The text this morning is from the tenth chapter of Hebrews:
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
What would you do? What would you do if you were one of those on the streets of Paris, facing an imminent threat, facing the very real chance that anything could happen and you could be next? What would you do if you watched people around you gunned down or taken out by bombs? What would you do?
What would you do if the doctor gave you a diagnosis of cancer tomorrow and a prognosis of a few weeks to live? What would you do if you lost all of your future plans in that moment? What if you walked into work tomorrow and your boss fired you, downsized you, shuttered the doors of the business? What would you do? What would you do when the world goes down the tubes, when your life seems to be falling apart, when everything you thought you knew and loved turned out to be false or a lie? What would you do?
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, there was no need for the priests of the Temple any longer. They who would sacrifice animals to God Almighty, taking the life of these beasts, sprinkling the blood onto the people, had lost their power. Everything they knew had been taken away from them. And if they were told that, and most assuredly they were, what were they to do? They were told they were no longer needed; what would they do? Would they continue on doing what they had been doing? Or would they repent of their sins, putting their trust in Jesus’ all-atoning sacrifice, being Baptized for the forgiveness of their sins? Would they do anything different? Should they do anything different?
The world changed that Good Friday. Everything changed. A man was put to death, murdered on a tree, and not many people noticed a thing. It seemed to be the same old-same old, but the world changed. It was revolutionized.
I sat with pity, and not a little bit of horror, watching the news Friday night as it rolled in about the Paris attacks. We probably all did to some extent or another. I can’t watch these things and not realize that this was France’s 9/11 event. And, of course, I thought about our 9/11, and how that changed the world. It changed everything. But it did so in really tangible ways.
Everyone felt a little bit more horror every day. Everyone had to take off their shoes at the airport. I couldn’t go to the gate to welcome my grandmothers when they flew in. The hatred and racism and distrust that were spewed out at that time against our neighbors, people who look like they’re from somewhere else, speak differently, act differently, eat differently, was just accepted. We were at war. men and women were dying, soldiers and civilians. Bombs were dropped. Shots were fired. People died. The world changed. We all became something different. And the world changed on Friday in Paris, too. What the world will become we don’t yet know, but we know it will change.
But, everything that changes after these world-shaking events doesn’t even compare to what happened on that Good Friday. The world changed. Not in that the world was more loved by God, not in that the whole world watched the cross and repented of their sins, not that everyone suddenly started getting along or that they all shared a common worldview, a common cause. But the world changed.
It changed in ways that we can feel, that we can see, that we can touch, but only if you, by faith, believe in Jesus Christ, who died for you. You can feel the water wash over you, wash over your head, or even your body, even though you can’t see it cleansing your conscience, giving you the right to stand before God as it brings you the shed blood of Jesus Christ from the cross which forgives you all of your sin. You can see the pastor, and even hear him, as he speaks the word of Jesus Christ, “I forgive you all of your sins,” the words that Jesus won the right to speak by His Sonship to the Father and by His obedience to the Holy Law of God. You can feel, and even taste, the very body and blood of Christ, in, with, and under the bread and the wine, as that body, which was broken, and that blood, which was shed, for you, for the forgiveness of your sins comes to you, enters your body, strengthening you unto everlasting life.
The world changed on that Good Friday, for the promises of Christ all became real and tangible. You can touch them, feel them, see them, hear them, taste them. This is all because what Jesus Christ did for you on that day changed everything, it changed the world, it changed you. It made you new in Jesus Christ. It gave to you the one, single sacrifice that would forgive all of your sins. It made what those priests were doing in the Temple worthless, obsolete. In fact, in their work, they now stood against God and His Sacrificed Son, for they were missing all of the work of Jesus.
But, that’s okay. I mean, sin isn’t okay, but the world changed, and though even the vast majority of the world will not recognize it, even the priests of the Temple in Jesus’ day, Jesus is patient. Jesus waits. He’s not waiting in heaven, twiddling His thumbs. He’s not powerless, but has all power and authority, given to Him by His Father and your Father, as He sits at the right of the Father, directing all things, and working all things for the good of those who love Him. He’s waiting, praying for all those who don’t believe in Him, that they would repent of their evil and turn to Him as their only Savior. And He’s praying for all those who do believe in Him, that they would persevere in the one true faith, repenting and being forgiven of all of their sins. And so you are.
The world changed, and Jesus waits. He waits in His mercy. He waits until the day the Father has chosen to bring all sin to its knees, to bring death to heel so that He may kill it, to set all of His enemies under His feet. Jesus puts His feet up because the one sacrifice He made is good and done for all time. He puts His enemies there under His feet so that they are humiliated before Him and before all creation, that they should have thought themselves so powerful as to stand against Him.
But, we, we who even now see Jesus for who He is, we who anxiously await the day of His coming, we who receive His sacrifice through His means, through His promises, we have confidence. You will not be put under His feet. You will persevere. You will be found faithful in Christ. You are His. And you may approach Him in bold confidence. You may enter before Him into His presence without fear.
And you do this, not by your own work, but by the work of the Son. You do this because He accomplished all things for you. He gave to you His righteousness so that you may approach Him freely at any time. And, so that you may approach Him in that confidence, so that you may taste and feel and see and hear and know these things, Jesus gave you His Church.
We all know that this is the place you come to hear God’s Word as often as it is offered. And this is the place you come to have been Baptized. And this is the place you come to eat the body and blood of Christ. There is no other place but the Church that these things come to you, from outside of you. We persevere in the one true faith because we persevere in His gifts that are offered here. It’s what we do. And then strengthened in all of Christ’s promises here, we are free to spur one another on to good works and love, encouraging each other in these things. By Christ’s obedience to the Law, we may go out and work to obey the Law of God by loving one another. That’s what’s done here.
So, what would you do? What would you do if you were faced with a terrorist? What would you do if you get a cancer diagnosis? What would you do if you were fired? If you lost everything you had? If you see anything and everything falling apart? Would you live for yourself? Would you beg for one more week doing the things you really loved? Would you try to spend it with the people you loved the most?
Probably. But, we should consider, too, that we should go to the Church. For when the world falls apart around us, we have the One who changed the world on our behalf in this place. He gives us here His gifts, His promises, that He who never changes, will be with us. He gives you His Baptism so that you may know that you were saved in Him in that very moment. He gives to you His Word so that you may hear His voice. He gives to you His Feast so that you may taste and see that the Lord is good, even unto everlasting life. And then we, the Church, get to help you, too, in acts of love and service, good works toward even our own in the name of Jesus. These things will indeed even aid you, assist you, in spending that time with your family, with your friends, and in Christ, knowing that He is coming to give you, and even those you love, life in Him forever. In Christ, there’s never too little time with those you love, for, as they are in Christ, you shall live forever in Christ, with Christ, with them.
And that life is coming for you. It is coming quickly. He is coming back soon. This time we live in, these wars and rumors of wars, these are the beginnings of the birth pangs. And, when a pregnant mother begins to feel that labor, when those pangs come, you know the baby is coming. In this way, when you see the world shaking, when it’s falling apart, when life, even in the Church, begins to get difficult, we know that He is coming soon, and He is coming for you. He is coming to give you life everlasting. His Day is drawing near. Fear not the foe, little flock. He cannot steal, terrorists cannot steal, cancer cannot steal, the world cannot steal, this life in Christ from you. It is everlasting, and it is good, and it is coming for you, for it is even found here today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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