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Bible Passage: Hebrews 9:24-28
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date: November 11, 2018
It happens every year, at least for me. At some point during the season of Lent, I really feel the guilt and the sadness that my sins have brought to me. Maybe you do to? If you do, that’s good and healthy. We need to understand the seriousness of our sin and the grave cost of sin. However, I think we all know that Lent, while somber, is not only filled with sadness but also with great joy! We rejoice, we are happy, we are eternally grateful for what our Savior Jesus did for us by living and suffering and dying. But sometimes, I think we get too caught up in the sorrow to see the joy.
I believe the same is true about this day of the Church year: Last Judgment. I agree that the thought of judgment is sobering. When we recall the sins we know we committed in just the last week, we know our case before a righteous judge would be hopeless. And that’s true of every person who has ever lived. However, we don’t remember Last Judgment on this Second Sunday of End Times to scare ourselves straight. No, much like in the season of Lent, we celebrate Last Judgment. We rejoice, we are happy, we are eternally grateful for the Day of Judgment. And again, it’s all because of what our Savior Jesus did, has done, and on the Day of Judgment, will do again for us.
But how can we rejoice in judgment? Perhaps that thought has crossed your mind this morning? How can we be happy when we hear that “it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment?” That’s an understandable concern. In fact, you are right on the money thinking that way about judgment in most cases. When we watch a courtroom scene on TV or in a movie or even in a courtroom itself, judgment is based on the actions of the person on trial. They are judged on their own merits, their own action or inaction. And with that picture of judgment and with our intimate knowledge of our personal actions and inactions, judgment is a scary, scary thing. It’s scary because of what we know about God. Just by looking at the world around us, we can see that God is powerful. We can see God’s wisdom. It’s obvious that God knows what he’s doing. But that power is scary. If God has the power to create the whole world, what is he going to do with me? However, creation isn’t the only way we learn about God. No, each of us has God’s law written on our hearts. Our consciences tell us that. They tell us when we are doing something that is contrary to that law of God. They tell us that God demands perfection and that we’ve failed to live up to it. And then we turn to God’s Word and find passage after passage that back up exactly what our consciences are telling us. At least three different times in the book of Leviticus, as God is explaining his law to the Children of Israel, he says, “Be holy because I the Lᴏʀᴅ am holy!” But we can’t be holy. No matter how hard we try and neither could the Children of Israel. So how could they face God? How could they stand before his righteous judgment?
The Book of Hebrews was originally written to Christians who came from a Jewish (or Hebrew) background. They were very familiar with the Old Testament religious practices. They would have grown up with animal sacrifices. On a regular, repeated basis, the blood of animals would be shed as a part of their worship. This was not just a bad habit they picked up from their pagan neighbors. God had instituted this practice for a very specific reason. He was teaching his people about the seriousness and the consequences of sin. Sin could not be overlooked. It had to paid for before it could be forgiven. And with each sacrifice they were reminded that, “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” That lesson was taught day after day, week after week, year after year as animal after animal was sacrificed on the altar. Everyday, sins had to be paid for. Everyday, a temporary covering of blood was put over their sins. But with each new day, new sacrifices had to be made. Why all the sacrifices? Because these sacrifices didn’t actually forgive sins. They were only signs and symbols of a better sacrifice, a sacrifice that would take away all sins forever. All of the Old Testament sacrifices were shadows of the ultimate sacrifice that God promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
That sacrifice was made by our Great High Priest, our Savior Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews makes this sacrifice so vivid by taking away the curtain. He turns on the light so that the shadows of the Old Testament are no longer mere symbols, but New Testament realities. He shows how Christ and his sacrifice are the fulfillment of everything. He shows why Judgment Day is a day for rejoicing. Listen again to what he tells us: “For Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. And he did not enter to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise he would have needed to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once and for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And, just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
How can we stand before the face of a holy, righteous God? What is our answer when he asks us, “Why should I let you into heaven?” Our answer is Christ. Our answer is Christ didn’t just go through the motions with an animal sacrifice and a man-made building. Our answer is that Christ entered heaven itself. Look at verse 24. Three words stand out. On our behalf. On our behalf, Christ entered heaven. On our behalf made that glorious appearance before God himself. The word “appeared” shows us three times in these verses. And each time it tells us something a little different. The first time shows that when Christ appeared before God in heaven, he declared that we are “not guilty.” He told God that we should not be guilty because he had done away with sin. He had done away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Our not guilty declaration that Jesus made in heaven is a fact. It’s something that will never change. Our not guilty verdict is never in doubt. The second time “appear” shows up, it not only tells us that Christ appeared before God in the past to declare us not guilty, but that his appearance for all is done and will always be done. He appeared “once and for all.” Unlike the sacrifices of the Old Testament that had to be repeated again and again and again, Christ appeared once for all to do away with sin. Although that appearance took place in the past, its benefits carry on into the future. The benefits will never run out because Christ appeared for us in heaven.
As wonderful as that new is, that’s not the reason we’re looking at this portion of the letter to the Hebrews. It’s the third time that “appear” shows up that is of special interest today. “…so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.” The writer tells us Christ is coming a second time. He’s coming a second time to earth. He’s going to appear again. And that appearance will be the day of final judgment. For us, that is a day we are eagerly awaiting. For us, that will be a day to rejoice, a day to celebrate, a day for which we will be eternally grateful. Because that is the day our salvation will be complete. On that day, what God has promised to us through the gift of faith, he will give to us in full. On that day we will stand in the presence of our Father. On that day we will be able to answer the Father’s question. We’ll be able to point to Christ and say, “He’s the reason you must welcome us into your heaven.”
The end of the world, Judgment Day, is a rather timely topic. It seems that every so often, someone else comes out with a prediction when the world is going to end. From William Miller and the Millerites to Y2K to the Mayan Calendar, the end of the world is on the minds of many. When asked questions of about the end of time, Jesus gave us some information. He said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” When this day will come, we simply don’t know. All the signs are there that it could be any day. But we’re not told to try and figure out the day, we’re told to simply be ready. We’re told to be ready because it’s not a matter of “if”, but “when.” Judgment Day will come. And tragically, for those who aren’t eagerly waiting for Christ to come, it will be doomsday. God’s promises of judgment and destruction and hell are just as real as his promises of salvation and forgiveness and heaven. And once that day comes, there will be no second chances. What a sense of urgency we have to share Christ with a dying world! Christ appeared in this world in order to do away with sin. He appeared before his Father in heaven to declare us not guilty. And he will appear to this world again, this time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation for those who are eagerly waiting for him and destruction to those who have rejected him.
In a little more than a month, our Synod is issuing a challenge to all of us. We know how urgent this message is and how many people desperately need to hear it. And so Synod-wide, we are being challenged to invite one million people to join us at our Christmas Eve services to hear the good news of a Savior who has come. Postcards will be sent, information will be posted on our website and social media, services will be planned, choirs will rehearse, sermons will be written, but the most effective invitations will come from each of you personally. Please carefully consider who needs this good news, who is not eagerly waiting for Christ today, and invite them. Invite them to hear the good news. Invite them to share in your joy, your excitement for Last Judgment. Invite them to hear about a Savior who loves them, who appeared in heaven on their behalf. Invite them to come and see that Light which Shines in the Darkness. May God bless our efforts! May many more people comes to eagerly await their Saviors appearing. Amen.