Christ Offered for All

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” 13 and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds,”

17 he also adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A Call to Persevere

19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Today, we reach the final text of our series on the book of Hebrews. Next week, Kyle Anderson will lead worship and share the message for Christ the King Sunday. The following week, we begin Advent! The cycle of the church year is drawing to a close and for a moment, let’s look back on where we have been.

We began Advent last year with the recollection that in spite of the chronic fatigue and stress of the COVID pandemic, the Weary World Rejoices at God’s sustaining love and presence in Christ’s birth. We are still the weary world, but through this year, the reminder that God sustains us for all time has been a cornerstone upon which to stand.

Through this last year, we’ve looked at disciplines of faith, taking steps in formation and seeing how God breaks down the powers of the world which would seek to divide us instead of bring wholeness to our communities. We’ve celebrated how God’s creation flourishes all around us and reminds us that while it seems that so much has broken down, God’s good handiwork sustains, grows, and supports diverse ecosystems, both natural and spiritual.

These last couple of months, we’ve looked at a couple of the more mystical wisdom texts of the New Testament, James and Hebrews. We’ve walked through doubt, sought justice, and been reminded that it is Christ who stands above all things, mediating peace and mercy to God’s people amidst suffering and sin.

We trace this outline to remind ourselves that the work of faith is a journey. It is not about simple destination where we arrive and stay put. No, the work of faith is to receive Christ’s loving gift of life to God’s people day after day, step after step. It is given to us once, for all time, and so all points along our journey, all struggles and all celebrations, Christ sits at the right hand of God, watching over creation, sustaining our journey with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We hear this in the first section of our text today. It says that the Holy Spirit testifies to us, revealing God’s love which is perfected in Christ. It is the Spirit that attests to the law of God in revealing it to our hearts and writing it on our minds. Our whole being, if we will but open ourselves to it, is remade and restored by this law and word of God.

Do you believe this? That we can actually receive a whole self through Christ? I wonder, have you been like me during this past year and questioned whether things could ever be made whole again? Have you struggled? Have you grown even more weary? Then hear this good news, lay down your burdens, and know — God invites us to rest, to let go of the need to keep up offering sacrifices and atonement for our missteps and broken ways. God no longer holds accounts of our sins. God lets them go, through Christ, and we are able to set them down and be our true selves without the broken ways bearing upon us.

But wouldn’t it be easier, in some ways, if we needed to keep up an offering and a penance to be in the rights with God? If we had a debt to pay ourselves, at least we would know it and be able to set up a payment plan, right? If it were this way, at least we would know the stepwise plan to get things back to right and we could put it in our calendars and take our daily action to sacrifice because that is what God demands of us.

One of the commentators I read this week remarks that

Hebrews The Benefits of the Priestly Ministry (10:1–18)

The old, law-based pattern of religion, whether it occurs in the ancient desert tabernacle or in First Church on Main Street, condemns people to come to worship time and again with a guilty conscience. We try to absolve our guilt by bringing sacrifices with us; repeatedly we bring sacrifices—“Lord, didn’t I give of myself generously to serve as an advisor for the youth group?”; “Lord, didn’t you hear me pray for the sick in our church?”; “Lord, didn’t you notice how I stood up for minority hiring in my company?”; “Lord, at least I come to church; many do not, you know”; “Lord, I know I’m not perfect, but I do the best I can. Doesn’t it count Lord? Doesn’t it count?” Over and over we make these offerings, but it does not work. It is never enough, never adequate; so we keep our distance from the Holy of Holies, leave with a guilty conscience, and come back next week with another basket of good intentions and deeds to place on the altar—or we stay away altogether.

Let’s stop for a moment.

Is this what we’re up to here? There’s no judgement if this is where you are at. But I have to ask again, is this what we’re up to?

Well, if it is, then I want to offer some amazingly good news to us today: Christ’s death and resurrection have undone the power of death in us, the power of the broken world, the need for continuous penance. We are set free from this! We are set free!

You see, when we receive the Holy Spirit, as our passage reminds us, the heart of God’s law is knit into the very fabric of our being. With that, we then are able to break out of the patterns of sin and penance, sin and penance, sin and penance. Certainly, none of us are perfect. But the remind and good news here is that there is not a transaction we must complete — Christ has dismantled that whole transactional system.

In its place, God is constructing in God’s people a whole new economy. In this relationship, we share what we have because we have enough. In this economy, we find pure hearts and wills through opening ourselves to God’s spirit each day, through prayer, through scripture, through fellowship. We move from being a people who worry if we’re right with God to being a people who trust that there is more important work to be about than looking over our shoulder for divine judgement. We get about the work of helping set other people free from that old way of thinking and living. This is what the Kingdom of God looks like — each of us finding freedom and offering that freedom to everyone we meet so that they might know its goodness too.

Vs. 18 summarizes it so well: “Where there is forgiveness of [sins], there is no longer any offering for sin.”

And so...

We move confidently into God’s presence from a renewed and changed orientation to the world.

The call to persevere and remain faithful is what we set our hearts upon today.

I’ll admit, I continue to be weary in this stage of our return to life amidst the ongoing global pandemic. I long for there to be someone, somewhere, who has power and authority, to stand up and issue the “all clear.” I want the rules to keep offering clarity — ok, now that people have booster shots or kids have vaccines, then we can all just open back up and return to normal and all will be well.

In a sense, I liken this to the first part of our passage today. I want the clarity of which sacrifices we need to still make so that we have confidence in moving forward. I want to make whatever penance there is to get this done with.

But, pessimistically, I have to wonder: what if that day never arrives? What if each sacrifice is never enough? What happens if we never hear the “all clear” and instead remain in this time of uncertainty for a lot longer?

Here is where the good news of the second part of our text must be unpacked and steeped in. We need to hear this second part — HOLD FAST.

If the power of death has been defeated (which we are ready to say it has and base our lives upon the statement) — if this is, THEN we move forward with confidence.

Think of this in the context of sin and brokenness and daily life. Christ’s work in our lives is healing the world. It is being realized all around us. So what are we to do about the continuance of disrupted relationships or destructive habits? We acknowledge their reality, but as well acknowledge that they need not hold claim over us any longer.

So, then, think of HOLDING FAST in the context of the COVID pandemic. Holding fast means we remain together. Not only do we remain, but we re-up our commitment to one another. We stand in faith together, we show up for one another, we bear each others’ burdens, we offer our whole selves to the work of Christ, renewing our world.

Vs. 23 says, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.”

Because we have confidence in Christ’s gift to us, we do not waver. We hold fast.

Not only do we hold fast within ourselves, but we hold each other fast, provoking each other onward to good deeds and love.

Vs. 25 puts a very fine point on it. We do not neglect meeting together. We don’t give up. We stick together.

Let’s be honest: there are some folks who were with us before the pandemic that we may never see again in our gathered worshipping body. We read this passage and consider it related to church attendance, but what it seems to say to me is more about our commitment to staying in community with one another, in fellowship and spurring each other on in growth and faithfulness. There are some who have left this journey, some who have gone missing, some who have found the journey alone to be more reasonable than remaining in community. And we mourn this. We welcome back all who will come to continue on the journey. And we also let go of the again and again need to make atonement or sacrifice for the parts of our body who are in God’s hands alone.

These past two years have been a time of reckoning about who we will be as faithful people. They have been a season of reevaluation and hopefully refocusing.

And the way we have sustained through it is doing what this passage teaches us: encouraging one another, lifting each other up, sticking together, remaining one.

We’ve said it again and again and bears repeating — our life together looks different now. We have offerings of worship in digital/at home formats. We have restructured our organization to accommodate for the great shifting that has occured because of the pandemic. We have become more mindful of our shared responsibility to one another.

But through all that has shifted, what we affirm is that we stay together as one, in Christ. We remembered last week that we are Christ’s body, its members and parts. And as a part of Christ’s body, it is yours and my calling to participate, to engage and encourage one another. We hold fast, not alone, but as one people, sustained and forgiven and blessed and called by Christ. We do this in sure and certain hope of resurrection.

We may not get the “all-clear” from our earthy authorities any time soon (or ever).

But in Christ, we await with confidence and assurance that all things are being made new, will be and are being made new. When all else shifts and changes, this sure good news remains. May we hold fast, as one body, to this glorious good news.

The last word: We remain in love together not by our own ability, but for the power and grace of God which builds us up and sustains and strengthens the body of Christ, God’s people. We never walk alone.