Day of Atonement and a Wayward Nation
September 23, 2001
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (NIV)
Everything in the past was written to teach us. We study these ancient days because it helps
us to understand Jesus and what he is doing today. This Day of Atonement, known by its biblical name Yom Kippur, was
established by God 3500 years ago. He
did it for a special reason.
By the time of Moses, Israel was a
large nation. Some say there were as
many as two and a half million people who left Egypt. Any time there are that many people, you will find
everything. I suppose no sin was totally absent from such a large
group.
When you lead a large group of
people, it is gratifying to see the majority going in the right direction. However, it is always troubling to see that
some cannot seem to stay on course. It
seems that such “going astray” is just how it is with sinful man. This passage in Romans in clear in telling
us that we have all sinned. This is not
new. As it is today, it has always
been. It was like this when Paul was
preaching to the Romans 2000 years ago.
It was like this when Moses was leading Israel in the wilderness 3500
years ago.
In that ancient context, I find it interesting the remedy that God had in mind. God’s remedy was expressed in the three fall
feasts. First, God awakens them to
their sin with the blowing of an awakening blast on the shofar. Once they are aware of their sin, he
forgives the whole nation on the Day of Atonement. Finally, he comes to dwell among all the people in the Feast of
Tabernacles.
These special days on God’s calendar
I call “Special Appointments with God.” Each day has a divine purpose. We meet God in a different way with each of
them.
With the September 11th attack upon America, two things were
immediately obvious. First, as a
nation we were awakened. The media
is describing this period of time as “America on Alert.” The second thing is
there was near universal knowledge that justice had to be done. It would not be right just to let that
happen and do nothing. This was not
only true in the United States, but even in Afghanistan itself. People immediately started streaming for the
border. They just knew an attack was
coming because that level of evil requires a response.
It is not different in the spiritual
realm. First we must be awakened to
our sinful condition. Once we are aware of that, we come to realize that when
we sin, justice must be done.
You probably have seen the rather
jumpy pictures that someone took as they were escaping down the stairwells of
the World Trade Center. I don’t recall where I heard it, but someone’s
description of that made a powerful impression on my mind. The crowd of people rushed out, trying to
escape the fire and destruction above them.
At the same time, going up the same stairway were the firemen. They were heavily cloaked in their fire
clothing and oxygen tanks. Someone
described them as like warriors going into battle. To the person describing them, it seemed that each one of them
was blue-eyed. The regular people were
rushing away from the fire. The firemen
were rushing to it. We now know that all those brave warriors rushing to the
fire, we rushing into the jaws of death itself.
The vacating of the Capitol
building the next day provided a similar illustration. While Congress rushed down the steps to
escape, others rushed up the steps to solve the problem.
In a similar setting, we now have
the American military. All over
the country strong steps are being taken to make people safe again. At the very same time, we are seeing ships
and planes leaving this land to go where the battle will be the fiercest.
I would like for us to contemplate
what is happening. The few are the
sacrifice for the many. Firemen, Police
Officers, and Military Personnel put their own lives in harms way so that other
people can go to work, or to ballgames, in safety and security.
In Old Testament times, a goat was
sacrificed so that the sins of many could be covered with blood and thus
forgiven. It was to teach us. It helped us to understand what Jesus did. In verse
25-26 of our text Paul wrote about this: “God presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the
present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith
in Jesus.”
While the whole world helplessly rushed to get away
from the consequences of sin, only one man was going up that hill. Jesus himself, heavily loaded with a cross
was a one-man fire crew, moving in the opposite direction. He was not looking to his own comfort or his
own safety. Rather he was laying down
his life so that others might live.
This is a large congregation that reminds me of ancient Israel. While most are going the right way, some are stumbling. However, on this day, all sins are dealt with. Even the High Priest had to cover his own sins before he went into the Holy of Holies for the sins of all the people. We place our lives under the blood that he gave for us. We trust his dying blood to give us eternal life.
I urge you to place your life today beneath God’s forgiveness. Even the finest of people has sinned. Even the most conscientious person has done wrong. Our sensitivity to good and evil should also cause us to see the evil of our own lives, not just that of others.
The picture of the firemen rushing up the stairway
into the flames is also a picture of
ministry. The crowd runs out
because that is the way to safety. That
is the easiest way. To rush into
ministry, into the business of saving people has risks. If you get involved it means you might get
hurt. Some of you have been hurt as you
have tried to do good and it has made you less willing to serve again.
To engage in ministry means putting your time on the
line. It means your money is on the
line. In essence, you put your life on
the line every time you climb those stairs of ministry. Do some volunteer work in one of the
ministries here. Jesus said in John
15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends.”
Two things are required today. Lay your life down. Give it to God. Place it in God’s hands and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Secondly, pick your life back up again and rush up the stairs and into the place of service. Serve the Lord by serving people in the church.