August 2, 2021 — A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’” First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that 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,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “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,” he also 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. ” Hebrews 10:1-18

“…a guilty conscience is a common thing. Even in the church many are uncertain about their standing before God because of past sins. These ghosts from the past stay out of sight for a while, but then they come out of nowhere to haunt them. They wonder if anyone else knows what they have done. They’re fearful that the truth may leak out. But even more seriously, they wonder if God has truly forgiven them. They’re not sure how it will go when they stand before Him someday. Will God punish them in this life or in eternity for the terrible things that they have done? Such people need the assurance that our text hammers home:Through Christ’s obedience to God’s will at the cross, new covenant believers receive what those under the Law could not receive: Total forgiveness.” (Bible.org, Steven J. Cole, Total Forgiveness)

The sacrifices of bulls and goats were a reminder of sin – but they could not take away sin. The sacrifices of animals were just shadows of the sacrifice that Christ would make for all people. But these sacrifices required the sinner to select the animal – to bring them to the Temple priest – to watch as the animal was killed – and to pray while the blood was sprinkled upon the altar and the meat and innards reduced to smoke upon the fire. That was a tangible, touchable and visceral experience that the sinner could witness and experience personally.

Faith in Christ requires none of that – but it also requires more – it requires true faith. Faith in Christ requires the sinner to have faith that Christ fulfills the offering – offering himself for the sake of all people. And to live in and to breathe in that forgiveness every day. It is because of Grace, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we believe that our sins are forgiven once, and for all time.

There is no ladder that we are trying to climb on our way to achieving grace. There is no list of “good deeds” that, once we have achieved a certain number, we will receive grace and forgiveness. All that is necessary, as I have said before, is a contrite heart, a forgiving heart, a loving heart, and a believing heart. All else is achieved by Jesus. We look to the old law (the Ten Commandments and the oral traditions) as a sure guide for our lives – but trying to fulfill the law is beyond our ability. Jesus fulfills the law – believing in Jesus and seeking a relationship with him will write the law on our hearts as we seek to live into the Grace of Jesus.

Pastor Dave

August 1, 2021 – Pentecost +10B

“So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:24-35

The issue of signs is important in the Gospel of John — not the kind of physical signs that we might see along a highway like “Left Lane Merge Only” or “Lane Ends in 1000 Feet”. No the signs John is talking about are the signs that Jesus does, the signs Jesus performs that reveal something really important about who he is — and in turn they reveal something important about G-d. But, as we know, signs can be tricky — if not confusing — especially in Pennsylvania.

The Gospel lesson we have today is the second of 5 or 6 Sundays where we will encounter the 6^th chapter of John. Last week it was chapter 6, verses 1-21 — where we heard about the Feeding of the 5000 miracle and Jesus walking on water — another miracle. It was the beginning of these weeks in August where we will encounter Jesus and his miracles, and his teachings, such as dividing 5 loaves into enough food to feed some 15000 people — which leads today to calling himself “The Bread of Life”. Some theologians see the 6^th chapter of John as Jesus’ attempt to prepare his disciples for the actions that will take place in the Upper Room, at the Last Supper. It is there where he takes the bread, gives thanks, blesses and distributes it to his disciples while saying “This is my body — do this for the remembrance of me.” It would have been a meal of mystery for them — and it continues to be a meal of mystery for us as well. But seeing the similarity between the two meals — in the feeding of the 5000 and the Upper Room — where he blesses, brakes and distributes bread to the masses — we begin to see how Jesus, who calls himself the Bread of Life, we begin to see the depth of the teaching, the depth of his love, and the tension that exists between feeding people not only food, but feeding them life and salvation.

The Holy Sacraments become external expressions — these “Words and Elements” — are tangible expressions of his love and forgiveness. Jesus loves us, and feeds us, even with all of our blemishes and sins, he does all of this before we have learned what they really mean. In other words, there is nothing we could do to earn this love and acceptance. For, even while we were sinners, Christ died for all people. And even though we are sinful people, Christ gives us spiritual food and spiritual drink — these tangible elements of his presence and acceptance and love. They are, yes, “Signs” of His Gracious love.

Pastor Dave