atoning blood

If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.

Leviticus 4:27-28

A sacrifice for sins was needed for everyone and anyone of the people of Israel in order to be in right standing before a holy God. It did not matter whether the sin was flagrant or unintentional. In fact great detail is given in Leviticus 4 regarding unintended sins, showing us that our brokenness is so endemic that many of our problems are due to sins we are oblivious to until they are brought to our attention.

But there is no such thing as a guiltless sin. We answer to God for every wrong. He is that holy and we are that sinful. All sin must be atoned. And so an altar in a tabernacle was the scene of countless sacrifices because sin is so daily embedded in our existence. Only at the cost of a life could sin be atoned by the priest. And only at the cost of our Great High Priest Jesus’ life can our sins be atoned. Blood has to be shed.

Just as the regular sacrifice was needed in Israel to atone even unintended sins, so daily we must seek to know, acknowledge, and claim the complete forgiveness found in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. We confess our sin. We plead His blood as the sacrifice. We need His grace. I am a humbled sinner every morning when I roll out of bed. I claim my Savior’s atoning love each day!

all of us... sinners

For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

John 21:32

Self-righteous religion leads to hell, because it misses humble and real repentance. By failing to truly acknowledge sin, it misses entering the kingdom. Jesus told the leaders of the Jews, the chief priests and elders, that they have missed this truth, while ironically the “sinners” they judged and prided themselves on being far above, were repenting and finding the kingdom. But religious pride and judgmental legalism were keeping the self-righteous from eternal salvation.

So if I take Jesus’ own words to heart, I must recoil from any self-righteous turning my nose up on others whom I may think are beneath me. Jesus knew that swindlers and whores who truly repented would find eternal life before any self-righteous person ever will... all because sin is acknowledged and repented. He saw it happen, first with the ministry for John the Baptist, then in His own preaching of the good news.

Two things strike me as very important from what Jesus says here: First, I must believe I am a sinner, an admittedly sick soul in need of healing grace that only Christ can give, in order to repent and be saved. Second, I should rejoice when other sinners repent and turn to Jesus. There is no room for judgment or comparison. I am a sinner, turning to a Savior, compelling others to humbly enter this same kingdom by first humbly confessing sin! Only then can I take my place in a kingdom where the King insists that the doors are open to swindlers and whores.

my refuge. my shepherd.

The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Psalm 28:8-9

The LORD is a saving refuge. He is my safety and my song of deliverance. I will find my refuge and strength in Him all my days, forever kept secure and led by His grace. Jesus made this happen for all those who have trusted in His saving work for them on the cross. Those who have turned from sin to their Savior know the power of sins forgiven, a life changed, and the shepherding love of our strong Savior!

It is Monday morning as I write these reflections. I am fighting gettting drawn away into the wildness of a week that I know I have ahead of me. I have a full week of shepherding others ahead of me and it is so very hard not to jump into that schedule challenge ahead of reflecting on what I need to right now in the Word. But I really need the saving refuge from this intimidating week ahead of me. I already feel the anxiety of ministering to hurting people tug me from my Savior with thoughts like: “What if I say the wrong thing?” “How can I possibly help these people?” “My own personal failures disqualify me from having anything helpful to say.” “I don’t WANT to hear more pain and cry with these people!” “Caring for these needs will draw me again from time with my family.” And those are all thoughts that must be confessed to my Savior now. Jesus must be my refuge now so I can let Him use me to help others who hurt.

Shepherd of my soul,

Every day this week I will need You to shepherd me so that I can shepherd others to You, Lord Jesus. I feel unworthy and unready for this task without You. Be my saving refuge from this storm. You save Your people, and not me, so help me to just be faithful to show them You, Lord Jesus... to point to You, and the gospel, and Your Word. I repent of my insecurities and sinful cowardice. Then, You will carry me through!

Amen 

For the people

So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord.

Exodus 28:29

And in this way God was honored as Aaron, and every high priest after him, bore on his chest the names of the tribes for whom he interceded. This kept the task of ministry visibly ever before the priests. He ministered on behalf of these people before the LORD. Each incense wave, each sacrifice offered, each prayer for the nation had this personal reminder that the nation was judged and atoned before the LORD.

Ministry for the priests was not about the projects, the tasks, or the necessary furniture of the Holy Place. But you might get lost in all the details of the earthly tabernacle as God blueprinted it to Moses. No, the priests were people, seriously approaching a holy God, for the sake of other people. Wearing the names of the twelve tribes above their hearts as they did so kept them cognizant of the truth that ministry is all about bringing people to the mercies of a forgiving and loving God.

I’m so glad vestments are not now required (honestly I have trouble donning a tailored suit as a pastoral uniform), and that there is only one Great High Priest... Jesus. But as a pastor, I still often intercede before my God for His people in prayer and the giving of the Word, calling us to mutual obedience and submission to God’s Spirit. And no vision for ministry, no building program, no ministry project exists that is remotely more important than the people Jesus loves and calls me to love!

what God has joined together

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19:4-6

Jesus taught that every marriage of a man and a woman was a sacred work of God. It was as holy as the very first marriage, and just as original a work of God. God joins together a husband and a wife. They are no longer just two separate human lives, but are now one marriage, made by God, for His glory. This is seriously beautiful as each marriage is a unique creation of God.

Jesus makes no exceptions to this divine work in every marriage. God does the work of bringing two people together and making them one. This truth, that two become one by God’s direct creative hand, is the very decree of God according to Jesus. This is sacred and holy. No marriage can then be trivial.

Christians must keep this solemn and holy view of marriage before us. We must not shrink away from it, although the culture around us may trivialize marriage, making it more and more about feelings and less about spiritual commitment. Christian marriages are failing because we don’t take Jesus seriously when He tells us God does the joining, and dissolving one marriage to enter another is an act of hardness of our sinful hearts (Matthew 19:8-9). My marriage is a holy, sacred, beautiful creation of God. It is also hard work to live in this union because my wife and I must always apply the gospel to our lives, since we are two sinners, saved by grace, but still being conformed to Christ so that we can model the beauty of Christ and His Church. By grace, I must treasure these things about marriage.

clean hands and pure heart

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

Psalm 24:3-4

Jesus in the only One Who can make of my soul what this psalm requires. I can only stand before the Father because of the righteousness of His Son. Jesus has cleansed these hands and has purified this heart. Jesus is the way, truth, and life who keep me from lifting up my idolatrous heart to the worship of another. Jesus made the way for me to be able to know the peace of God as I worship God.

I cannot stand before God on my own merit. Even one sin is me makes me deserving of judgment before a holy God. I need the righteousness of Christ to be applied to me as I go to God each day. And God, in His merciful grace, sent His Son to pay my sin debt, to take my judgment upon Himself, so that I may be declared righteous by faith and have access to all my Father wants for me. I can be holy because of the holiness of Jesus, my Lord and my Savior. 

I should never take for granted just how precious is this grace. I open God’s Word daily, I bring my worship and my requests to God. And I can do so because the blood of Jesus cleanses me from all unrighteousness. Thank You, Lord! Give us clean hands, and give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another!

flakes for complainers

“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

Exodus 16:12

God was wonderfully gracious by miraculously feeding a nation of complainers in the wilderness. The Israelites grumbled in the harsh desert environment. They began to miss what they saw as easier lives in Egypt where even though they were slaves, they still had safe homes and food to eat. They griped to Moses, but it was really God that they were not trusting.

God knew their complaints and He was providing food for them that would feed them well and quiet their whining, though they would only stop briefly. 

In the evening vast swarms of quail flew into the camp and the people ate the small birds to their fill. The next morning manna lay on the ground and was gathered and made into bread. And in this way Israel was fed by God. They still had to catch and dress quail. They still had to gather manna flakes and grind it into flour to bake bread. But God gave them abundant resources by which they would live under His care. Grace came in little birds, and little frosty flakes upon the ground.

Just like Israel in the wilderness, I do not deserve daily grace. I grumble at life. I can complain. But Jesus died for my idolatrous, unbelieving, selfish heart. He rose to provide everything for me. And in Him I am given a morning feast of grace every day. I gather His provision and am satisfied.