
Because the key principle of biblical theology is that you read the Bible as an unfolding narrative. As an ongoing story that's heading somewhere.
And the ongoing story of Israel's sacrificial system is a disaster.
I mean, they've got their temple. They've got their priests. They've got their rules for what to sacrifice when. But there's an ongoing problem. And it's a problem with their hearts.
See, what's the point of a system of sacrifices for the forgiveness of your sins if you're not really interested in being forgiven in the first place? What's the point of going through the motions of making your sacrifices and burnt offerings if your heart's not in it?
Which is something that a few hundred years later Israel's King David writes about in a song. It's Psalm 51. Where David is rejoicing in God's mercy. That God is a God who'll blot out his transgressions. That God is a God who's prepared to Liquid Paper® over the list of his sins. Who'll take the WD-40 pen and wipe of the red crayon record of his wrongs. But David says, you know, it's not the sacrifices that God's really interested in. It's the heart.
Have a look at his words. Psalm 51. Verse 16. And for the average Israelite, this is something of a surprise. Because they seem to think just going through the motions is enough.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
True remorse. A humble heart. David says, those things are worth more than all the burnt offerings in the world. And it's those things… that Israel is most lacking.
In fact, in the end, by the end of the Old Testament, the whole thing's turned into a sham. And instead of bringing their best animals, instead of bringing their spotless unblemished animals for the sacrifice, the Israelites are bringing their sickliest and worst. Which is unbelievable.
You can see it in Malachi chapter 1. The final book of the Old Testament. The sacrificial system is badly broken. Because of the hearts of the people.
Here's what God says to them. Malachi 1:10.
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands…" "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the Lord. "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations."
And yet they don't fear God at all. And they're not contrite about their sins in the slightest. Not really interested in the question of how to be clean before God. Because matters of conscience and justice and integrity and compassion don't really seem to interest them at all.
The cogs of Israel's religion are turning just fine. But you know what? God says to they might as well close down. Shut the doors. Give up the play-acting. Because they're just offending him over and over again.
The problem was, they just had no idea. No idea of the holiness of God. And most of all, they had no idea of the real cost of dealing with sin.
Which you don't really understand until you turn the page and find yourself in the pages of the New Testament. And you catch a glimpse of Jesus. Who we're going to see is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
If you're not particularly familiar with the Bible and you're visiting this morning, I want to apologise. Because it's like we're flicking through it at a thousand miles an hour.
But we're nearly there. And I want to just dip in very quickly in the gospel of John in the New Testament, to see the words of John the Baptist. In John chapter 1. The words of John the Baptist, when he first comes face to face with Jesus.
And his point is, what Israel's failed to do, God's going to do for them. The never ending sacrifices for sin that Israel can't really be bothered with; God's going to make for them. In an incredible way. And John the Baptist knows it from the start.
Look at his words. The very first time he sees Jesus. He says, John 1:29:
Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
In fact, a spotless lamb. Without sin. Who gave himself as a sacrifice. Once and for all. Here's how the disciple Peter puts it in 1 Peter chapter 1:18:
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Here's how it used to work. You'd pick out the spotless animal from your herd. And that animal took on the guilt of your sin and died in your place. And symbolically, you were spotless and clean.
Well, Peter says, all that's replaced. All that is superseded. By the spotless lamb of God. Jesus Christ. Who took on himself the sins of the world at the cross. And died. As a sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
One more stop-off point. Before we conclude.
And that's in Hebrews. The passage we read at the beginning. Hebrews 10, verses 1 to 18. Because Hebrews is the place more than any other in the New Testament where all these ideas come together.
I remember when we had the painter around to look at our house and give a quote. He looked at one section and he shook his head. He said, that's old oil based paint that you just can't paint over. He said, it'll look okay for a while. But before long, the old colour just starts to seep through the new paint. And you'll see it again. And he said, you'd either have to keep painting over and over it for ever. Or I'll have to get in and sand it right off to the bare boards.
Some stains… are harder to remove than you think. You might think they're gone. But you have to come back to them again and again and again. And it's interesting when you think about the old sacrificial system… you could actually tell that it didn't really work. By the fact they had to keep doing it over.
And so day after day, week after week, year after year, there'd be sacrifices at the temple. One long non-stop abattoir.
Which means it didn't really work, did it? It never really took the underlying guilt away. And it couldn't. Which is what it says in verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 10. The Old Testament law of Moses said to do it. And the priests did it. Day after day. But verse 1 in chapter 10 says those laws and regulations were only ever a shadow. And never the reality. And so the things that Israel was told to do in the Old Testament, the sacrifices and the priests and the temple… they've been replaced by a better way. Which is why it's always important when you're reading the Old Testament to keep reading. Until you get to the better way. Look what it says:
For this reason [the law] can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleaned once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
I mean, do you really think going into a tent with some blood from a bull can fix a conscience? You think a ritual can undo a wrong? Can it unlose a virginity in a one night stand? Can it untell a lie? Can it uncheat a marriage partner? Can Lady McBeth unkill a king? What's done is done. Except the amazing news is that in the death of Jesus Christ, there really is a sacrifice that can clean you right to the heart. Once and for all.
And it's over. And it's finished. And it's never to be repeated. Same chapter… verse 18:
Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Which means, you see, you've got to be all the more careful. And being a Christian who wants to honour God's Word, there's actually more to it… than just opening up the Bible at random and applying it directly to yourself. The Israelites were told to bring the best animal from their flock to sacrifice for their sins. And we Christians are specifically told not to. Because it's over. Done. And finished. At the exact point where Jesus says the words it is finished on the cross. Problem solved. Guilt dissolved. Clean consciences readily available. By his death. For you. Don't bring your animal. Just put your trust in Jesus.
If you've got conscience problems of your own, I hope you've been listening. Because the new WD-40 pen might be good for crayon stains. But it's no good for sin. And neither is trying hard to be good, or punishing yourself in all sorts of subtle ways that maybe nobody else notices.
And there's no more priest involved. Other than Jesus himself. And there's no earthly temple involved. And there's no more sacrifice involved. Just a faithful and a humble and a sorry heart on your part. (That bit hasn't changed a bit.) And the one final completed sacrifice from the perfect lamb of God.
When it comes to understanding Biblical Theology, I reckon this is the easy one. We've covered Priests. We've covered Temples. We've covered sacrifice. And we've seen how Jesus radically transforms them all. Next week it's the more contentious subject of worship. Which draws all the threads together. As we think through what it means for Christians today to worship God with proper reverence and awe. I hope you can be here.