But I Am Guilty!
(Hebrews 9: 24-28)
Back when I practiced criminal defense one of the first things I told my new clients after I patiently listened to their side of the story was that they had three options. Their first option was to enter a plea of not guilty and demand a jury trial. Their second option was to allow me to work out a plea bargain with the prosecutor that would be satisfactory to all the parties involved, which often included the victim if there was one. And the third option, should the plea bargain be unacceptable, was to plead guilty without a recommendation and throw themselves on the mercy of the court. Usually after explaining the first option, my clients would exclaim: “But I am guilty!” Good, I can work with that. Now throwing yourself on the mercy of a Texas court doesn’t end well as, I would explain to my clients, you didn’t want to place yourself between the judge and their six-figure salary. Judges don’t get re-elected for being compassionate as it is viewed by the self-righteous voters as being soft on crime. If I was able to work out an acceptable plea bargain that was ultimately approved by the court that included a suspended and probated sentence, the onus was on the defendant to abide by all of the conditions of probation and, God forbid, not break the law again. No matter how remorseful you were, the courts were not forgiving and even if you made it off probation your sin against the State never went away and could be used against you should you break the law again. Redemption is a foreign concept in the judicial world.
And its redemption once-and-for-all that the writer of Hebrews is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning. He starts out by stating: Christ didn’t enter the holy place (which is a copy of the true holy place) made by human hands, but into heaven itself, so that he now appears in God’s presence for us. The writer of Hebrews is describing that portion of the temple in Jerusalem where the high priest would make his annual sacrifice for the redemption of the previous year’s sins of the people. The Day of Reconciliation had a double focus. First, the cleansing of both the people and the Holy of Holies from the defilement of sin; and second, representing God’s recollection of sins. This sacred space had three parts: an outer courtyard, a holy place where sacrifices were offered daily, and the most holy place where the high priest went annually to sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat. These sacrifices had to be repeated annually, and so the writer of Hebrews sees them as a symbol foreshadowing the perfect sacrifice that Jesus offers. He continues by stating that Christ didn’t enter to offer himself over and over again, like the high priest enters the earthly holy place every year with blood that isn’t his. If that were so, he says, then Jesus would have to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. Instead, he has now appeared once at the end of the ages to get rid of sin by sacrificing himself. The writer explains that people are destined to die once and then face judgment and, in the same way, Christ was also offered once to take upon himself the sins of many people. The writer concludes by stating that Christ will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
When I read this, I thought to myself, could this be the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a nutshell? All people die physically, but Christ died so that we would not have to die spiritually. This message of deliverance is brought by the Son, who is the perfect high priest that offers his own blood to do away with the power of sin forever for those who believe in him. We can now have this wonderful confidence in his saving work for us, doing away with sin—past, present, and future. He has forgiven our past sin, and when he died on the cross he sacrificed himself once for all; he gave us the Holy Spirit to help us deal with our present sin, and he appears for us now in heaven as our high priest; promising to return and raise us to eternal life in a world where sin will be banished, it will be no more.
Now, as you know, I’m not seminary trained, so a simple concept such as this seems hard for someone like me to comprehend. Like you, I grew up in a system where in order to get something you had to give something. We were told by one person or another that nothing in life was free, that there were no free lunches. I mean, for no good reason, Christ was humiliated, reviled, falsely accused, put on trial, beaten, mocked, whipped, spit upon, stripped of his clothing, nailed to a Roman cross, and pierced in his side by a Roman spear while his mother and closest friends watched helplessly. The sacrificial blood he offered was his own. He did this for us and all we have to do is believe on his name, confess our sins, and ask his forgiveness. What’s the catch, you ask? I don’t know. I don’t think there is one. I don’t see a quid pro quo other than Jesus saying to that rich guy who came to him to see what he must do to get into heaven, to love God and love his neighbors, and James observing that our faith without works is dead. But those are the fruits of the Spirit. It’s not like we’ve come to court, pled guilty, were placed on probation with a lot of conditions to meet in order to be redeemed or discharged from the court’s supervision and are then free to go on about our daily business.
I think it would be a mistake to think of our redemption and salvation as a get-out-of-jail or stay-out-of-hell card to be played when we’ve fallen short of the glory of God and sinned again. The impact of his sacrifice is greater than the earlier annual animal sacrifices that essentially made the worshippers outwardly clean, forgiving them of the sins made that year in the hope that there would be fewer sins to forgive in the coming year. The blood of Jesus cleanses the inward conscience and enables believers to serve God in the face of many temptations and trials. We are mercifully freed from our bondage of slavery to sin allowing us to move about in the world leading Christ-like lives. In that one unselfish sacrifice the sins of many people both living and dead were forgiven, and the people were made clean by his offering. Jesus now offers himself through the Holy Spirit to God so that the innermost place of humans might be clean.
In my own over-simplified way of looking at things I take comfort in the fact that I finally came to my senses and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I confessed my sins and asked for his forgiveness. As far as Jesus is concerned the slate has been wiped clean but that doesn’t mean that I still don’t think about what I did in the past. How could we not? And when I am reminded, usually at 2:30 in the morning, I thank him again for his mercy and forgiveness. And I know that no matter how hard I try, I will fall short of God’s glory and sin again but take comfort in the fact that I can again confess my sin and receive forgiveness if I am truly remorseful. On the one hand, I know that my “probation” won’t be revoked, and on the other hand I know that I am not given free rein to do as I please with no consequences, knowing that one day I will appear before the judgment seat to answer for what I did and didn’t do in life. I’m kind of hoping it goes something like Jesus looking down at his clipboard and then saying to me that once I got my act together, I led a pretty good life, made a few mistakes, some wrong decisions, but picked myself up and reworked the steps, at which point he’ll welcome me into heaven and have Saint Peter show me to my room. Again, it may be an oversimplification but its basically taking ownership for what you’ve done, seeking forgiveness, and getting back on track. I think that’s what the writer meant when he said that Jesus would appear a second time, not to take away sin but to save those who are eagerly awaiting him. I hope to be one of those people anxiously awaiting his return and not hiding my face in shame.
This brings us to an issue we’ve been skirting and it’s the issue of judgment which is not very popular in today’s society as so many people, when caught doing something they shouldn’t have done, look for ways to avoid judgment, being held accountable, looking for someone else to blame, blame throwers. But the Bible teaches that judgment is coming and we have to ask ourselves if we are looking forward to Christ’s return, or do we see it as a threat, a time when we will be called to account for how we’ve led our lives? As sure as death itself, judgment awaits. At God’s judgment there will be no higher court of appeal should the verdict not be to your liking. If you hope for a favorable verdict in this court, put your hope entirely on Jesus as your advocate.
Pray today, pray now if you haven’t before, for the freedom and pardon Jesus has won for you. Then rejoice that God’s judgment of you will be based on the perfect life of his Son, Jesus. After that, tell others, for many will face an unfavorable judgment without Jesus. Tell them that you are guilty of the sins you have committed but have been pardoned, that you have had your slate wiped clean and are free from the burden of sin, that by the amazing grace of God your chains are gone, and that freedom is theirs for the asking.
Let us pray.
Living for Jesus wherever I am, doing each duty in his holy name, willing to suffer affliction or loss, deeming each trial a part of my cross. Heavenly Father, we praise you for your love, mercy, and compassion shown to us, sinners who are guilty, convicted, yet redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. By your grace we have been saved from ourselves, we have had the weight of a past life lifted from our shoulders freeing us to live, love, and laugh as your children in a world that needs more love and laughter. We pray that through our freedom that we may be a beacon to the many others who are lost in sin. We pray that you use us to carry your light out into the darkness so that others may turn their lives around and live for Jesus. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.