An Altogether Commitment

An Altogether Commitment Hebrews 10:11-18 Even though Christmas day has come and gone, all of us have our favorite Christmas movies. I remember as a kid watching Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's where Rudolph goes on a trip with two companions: Hermey the elf who wanted to become a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, that ol' wild-eyed explorer. In that story, they find themselves in a place called The Island Of Misfit Toys. It was an island filled with poor, rejected toys that nobody wanted because there was something wrong with them. Banished and shunned, never to be chosen or loved, these misfit toys included a pistol that squirted jelly, an elephant covered in spots, a train with square wheels, and a doll with low self-esteem. I believe that scene in Rudolph was intended to teach children about empathy and compassion. It was a lesson about not judging others for their shortcomings because, in fact, we all have them. Now I didn't know this, but when Rudolph first aired in 1964, the toys were left on the island and never rescued. This ending made thousands of people mad, and the show received thousands of angry letters because the children were upset that the toys were left there and forgotten. So, the following year, in 1965, they added a scene. At the end of the show, Rudolph and Santa fly down and descend on that misfit island. They scoop up the toys, load them in his sleigh, and give them to boys and girls around the world. That year, the gift of love and compassion was delivered. Throughout this past Advent season, every week we've discovered just how misfit our human condition really is. God created us to be a people of peace, hope, love, and joy, but we are imperfect people because of our sin. And if you're honest with yourself, we're all just a bunch of misfit toys. Try as we may not to admit it, we spend time and effort hoping to fool other people into thinking we're better than we really are. But you and I know that deep down inside, we all have our own hang-ups, heartaches, and habits. Maybe you remember broken relationships, can't escape a shameful past, suffer from guilt, have a secret sin, or spend nights lying awake worrying about the future. There are times when all of us look back and wonder why we strayed from the life we wanted to live. If only someone could come and rewrite the script for us and add a scene. To do something that we cannot do ourselves, such as scooping us up and showing us unconditional love. Well, Good News, that is the meaning of Christmas! God came to us so your story can have a new ending, one filled with hope and the promise of new life. There is just one thing you need to do: you must agree to come aboard. The only thing those misfit toys had to do was jump aboard Santa's sleigh for a journey that would change their lives forever. And according to John Wesley, that needs to be our response when it comes to Jesus: we must agree to follow and commit our lives to Him. Day after day, those misfit toys did what they could, but it was never good enough because they could never free themselves from that island. And that's where our Scripture begins. Verse 11 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." Every day was the same-the same religious duties and sacrifices. The priests could never free themselves, or the people, from being stuck as misfits because every time a sin was committed, a sacrifice had to be made. The priest, just like the misfit toys, could do nothing to change their position or their future. The priest's work was never done, but now look at verse 12, which says, "But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God." Jesus Christ was their answer, and He is your answer too! Christ's sacrifice of dying in our place was the "all time one sacrifice for sins." Nothing else is required. The priests always repeated the sacrifices because they were sinners like you and me. But Christ, who is God in the flesh, did what the priests, and we, could never do; live a perfect, sinless life, pay the penalty for our sin, and to forever bring us to God the Father. Sin makes us unclean (Isaiah 64:6), so think of sin like being dirty. You sacrifice your time to clean yourself and take a shower, but it doesn't take you long to get dirty again, so you must shower again. But Jesus did what we never could; He cleaned us from the inside. The sacrificial system couldn't completely remove sin; Christ's sacrifice effectively cleansed us. As verse 14 says, "For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." The misfit toys, the priests, and us, could never do anything to redeem ourselves. Still, just as Santa and Rudolph descended upon Misfit Island, Jesus descended upon us that Christmas day to redeem us. So, how do you know you are "being made holy," as verse 14 says? The answer is simple, confess your sin and "call upon the Name of the Lord" (Romans 10:13) for forgiveness. Then, immediately, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and as verse 15 says, He "testifies to us" about two things. First is God's covenant. "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds" (V. 16). God promises to write His Laws upon your hearts and minds. Have you ever sinned and felt guilty, even if it's something you'd consider a small sin? That's because you are "being made holy," which means you are set apart for special use, and because you have God's laws written on your hearts and minds. That guilt is often referred to as conviction. That conviction not only brought you to God because the Holy Spirit helped you to realize that you were a misfit sinner who needed Christ's salvation, but that conviction also reminds you that you're saved by faith in Christ and not of your own doing. What follows is even better news. Verse 17 adds, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." The covenant God made promises that even though you're a misfit, those who come to Christ for salvation through His "all time" sacrifice are cleansed, made holy (set apart), and have their sins not only forgiven, but completely forgotten! You know, it hard for us to forget, but because of Christ's sacrifice, your misfit lawless acts are remembered no more when you reach out and come to Christ. Those misfit toys reached out to the sleigh and escaped that island. They were "set apart," just as you are "set apart" or "made holy" as you fled the island of loneliness and sin for God's redemption and righteousness. "And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary" (V. 18). All of us were stranded on an island of sin because sin is a personal thing that must be dealt with. Thankfully, God is a personal God who didn't desert us but rescued us from that lonely island. That is what God's promise of a New Covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ is all about. It's about Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who came down to do what we never could, and to bring us where we never could have gone on our own. It's good to be reminded of God's forgiveness because sometimes we do all the forgetting. We forget that God forgives but remember what God forgets! How easy is it to journey through life feeling like your stuck on Misfit Island? When life gets hard, and trials and tribulations come your way, those times of testing have a way of secluding us and making us feel stuck like those toys on Misfit Island. But through God's covenant, Jesus Christ offers redemption through His sacrifice for "all time." You are set apart and "being made holy." So be encouraged and grow in God by applying Scripture to every area of your life and allowing Christ to guide your steps. God has made a covenant with us, so let us renew our covenant, our promise to remain disciplined disciples who give God control and are led by His Holy Spirit. That's what this covenant service is all about: Remembering God's faithfulness and acknowledging that our obedience is first to Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom. God has made His covenant with you, and "Where these have been forgiven, sacrifice is no longer necessary." Praise be to God. AMEN 2