We always seem to have a very enjoyable time at the various Bible Studies throughout the week. In Anaconda we are working through the history of the church and some of the better movies about great Christians. In Deer Lodge we are working through a video series on Great Christians throughout history and in Philipsburg we are studying the Rule of St. Benedict and how it applies to us today.
It was in Deer Lodge this week and our study of St. Augustine that we came across a rather interesting experiment concerning language and symbols – and it all starts with a horse. For a moment.. I want all of you to think about a horse… now… ___ what does your horse look like? (3xs) ___ where is your horse? (2xs) We all have a picture of a horse and where that horse might be, but did anyone have the same image of a horse? Not likely.
Let’s try this one… This is a priest host used at Holy Communion. At the moment it is simply a piece of unleavened bread. However, after the words of consecration are said what is it? This actually gets a bit tricky… because some will say that it represents the Body of Christ.. while others will say that it is the Body of Christ. There is a right answer to this, but that’s for another day.. the point is, each will look at this piece of unleavened bread after it has been consecrated and see something different.. and even those who see it as either the Body of Christ or not, will also various understandings of what it is… the symbol will mean different things.
How about this one… God. Now we have stepped off into the deepest of waters… We are all Christian, but the word – the language – God.. we all understand, but what that word points to is different for each of us.. and not only that.. it is quite fluid even in our own minds.. one moment we see Him as Father.. and the next as Judge… One moment we need Him as Healer.. and the next as Guide.
Where is this going… well it struck me in our discussion on forgiveness that when I say, “God forgives,” you may all have different perspectives on what that actually means. You may hear “God forgives” and think, “Yeah, but not that.”.. or “Yes, He forgives them, but not me.”.. or “He would never forgive that.”.. you may think He forgives, but that He’s definitely keeping score.. or perhaps, “Phew, got away with that one!”… You see the point… So what does “God forgives” actually mean?
If you read your Bible often – which I know you all read it everyday for at least fifteen minutes – then you probably have discovered that the third book of the Old Testament, Leviticus, is an excellent remedy for those nights when you can’t fall to sleep.. Can I just say, “Oy!” It is the book of the law and deals with all the various “you shall nots” and “how tos” including a description of the various offerings and sacrifices, one of which is the sacrifice for sin.. one section in chapter six reads, “The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in the sanctuary area, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy”.. and so on.
Yet even in the Old Testament we begin to discover that these sacrifices are not enough to make right our sins before God… When King Saul has done evil in the eyes of the Lord, the prophet Samuel says to him… “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”… and David in the Psalms confirms this, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.”
However, just as the word “horse” pointed to something different.. the sacrifices of bulls and goats were a symbol also pointing to something else.. They were ineffective in their ability to “cure” sin, but they were quite useful in pointing to our need for a better remedy… as St. Paul wrote in the letter to the Hebrews, “”The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves… because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”… The symbol of the sacrifices of bulls points us to the one and final sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. What the sacrifice of animals could never accomplish.. the sacrifice of Jesus accomplished once and for all.. because of this sacrifice of Jesus, the Lord declares, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more”.. and as Paul concludes, “and where these sins have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” Jesus’ sacrifice replaced the sacrifice of animals…
.. which brings me to that picture on the front of your bulletin… You have there a picture of two escalators.. one leading up to heaven and the other down into a fiery hell. I’m not sure if you can read the little sign in the middle, but it reads, “It’s your choice.”.. heaven or hell.. but that is not completely accurate, because Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” As Peter declares, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Heaven or hell is not our choice.. it was Jesus choice for us.. and it was He who opened the way for us to eternal life.. and our choice is not heaven or hell.. our choice is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and the sacrifice he made once and for all.
It is in this act of acceptance that “God forgives”.. that our lives are atoned for. Scripture says, Jesus “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”.. and that word “atoning” – atone – is key to understanding what “God forgives” truly means… There are all sorts of other words that attempt to define atonement… reconciliation.. amends.. reparation.. but none really do it justice.
.. and there are various ways of breaking the word down.. one shows how the word can mean to “be in the same seat”.. but simply put.. atone is a contraction.. a shortening of two words.. “at” and “one”.. before Christ, were we “at one” with God? No. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”.. so we needed to again be made one with Him.
And so.. on the night before Jesus was crucified.. he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.. towards the end of that prayer and just before he was arrested, Jesus said, “I pray … for those who will believe in me through their message – the message of the disciples – that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”.. and Jesus’ prayer was fulfilled by his own atoning sacrifice.. because through it we can once again be united to our God… That is what it means when we say, “God forgives.”
Yes.. God forgives so that you won’t go to hell… God forgives so that you can go to heaven… but the ultimate reason that God forgives you.. is so that you may be one with Him just as Jesus is one with Him.. and participate in the fullest expression of His love.
Let us pray… God, our Father, You redeemed us and made us Your children in Christ. Through Him You have saved us from death and given us Your Divine life of grace. By becoming more like Jesus on earth, may I come to share His glory in Heaven. Give me the peace of Your kingdom, which this world does not give. By Your loving care protect the good You have given me. Open my eyes to the wonders of Your Love that I may serve You with a willing heart. Amen.
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