The Son of Man Came to Seek the Sin-Laden
Contracts are broken on a daily basis, both in this worldly life and in our spiritual lives. When we put our contract with God in jeopardy by sinning, it's natural for believers to wonder where we stand with God and even ask, "Could I be forgiven? Again? Could I be forgiven? For that?" But there are answers to those questions in the scripture, where we are told that "The Son of Man Came to Seek the Sin-Laden." April 1, 2010.
On February 26, Gatorade announced that it was ending its relationship with professional golfer Tiger Woods as its spokesman. It’s safe to assume the separation is substantiated by language in their contract prohibiting any type of scandalous behavior on Tiger’s part that could harm Gatorade’s image. Prior to that, Accenture and AT&T had also, by contract, discontinued their relationship with Tiger after his adultery with mistresses became public. And now Nike is even back peddling
When you are under contract, nothing is inconsequential. Contractual agreements like marriage promises, letters of purchase, and loans provide specific wording that defines the relationship and protects each of the parties from infidelity. That being the case, one understands why God would want to put people under contract in our relationship with him. Like Gatorade, God has an image to protect from any scandalous behavior on our part. On the other hand, one wonders why God would even want to extend people a contract for a relationship in the first place. You’d think he would be more interested in angels or galaxies. But sinners?
The sacrament of Holy Communion answers those questions, especially in these words we hear today, “And [Jesus] took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to [his disciples], saying, ‘This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” By instituting the sacrament during the Passover meal he celebrated with his disciples, Jesus is taking them back to the original contract, or covenant, God had established with the Israelites. And then, in the sacrament, Jesus installs updates, calling it a “new covenant.”
Three months after the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, when the drowning screams of the world’s most powerful army faded amidst the clamor of their own complaining about lack of food and water, the Israelites camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Discouraged by desert travel and dismal about an uncertain future, they needed reassurance and hope. It came in the form of God extending a contract to them in this way: “Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, ‘This is what you are to … tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…” So Moses went back and … set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said’” (Exodus 19:3-8).
This two-sided agreement promised the Israelites God’s special attention and promised God the people’s wholehearted obedience. Now no behavior on either side would be inconsequential. Acceptance would mean one thing; rejection another. To underscore the life and death nature of the covenant, here is what Moses did that day at Mount Sinai: “He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain …Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.’ Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words’” (Exodus 24:4-8).
The blood of the covenant, half of it thrown onto the altar representing God and half of it thrown onto the people themselves, was real blood coming into bodily contact with people. God’s contractual agreement was so serious that it involved blood – not an exchange of blood between the two parties of a contract like the pagans would do by mixing their blood together, but a blood not their own contractually binding the Israelites in relationship to God, and God to them. And the rest is history. The people of Israel failed to do everything the Lordhad said. They worshipped Canaanite idols, neglected the underprivileged among them, and made a mockery of all the blood of sacrifices spilled day after day in worship rituals. They broke the contract like Tiger Woods broke his contract with Gatorade, who then dumped him.
God had every contractual right to dump scandalous Israel. Instead, we read what God promised through the prophet Jeremiah, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31). Gatorade has an image to protect and can’t afford to keep Tiger Woods under contract and lose a large percentage of their customer base. God can’t afford to keep sinners under contract, either, and must protect his identity as a holy God who condemns sin. But instead of acting contractually God acted mercifully in his love for sinners. Rather than invoke contract or end relationship, God changed the contract and relationship. This time he sealed the contract in the blood of his own Son, who suffered and died as our sacrifice for sins.
“This is my blood,” the Son now eagerly speaks to sinners he willingly saves, “the new covenant.” In the upper room on a Thursday long ago God changed the language of his contract with sin laden people whose scandalous sins threaten to end the relationship. Like lawmakers adding or deleting clauses to a health care bill that, with the stroke of a pen, effect millions of people, God updated his covenant with a stroke of justice on his Son that effects millions of people – all people – with full and free forgiveness.
The blood that seals this new covenant is, like the old covenant, real blood. What makes it different is that it is not animal blood, but God’s own blood, holding heavenly power to forgive sins. “For you,” Jesus says. The God of the universe has, as his greatest interest, you. Everything he does, he does for you. Everything he decides, he decides for you. Everything he plans, he plans for you. Everything he allows, he allows for you. “You will be my treasured possession.” And therefore his contact is rewritten to protect his greatest interest: you. “Given,” Jesus says. It’s a one-sided contract now, promising everything from God for sin laden believers who can provide nothing on our own to deserve it. We come, naked, empty-handed, and actually worse, we come foul and dirty and shamed with guilt, Jesus comes and brings every spiritual blessing. “Take,” Jesus says. We eat and drink the real body and blood of Jesus coming into contact with our own real bodies in the sacrament for our real forgiveness and our real new life. Because the covenant says so, therefore Jesus says so, and the church says so.
In a few days Tiger Woods will return to the professional golf tour. While, by contract, it’s clear that his relationship with Gatorade is done and his relationship with Nike is questionable, the bigger question is unknown. Where does he stand with his wife after his adultery? Will she invoke the prenuptial contract or revise it? Nobody seems to know. Perhaps Tiger himself will tee off at Augusta uncertain where his tee shot will go and uncertain where his marriage is going, where his children will be raised, and whether his wife will be there.
In a few moments you will approach the Lord’s Supper where nothing is unclear or uncertain about your relationship with God. Oh, it’s natural for any believer to wonder where I stand with God and even ask, “Could I be forgiven? Again? Could I be forgiven? For that?” But there are answers to those questions. There is a contract, a covenant promised by God that binds him in relationship to you and you to him in the sacrament of Holy Communion. He is there. He forgives. He offers you another chance and strengthens you for another day. It’s as real and powerful as God’s own body and blood. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on April 1, 2010
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