Sunday 8th November - 3rd before Advent (Remembrance Sunday)
Theme: The Cost of Obedience
Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 1:14-20
Psalm 62:5-end
Collect:
God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment:
Today we remember the sacrifice many have made for their country, family and colleagues in times of war. The reading from Hebrews remembers the greatest sacrifice of all – a sacrifice of great physical suffering, but much more spiritual suffering, and a sacrifice of the greatest possible value and importance for us – that of Jesus Christ.
One of the main messages of the book of Hebrews is that worship here on earth is only a pale shadow of worship in heaven and in the age to come. There is a reality that casts the shadow; we can only see the shadow for now, yet the shadow gives us some idea of what the reality is.
The worship that the writer to the Hebrews was thinking of was worship in the temple of Jerusalem, where priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. The centre of the temple was the ‘most holy place’, or ‘holy of holies’, a room which could only be entered by one man (the high priest), and only once a year, carrying blood from sacrifices to symbolically cleanse the room which had been polluted by being surrounded by sinful people. The room symbolised the presence of God; originally it was the place where the ‘ark of the covenant’ was placed. The act of cleansing it with the blood of sacrificed animals opened the way for human beings to have a relationship with God. This was what the ‘day of atonement’ (at-one-ment) was all about.
The writer says that this ceremony was a shadow of a most important reality: the sacrifice by Jesus Christ. He is our true representative before God, our great high priest. He, the Son of God, had left heaven and become a human being in order to represent us before God. His death was the ultimate sacrifice which brought forgiveness and cleansing from all human wrong-doing, so that human beings can have their intended relationship with their holy Creator. Jesus’ resurrection showed that the guilt he suffered for on the cross (guilt incurred by us, not him) had been completely dealt with, and his ascension into the immediate presence of God in heaven meant that our representative human being was now in perfect harmony with God and in the closest possible fellowship with him.
The point of all this is that our representative has been acting on our behalf. What he has done has all been for us, and we can enjoy every single benefit that he has won for us. His status before God is our status too. Our guilt has been dealt with, we have full and free access to God (see Hebrews 10:19 onwards). We too will participate in resurrection life, and have a place reserved for us in the age to come. Jesus is our guarantee of all this!
However, the writer to the Hebrews warns us that these benefits do not flow automatically to every human being, whether they want them or not. This ‘salvation’, this rescue from evil, is for those who are ‘waiting for him’ – who believe Jesus is God’s promised Messiah who will put the world to rights, and who puts us right with God and helps us to do what is right as far as God is concerned. (The writer includes those heroes of the faith who lived before Jesus’ time, and so had never heard of him in the way we have. They too were waiting for God’s salvation – see Hebrews 11.)
The world cannot be put to rights unless evil is dealt with and removed from the scene. There is a time for judgement, and it will be after this life. For those of us who are waiting for Christ judgement holds no terrors, for he has already been judged on our behalf and received the due penalty. But what about all around us? They too need to hear the good news, so that they too can believe and have the assurance of sins forgiven and eternal life with God.
The call of the first disciples was a call to join Jesus in preparing people for the kingdom of God. We too are called to be involved in his mission. It will take courage, and involve sacrifice. But it will be infinitely worth while.
Questions:
1) ‘If Jesus be God and died for me, nothing can be too much for me to do for him.’ How do you feel about that?
2) How do you feel about judgement?
God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment:
Today we remember the sacrifice many have made for their country, family and colleagues in times of war. The reading from Hebrews remembers the greatest sacrifice of all – a sacrifice of great physical suffering, but much more spiritual suffering, and a sacrifice of the greatest possible value and importance for us – that of Jesus Christ.
One of the main messages of the book of Hebrews is that worship here on earth is only a pale shadow of worship in heaven and in the age to come. There is a reality that casts the shadow; we can only see the shadow for now, yet the shadow gives us some idea of what the reality is.
The worship that the writer to the Hebrews was thinking of was worship in the temple of Jerusalem, where priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. The centre of the temple was the ‘most holy place’, or ‘holy of holies’, a room which could only be entered by one man (the high priest), and only once a year, carrying blood from sacrifices to symbolically cleanse the room which had been polluted by being surrounded by sinful people. The room symbolised the presence of God; originally it was the place where the ‘ark of the covenant’ was placed. The act of cleansing it with the blood of sacrificed animals opened the way for human beings to have a relationship with God. This was what the ‘day of atonement’ (at-one-ment) was all about.
The writer says that this ceremony was a shadow of a most important reality: the sacrifice by Jesus Christ. He is our true representative before God, our great high priest. He, the Son of God, had left heaven and become a human being in order to represent us before God. His death was the ultimate sacrifice which brought forgiveness and cleansing from all human wrong-doing, so that human beings can have their intended relationship with their holy Creator. Jesus’ resurrection showed that the guilt he suffered for on the cross (guilt incurred by us, not him) had been completely dealt with, and his ascension into the immediate presence of God in heaven meant that our representative human being was now in perfect harmony with God and in the closest possible fellowship with him.
The point of all this is that our representative has been acting on our behalf. What he has done has all been for us, and we can enjoy every single benefit that he has won for us. His status before God is our status too. Our guilt has been dealt with, we have full and free access to God (see Hebrews 10:19 onwards). We too will participate in resurrection life, and have a place reserved for us in the age to come. Jesus is our guarantee of all this!
However, the writer to the Hebrews warns us that these benefits do not flow automatically to every human being, whether they want them or not. This ‘salvation’, this rescue from evil, is for those who are ‘waiting for him’ – who believe Jesus is God’s promised Messiah who will put the world to rights, and who puts us right with God and helps us to do what is right as far as God is concerned. (The writer includes those heroes of the faith who lived before Jesus’ time, and so had never heard of him in the way we have. They too were waiting for God’s salvation – see Hebrews 11.)
The world cannot be put to rights unless evil is dealt with and removed from the scene. There is a time for judgement, and it will be after this life. For those of us who are waiting for Christ judgement holds no terrors, for he has already been judged on our behalf and received the due penalty. But what about all around us? They too need to hear the good news, so that they too can believe and have the assurance of sins forgiven and eternal life with God.
The call of the first disciples was a call to join Jesus in preparing people for the kingdom of God. We too are called to be involved in his mission. It will take courage, and involve sacrifice. But it will be infinitely worth while.
Questions:
1) ‘If Jesus be God and died for me, nothing can be too much for me to do for him.’ How do you feel about that?
2) How do you feel about judgement?