ATONEMENT
Leviticus 16: 6-10; Hebrews 11: 11-14
Human beings, along with any number
of other animals, certainly cannot live without water, nor can they live
without blood. Horror movies love to
show blood, usually in the form of red food coloring put in Karo Syrup. Alfred Hitchcock,
in his famous shower scene in the film “Psycho,” used chocolate syrup going
down the bathtub drain instead of blood because he said it photographed like blood
for black and white film. According to
the American Red Cross website, 38,000 blood donations are needed each and
every day; and every year, there are
15 million blood donations! When someone
is in an accident, almost always there is a need for blood; only those awaiting
surgery “bank” their own blood, and it
just lasts a short while. So donation of all types of blood are needed; to put
the wrong type of blood in a person can kill them; to withhold the right type
of blood for an accident victim can kill them.
Blood is liquid life! Now enough about blood for a moment, remembering
that my son Chris can get faint at the sight of it! But our center hymn today is even called
colloquially, “one of the blood hymns,” because it proclaims that by Jesus’ blood, shed for us, we are saved.
Historically it was with the blood from a Passover lamb, splashed on the door
frames of Hebrew homes that notified the angel of death to “pass over” that
house, thus keeping those children safe. That story is in Exodus. So the
deliverance of the Hebrews from captivity, and the salvation of Christians from
darkness all have to do with the blood of “a lamb” for one, and the blood of
“the Lamb” for the other. Both faiths
describe a way to bring the children of God closer to God when they move far
away through their sins. For Jews, Yom
Kippur is known as “The Day of Atonement,” the day that moves the people of God
closer to God. Can you believe that it
is only once a year that Jews get a chance to bring their regret about,
repentance from, and restitution for their sins before God for forgiveness? What
a burden: carrying around your sins for 12 months before having a Rabbi declare
that you are clean! For Roman Catholic
Christians, the upcoming Ash Wednesday is one of a handful of days on the
calendar when the “faithful” line up for the Sacrament of Confession. Priests declare forgiveness after some action
of penance or some price of indulgence is paid.
For Protestants, there are a variety of times one can ask for
forgiveness. For Charismatic Christians, droves of people raise their arms
before Christ in tears of sorrow at the end of evening services, asking to be
rid of the devil as they call out Jesus’ name in rapid fire fashion. Baptists
and some Methodists hold revivals, and when they do, they sing gospel songs
like the ones I have included today.
They weep, they pray, and they sing twenty nine or so verses of “Just As
I Am,” listing every known sin under the sun: usually they include drinkin’,
smokin’, cussin’, and card playin’, along with stealing and coveting and all
the rest. You might have come from such a church. There are other Protestant
churches that are labeled by some as “soft on sin.” In those churches you may never hear a sermon on condemnation of
sin, or the redemption of the sinner, or the mention the devil. Their aim is to
bathe their parishioners only in positive, uplifting words. And then there are other churches, like ours,
where Christians weekly are reminded of their sinfulness through a prayer of
confession, who understand that words of forgiveness are offered by a worship
leader, but realize that forgiveness is “actually paid for” by the blood and
cross of Jesus. They also join other Christians, and Jews, in believing what
Jesus believed: to be forgiven: remorse,
repentance, and restitution had to be
in place. They still do. There are too
many times in the world when people say they are “sorry” just when they are
caught, just when they are confronted with the truth, or just when they want
something! No; that is not being sorry
in the sinful sense! That is trying to
wiggle out of responsibility and lighten the punishment. It is worth
remembering that no one gets to go to God
and ask for forgiveness before going to the ones hurt by their sins and do the hard work of showing remorse,
repentance, and restitution there first.
The door to heaven is closed to the ones who have not first tried to make peace, not
through the cross of Christ, but with a humble and contrite heart. Are you tired, as I am, of suspects, running
from police instead of stopping, driving off in cars at reckless speeds,
destroying property and endangering the lives of others? Perhaps the law should
say, “You resist arrest,” your sentence doubles. Does it seem that fewer people
are willing to take responsibility for their crimes? Taking responsibility for
actions is one of the best lessons of life: it is taught by Jews, Christians,
and twelve-step programs. Yet how many
people are estranged from family, co-workers, friends, or neighbors through an
event or words that have put a wedge between them? What a rush of joy and peace
I get when a conflicted situation gets resolved, don’t you feel that too? God
must also have a heart that longs not only for our human connections, but also
our Heavenly one. As the old saying puts it, “If God seems far away, who
moved?” Sin moves us farther and farther
from the distant
In Leviticus, we heard a brief
portion of the Day of Atonement ritual, the meaning of which may be best
understood by splitting the word so it says “At-one-ment.” “This is God’s work
to make us one with God. The “Christian Believer” text on this subject writes
these words: “The idea of our human estrangement from God and of God’s seeking
to bring us ‘at one’ again is quite beyond explanation….The Letter to the
Ephesians uses the language of redemption:
‘In Jesus Christ we have redemption through his blood.’ Job declared ‘I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that at the last he shall stand upon the earth.’”
[p. 141] In our affirmation of faith today, we will use a portion of Paul’s
Letter to the Colossians that ends with the words: “making peace by the blood of
his cross.” Only a Jew, or an informed Disciple of Jesus, can begin to
understand how the death of the God made man (who was called ‘the lamb’ by John)
could possibly give us a highway to heaven and a new life here on earth. In
Hebrews, we find another explanation for this mystery: expiation. “Expiation means appeasing or purifying through a sacred
rite. It conveys a picture of our being soiled by sin and in need of cleansing.”
How is that cleansing achieved? Through Christ’s blood sacrifice. A revival hymn
proclaimed ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!’” Who
washes in blood? How does blood make a soul whiter than snow? This answer is
traced back to “expiation atonement” a big term described by blood making souls
whiter than snow. Finally, the idea of substitutionary
atonement traces its roots back to Genesis 22, when God provided a ram for a
sacrifice to take Isaac’s place. God’s test provided a “scapegoat,” but without
faith, the test would have failed. There are so many ways to get at the idea of
being made “one” with God, that is, closer to God. The theory of Christ giving
us power over evil (the “Christus Victor” theory) and the “Ransom” theory (where
Jesus is exchanged for us who deserved to be on the cross where he hung,) are two
more of the many facets of this diamond called Atonement.
God wants us close: the images of
wide open arms, lamps left burning, a father running in robes, and a visit from
heaven to a Bethlehem stable show us the lengths to which God will go to be
close to us. But therapy rooms are filled with people who, because of painful events,
are estranged from others, having shut the doors to human connections and
sometimes to Heavenly ones. There are also times when people runs from the
ones who caused them pain into the arms of exactly the wrong person; and times
when, in anger or apathy, people move away from God, citing that they are
spiritual but not religious, and connect with a counterfeit god instead. For
all of those people: for you and me and others: God came in Christ, so that we
might have life, and have it abundantly. Use whatever image that helps you
grasp that. The cross, the blood, and the lamb are images that remind us of one
thing: God is always throwing out yet another lifeline to those who are tossed
to and fro in the tempestuous sea we call life. So remember and never forget:
What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Search your soul, sing your heart out, and
make a commitment to reconnect, as we stand to sing this hymn.
Jeffrey A. Sumner