What Can Wash Away My Sin?

What Can Wash Away My Sin?

Fifth in Lent: Passion Sunday

Collect of the Day: We beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15 (BCP, p.158)

Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

An Episcopalian went to his vicar and asked, “Is being an Episcopalian the only way to get to heaven?” The vicar answered, “Only if you want to go as a gentleman.”  Since we’re sort of low-class, blue-collar Episcopalians, that joke might not sting us as it might other Episcopalians.

One of the things I like about being an Episcopal “gentleman vicar”  is that I have escaped having to sing most of the hokey Gospel hymns and songs I grew up with. However, as I was thinking about the text for the text for today’s sermon, one of those old songs kept coming to mind as catching the heart of the text: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:13,14).

Pressure

If you’ve read all or part of the book of Hebrews, you might have found it challenging to understand some parts. The main reason for that is that the book has so many references to the Old Testament. Many Christians today do not have the familiarity with the Old Testament that the original recipients of the letter had. They knew the Old Testament because they were Jews.

This book was written to Jewish Christians. They were experiencing persecution for their faith. Their families and friends who had not become Christians were pressuring them to return to the Jewish faith and to synagogue worship. Judaism was recognized as a religion that did not threaten the peace and stability of the Roman Empire, so it was safe to practice Judaism and attend the synagogue services. Christianity was not recognized and protected. So Jewish Christians who received this letter were experiencing some persecution. None had been killed yet, but some had their property seized and some were put in jail.

The writer wants to strengthen their faith of these believers. He also wants to warm them of the spiritual consequences of turning their backs on Christ and the church.

Around the world today Christians are the most persecuted religious group. In Islamic countries those who believe in Christ often experience great pressure to renounce their Christian faith and return to Islam. We don’t experience that kind of pressure. But we do experience some pressures.

You may have read about Tim Keller, a well-known Presbyterian minister in Manhattan, New York. This year he was invited to present a lecture at Princeton Seminary. Along with the lecture he was to be honored with a special award that Princeton gives annually. But there was a great controversy because Rev. Keller belongs to a denomination that does not ordain women and which believes homosexual practice is sin. There was such a ruckus that the President of the Seminary decided Mr. Keller could give the lecture but would not receive the award.

It’s this kind of pressure - pressures to conform our faith to the world’s beliefs and standards; pressures to deny or downplay the truth that there is no salvation apart from Christ; pressures to change the moral standards of Christianity, particularly sexual morals.

Comparisons and Contrasts

One of the ways the writer of Hebrews accomplishes his purpose of strengthening the faith of the Jewish Christians to whom he wrote is by comparing and contrasting Judaism to Christ and Christianity. His central message throughout the book is that, however you look at it, Christ is infinitely superior to the whole religious system of the Old Testament. God gave the Jews in the Old Testament ritual laws, but God never intended that those ritual laws would be permanent. The whole system in one way or another pointed to Christ.

• The Old Testament is prophecy; Christ is fulfillment.
• The Old Testament was preparation; Christ is the consummation.
• The Old Testament is pictures; Christ is the reality.
• The Old Testament is salvation in the shadows; Christ is the bright sunshine of salvation.  

There are four sets of two in the Epistle lesson we read:

• Two Tabernacles The focus of Old Testament worship during the years Israel lived in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised land was a tabernacle. It was an elaborate tent, and the most important thing about it was that it was God’s tent where he lived among his people and manifested his presence and glory. But the tabernacle was only an earthly picture of the real sanctuary. That is heaven where God lives and where Christ now sits at his right hand in the fulness of his resurrection glory and power.

• Two Priests. In the Old Testament there were many priests, but only one High Priest. He and only he had the special duty of going once a year into the most holy room of the tabernacle where God’s glory was manifested. There he sprinkled sacrificial blood to atone for the sins of himself and  his people. But there is another High Priest who went, not into an earthly holy place but into heaven itself and there once for all presented to God a “full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.” That High Priest is Jesus Christ.

• Two testaments or covenants. The old testament, or covenant, was given through Moses. It bound the people to keep all its laws, especially the Ten moral Commandments. But the people could not live up to the terms of the covenant. This covenant revealed the sinful helplessness of all humans. It pronounced condemnation on all who broke the covenant. The sin offerings reminded the people they deserved condemnation as covenant. But there is a new covenant given through Christ and sealed forever with his own blood. The old covenant said, “You’re a helpless sinner. You are condemned. You need a sacrifice for your sin.” The new covenant says, “You are forgiven and reconciled to God forever. Your eternal reward is to share in Christ’s resurrection victory and glory.”

Conscience and Cleansing

• Two sacrifices. This morning’s Epistle focuses our attention on the contrast between the Old Testament sacrifices and the New Testament sacrifice.

• Old Testament sacrifices.

             There were a great many sacrifices in the Old

Testament. Countless numbers of animals were killed and thousands upon thousands of gallons of blood were spilled. Sacrifices on the great altar were made every day. While there were sacrifices that expressed consecration to God or thanksgiving to God, most sacrifices in one way or another were sacrifices for sin.

This text mentions a ritual which sounds strange to us but makes perfect sense in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there are three things connected - sin, the ultimate penalty for sin which is death, and ritual uncleanness which said, “You can’t participate in the life of the community, especially not the worship at the tabernacle.” Because death is penalty for sin, if you had any contact with a dead body you became unclean. How could you cleansed? God provided for that by having a red heifer killed outside the camp, then completely burned up, and its ashes stored in a special place. When someone needed to be cleansed from the contamination of contact a dead body, water and the ashes were mixed, and the then sprinkled on the person. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes that what this did was cleanse the body from the contamination of death so the person could participate in community life again.

By speaking of the blood of bulls and goats the writer also calls our attention to the important sacrificial ritual  happened one special day every year. The High Priest went into the Most Holy Place, where God’s glory was manifested, and sprinkled the blood of an animal on the top of the Ark of the Covenant, to make atonement for his sins of the people so that God could live among his people and not destroy them because of their sins.

• But was an underlying problem for every Old

Testament worshiper  - the conscience, the

consciousness that you are a sinner. Hebrews points

this out clearly in next chapter:

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.  Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?  But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.  For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (10:1-4)

• This brings home to us the issue of our own

consciences. Is your conscience clear? I should say that a clear conscience is not necessarily an indication that there is not guilt of sin. A conscience can be seared so there is no more sensitivity to sin.

But assuming that the conscience can testify to sin and guilt, why might your conscience accuse you? It could be because you are so attached to your sin, that you do not really want to have a clear conscience. The pleasure of sin is worth more to you than the freedom of a clear conscience.

Another possibility is that you are trying to clear your

conscience clean living and good works. The problem

there is that no matter how free of sin you try to be or

how many good things you do, your conscience says,

“That’s not good enough.” That was Martin Luther’s

problem. He was as good a monk as a monk could be but he hated God, because he felt God’s condemnation no how good he was.

But there is another possibility. It is that you are not

taking what the Bible says you can have. If you accept

that Christ has made that once for all, all-sufficient

sacrifice for your sins, then you have a right to a clear

conscience, no matter what a dirty rotten scandal you

were before you were a Christian. And, I say this advisedly, but then the gospel is always scandalous,  no matter what sins you have committed since you became a Christian you can have right to a clear conscience- if you trust in Christ’s blood. You see the devil likes to accuse you and say, “If you’re a Christian how can you be such a sinner?” And sometimes he uses other people to accuse you. And  your conscience accuses and condemns you. You say to yourself, perhaps silently, perhaps aloud, “You are bad, and nobody like you has any right to a clear conscience.

But a clean conscience comes from knowing the blood

of Jesus cleanses you of ever sin. What can take away your sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! This Table says nothing but the sacrificed body and shed blood of Jesus can take away your sins. But, thanks be to God, because of his body and blood our sins are forgiven. You have a blood-bought right to a clear conscience!